Fredericksburg

well the last day in Austin was probably the best
meeting up with a nice guy from couchsurfers

who not only put me up but showed me a great hike
and took me bat watching which was pretty cool
for people watching as well

he also gave me a good review as a couch surfer
which helps a lot in getting others to put one up

but I really didn't hit my stride on vacation
until moving on to Fredericksburg
an unexpected find an hour west of Austin

I kept trying to push myself into having a party vacation
especially in Austin but I really wasn't up for it

and after several nights of beer
followed by several mornings of coffee
driving, sugar, and the cumulative exhaustion
of the last ten months of four a m mornings

it dawned on me that I couldn't feel much shittier
so I started almost involuntarily fasting
and then decided to quit fucking up my brain chemistry
every few hours on the hour

and I've felt immeasurably better ever since

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Fredericksburg is for me a little gem of a town
yes it's tourist driven but so what
it's got ridiculously pleasant folks
a cool music shop, nightlife, and
those small town kind of events every weekend

it has probably the best (and longest) mainstreet in the country
which certainly inspires entrepreneurial fantasies
along with three or four help wanted signs which also got me thinking
and the town luthier says they need a violin teacher too

hey I always try to imagine what it would be like to live somewhere
when I'm visiting--I get a deeper visit that way

still it reminded me something about myself
which is that I have a definite small town streak
I can be my dorkier self in a way
not have to pretend to be be so utterly hip all the time

so I got my hair cut
by a cute single blonde gal
half my age

who sits in the front row at church
ostensibly because there she doesn't get distracted
by bad haircuts in front of her

and it was kind of like that for a couple days

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it's a very German town
which is what first caught my eye driving through
at least three large German restaurants on the main
and I guess there are a few speakers still

it was settled a century or two ago by hardy folks
getting away from the oppressions of Europe
they maintained good relations with the Indians
never breaking treaty and so still host the yearly powwows
I always am moved by that sort of thing

good camping, good air, wildflowers around
and the slower pace in which to catch my breath
all welcome relief
even a health food store with my favorite kombucha

which did upon opening blow up all over the car:
do not shake kombucha

one of the coolest places for me
was a German antique shop
Neu Alt something or other

it was like going home
I'd forgotten how much German stuff from Mom
was around the house growing up
all the knicknacks, Christmas stuff, etc.

well it was all there
the little cups that hold your boiled eggs

the thermometer set in a little house
with some cheap barometer that never worked
but was designed to have a woman gardener
come out on the sunny days
and a man with an umbrella out on the rainy ones

an odd poster I considered buying
with a bunch of supposed Germanic characters
from prehistoric times (yet as dour-looking as moderns):

a couple guys sharpening arrows next to a guy hauling in a fish
next to a frau apparently kneading some dough
and another dude in the background eerily behind an ox-plow

might as well have had a guy with a suit selling insurance
for all the historical accuracy portrayed

there was also an iron cross from WWI
which I thought to ask about
since my grandfather had been so decorated
for bravery in that war

while I'd seen pictures of the family heirloom
it was apparently sold by a bro-in-law for drugs
and so I wondered: would it be a good thing to replace?

I think it was the $80 price tag more than
karmic considerations which told me no

and then for a mere $17 was Hans Huckabein
I assume everyone knows who this is right?

okay for those not raised in a sadistic cultural framework
Hans is a cartoon book to teach kids upstanding morals
it was weird how vividly I recalled the images
even though they had not come to mind in forty years

there is Hans with his big beak getting into the punch bowl
and drinking to such excess that when he starts fooling around
with the ball of yarn next to him
is in the final frame of the cartoon
hanging from the table amidst tangled yarn
lifeless

needless to say disturbingly sad for a young child

most other cartoons in the book proceed likewise
with someone dripping just enough blood
that you know they are dead
in retribution for their shortcomings

I would have bought it for ten

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anyway go there
the weiner schnitzel ist sehr gut
kartufel salat mit zweibel
und schoen-warm rotkohl

there are tastings from wineries everywhere around
a microbrew right on the main
and the signs say you can drink on the sidewalk

me I'm temperant now
no doubt thanks to Hans Huckabein