MY Town’s German Quarter
This is the third installment of what will prove to be an excessively bizarre series of visits to the various ethnic areas in and around MY Town. I discussed our amazing diversity in my Little Australia post, so I’m not going to elaborate further here.
We have a German Quarter and it’s got pretty much everything Germany-related that you could ever want–outside of the ACTUAL Germany. Here’s what I mean:
What is a visit to the German Quarter without a quick side trip to The Ebony Forest? It’s insanity. Like Germany’s Black Forest, the Ebony Forest is dark and mystifying. It also has a lot of deer. And it’s deer hunting season. And I heard the firing of guns earlier. And I kept my head low as I rode. And I was glad I had my new, space age material helmet on. My four layers of clothing, however, probably wouldn’t be much help if the hunters aimed for my heart.
The Ebony Forest was SO dark and mystifying that my nerves were frazzled. I sought a nice calming spot to settle down and soothe my head.
Unfortunately, I received a call while taking the above picture which forced me to end this tour prematurely. The call was from the company that manages the storage space we rent. They said our storage garage had been broken into last night along with three others in the complex.
How DARE they interrupt a perfectly good bike ride with that information. I didn’t even get to photograph a German Shepard I know of in the area.
I raced home to pick up The Feeshko. Most of the stuff in the storage unit is her collectibles, including some pretty valuable dolls.
When we got there, we called the cops and filed a report. We commiserated with the other victims who were already there. One of them had a motorcycle and a huge tool box stolen. The other one had some tools and hardware items stolen, but nothing too bad. Our unit was ransacked, but the only things we were missing were a case of compact discs and an antique suitcase. Not even worth filing with our insurance company. We were lucky that the culprits had no idea what some of those antique dolls were worth.
I’m sure that I don’t even know the value of those things. I’m just glad the locksmiths repaired our unit in time for me to get back for the Vikings football game.
gregblood
Hi. My name is Greg and I ride my bike a lot. That is to say, I ride my bike almost every day. I go on long rides and short rides. Sunny rides, cloudy rides, and rainy rides. I like commuting, errand-running, day-tripping, overnighting, and touring on my bike. I ride on city streets, highways, gravel, single track, and snow with equal enthusiasm. Sometimes I ride fast and sometimes I ride slow. I try to keep my feet on the pedals at stop lights and I do not dismount when I hop up on a curb. I have a roadie bike, a mountain bike and a touring bike. I try to accept any challenge a bike ride can throw at me without complaint. But I don't like bugs.
13 response to "MY Town’s German Quarter"
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That post was ‘wunderbar’. I think you should take the dolls home and place them all around your bedroom, especially the Chucky-doll.
The Feeshko would never, ever own a Chuckie doll. Thank goodness for that. I’d hate to be involved with that little SOB in a fight to the death.
Wunderbar! I think I would feel right at home there, Greg! Maybe if you could find Augustiner instead of Paulaner, but otherwise perfekt, nein, fantastisch! Danke für die Ehre!
I haven’t seen Augustiner here. Perhaps their marketing team isn’t as large as Poulaner’s here in the U.S. That probably means Poulaner’s beer isn’t as good since they have to send out thousands of salespeople to sell it. A great beer sells itself.
Nice depiction of Germany, although I may not be the best judge, since the closest I’ve been is the pavilion at Epcot Center. A bit of trivia… My spouse got to visit Germany, specifically West Berlin, in the days when the wall was still there.
I’m looking forward to that “Vermont in the mid-west post”.
And sorry about those Vikings. At last that team from your neighboring state lost as well.
Hopefully your wife wasn’t there when guards were shooting people down for trying to escape the other side.
Like you, I’ve never been to Germany, but I was exposed to German culture here in the U.S. I went to school from 4th through 9th grade in a town that was 90% German and nearly 100% of those Germans were Catholic. Everybody went to the Catholic school because there was no public school in Dyersville, Iowa at that time. And there was a big beer garden in the city park, which was the social center of the town. I have very fond memories of that time even though I wasn’t German. I was Catholic though, which meant I didn’t have to be bussed 15 miles to the nearest public school.
Darn Vikings. And thank goodness for the Colts.
Regarding my Vermont of Minnesota ride: that might be one of the toughest ones of all because our states are so similar. I might have to wait until we get a wintry NOR’ EASTER before I can provide the distinction your area deserves.
What Suzanne said right at the last (I think) 🙂
Where there are German populations in towns around here, they all share one thing in common, they are well kept and neat as a pin.
They knew how to drain the swampy land and turn it into agricultural fields.
Sorry about the break-in at your storage facility . . . . but, it does bring into question the possible devious activities of that ‘magpie’.
Good to see Freeshko is up and about!
Hey Rich, I failed to address this directly to you but hopefully you’ll see this reply. Yes, the Germans who settled the Midwest were fastidious and disciplined. They were lucky to have come to America back in a time where we were (a little) more accepting of immigrants.
I have never seen harder working people than Hispanics here, yet they are vilified by so many. Who do those idiots think are harvesting the fruits and vegetables they eat and are working in the processing plants that provide the meat they crave? A crew of Mexican people replaced our roof a few years ago and I’ve never seen a bunch of men (and a woman) who did that backbreaking work, on such a hot day, so fast and without complaint, as they did.
And, yes, The Feeshko is improving almost every day. Thank you for noticing.
We too have had an Hispanic population for many many years. Worked the fields and the canneries when no one else would. Most were migrants, but many settled out here. A very kind, loving, and generous group of people.
I loved the Black Forest and the AutoBahn…… sorry about the break in…..yes some dolls are worth quite a lot!! Glad they were safe!!
Never knew there were antique trolls… poor little guys tossed on the ground. That sucks – but who steals compact discs? They were desperate. I enjoyed the Goethe pic – though it looks way too cold to concentrate. The area where Nigel lives was settled by German emigrants who came over from South Australia in the 1860s. Most of the rural road names are all the German family names: Schultz, Graetz, Scholtz, Lieschke, etc. and there are heaps of little Lutheran churches scattered about. I think you would feel at home there – though they definitely went to Lutheran schools, not Catholic.
Trolls? Oh, I had to look at the stuff in the picture to see what you were talking about. That was just some stuff The Feeshko saved from our kid’s childhood. The antique dolls were never touched by the vandals.
CDs? Right! What’s the point of stealing them these days, unless the culprits haven’t discovered the wonderful world of streaming music yet. Surprised they didn’t take the box of VCR movies.