Moving On

---

Written October 11:


As I write this latest blog entry, I am sitting in my friend Tommy's flat in Freiburg. I am only passing through Freiburg--a short stop on the way to Beijing, China, to visit my brother and his wife and to stay with them for a few months.

This is my second time 'passing through' Freiburg; both times I have visited this place I have been in a place of transition, of travelling from one place to the next, of having no real responsibilities or obligations during my time here. In fact it is a great place as a 'floater' with not much to do. The town is beautiful and very relaxing, there is a river and many streams running through it which have a calming effect. There are so many bikers, which always makes me feel good to see. The town is surrounded also by beautiful hills and forests, which are within walking distance from any point in the city.

Yesterday I sat on a bench in Annaplatz, a small square next to a church in Tommy's neighborhood. I sat there and took in the surroundings: a young woman playing in the leaves with her not yet 2-year-old daughter. The daughter was absolutely ecstatic with the game she had just created--she would go to the leaf pile, pick up a pile of leaves, and carry them out into the small side street next to the park. Slowly she was making a new leaf pile of her own.
a group of elderly men playing a game that involves throwing heavy iron balls toward a target and trying to have the closest throw (in Italian it is called Bocci, in French they have 'Boules', and I am not sure how the Germans call it). A man walking home with a single white rose. A teenage girl walking home from school, smoking a cigarette and sending an sms on her phone.
A man walks by, hands behind his back, a slow stroll.....five minutes later he passes in the opposite direction carrying two small pizzas. The church bell rings, sounding the 7 pm evening church service. A few people slowly make their way to the church (most of them women) for the service.

The little girl and her mother have gotten bored of the leaves game and have moved on to the sandbox. Another young man and his son have arrived and are now playing on the swing. I finish the last page of the Donald Duck & Friends comic book I am reading, gulp down the last of my cola, and make my way back to the flat.

It has been a really wonderful summer in Kaunas, and I am looking forward to my time in China.

---