I stuck out an elbow to block the guy who’d just been shoved by his friends and seemed to be falling toward us. It was more to protect 6-year-old Sem than myself. Behind me I could feel Ellen grasping the strings of my backpack and I put a hand on Sem’s shoulder to guide him a bit to the left, the crowds continually pushing in on us. Is that what Jesus felt like? I wondered.
We emerged out the other side of the sensory bombardment and paused for a head count. All the Michaels are here, too. Whew. We took a deep breath, felt the long-anticipated sun on our skins again, and continued with renewed intentionality on our 12-km hike.
It was both Ascension Day and Father’s Day, and a lovely tradition exists that families get out and hike together for the holiday. Sort of like Jesus and his disciples. Of course, it’s Germany, so there’s a bit more alcohol involved than in the first century (hence the somewhat rowdy crowds in villages). However, the joys of live music and random running-into-friends outweigh all the noise. There were roughly 20 stops along the 12 kilometers we had chosen, and one of them included a BBQ pulled pork food truck, so I was rather content with my choice to hike on this holiday. And once we got past the crowded middle of the hike, the path was much more open and breezy. The finale included a vista overlooking Basel and some good old German Kaffee & Kuchen. Yum. Happy Father’s Day!
2 comments:
love the "Father's Day" hike! which trail was it?
It was the Römerweg, from Bad Bellingen to Efringen-Kirchen.
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