As my retirement is nearing I’m considering (additional) hobbies.
Some should be solo activities, others should encourage social interactions and new contacts. Some should be sustainable even when physical activity is getting difficult. Some should promote physical fitness.
So, a preliminary list:
Suggestion welcome
#retirement #hobbies
Originally a castle, close to Altenberg Abbey, 21 km as the crow flies, but 30 km with the e-bike (and back again). Fairly cold. On any other day I could have saved about 5 km, but due to two Karrnevalszüch there were some detours.
A little #autumn
#photos
Vacation roundup
The first week of our trip was fairly shit. We’d both caught a nasty flu which very much restricted what we could do.
The second week was great, though both recuperating, we got a few nice bike rides done.
#vacation #cycling
This #vacation isn’t quite working as intended.
First we had to go home for a day for a optometrist appointment, then first I and then @tigerlilly@mendeddrum.org caught the flu.
So we’ve done 15 k of #cycling in the last 6 days. Heaven knows why I brought the camera.
At least our hotel room has two nice wingchairs.
On todays Open Monuments Day we cycled to St Briktius, Oekhoven, weich wie had passed, but discounted as a typical, for the Rhineland, neo-romanic village church. It’s the real thing though.
The wall paintings are a 19th century recreation, the faded originals were found, when the church was renovated. The murals were covered by white paint during the annexation of the Rhineland by revolutionary France.
#cycling #photo #OpenMonumentDay
Rhineland
#photo #rhineland #cycling
Breakfast
On a 1. of May cycle trip.
Easter Monday we set out on a trip to Lüneburg Heath, that was supposed to be four days of cycling. That though, is not what happened.
Our trip started with two days of rain, interrupted by hail, and, much more rarely, a little sunshine. Plans were changed and adapted and we started with two days of Lüneburg.
Thanks to going basically broke at the right time the city is very well preserved with most of the medieval buildings intact.
The first day was spent exploring the city and dodging hail. Following a meandering course around the city and taking in some great examples of Backstein Gothik. The second day was spent in the Deutsche Salzmuseum and the Museum Lüneburg.
Apart from being a major trading centre for salt, Lüneburg sits on quite a lot of salt, the city also queried and exported gypsum. The Kalkberg 
is said to have been 10 times larger originally and was quarried for almost 1000 years.
The evening of the second day closed with a well deserved rainbow 
.
Two good trips across the heath, one starting in Bispingen and climbing the Wilseder Berg. The heath is interrupted by a lot of pine and beech forrests. The ideal time to visit is apparently August, when the heath is in bloom. But even without the bloom there are some magnificent views.
24/04/23: A haiku a day
is not an easy habit
to maintain I find
23/04/23: A breadroll morning
satisfaction and good taste
and a great coffee
22/04/23: Feeling really strange
aware of nearing pension
immortal teen
21/04/23: Sudden rain in the
morning changes the mood and
should water the soul
20/04/23: Due work progresses
all friction not withstanding
inching towards stop
19/04/23: Project managers
are super therapists
waiting for a fact
18/04/23: The centigrades
are dancing, coming, going,
no boring weather
17/04/23: Off to work I went
refreshed, renewed, recycled,
off we go again
16/04/23: A vacation by
definition is too short
and work is too long
15/04/23: Here straggly heather
there juniper and ibex stand
cloud studded heaven
14/04/23: Wind bent pines and beech
rooted in heath and heather
copses of birch gleaming
14/04/23: Crooked streets go
from river to market square
old brick holds the sky
12/04/23: Rain and sun and wind
a medieval modern town
red brick and arches
11/04/23: River meanders
glistening in the sunshine
trees are blossoming
10/04/23: A river of cars
pouring north where we are going
camaraderie?
9/04/23: The queue ran empty
so I filled it again
I need to write more
9/04/23: Crusty breakfast roll
so humble and majestic
tasty, nourishing
8/04/23: When the weekend looms
and the sun checks the horizon
keep the mind cheerful
6/04/23: Warm sun, blossoms show
winter fading memory
bright evenings will come
5/04/23: ’twas a good idea
to make dinner for myself
before I got hangry
4/04/23: Best day of the year
for turning sun into some
electricity
3/04/23: Aprils weather does
disgust, delight, but never
bore. Garden awaits
2/04/23: Drizzle and drizzle
and droplets on my glasses
what a boring sight
2/04/23: My electric sheep
does not like the rain and thus
the grass remains long
1/04/23: Gin and tonic glass
glistening condensation
it’s Feierabend
31/03/23: Socks on my left foot
do more often have a hole
I’m so curious why
30/03/23: A haiku a day
does not, in fact, keep the doc
away, pity that
29/03/23: Snow blooms today as
blossoms would spring and winter
dance the seasons change
28/03/23: Cooking with good friends
eating, talking, drinking too
that is a nice day
27/03/23: A low haiku stack
fuels productive tinkering
with word and picture
26/03/23: A sorbets icy
charms, tart and fruity, frozen
cools the worlds demands
25/03/23: An early April
sun, rain, wind, rain, sun, rain, wind,
weather’s having fun
25/03/23: When at evening
the sun shines again warmly
warming more than skin
24/03/23: Young shoots bring pollen
spring seems in the air today
sneezes in season
22/03/23: Morning bells ringing
coffee drinking sitting quiet
contemplating sleep
21/03/23: Grey sky wtihout cloud
even light without shadow
I miss the contrasts
20/03/23: Time flies, when you are
having fun, they say, oh my,
getting old seems fun?
19/03/23: Morning coffee taste
bright, bitter, milky, coffee
switch on brain, again
19/03/23: When spring sun shines
when alder and hazel fly
sneezing wakes me up
18/03/23: Young man is your kid
doesn’t follow expectations
calm down dad, normal
17/03/23: Ev’ning snow flakes
landing wetly grossly on
my evening shopping run
16/03/23: Dancing letters show
on glass in word and picture
the world behind us
15/03/23: Raining afternoon
draws a veil across the world
allowing dreams to rise
14/03/23: Raining afternoon
flees slowly towards the evening
where g&t awaits me
