Ok ok, running around the country-side would be more accurate, but that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 4 months. Not only is it a good way to keep all the good food here in check, it has allowed me to really see my physical surroundings. Since the Rhein River is only 100meters from my flat and there is a gravel path directly next to it, that tends to be my preferred running path. I used to run toward a setting sun on the river, then the path was littered with autumn leaves and since there have been many cold grey days. There have been foggy morning runs , jogs to neighboring villages and then there are those days that its the only way to clear my head, but it always helps it feel like a place to really call home, even if for just a few months. Barges drifting past and folks walking their grand-babies or dogs have become the norm. This past week the river has been exceptionally high and flooded most of my path, so this evening I decided to head up to the vineyards. There’s a first for everything and this evening it was running in the dark. Not safe you say- au contraire- Oestrich-Winkel has a crime rate in the negatives and cars don’t drive through the vineyards after dark. It was amazing and exhilarating to see the ‘town’ lit up at night from a higher elevation for the first time since being here! Not to mention hills are less daunting when they’re harder to see.