Wingen

(continued from The high dive)

Four euros later, I was on a bus full of old German men.

I got off the bus in Lembach, a small town.  I would have to walk the last three kilometers.  I feel there is a lot of importance to approaching a place on foot, so I was glad to be off the bus.  There was a small garden and fountain in the middle of Lembach:

Typical house, about two hundred years old:

There were two fountain/springs in the middle of town.  I specifically remember them from my visit when I was thirteen.  I stocked up on local water and began my trek out of town:

The road to Wingen:

Two friendly horses.  They must have recognized me:

Wingen appears over the hill:

and then:

A very small village, maybe thirty homes, and the cemetery was right there.  All the graves were more recent, and I didn't see any family names there.  But I did sit down, have lunch and say hello to the place.

The ancestral energy was very strong.  It felt really good to be there.  The area was so beautiful, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  I don't really know how to describe my experience there besides that it felt very powerful. 

I was reflecting on a couple of things.  My dad's dad's family, the Flecks, had their roots in this village.  In many ways I wasn't close to my grandfather.  I don't know a lot about him, besides that he survived some crazy shit.  One thing I do know is that I probably inherited my love of walking from him.  Really, it is my favorite way to get around.  Fairly apropos at the moment.

The other reflection was on the bullet holes in one of the grave stones nearby me.  I was really saddened by people's willingness to destroy things that are truly beautiful, especially on arriving in Strasbourg, which is a very beautiful city that has been completely flattened more than a couple of times.   As peaceful and beautiful the place have been while I've been visiting, they have a deep history of war that I can't ignore.  Fuck you governments.

After lunch and a beer, I decided to go for a hike in the forest behind the village.  I thought maybe I could hike to Castle Fleckenstein, but mostly I just wanted to spend some more time with the land.

A couple of shots from Wingen:

I dived into the forest for a couple of hours.  I did find some vague signs indicating that I could get to the castle, but I wasn't really sure about them.  I was just cruising alone through the forest, happy as a clam.  After a while, I had to decide whether to return to Wissembourg, and then try to get to Wintzenbach, or whether to keep traipsing through the forest.  I was really enjoying the forest, but knew that if I didn't leave, I likely wouldn't get to see Wintzenbach.  With a good bit of sadness, I decided to leave the forest.  As soon as I left the place, I was missing it.

About an hour later, I was back at the train station in Wissembourg, not knowing at all how I was going to get to Wintzenbach.

to be continued...