Wednesday, May 13, 2009

"The Great Outdoors" Germany

Having grown up in the mountains of West Virginia, "the great outdoors" has a completely different meaning from what one finds in Northern Germany. We live just North of Hamburg, a beautiful city with historical buildings, a large shipping harbor, and multiple rivers wandering through the area.

My husband calls the town where we live the "horse capital" of Hamburg because many of the city folks keep their horses in the fields around here to ride on the weekend
s and days off. We have a great wooded path that is directly behind our house and it is great to be so close to the city, but still have the opportunity to experience nature with just one turn.

This past fall and winter we were visited quite frequently by a family of pheasants. This was pretty unusual considering how close we are to the city limits.

My husband loves the flat fields of grains and crops that one finds in Northern Germany. He was so inspired by the Midwest prairies when he did a cross country tour of the U.S., and while he loves my family and our home, he still insists that his heart remains with land that goes on as far as the eye can see rather than the soaring mountains.

There are several wooded areas (although they are all still relatively flat) around my in-laws farm. It is great to venture out into the green canopy and just soak in the sounds. In the fall hunters fill the woods with their hunting dogs to take home wild boars, deer, hares, and foxes as trophies. But I find that hunting in Germany is very traditional and full of rituals that still honor and respect the life that was given.

But my heart often longs for the mountains that are so vast and tall, and are bursting with brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows in the fall and then come to life again in the spring with colors of green that sing new life. "Take me home, country road, to the place I belong, West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home country road"...


...in fact,
we are flying from my beloved mountains today and I will be joining all you other "great outdoors" adventurers only on Thursday, which explains my "absence" these last several days. For more outdoor explorations, visit Jane at Spain Daily... enjoy the hike.

17 comments :

  1. I've been living in a narrow valley for some years now, and I totally relate to your husband's feelings.

    ReplyDelete
  2. are you still in the USA( enjoy if you are)
    I love the fields and the blue flowers

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your fourth photo - the unripe wheat and the dark clouds - I really like. It is truly evocative.

    ReplyDelete
  4. enjoyed your views!
    thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. wunderschöne fotos...ich liebe auch den norden, das flache land und das man bis zum horizont gucken kann...
    ich habe einige deiner posts gelesen und musste oft schmunzeln dabei...wir sind vor einem jahr von hamburg nach bayern gezogen, ich finde hier schon soviele dinge anders als in hamburg...wie muss es dann erst sein wenn man aus den staaten nach deutschland kommt :)...

    schöne grüße!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love this "atmosphère" but it's look like the autumn !

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful post. I really like your last picture.
    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love these photos. Looks lovely! I love the dog!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love those pictures!

    I live very close to the centre of our city and one day our parking place was visited by a lovely young deer.
    This was a very strange moment.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Such neat shots. I love those sweet animals. It looks like those horses are wearing coats. I imagine them saying something like..

    "Henrietta go get your coat, we're going for a walk around this gorgeous land"

    "Joe, stop nagging me!"

    ReplyDelete
  11. hi allison! beautiful images! thanks for sharing this. Wow- haven´t thought about john denver in years... ( my stepmother used to ski with him when she lived out in colorado...) un beso-jane

    ReplyDelete
  12. beautiful photos and what a great places for outdoor adventures! Thank you for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Such lovely photos! Not what I think of when I think of Germany. Thank you for broadening my thinking! Happy Day!

    ReplyDelete
  14. loved visiting germany with you today ! what stunning surroundings !!

    ReplyDelete
  15. You took wonderful pictures!

    Sometimes one just has to look around like through a camera to see the beauty that surrounds us.

    Thanks.

    Rita

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think it is tradition for people from Northern Germany to need flat plains of land where the view is unrestricted. They never seem to feel comfortable in the mountains, especially if the mountains are up close! We had guests here from HH who informed me that the mountains visible from our veranda were acceptable because they were far enough way no to constrict them. :) now, THAT's northern German for you!!

    Fabulous photos.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are what makes blogging fun for me!

Related Posts with Thumbnails