Mag was very upset about it, as if he'd never seen Easter in Germany before.
He watched the neighbors build the woodpile over days, and I brought up a large sapling that stood straight up out of the pile. In the photo below you can see the tip of it:
These are the good neighbors, obviously. But in the photo above you can see the house of the bad neighbors. BTW, they are never invited. There is some sort of generational war between the people who live in the lower end of our street, and those who live in the upper. Crazy.
I have to share the photos of Mag as they built the fire:
"I have yet to see anything worse than what is happening now before our eyes."
He looks at me, "Can you stop it?"
"Stop the holiday Mag? Oh Mag, it's OK, it's OK."
"J, can you please comfort our animals?"
Yes he can, by joining them. Donkey doesn't care.
I also think J tastes good. He showers more often than I do.
"I cannot put my neck down because this is DANGER HOLIDAY!"
Wish the profi photographer had been there, these would be sharp.
I think this might be the biggest pile in the 8 years we've celebrated with them. They do not own the field, so they have to get permission from the owner as well as file a request with the city, as everyone must, to have a fire. Since Easter fires are a part of tradition, your request is normally granted. Did you know I'm not allowed to build a little fire in my own backyard without a permit?
Even though we have a perfect little patch of concrete to do it on, where the gas tank once stood. *sigh* I LOVE campfires. But once per year I get a BONFIRE, across the field. This year J did not attend, for family reasons.
The little slats to the right are all from me, I schlepped 2 big garden sacks of them up to the pile. Eventually the youngest son of the hosts came to help me, I'd filled them too full.
They are all drinking beer from Cologne, and the little bottle on the left is red currant berry liquor, that our good neighbor, the host, makes each year. Here she is shaking the hand of another guest. We have a lot of red currant bushes in our garden, but I won't eat them, they're too sour. My husband picks bowls full and takes them to the teachers' lounge to share.
This is the host who build the fire with his sons, and I just discovered that ALL their kids now live in the same house with them, in separate apartments. Isabell, the horse girl, and the 2 sons. I was saying, "Normally kids want to leave their parents in their 20s" but I guess not in this case. I feel bad for Isabell, cuz she finally has a horse of her own, but will not keep it directly next door to her at the boarding stable because the people there suck so much, as I learned personally a few years ago as I tried to pay them to come use the arena, but was eventually pushed out, no matter that I was paying to use it. Even my farrier said, "That place has the worse barn drama of any I know." Now I get it, but poor Isabell, she could look out her window and see her mare Arabella, but instead she has to drive 15 kilometers to Hueckeswagen.
Note that in this photo her dad has his Cologne beer (Koelsch) in the required slim little Koelsch glass. You must drink particular beers in particular glasses. It's the same with tea and coffee, you cannot just use one mug for both.
I liked the scene with my house in the background of the fire, burning down quickly.
Not the kind of fire you roast marshmallows over: ) OK, well, later, but that's not a German thing.
And then something unexpected - the freaking Ordnungsamt came. (Civil police) They wanted to be sure there was a permit. OF COURSE there was a permit, there has been in the 8 years we've been here! I was annoyed that they showed up, but they were friendly and were offered drinks which they refused. I just hate that there is so much jurisdiction in Germany, even when we follow the rituals, only having a fire once per year.
I cannot end this post annoyed, though so here's Mag again.
Too tired to hold his own head up, donkey at his side. He is happy to be home.
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8 comments:
Wow, that's some fire. My late FIL tried to do one that big once. Fortunately I arrived pre his lighting it lol. A fond memory actually, I became his official burner afterwards. Cities around us only allow burns if you have a package of say marshmallows or hot dogs nearby with appropriate sticks handy to show you intend to cook!
I really enjoy the snippets of German culture in your blog. A different glass for each beer! A different cup for tea and coffee! Wonderful! The endless possibility for getting things wrong! LOL!
You live in such a pretty area I think. Mag looks soooo focused (and beautiful), just look at those ears and eyes. I bet Bellis is glad to have him back. Have a great weekend!
When I lived in Ohio we always had big fires in the fall but it was for a hot dog or marshmallow roast. We did them for parties, birthdays and just about any other thing that came up. It was fun on cool nights. When it was getting really dark we had a hay ride to finish the evening off.Sometimes we used the pitchfork to roast hot dogs after washing it off a bit. Now I think how dirty it must have been. My dad always said hold it in the fire a while to kill the germs.
that is a big bon fire and it looks like a fun neighbourhood activity. I wonder if the 'bad neighbours' reported it?
We have a fire pit in our yard and can have fires as long as there is not a fire ban because of dry conditions. We're supposed to check the website to see if it is okay and can be fined if it's not.
Camryn ,really, I've never heard of such a thing, that you have to prove you want to cook - oh, it's cuz people might be burning garbage? I've seen that in my life....I hate to say it but I was influenced by my dad to be casual about such things as what falls into the firewood. My husband asked me this week to remove a tiny sliver of plastic from a piece of wood before we burn it. It was smaller than my pinky nail. I laughed but he's a real German: )
Jayne, I love your analysis about how often I can get things wrong. Yup! I made coffee in a tea cup and perplexed J's mom. The beer thing is really serious here, each region with its own beer, and its special glass. All my life I never used a dessert fork but now I certainly do.
Kbryan, Bellis is delighted but he really enjoys telling her what to do. Ah, that's the sacrifice she must make for having a buddy. Thankfully she's clever enough to dissuade him when she is adamant about her own way. It's odd to see- he's dominant, but she's often in control.
Ellie, a pitchfork? Awesome! I would have loved to have seen that. Stick it in the fire first is something my dad would say. He's from Texas.
Teresa, they sometimes tell "New Scots" (as my husband would say) not to make personal outdoor fires? Wow! But I get it. Sounds like a mix of Europe and America. The people want their freedoms, but they are super concerned about the environment. If I'm wrong correct me.
Great photos!!!
I love reading about German culture in your blog as well, so interesting and neat to see the similarities and the differences. Here you only need a burn permit certain months of the year. Other months you can make the biggest burn pile you want and no one will question you. We have some MASSIVE ones (would make your neighbor's in the pictures look tiny) from when we had one of the pastures cleared. We've only burned two of those piles and have 3 or 4 more to go.
The pictures of Mag are stunning. I live for the pictures of Bellis, I am her #1 fan.
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