22nd January 2025 年1月25日
I recently dug out my wristwatch. Put a battery into it. Now I can just glance at it if I want to know the time. I do not need to pull out my smartphone, turn it on, and read the numbers 8.30. It's part of a refreshing discovery I have made.

I'm looking at my phone too much. Why? because it is a watch, it is a television, it is a radio,
it is a texter, it is a translator, it is a calender, it is a bank, it is a boarding pass....the list is endless. And it is simply too accessible for my brain. My brain can't cope. It is being fried 🤯
I am determined to regain my brain.
Do this check: Depending on whether you have an iphone or an Android, look at Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing. Then take the average time you spend on your phone daily. Multiply it by 365, divide by 24 and then you will see how many days you have spent on your phone in a year. I came out with 30 days. Horrific!
First stop was the wristwatch ⌚ Next stop was deleting the email app (last week). Third stop was putting a 1/4 hr. time limit on Whatsapp, Instagram and News. Of course you can opt to overrun these time limits - for 1 minute, 1 day etc. But the point is you are brought up short by the time warning, which I find very useful. Oh? have I really been on Whatsapp for 15 mins? Hello brain 🧠
A New Year meal with Esther in Higematsu, behind the stock market in Frankfurt. Bursting at the seams with jolly Japanese. Why were they so jolly? Well a barrel of Sake 🍶 was on the house, ie free! The owners had just returned from Japan celebrating the New Year, and had decided to bring a custom with them. What a meal!
Soba (buckwheat) noodles to send you to heaven (stairway not needed).....

Yakitori (fried chicken) to make you sigh, Giozas (dumplings) fresh from the kitchen...tasty Edamame peas.........not enough adjectives available, just "mmmmmmm" and "yummy!...."😋

Then there was a shout across the crowded room....(it was like being at a party) "..Nigel..!!" yes.....somebody I know was celebrating her birthday with some friends. A happy evening. As she is a very good knitter, I thought she needed this picture.......

The woolly bicycle. I had taken advantage of a sunny day (a rarity these days) and hopped onto the train to Heppenheim. About 1/2 hour south of Langen. And yes, you can guess it, my walk brought me to another castle. The Starkenburg. And mighty it is, rather like Martin Luther's "Feste Burg"....

These castles are very handy for walkers like me. There is usually a bench to sit down on and eat your lunch, and a great view. Part of this one has now been converted into a youth hostel.


The road up to this huge fortification is lined with ancient cobbles......You can imagine horses struggling up here pulling carts...(full of beer?)

Now I've heard that the rents along the Bergstrasse (that's the name of the area) are high, but I didn't know that the locals were now living in the woods, tax free presumably......

hmm, must be chilly. The German economy is of course rather sluggish at the moment. Someone here obviously thought it needed a beer transfusion........

The Odenwald.......looking towards the Melibokus mountain

Now. If you go down to the woods today......you may see a...fried egg?....surely not. It is but fungus, gentle reader.......

Fungus is everywhere.....

meanwhile the wild boar have trampled on the puddles to drink....

...👍

A lesson in perspective:

There is always something to discover in these local woods. The green of the moss contrasts with the rusty iron of the railways.....

"The Holly and the Ivy.....🎵" No, we are well past Christmas. Holly is actually quite a rare sight. And nobody seems to need it for their Christmas decorations, which is nice.....

So. Change of scene. Where are we now? We are in the Neckar valley near Heidelberg. An old town called Neckargemünd. And its another hike, yes. But this time organized by my hiking colleague Vladimir from Vladivostok.

We started at the iconic castle in Heidelberg.......The Irish guy (next to me in green) didn't seem to have a jacket. Hmmm. It makes you wonder......

.....as does this stone stairway.......

.......which climbs very steeply up to the Königsstuhl (the "Kings Seat").....Because of my advanced years there was some solititous speculation on whether I would manage this or not. Ha. I was one of the first to the top........

And if the truth need be told, some of my younger colleagues didn't seem to be having an easy time of it....😄
During these hikes my brain gets these lateral thinking flashes. Himmelsleiter? Stairway to Heaven surely?.........Earls Court, London 1975 ..... for a little diversion into London history see this.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earls_Court_Exhibition_Centre

Well, 50 years later the stairway to heaven is no easier...pretty tough I can tell you....😤

But later in the day, presumably in heaven, we saw these strange rocks.........leftovers from a huge old sandstone quarry on the banks of the Neckar......

No small quarry this. They probably used it to build Heidelberg castle....

It's now around 5pm and the light is failing. Must get to the train station......The local hikers have now left us. It is freezing cold. A party breaks away to look for a restaurant. I get on a local train with Kazumi-san and head back to Heidelberg.

..... there is time to admire the view across the river.....I would like to come here again in the summer.

Perfect days........(of course I would not be thinking of this would I?😉.........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y16iVyIcCK0....)
.....start with Oi Ocha - matcha green tea with roasted rice......

....and end with a sunset

🪜 Thank you for reading "..Stairway to Heaven..."
"....天国への梯子... " を読んでくれてありがとう
🪜 Feel free to share the blog with friends.
よ ろしければ、リンクを友達と共有してください
🪜 And and I enjoy hearing from you...!
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THE END
🙃
終わり
The "Tochigi Flea Market"
「とちぎフリーマーケット」
👘🪭👜
I have a collection of stuff which a friend of mine brought from a relative's house clearance in Tochigi, Japan. I am putting them one by one in this blog. If you would like to buy anything contact me and I can send it on. This week: a delightful Yukatta (summer kimono) for a baby.......€ 10.00 (see last blog for a larger one)

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