Just Ducky

These ducks are using a section of the iced over harbor on the Main River in Hassfurt as a “rest stop” of sorts. A little known fact about the duck is that it is a clean bird. Given the opportunity, a duck would prefer not to use the water it swims and eats in as a bathroom. Here, ducks are using a section of the ice for just that purpose. Look closely at the photograph and you will notice several “spots” used as open-air urinals.

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Hauptstrasse 9

I am still not used to seeing the old and the new together, like in this photograph of a modern car parked in front of an old wall. If I had been here a while I might not have even noticed it.

HAUPTSTRASSE 9

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Vespa

What’s black and white and red all over?  That’s easy – two versions of the same red scooter, one of which is in black and white.  I saw this Vespa parked on a small side street this morning in Hassfurt.  Is one preferable to the other?

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It’s a Small World

 

Amerika, ich komme! 6000 Kilometer will Bernd Barthel bei seiner Amerika-Durchquerung mit seinem Fahrrad "erfahren".

I’m coming, America!

Bernd Barthel is a retired school teacher from Hassfurt, Germany. Hassfurt is right next to Knetzgau, the little town where we will be retiring to soon. Mr. Barthel is planning a cross-country bicycle ride from California to New York this summer. Gerda met a young niece of his when they shared a hospital room in Hassfurt a few years back. When we read about his planned trip in the Hassfurter Tagblatt recently, we thought we might invite Mr. Barthel to stop by if he was passing through the area. So she looked up the name in the phone book and called Germany this morning. She ended up speaking with another niece, whose mother knows Gerda from the time she was in the hospital with the younger niece. This lady was probably pretty surprised to get a call from America, offering help for her uncle’s road trip before he even gets underway. But it is a small world, at least in some respects. I rode a motorcycle across the country once years ago, and that wasn’t easy. I don’t think I would make it on a bicycle, but this fellow has made other long-distance tours in Europe so he knows what it’s like. 

I don’t know yet what route Mr. Barthel is planning to take in this 6000 kilometer journey, but if he’s planning on crossing the Appalachians, Cumberland Gap is just down the road from here. Daniel Boone found this a convienient path across the mountains. Maybe is still is. We’ll see.

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