Today, Alfons and I traveled again to Irndorf to see his parents. We helped with their enormous yard work and I learned to use a pitchfork to pick up grass. Why we didn't have one of those when I was a kid I'll never know! When I was young, we had to pick up the grass with our hands, which I couldn't do because I would immediately start sneezing. (Don't worry, Dad. Even if you had given me a pitchfork, I would have come up with another excuse to get out of the yard work!)
That reminds me, (knock on wood) that I don't have allergies here...at least not yet! That is amazing because my allergies are crazy in Louisville, because it's in the Ohio Valley. I had no allergy problems in Indy for 10 years, but I thought it would be a problem here because Alfons said a lot of people have allergies and it's a valley. I'm just going to enjoy my breathable days as long as I have them.
Now back to my real story...while at his parents' house, I spent quite a bit of time learning from his mom. She'd show me what to do in the field and I'd follow her lead. She'd point to trees and plants telling me what fruit grows on each and I remembered many of them from my last trip and our discussions in the garden. Plus, my Rosetta Stone and iPad language learning apps have really helped too! It's rare now that I have to say "I don't understand" to his mom, because my basic German is getting better and her elementary ways of explaining things to me is improving too. It took us some time (and strategic charades), but eventually I figured out that she was trying to tell me her four chickens were girl chickens and that's where she gets eggs!
There's still a long way to go before I can have a decent conversation with them, but I'm discovering noticeable improvement on each trip.
Random Note to Self: Never again use the American phrase "I am pooped!"
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