Fallen

by Robb Rosas

I love the fall in Germany. It is very beautiful. You can smell the change in the air. There is a painful crispness in the morning air that reminds one what it is to be alive. The color changes are bountiful. It is as if the Heidelberg hills are on fire. It is especially vividly ablaze when a breeze tosses the leaves of the trees so that the flame-colors dance on the hill.

Fall is a great time. It is harvest time. It is time to reap the rewards of a years’ toil. It is party time. One of the better crops of Germany should be well known. It is hops. The wonderful active ingredient which when masterfully brewed makes a nice refreshing draught… beer!

Fall is also the time for new beginnings and wrapping up old commitments. People become busier, in a pleasant way. Hard tasks are lighter. The evenings are shorter, but the sun seems to burn brighter with an eerie reddish glow.

When one thinks of fall in Germany, Oktoberfest is the prime association. This is a real and unfair generalization. Oktoberfest is a party for mainly tourists. Hardly any Germans go to that festival. There are certainly plenty of other festivals to experience besides Oktoberfest. If one hasn’t been, then by all means; it should be experienced. It would be like traveling to Paris without visiting the Eiffel Tower (except that Oktoberfest is seasonal, from mid-September to the first week of October).

Actually I love the fall period. While in my native Texas, the season changes are not as drastic, Americans like the fall because it is American football time, AND my favorite celebration, Halloween. Halloween is becoming bigger in Europe. In Germany, Halloween has taking a more literal celebration than what we practice in the US. In America, Halloween is happy holiday. The kids have lots of fun dressing up in colorful costumes, usually of harmless characters, like Sponge Bob, Ninja Turtles or princesses costumes for the girls. In Germany, Halloween is a dark holiday preceding the darkest of months, November. It is not celebrated in every town, like it is in the US. , but the places where it is celebrated, Halloween is taken seriously. The costumes are dark, scary and serious. They are truly scary. When the kids go trick-or-treating they ask for something sweet or sour. If no one answers the door though or they answer the door and do not give any candy, the kids can be down right nasty and pull a bad trick which is usually a rotten egg or shaving cream on the door. It has been known that after Halloween there is found broken or missing outdoor decorations. Of course this does not appeal at all to most German locals. It is amazing at all that Halloween has any appeal. Where Halloween does thrive, it is usually supported by fun-loving, candy-giving Americans who don’t seem to suffer the negative repercussions’ of Hallows Eve.

These are all some of the nice examples that make fall pleasant. It is the anticipation of winter, the first cold snow and the Christmas season that announces the next season change. But after October what is left? What is left when Fall has fallen? While Fall is my favorite season of the month, November is no friend of mine. It is without a doubt the worst month of the year. It is particularly nasty in Germany. November is the month of the dead. It is the month to be sad and tragic. It is a bleak month. The weather usually cooperates with the sentiment of November. It is usually dark and drizzling. It doesn’t even rain properly in November Germany. There is a constant cold damps that seeps to your bones. People are cranky and get rain-weather-face, regenwettergesicht.

To prove my point how bleak November is in Germany I would like to list the month’s holidays:

o 1 November. Allerheiligen, (All Saints Day). This is a day to honor the dead and recognize the saints. You can only be a saint if you are dead.

o 18 November.  Volkstrauertag, (National Day of Mourning). Another day for the people of German to mourn lost ones, particularly those that were lost in tragedy, such as wars, epidemics or accidents.

o 21 November. Buß und Bettag, (Day of Repentance and Prayer). This is an atonement day for ones sins. This day should be spent praying and being soulful for all the rotten things one has done or received in their lives.

o 25 November. Totensonntag, (Sunday of the Dead). This date is not fixed. It is celebrated, (if you could call it celebrating), on the last Sunday of November. It is the last chance for the evil-doers to repent.

I’m not sure how travel is to Europe in November. I would guess the prices as well as the traffic go down quite a bit. To my friends and family I strictly advise them to spend November some place else beside Germany. Actually I would like to be anyplace else than in Germany in November.

While the picture is quite dim, it is not without hope. There are several pockets of silver lining. December is just around the corner. The next season is blowing its way through with a freshness that wisps away the dreary month of November. Thank goodness November is only 30 days.