Christmas in Germany

It's been a year since I was last in the UK and longer since I was last in Germany, so it was just wonderful to finally get back to what seems like a life away from life. Though it was just a few days in Germany, each day there seems to be similar - the morning run, walking the dogs with the kids (either walking, cycling or on scooters) and the lunch and dinner meals with Andrea's parents and brother. 

Of course Christmas there is the addition of presents - lots of chocolate and other small things around the Christmas Tree, and a trip to Church for some of the group. I think back to previous trips -- the Summer trips when we would go camping or to the lakes swimming, but mostly to a time when the kids were younger and Andrea's mum would always go out cycling with the kids to deliver the weekly magazine, that unfortunately was cancelled, and to when Andrea's dad was still actively farming. He'd take the kids and the dog out on the tractor, they'd walk out to the sheep's down the road to feed them, and they'd drive out to the big barn where he'd store all the grain or machines. 

I'm not sure he was every the one to outwardly smile that much, but there was no doubt the kids could spend a lot of time with him and he would enjoy having them there. I think the kids will always have those fond memories of growing up on the farm, especially when they were there for several months during COVID. Nowadays since there's no more sheep, no more tractors and no more farming due to his ill health, the kids are still able to play cards with him and Andrea's mum, but it is not quite the same. During this trip he got COVID and, like the first time, it hit him quite hard, almost like a mini-stroke, requiring an ambulance to take him to hospital. Fortunately he recovered again, and he can walk around on his own, but he doesn't go far. The doctors were quite worried, particularly with his lack of fluids that he drinks.

It might not have been a family that is full of fun and excitement during the time I have been a part of it--maybe it was different a couple of decades ago--but it is a family and there is affection underneath the routine that drives their daily lives. And the children have developed a relationship even if not that strong an attachment.  

 

The weather on this trip was quite mild, and we could go and see all the old buildings that have been abandoned on the High Street or the old industrial areas, as well as the newer houses that always spring up on the outskirts. Over Christmas, across the other side of the train tracks (the Doberlug part of Doberlug-Kirchhain), which has slightly more on its High Street, many of the shops or homes had put up a wide variety of Christmas scenes. One in particular was massive with several scenes taking up an entire room.