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Sunday In Germany: Spring has sprung in North Germany

by Ken Yeager (ACS)
Contributing Editor

Today is March 24th, 2014 and spring has sprung in this area of North Germany. We’ve had the crocuses already, the tulips are coming up and in some parts of the yard, other flowers are ready to bloom. The wild cherry tree has already blossomed and is shedding its petals and the honey bees have come and gone. Yep, spring is here and I for one am glad. Landlord has already gotten me outside to help with the de-mossing of the grass and the grass has been cut twice, once by him and once by me. He waited until we were sure of rain and then he fertilized the grass. Next comes the calk against moss. As I have said before, I hate yard/garden work but I do love the green grass, the smell of the flowers and the general tranquility of a nice garden.

Took in the bird feeders and cleaned out the area underneath where the damn finches have dropped the skins of the sunflower seeds that I feed them during the winter. We have coal tits, blue tits, finches, blue jays, sparrows and other birds when the feeders are out but now the finches have decamped. They are the bullies of the birds in our front terrace area. Now that the ground is thawed, they can fend for themselves.

We have an empty double lot across the street from our house which was full of pine trees. I say was because earlier this month a crew came in a cut down most of the mature pines and left the smaller one (actually they are Christmas trees which will probably be gone this year come the season). When the workers started clearing the lot we were worried that housing would be built on the land, but no, that’s not to happen. Appears that the owners just periodically have the trees cut down and the lot cleaned up (although the workers didn’t do a great job of cleaning up … they did cart all of the big logs away as well as the majority of the branches but some are still left).

An old house around the corner from our street that has been vacant since we move to Grosshansdorf is in the process of being torn down. Don’t know what will be built there but it is sad to see an old house disappear, although after the length of time it was vacant (and it is kinda small), it probably could not be renovated.

The kid here is really anxious to get the motorcycle out and start riding again. I really would like ride in the Munich/Garmisch-Partenkirchen area, but it is so far away from here (550 miles by autobahn, a good 8 hour ride). Since I would use secondary roads for the trip, one can pretty much double the time required and add about a third for mileage so it would be a good 700-800 miles for me and frankly, at my age, that is a bit much. Looked into hauling the bike down by truck or using the auto train but both are too expensive for just a week’s worth of riding. So I guess that idea is out. I’ve covered a lot of my area already and the area south of Munich is really great…hills and curves just calling motorcyclist, although some of the roads are closed to motorcycles during the weekends … the sport bike (crotch rockets) riders fly on those roads and as a result, the LAW has clamped down due to complaints by the folks who live in those areas. As a cruiser rider, I frown on the sport bike crowd because of the problems they cause. Sport bikes are generally quite a bit less expensive than cruisers, they are much faster and so their riding population is mostly young men who are immune to accidents (so they think). Of course, cruiser rides with loud pipes also cause problems but I am not one of them. I like a quiet bike…

OK, I’ve dumped now so I will stop. I know I didn’t say much but I got the urge to write out of my system for a little bit. Take care and as we bikers say, keep the chrome side up.

Tschüß.

4 comments to Sunday In Germany: Spring has sprung in North Germany

  • Suellen Oliver Campbell

    Glad to hear Spring has arrived in Germany. We are finally getting some sunshine and warmth in Houston, but we are careful not to dare ask for too much too soon. The azaleas are bursting with blooms, as are the hawthorne bushes. Nice to see color after such a cold, brown winter, which was very unusual for us down here.
    Hope you can find a place to ride and enjoy feeling the wind in your hair,Ken. I would not want to think about your being too old to enjoy what you love the most, though for sure we all have to more careful these days.
    Take care. Happy Spring.
    Suellen

    • Kevin L. Wells

      Ken,

      I am with Suellen, it is never too late to have a wonderful childhood and youth!

      Kevin

    • Kenneth R. Yeager

      Wind in my hair is a dream long gone…..LOL. Now I am not bald, I just have a very wide part in my hair. Actually, wind in my hair is not possible because by law I must use a helmet which I agree with 100%. Bought a helmet cam so I will be taking some videos of some of my rides…if they are worthwhile I might share with the SK site. We shall say. Have a good week all.

      • Ken – Helmet Cam with a Voice Recorder is awesome. Then you can cruise around filming as you go while also talking about your cruise, the sights, etc. Get back home and pop it into a video editing software program to clean it up, etc. A lot of fun, fun, fun … 🙂

        Bob

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