More German customs

In trying to help Baasha become a better German citizen, I fed him bread yesterday. I carefully dried it and offered him slices. He would bite one, slap it down on the ground to break it, and then struggle with the bits in his mouth. Bits that ended up everywhere to possibly attract rodents.

He is getting the hang of it. He seems to like crust.

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What Baasha and I both don't get, is the danger of moving air. In Germany, a draft ("Zug") can be deadly. So I was told by the nice neighbor lady as she visited today. She said the reason he has eye problems could be that he has both a window and a doorway, and air can move through the stall.

My mind flashed back to my German lessons, where the little old lady teaching the course would scream "Es ZIEHT!" at us to get us to shut the window. This means, "There is a draft, and we could all become ill!!"

I told my neighbor we do not have this condition in America. We don't even have a word for it, because it does not exist. I asked her what is the difference between Zug and wind. She said wind is the general, healthy, movement of air, and Zug moves in one direction, which makes it dangerous.

This is what Americans call a pleasant breeze.

AHA! Now I know why there is no forced air heating in Germany--it makes the air move!

Funny blog articles on this topic:

drafts that kill

deadly movement of air

I could go on about the health strangeness here, like when I was told putting my feet in a bucket of cold water in Summer would cause a bladder infection, like how sitting on cold concrete can make you infertile, and the habit of wearing scarves to prevent and heal a sore throat. It is truly an odd place, Germany. I often ponder, if so many Americans have German ancestry, what happened to these unique German customs? Oh well.

But this is a horsey blog. I will probably put up a wind shield of some sort in Winter, despite Baasha having a winter blanket, because he is old and winters here can be hard. But for now, in Summer, we are enjoying the fresh air.

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Eye update:

The vet was here today and after numbing both Baasha's eyes, he said we need a specialist, and Baasha must go to a clinic to have the calcium deposits removed by an eye surgeon. He is referring us to the top animal eye doctor in the country. I sense that our vet is very frustrated that this problem is not going away. I am frustrated too.