The weather app had said that yesterday it would rain all day. Not unexpected since we are in the throes of Autumn. We have had a few glimpses of chilly sun but quite a bit of mist, clouds and rain as well. I had fully been expecting a cozy rainy day but when I took the pups out first thing in the morning it was chilly but sun was peeking out from behind the clouds.

By the time Ana had gotten up there was full blown sun shining down outside. Still hovering around 45 degrees we quickly bundled up and got the pups ready to head outside. Ana had looked at me and said, “What about Konigsheide?”

“What is Konigsheide?” I asked. I looked it up and much to my surprise, just a 15 minute bus ride away is a large swath of forested area, about 270 acres, 110 Hectares. We set out with dogs all ready to go and the sun continuing to shine. We arrived and let them off lead to run and jump around (acceptable in this medium size forest right in this area in the city). We walked around and around down this trail and that. It was just what we all needed. We were there for a few hours before heading home before it started to mist in the evening.

Later on, I looked up why it’s called “Konigsheide” or the Kings forest (maybe a better translation is moor). The name goes back to a meeting between the Swedish King Gustav Adolf and the Brandenburg Elector Georg Wilhelm, which took place during the Thirty Years’ War at the Kanne forester’s house halfway between Berlin and Köpenick. From there, there was history around how these neighborhoods came together and whittled down the forest until this protected area stood in place. There had been waterworks from here and at one point a children’s home. Now, it is uncultivated in areas and untouched by cultivation but enjoyed but those of us in the southern parts of Berlin.

An unexpected day turned out to be so much better than I planned outside. I was kind of dreading doing the same things indoors while COVID and rain made it impossible to do much. I am so grateful for the unexpected sun and a moment to take advantage of it.

This morning the rains arrived as planned and the chill never left so in mist and 40 degrees Ana and I headed out to buy coffee along the way to our friends’ new shop, Wachstuecherei (the Wax Wrap shop). Chelsea and Anna have been making wax wraps for markets for the past few years and have finally made their business into a shop. They are within a 20 minute walk from us and a German news tv station took notice. They made a video today and we were lucky enough to be able to help as staged customers.

We showed up, bundled up and ready to look inquisitive and buy our wraps. We have been customers but today we got to put our acting skills to the test. We stood for many shots before they were on to the next shot. We were happy to help and talked about this experience all the way home. Ana was more anxious but how cool that we have built community around us, local and lovely, that we get to help our friends, be on German tv at some point (we don’t really know details), and be a part of this community in a different way.

How is your Sunday so far?