Memorial Day in Ramstein, Germany

I work on an American Air Force Base and this has been one of the quietest Memorial Days I have had in my entire 58 years. It is possible that since this is a recognized American Holiday, giving us a 3 day weekend, that many (most) of the American population is touring Europe. I heard of several groups going to Berlin, Italy, France, hiking, biking and sighting, but I am too new to be included in such trips. Instead, I enjoyed an early celebration in Kaiserslautern Saturday and a quiet, pensive Monday.

A colleague invited me to an early festival in her home city of Kaiserslautern, the largest city close to where I am staying. The festival itself was very small, mostly rides geared toward the very young but the bells, whistles and colors were a delight that was equaled only by the smiling faces of children going round and round and round. Screams of delight or fear, it was hard to discern which, echoed through the streets of the carnival. Entertainment for the young at heart with lead in their feet was at the opposite end of the festival, in a tent about the size of 1/2 a football field. This was the bier festival with a live German band who played
"old favorites," maybe similar to Mid-life Crisis.

My friend said that lead would melt and before we would leave, she promised that everyone would be dancing on top of the table, including me. It was great fun witnessing how the German people relate to music and one another, how they include those sitting on the same bench or several benches over, how easily one is engaged and how unimportant language is. I of course didn't know any of the songs, but it was hard not to eventually wiggle to the rhythm. That damn early Baptist rearing you know, where it is pounded into you that a dancing foot and praying knee don't grow on the same leg.

There were so many beautiful segments, older women who were soft and comfortable in their XXL tops, dancing with young men in their mid 20's who had 6pack abs, husbands who could shake a leg as long as the younger ones and the absolute involvement of everyone present. I admit only to standing on the table as the evening wore on, but only so I could see. I stayed the night at my friends apartment and took the train back to Ramstien Sunday morning, a trip that took all of 17 minutes.

And today, it is quiet. An early morning walk on a trail that I thought would take me to Miesenbach took me instead to Weirbach and rather than walk on into the village, I chose to sit on a bench in the middle of the woods next to the walking trail. The sounds were surreal but I could never identify the source, so I didn't sit in silence but I did sit in peace. I love the walking trails in Germany. They are wide, almost 7 feet I'd say, and asphalted and WEED-EATED by city personnel. They stretch from village to village, going through valleys and fields and nary a farm house in site. But once you commit to walking, you keep going because there is no going back. I returned back to Hotel Europa 2 hours later and was grateful that today was an American holiday and I was not expected to show up for work!

Memorial Day, 2009. And as I sat on that bench in the middle of the woods on the side of the walking trail, listening to sounds I couldn't identify, I remembered my dad. A WWII veteran with the Air Corps. And I remembered Grandpa Charley, not for his service in WWI but for his pumpkin pie. And I remembered my mom, a veteran in her own right although not a soldier, and there was Gertrude, grandma West and grandma Charley. Many people I have loved who would understand a walk in the woods, sitting on a bench in personal silence surrounded by sound.

Happy holiday!