Day 14f: With the Souls of pilgrims past … (04/28/2019)
It was only 3 miles or so from Mullheim to Auggen, and the way was relatively easy to tread. As such, I made it to the latter village with quite a bit of daylight left at my disposal, and yet still found it challenging to find any place warm and dry to rest my weary head. Both of the local churches (one Evangelical & the other Catholic) were closed for the day, and it felt neither Right nor Good to sneak a sleep on the back porch of the latter’s parsonage, so I ambled into town in the gathering gloom and soon discovered the lovely open foyer of the local Volksbank branch — a room both spacious and clean in which I gladly hunkered down and planned to spend the night. Of course, no sooner had I done so than a nice woman* entered with her two dogs and proceeded to print out a slough of bank statements from the bank’s ATM. It took quite some time for her complete the task, more than enough time for me to love on her lovely canine companions, and thus more than enough time for us to begin to banter a bit about my Walk. After hearing about the same — and my plans to sleep there in the bank foyer that night, she noted that the bar where her husband frequently hung out had bunk beds upstairs — beds that were normally reserved for Gesellenpilger**, and yet beds that might well be offered to me as well.
And, after heading over to said bar (Raumstation Sternen / “Spacestation for the Stars”) my pick of said beds was indeed generously offered that night by Bernd Kurzbach, the bar’s owner — a kind young man who without hesitation offered me non-vegan food (a non-vegan homemade goulash soup that I politely declined to sample), refreshing libation, and lively conversation to boot (about that night’s Bundesliga soccer match, yes, but also about my Walk and its underlying purpose, and life and its underlying meanings) … 🙂
“I remembered in that moment that the real world was quite wide, and that a varied field of hopes and truths and sensations and excitements awaited those who had the courage to go boldly forth into it’s expanse; to seek real knowledge amidst it’s perils, and work real kindness through its fears.” ~ inspired by Charlotte Brontë
*Her name was Michi, and her husband’s name was Urs. Neither of them were keen on being photographed for this tome, and neither were any more fond of receiving either credit or compliment for their wonderful acts of Kindness towards me that evening.
**It is still a tradition in Germany that young post-apprenticeship craftsmen (mostly carpenters, but also masons, roofers, tile-layers, and plumbers) are sometimes required to travel from town to town for a number of years (normally three), plying their trade and gaining both experience & expertise, before thereby attaining their master’s certificate and being allowed to enter their respective guilds.
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