Back on Solling Track

Gushing and pouring, from yesterday night into todays late afternoon. And then the rain stopped, the mist and clouds remained. But we went outside, protected against new showers. And for the first time since our arrival we entered the hill forest, following the small trail up into the Solling. Too late for a forest walk, we descended alongside the Little Friedensthal Brook, swollen with new gushes of water, breaking out of its normal course and even over flooding the small tunnel towards the riverside. And there we met again, not through the train window, but broadly streaming, swollen too, but still through her summer bed: The Weser River.

This really is a different kind of strolling over the the riverside track in comparison with a beach walk. But when you follow your Way in the Here and Now there is no room for comparison. This experience of looking up the Solling mountain side, hidden in misty veils and low hanging clouds, is unique. All the thick and ‘ impossible’ greens around, except for the brown green river stream and the grey sky. The hazy air was even a bit tepid. And while we both were holding on for a better look through the viewer, each in her/his own way, it became almost too hot for a rain jacket. Willemien has her predilection for Meeting the Little Ones and I’m always looking for better Windows on the River or for places to sit and sketch.

The grasses are wet, your socks get soaked, but it is Summertime along the Riverside. The grazing horses just go on grazing, the black sheep with their young keep their curious, distrustful distance. A canoe passes slowly, a pair of rowing boats full of schoolchildren, clinging together, just drifting downstream. Their jolly voices tuning up over the water, against the banks, disappearing into the distance. No rain, no wind, only the wet grass, reeds and nettles. We breathe and enjoy this walk through the Valley of our deepest Heart.