A Second Picnic in the Volkspark

Today Gi. came home from the countryside, with a vigorous tan, a formidable scrape and bruise on one shoulder from falling off his bicycle, and a happy healthy air.

Soon thereafter we all went to the Volkspark for a picnic. It's a "second" picnic because we had a first one nearly exactly a year ago. Anyway, we walked all the way along the Belziger Straße (which seems much shorter when one isn't walking alone), and crossed the street in front of the Rathaus, where tall scaffolding currently reaches up to the bell tower for the renovations. Then we wended past the fountain with the golden stag, over the pale grey Carl Zuckmayer Bridge, and along the meandering green lawns criss-crossed by paths and shaded over by grand leafy trees, which look as if they came out of an old English landscape painting. There was a hint of autumn in the yellow and crispy fallen linden leaf-petals, but everything else was flourishingly green. Between the large clouds, the sky was very blue, and when we had arrived at the grassy area in front of the large playground, the sun eventually appeared.

We started to play badminton, and then W., Si., A., and O. arrived. After despatching the edibles, we alternately passed around the soccer ball (and played "piggy-in-the-middle"), played badminton and frisbee, and rested. I didn't feel like playing soccer, but I played lots of badminton and a little frisbee. O. rode his bike through the countryside, and at one point W. and A. went off for a game of table-tennis. There were many joggers, a gaggle of Nordic walkers, young couples, families with children, and single walkers who passed by, and we fortunately hit or ran into none of them. In the peculiar playground area with three large basins (for skateboarding, perhaps?), a small drama took place as a little boy hurt himself, then cried, surrounded by worried family and affectionately petted. As for insects, only one wasp haunted our festal board, but the mosquitoes were at least three in number.

And now all of us are home again! Since my return I've already read through The Daffodil Mystery by Edgar Wallace. Earlier today I had finished The Angel of Terror (which I didn't much like) by the same author, and Blindfolded. I just started Ben Hur, and therefore hope to be spared any further crimes except those of taste. There is, by the way, a line in Blindfolded which I rather like, about someone "who talked about the weather with a fertility of commonplaces that excited my admiration."

As for my usual ruminations on life and career and so on, I've been thinking about learning more about people as well as books. How to go about it is a sort of conundrum: given an adolescent who is currently not in university, with no taste for bars or clubs, a fear of being formally presented to people, and no wish to enter any organization, how can said adolescent broaden her knowledge of society? Trading walks to graveyards and parks for walks to tourist hotspots, lectures and concerts is probably not enough. Maybe I should find out what kinds of organizations there are before I refuse to enter them. If all goes well, I may yet become an environmentalist scientologist freemason, with an expired membership card for a fringe political party dedicated to reestablishing the monarchy, and a large acquaintance.