Whelp, I got to Gamlitz today.... and party pooper...

Pretty day, and the bus was in Ehrenhausen to take me to Gamlitz. Peter was happy to see me. The staff was cordial, and very friendly. This nursing home is only a year old and full up, and I am getting the idea that very few people come to visit most people there. I haven't seen them, at any rate, and that can be very sad, as we all know.... But they really seem to do a wonderful job with their people, and are very nice to them.

Cripes, I have a mind like a sieve. The photo is of a Klapotetz. You only find them in this region and no where else that I know of. They are usually in corn fields, and vinyards. They look pretty rustic, but have a purpose. When the wind blows, there are little hammers in the back, and it makes the ground vibrate. Which keeps the mice away from the corn and the other plants. A better Rube Goldberg contraption.


It was one of those brilliant March days, when the sun makes its' power known, so I had brought a cake, and passed on all the greetings I had gotten per mail yesterday, and he was very thankful for all your wishes, and got a tiny piece of cake, and I bought him a weird and funny little turtle I bought on the train. There was this deaf/dumb young guy, and he placed it on the seat across from me with a note, saying he was handicapped that way, and did I want to buy it. So I did, it was funny, and a trifle, really.... He smiled broadly in thanks.

Whatever I asked Peter was he ready to go out and explore the 'CENTER' of this megalopolous, which has maybe one hundred houses. Till now the weather was so horrible it was just too cold to do that, and thought it would be nice for him to get some fresh air, and see where he was at. So he did, and wanted to go to the grocery store and get some champagne, it being his birfday and all... He had a glass later, and gave the rest to the nurses. There wasn't much noteworthy to photograph in the center. Most houses seem to have been built in the past twenty years... But the mayor did give us a hearty 'Grüß Gott' as we passed him getting into his car. I know it was the mayor because it said so on his Smart. Yup.

What I didn't know is that the staff had a surprise for him. Coffee and cake is served daily in the dining room, and he usually has it in his room, but they wanted him to go there, and served the corfee, and then they came in singing 'Happy Birthday To You', (and why in the world don't they have one of those in German??? So odd...)
And they swarmed around him, congratulating him.



It was like a bleeding volcano, or something, and it wasn't a put on sort of thing, and they all congratulated him and wished him the best. And then they cut it, and everyone got a slice. I found it touching. The guy in back is the director of the home, and the lady in white on the right is the head nurse there. They were very nice, and friendly, and I didn't see any fake friendliness. She asked me if I were his 'friend' and clearly meant 'significant other', and Peter blocked that so fast, it took me aback. So I played along. Which was sort of hurtful, in a way, but hey, he has to live there, and just does NOT want to open up and interact. If I had said 'yes...' it wouldn't have made a bit of difference, and they would have been just as friendly. I think she knew what was what... and the warmth still was in her eyes. (Shrug...) I started asking the staff when school was out, as I know they are gonna have an Easter recess, so I could plan visits around when the busses hardly run from Ehrenhausen to Gamlitz. That requires logistics, y'know??? And they were sort of 'Huh?' till I explained I had gotten stranded in Ehrenhausen last Friday. And the director said, 'If that happens again, call us and we will come and pick you up.' I was so taken aback at that.

Sometimes people can still floor me with their kindness. It is still like many years ago when we were out at an open-air museum, and maybe you remember D and L.... and we were supposed to get a bus back, and it didn't come, and I asked about that in a Gasthaus, and the owner insisted on taking us back to town? Seemingly, they are that sort of people, and I am glad they are still around. In the city, that has sort of disappeared, but out in the countryside, it is thriving, seemingly. I was speechless.

On a cigarette break, I went up the hill above the home and got this shot. You see those lines of plants running down the steep hill? That is a vinyard. All of that area is full of them.
Today, when I was at the bus stop in Ehrenhausen, that little boy I spoke of going down there the first time was across the way, waiting for his bus, and being a perpetuum mobile with his school-friend, and racing around the square. Y'know, the one I asked about busses, and his dialect is so thick I didn't know WHAT the hell he was saying? Well, all of a sudden, they dashed across the street, and he comes up to me and says 'Hallo!' And I said, 'Hallo...' and waved. And he asked, 'Are you going to SCHOOL?' I think he was impressed by the thought, or something. Picture an energetic seven-year old tow-headed tyke with big blue eyes.... It cracked me up, but I said 'No, am going to a nursing home to visit someone.' 'Oh.' Obviously disappointed, they zoomed off to their hyperactivity, but I found it funny. I would guess he is about seven or so...

The nursing home has an Easter tree. It is really kitschy. Mine were always toned way down, and there wasn't a wooden goose in it, but the eggs were nice....

On all the bus trips between Ehrenhausen and Gamlitz so far, I have been the only passenger on the bus! Except one time when an old woman was on, so that made us two people. Always the same driver, and we have gotten to talking a bit. I really cannot figure how they can DO that. Not that I'm not thankful that it exists, but that can't be right, financially.

(Shaking my head in disbelief...)

Again, I have to repeat Peter's thanks to everyone who sent him good wishes. I think that really bucked him up, as we used to say way back when.