Walking Home from Hamburg

I will write more about my time in Hamburg tomorrow, because thats a geschichte in itself, but I wanted to write a shorter entry about my walk home from a great almost four day weekend. Sometimes, cliches are so appropriate for describing ones experiences, and often necessary to do so without using as many words. So, my cliche for my wanderings is "stop and smell the roses", smell them darnit. haha, darnit. ohye. Seriously, though, there are many times I find myself saying "stop, smell the air, listen, look, observe," and if I hadn't done so I would have missed out on a very fulfilling experience. I decided to take a different route home right before dusk from the train station in Tostedt by following a path to old train tracks, rusted away, that led through the forest. Along the way I discovered three small ponds, trails through the woods, and drained swamplands turned to farms. It brought me back to the sanctuary where I worked this summer. I mean, it is so spiritually, physically, and mentally fulfilling to work outdoors all summer long, connecting with children and nature. So, needless to say, I really had to take a moment and sit down on the tracks and watch, after having had prior to this respite a short discussion with an adorable black lab mix of sorts who came dragging its owner after me wagging its tail in excitement at the prospects of meeting someone new along the way. I tried for as long as I could to balance on the rusted red rail, and stopped at the sound of neighing horses. I decided to sit then and pulled out my camera to take a few pictures of what I then saw. The forest opened up into this large field, a field made from drained swamplands, lush and vibrant green (my fave color naturally). The horses were chasing one another as the sun was setting and the sky was divided into two colors, on the left a deep blue and on the right a light pink. Those horses were the roses. It was peaceful, serene, to sit there and watch them play back and forth, you can only imagine what was going on in their heads, how much fun they must have been having. The weather, just happened to be the nicest its been since I arrived in germany, the perfect temperature with the slightest breeze. The hint of fall and farm life in the air truly tied it all together. Either way, it was another helpful reminder, a post-it on the brain, to stop and smell the roses, every once in a while. Who knows what you might end up missing out on if you dont. Certainly, definitely, absolutely.
Peace,
Shim