A year ago today I became unemployed. It was a great day. A fantastic day, in fact. My dearest German friends, the Schnells and Linkes, drove many hours from Tauberbischofsheim and Illerbachen to help Padma and me mark the day … and for the more sombre task of helping us pack up our household for shipping to Australia. When our friends arrived at our home in Oberwinter they felt they made a wrong turn and ended up in Bavaria instead of Rheinland-Pfalz as I greeted them in my Oktoberfest garb, which some of my workmates had given me so I’d always remember my time in Germany. Heiko brought a trailer and we loaded it with stuff we couldn’t bring to Australia. Padma and I felt grateful that we could leave a little bit of ourselves in Germany.
On my first day of unemployment we joined our other group of dearest friends – brought together by our common link of Syria – and took our final Wine Walk. These were romps through wine country organised by Marlene and Juergen Diekmann, which always included a sampling of the local produce. As it was to be our farewell Wine Walk, Padma and I got to choose the location for the Walk … and it was a no brainer. We chose our favourite stomping grounds: the Ahr Valley.
One year later, I contrast the joy of that day with the misery of today in the Ahr Valley. The tiny, trickling Ahr River that we crossed that day became a deadly torrent in the early hours of 15 July, killing at least 117 people in the Ahrweiler District and devastating the picturesque villages along its banks. It’s heart wrenching to see the images of the destruction of the locations which brought us so much joy. Yet it is inspirational to see the resilience of the German people who have bonded together to help the people of the Ahr Valley restore their lives.
P.S. Most of the photos of today’s post are courtesy of Joseph and our fellow wine walker Asia, from Kazakhstan. My unemployment gift to myself was a Nikon mirrorless camera so Joseph got my old Nikon as a hand me down and was testing it out on the Wine Walk, while I had a flat battery on my new camera.
P.P.S. I was too busy at the time to post these photos. The one-year anniversary presented a good opportunity.
P.P.P.S. My carefree days of unemployment didn’t last long. I’m back to full-time work but very happy to be my own boss once again.
