Erste und immer: whining.
Cogs on the tourist trail tracking
up Schlangenweg’s steep cobbles—
90 degrees, sun, blackberried
dry-wall view over the Neckar
to the Schloss, medieval-gated
university town.
Parents these many years; ergo,
we take it with a grain of philosophy.
Today we drove to Heidelberg to hike the famous Philosophenweg (Philosopher’s Walk) via the Schlangenweg (Serpentine Walk). erste =first, immer = always, Schloss = castle
Graceful Press Poetry 
Das ist schön.
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Vielen Dank!
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First and foremost whining? Yup. Whenever my little one doesn’t whine, I have to ask if everything is ok? Thanks for bringing back good memories for me of being in Germany. 🙂
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Ha, that’s a positive way to look at it…if they’re whining, at least they’re still breathing. 😉
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I can picture it, being back in Germany, how you’ve seamlessly intertwined two languages– it’s quite brilliant. Love this!
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Thank you! I did have fun with this…and I’ve been wanting to throw in some of my very small stock of German for a while. 🙂
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Love mixed language, and thanks for the glossary : ) ‘grain of philosophy’ < 3
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Thanks, Kymm, I’m glad you liked the philosophy!
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I love how extra poetic this sounds with the languages. Thank you for the translation as well. 🙂
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I appreciate that, Jen. ‘Cause German probably isn’t the first language I think of when I think, “poetry.” 😉
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Right! That’s what is so extra special about it
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Love your opening about whining–been there, many times! I liked your mix of the languages. It made me feel there with you.
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Thanks, Marcy. Me to Husband: Take an audio of this so I will remember next time to LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME!
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We started taking video of the whiniest kid and it made him so mad knowing his whining was being preserved for posterity that he quit doing it!! We also now have a treasure trove of videos to choose from for his wedding 😉 Win/win.
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Perfect! We could start a whole YouTube channel!
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This is lovely….intelligent, poetic, full of linguistic and philosophical nuggets that just delight!!
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Thanks, C.C., what a lovely comment to read first thing in the morning!
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Love this history, philosophy, nature walk, language combination. Beautiful! Reminds me of similar walks I took in Ireland.
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Oh, gosh, I am trying to figure out when we can get to Ireland! I am such a castle nerd–everywhere we go, we are hiking up steep paths. 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
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You must go then! Castles galore 🙂 Have you been to Scotland?
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We were in the Highlands at the end of April. So beautiful. My favorite place for castles, so far, is Wales. All the crumbly ones…those are my favorite. 🙂
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You took me right back to vacations with my parents. Love your use of blackberried here!
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Thanks, Nate. I do hope that one day my kids will remember (sans whining) the cool places we got to visit.
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As ever, this is wonderful. Love the title and the imagery, which all add up to joys of parenting.
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Thanks, Meg. It’s probably unfair of me to whine about my kids’ whining. There is always joy in the balance. 🙂
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