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September is one of the loveliest months at the Barracks. Not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket,1 but it is also surprisingly and suddenly autumnal. I don’t even feel like I’ve started with this year yet, and we’re almost into wood burning mode.

That said, September is also one of the more brutally hard working months. If you’re as behind on the wood chopping as I am. This may count as a strong foreshadowing of the job list for the week, but I am definitely going to be oiling my axe today.
Otherwise, I spend a long weekend up in Berlin. I had a very capable pig sitter sitting the pigs, and they seem properly happy with life, so I guess that went very well. And I got to spend some time with the granddaughter. A little nugget of perfection in human form, so she is. Daughter and baby daddy both seem to be doing very well and it’s always a pleasure to be with them as well.
But Berlin. My dudes who live there - how? People often seem to think that after a few years on the island in the forest I am strangely unable to deal with the urgencies of big city living, and I will admit that these days I much prefer the wind in the trees to the cry of the costermonter, the silence of the forest over the bustle of the streets, but Berlin - why do you have to be so constantly angry at everything? You have to go a long way to see a smile on the streets of Berlin, but you can be shouted at, pestered and pissed on on just about any corner of the capital. I don’t mind going, of course, the descendants are all there, and also book shops, cafes and Dolores the burrito shop2, it’s a vibrant and interesting place. But it is angry about something.

And now, back at the Barracks, and we have the pleasure of the other daughter. I’m half way between where she was and where she is going, so she and the entourage have called in for a couple of nights. It’s been a good month so far.
In the jobs this week we have:
If the weather stays dry, finish the roof
More sauces, jams, pickles
Hopefully some mushrooms too
Chopping wood. In 50% tempo. I shall work up to it and next week hit it hard, I think
And so, until then, I shall sign off for now and wish you all wonderful starts to this, the last Autumn of human society, please consider what it means to be profoundly excellent to each other, and with much love
Your Pirate Ben
xoxo
Currently reading Pirate Enlightenment by David Graeber. It’s good, but in all humility, I think I said it better.
Happy Birthday to Daughter #1. You’re amazing and I love you so very much!
I know, this is actually April 25th, but it works at the other end of the year as well! (In the real world, a good 20% of everything I say is film quotes / references. I’m just keeping it real)
I have probably eaten at Dolores over 200 times. In a city which now has over 300 vegan restaurants, cafes and cupcake shops, Dolores was the only place with an actual vegan item on the menu when I moved to Berlin in 2009. And now, they have stopped doing wholegrain wraps. I am deeply conflicted.
KW-35 Early Autumn vibes
I love the quote underneath the first photo; I know it from "Wings of Desire" (Himmel ueber Berlin; translation isn't great), one of my all-time favorite films. I believe it's Peter Handke.
I lived through a proper riot in Switzerland this past Saturday (actually, 200 meters away from my flat) - something I thought I would never see in this part of the world. I witnessed 200 Eritreans, both pro- and anti-government supporters beating each other senseless with large sticks...then going after innocent women and children. It was far too much for my naive mind to take in...and a sign that collapsing governments and societies in one part of the world eventually end up everywhere... Now, I feel I could do with a heavy session of chopping wood...and playing gently with innocent mice...