The Last Day of October 2021

It was the transition day back from Daylight Savings Time today. I'd thought it would be suspended in Germany after the referendum and European Parliament decision a few years ago, only found out this morning that the EU member states had disagreed. Clearly a bit of a gap in my news reading!

After breakfast, Ge. and I cycled to a garden colony again. It was such mild, sunny weather that we regretted our jackets and Ge. took off his helmet. My muscles felt incredibly sore, I was out of breath, and I must have done something to my knee because it twinged; my brother pointed out after a while that my bicycle seat must have slipped down recently — it was far too low for a healthy seated conformation.

But once we turned onto the paths of a park, sunlight pouring everywhere, grass glimmering greenly, leaves forming tapestries on the asphalt, and many pedestrians and cyclists doing the same thing we were, I began to warm to the exercise.

As usual, I scanned the fence lines. Fairly early on I found three apples in a basket hanging off the side of a fence for people to take, and happily selected one. I was going to put a coin into it, but the man who was crouching beside a low orchard tree in that yard, pruning it, as his son kicked around a ball, looked over and insisted that the apples were free. Other than that, the only other fruits we saw on offer were six wormy-looking apples that had experienced their prime at least a week or two earlier, plus three that appeared to have been mauled by a little creature. (It still bore out my idea that the best day to seek surplus fruit in a garden colony is on a Sunday afternoon, when people who are too busy the rest of the week have had time to potter in their plots.)

It was not quite the case that 'the sedge had withered from the lake, and no birds sang' due to the lateness of the season. But small grapes had blackened on the vine, neglected apples were hanging in trees — shining bright ochre-yellow or yellow-green like jewels, or mouldering on the ground in disgrace —, the sedum did not have the dusty pink flowers and thriving aqueous green leaves any more, the few remaining dahlias are tufted at best, sunflower heads brown and downturned, and I think the asters were turning rather pale and overblown.

We liked how the gardens had different characters. A few regimented ones were practically like mini golf courses. A few seem to harken back to vacations or longer journeys in southeastern Asia. A few are just freewheeling, others are a patchwork of little plots that seem like community gardens. And there were one or two that were like forgotten witches' or cottagers' houses in a children's story book, and I felt really compelled to go back and sketch them. A slightly perturbing sight in one of the plots was a massive German flag, although Ge. said it was upside down so might have a self-parodying purpose.

***

In the afternoon I prepared a second bowl of Halloween candy from the stash that Ge. and J. had bought. We have eaten an unconscionable quantity of sour green apple rings and worms, coke bottle gummies, wine gums, licorice snails, licorice all-sorts, gummy bears, and green gummy frogs. What's more, we also have a bowl full of chocolate bars that Ge. already arranged this morning. But we didn't expect trick-or-treaters and we didn't get any.

Instead, I've hopped ahead and have been looking for Christmas present ideas. Due to supply chain issues and ecological considerations, I'm not 100% sure how I will proceed, but presume that I will be ambling around amongst the small neighbourhood shops so that I can see what exactly is really in stock and where supplies are already on the ground. I'm still not really in favour of turning a generation of fellow Berliners into some equivalent to modern-day servants of the 19th century, fetching and carrying for the supine majority, either in the postal services or in the food delivery services, especially because I am worried about the long-term class-psychological effects. But this is my own grumpy 'hot take' — and I won't force anyone to agree!

In terms of healthy food, Mama and Ge. also collaborated on a late lunch of liver fried with onions and apples. The liver was not too bitter, I didn't eat too much, and altogether it was a flavourful and nourishing meal that I'd like to have more often if I didn't lean heavily vegetarian lately. Especially as we had leftover lamb's lettuce on the side.