Kneippen

The forecast heat wave is on it's way. Yesterday evening the clouds arrived, the temperature didn't sink under -2°C and it even snowed in the night. This morning it had turned to drizzle as we set off for the morning walk.

Sought the shelter of the "Bannwald" above Ottobeuren, one of Flash's very favourite walks with loads of wonderful dog smells to keep one well occupied and good training for the back leg muscles when covering others smells with ones own.

Just as we were setting off another border collie along with owner turned up. Luna, who has for years acted very negatively to other dogs but just in the last weeks has shown some sign of improvement, was overjoyed to see her no doubt distant cousin. No showing of teeth, just dashing around and playing. The owner knows our two dogs from several encounters with Angie around the towns dog walks. I didn't remember him but he said he had been present on the evening almost two years ago when Flash was attacked by another dog and came very close to dying. The attacking dog, Nico some type of Pyrenean Herding dog about the size of a small pony, was put down this year. His owner who could not control him, was according to our common vet, also not able to bother with treating Nico with adequate drugs that he needed. I never did blame Nico - like most matters with troublesome animal, it's down to the owners not the animal. When I first got bees a few years ago, one of the first things MrB told me - "if things go wrong in the beehive, don't blame the bees".

We walked a while with Luna's friend but then parted at a branch on the track - Flash can't go as far as he would like to and today he was on great form too. Instead we headed off down to another parallel track and back towards the car park, passing the "Kneipp Trettanlage", a health and fitness idea from the monk and naturopath Sebastian Kneipp who was born in the parish and started his priesthood at the Basilica.

Kneipp's teachings on health matters included a lot about water therapy (hydrotherapy) and these "tread mills" seen all over the area are one of the methods used for tired walking legs. Off with the shoes, roll up the trousers and then do several rounds in the cold stream water.

Kneipp was to give away the rights to his name and various nature based ointments to a be-friended chemist in northern Bavaria in 1890 who went on to build a business, nowadays owned by a large concern and the products to be found worldwide including your local UK branch of Holland & Barrett.

The Kneipp name is a major money maker in these parts, many towns calling themselves Kneipp Kurort = Spa towns. Nearby Bad Worishofen, where Kneipp did most of his doctor work, being the best known.

Flash used to be a keen user of the pool on the other side of the dam wall which Luna is standing on but nowadays he can seldom make it down the slippery slope, especially when it's covered in snow. Dogs aren't allowed in the unit itself - only deer, wild boar, cats, squirrels, birds and the like have entry rights. Shame, it would be good for his aching muscles.

Who knows, Flash may get his water exercise in the next few days as we will almost certainly have some flooding with the temperature now going up hour for hour, even at night and with increasingly strong winds and rain.

By midnight on Sunday, it should again be dry and +5°C so the people buying fireworks at the local supermarket this morning should be able to light their torch-papers in the dry. Fireworks only went on sale on Thursday and end today. Their sale is legally limited to this period for the entire year and shooting them off is also regulated, generally from 14:00pm on 31/12 until 6:00am on 1/1 with some state to state variation. In exceptional circumstances one can apply to the local council to have an exemption e.g. for a birthday party and no doubt with a small charge to cover the cost of replying to the complaint calls that the council will get the following morning.

Whether shooting off 137 million Euros, in to the German skies alone tomorrow evening, makes sense is questionable in my biased view. Not a great time for animals, not just our pets and personal animals but also the wildlife. And apparently it is one heck of a good source of air pollution. I am more a friend of organised central displays if one has to do it. But there again, I am just an old grumpy who should spend more time studying Kneipp's Five Good Health rules than wasting time spouting on Blip :-)

Now to filling the fridge with bottles of sparkling alcohol-free bubbly aromatised water wine champagne and hope for a pop-ing good drink in 36 hours.