A little atmospheric note. I have been catching up on the last two entries early early in the morning (it is 4:14 now, so probably since 3:45) in bed on the little I-pad with keyboard, with Mark sleeping next to me and the birds going crazy outside, with dawn already fully on its way. Especially the cuckoo in the nearby woods has been rather noisy and wonderful to listen to although he has now announced at least a couple of centuries rather than the time of day. Mark was really surprised the first time he heard the cuckoo and we keep making fun of how the town’s cuckoo clock is broken. Mornings are wonderful here, and the time alone with Mark is both fabulous and precious to me, as much as I love the social stuff and hanging out with the kids (who are unevenly very pleasant and very frustrating, Kai arguing at full force after a day of peacefullly going with the flow, Kati loving the walks but then getting irresistible shopping urges and wanting to talk diets, dresses, and make-up at length). He is enjoying himself and loves the sights, but he would, I think, love to do more people watching, and right now, people are still pretty scarce here, with mostly retired people and families with preschoolers in evidence. I have a feeling he will like Bremerhaven and Berlin better, because it is very quiet here for a city person like him, but he is Mark, so he is not the least bit grouchy about it. We love our alone time, but he has also loved talking to Uschi and also been a good conversation partner to the kids and a soduko buddy to Hermann as well. I hope Imke isn’t disappointed that we take so many opportunities to run away on our own, and I think I need to make a little more time just for her, but it’s been our wonderful stolen moments that I’ve liked more than anything. And of curse I love the quiet and the long walks in beautiful scenery, and I am not missing the big cities at all. But I am also looking forward to our time in Berlin with the kids!
Now I hope I will be able to catch a little bit more sleep because I want to be ready for a bike ride today (it’s not supposed to rain and we have lots of plans for the next few days, so this is a good day to rent bikes) and stay up for a long time for Uschi and Wolfgang’s barbecue at their apartment.
We rented bikes today–Kati, Mark and me–and went for a very nice bike ride along the cliffs / coastline and through some of the villages near the coast to the immediate west of us. It was sunny and absolutely beautiful. We went about 15 miles, stopped to explore a very tiny and adorable beach and eventually had a light lunch/snack at a very nice outlook with a snack cart. Kati did a good job despite the hills that gave her a hard time, but she did feel like sleeping most of the afternoon after that. We hung out for a bit, too, but we later rented a ‘Strandkorb’ and I played in the sand with Kai and then read to Mark from Anansi Boys, although it had gotten much cooler and wasn’t exactly beach weather anymore. At night, we had a barbecue at Uschi’s, and both kids decided to walk the 20 minutes to her rental with us (more power to them!). It was fun although the barbecue contraption was rather wimpy and we ended up making a lot of the food inside in the kitchen. But we got to sit outside and we really had a good time. Mark and I got to walk back on our own, and Uschi walked the kids back to get some exercise.