A-Summering upon ye olde Hobbyhorses

So, er, I should be working on the blog entries. But when it's so pretty outside, it's hard to sit in front of the computer!

What is there to do in Germany in summer, you ask? Well, Bert and I spend much of our weekends with our butts slowly molding into the form of our bike seats -- much more of this and we're going to grow right into them. If native South Americans saw us on their shores, I'm sure they'd think we were cycletaurs.

Our last venture was down the lovely, tree-lined Neckar river, where we saw cool specimens like this:


I love the dog riding shotgun!

Then Bert turned around to capture me in all my glamourous attire:


Yeah. The South Americans would probably call me Queso-cotal for my pale limbs. (And cheesy puns.)

25 km later, we stopped for a nap under a tree.


Bert looks cute in all his gear, including the shorts... why else do you think I ride behind him?? ;)


In addition to biking, we've also been picknicking a lot on the banks of the Rhein River. It is beautiful: the sparkling river flows, glasslike, along the edge of a green grassy park, and we lie on a blanket and grill Bratwurst while watching the sun go down over the city on the far bank. The weather has been perfect and warm until long after the stars come out; except once, when it got windy enough that we had to batten down the hatches. I asked irritably, "What did our forefathers do when the weather didn't play along, and yet they didn't have any other choice except to cook over a fire?"

To which Bert replied, "They probably just retreated to the caves und haben Liebe gemacht."

I grinned. "Klingt besser als Kartoffelsalat."

At which point, Martin reached for the spoon and said philosophically, "Aber Kartoffelsalat ist auch nicht schlecht."

After it got dark, the girls were all given a tiny bottle of something (I think mine was Baileys), the cap of which we were expected to wear on our noses:


Last Sunday, Bert and Alex and I drove out through the Pfaelzer Wald until we reached the lake next to Burg Berwartstein. We set up our towels, and Alex dived easily into the water.

I dipped a toe in and shrieked. "This lake must have melted yesterday!"

Despite Alex's assurances that the water had to be at least, oh, two or three degrees above freezing, it still took me several minutes of inching, waiting for my lower body to go numb, and then inching some more until I could kick off for a swim. I still only lasted just a few minutes before retreating to the beating sun over our towels. We desert rats weren't meant for glacial mountain pools!

Anyway, so there's a little glimpse as to why the blog continues to be a tad neglected. If only it would rain or something here, so that I could spend a cozy day inside writing! Alas, that summer in Germany is just so darned fun. :)

Hope everyone else is having just as great a season!