A Walk On The Vine Side.

A short yet delightfully long walk.

It seemed to have been a weekend a-foot. Just yesterday afternoon I partook in a village excursion ( organized by the mayor & co. ), through the forest complete with pit stops and a fabulous bunch of people. People from all four suburbs went along on the long walk which ended up in St. Kathrein for a well deserved rest at the finish. Rest a la Burgenland of course. I'll let you read between the lines.

All together we must have been a group of twenty odd and some were seasoned walkers nary breaking sweat while others were glad to stop along the way to lean against trees, sit on the third rung of the ladder of a hunter's lookout or avail themselves of the open boot of the support van. You didn't really think that we would carry all those refreshments, did you?

At one stage one of the men standing next to me dropped his walking sticks ( the Nordic kind ) and without thinking I bent down to help pick them up. Well, I must have a reputation of helping the oldies because he straightaway told me he wasn't old enough yet to need my help...Goodness me even I can see he's miles away from requiring my help!

This morning was sort of earmarked for a rest from walking but the birds were singing, the sun was smiling and it was madness not to venture forth. Oh, today was an extra special walk as I met up with four lots of walkers and friends along the way. Look, here in our neck of the woods one doesn't just wave and march on...no, we stop to shoot the breeze, exchange our good fortune at where we are allowed to live and the odd bit of gossip. Only a wee, wee bit!

Those few conversations along the way were manna for the soul. Often all it takes is a smile here, a nod of greeting there and a few minutes spent talking about nothing, yet really everything. A friendly greeting or smile costs us nothing yet might just make the world of difference to the other person.

Biggi