Kösingen, Germany: Oscar Mayer’s Village

During our first Fulbright year, our son’s first grade class made several class field trips  in picturesque Kösingen, Germany, home to Oscar Mayer before he came to the U.S. It was not unusual for them to walk one mile or more while gathering and identifying leaves on trees.  One day our son came home to tell us the class went searching for Spuren or tracks left in the snow by all nature’s small creatures.  Having grown up in rural Western Massachusetts, I remember finding footprints and tracks on the snow.  I still continue to look out the windows after a new snowfall and see tracks of rabbits and squirrels.  I was not disappointed this morning when I gazed out the window to find rabbit tracks near the house where it was warmest.

How wonderful to discover such traces of life in an otherwise frosty snow-covered landscape. I imagine that most of suburbia takes no notice; however, I may be mistaken in that assumption.  It’s a marvel that creatures are out and about when mortals complain of the cold and snow and do not venture forth.  I never cease to gaze in amazement at sunsets or snow on the branches of fir trees.  In my mind’s eye, I paint pictures in my memory bank.  This season I wish all my readers everywhere greetings no matter what you celebrate.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Peace to all.

Tracks/Spuren

Giddy first graders donned boots
and jackets to go outdoors after
the snowfall to discover and document
those footprints left behind by the

rabbits, squirrels and deer. They
documented in carefully written
journals those wonderful discoveries.
Bright-eyed and happy in the tiny

German village where Oscar Mayer
was born. Their teacher led the
field trip through the snow and
explained where the creatures

lived in the cold winter months.
Red-cheeked and happy,
the first graders returned home
after school to tell their parents.

Seeing life in a simple manner
through the eyes of children is
a wonderful way to view life.
Wishing everyone peace.