One thing about the Swirling Epicenter this time of year is the beautiful color all around us as the leaves turn. There are bright yellows, some oranges and a few dark purple; some red, and a lot that stay green. There are a lot of trees in the Swirl; more than most cities. Due to the varying altitudes and temperatures in the area, the trees don't all change at the same time. Seems like some of them change overnight. There is a huge tourist business up the hill; flatlanders drive through the mountains and oooh and aaah at the aspens' dramatic colorations. But I can sit on my deck out back and see forty shades of green and gold, without the drive up the hill.
Today MamaCharlie and I were driving down Grinnell, a local road, and remarking on the trees lining the way. They are fairly young but are turning a brilliant yellow. I told her that it reminded me of the trees in Germany, especially a stand of trees near Patch Barracks in the Stuttgart area. If you leave Patch heading for Busnau, you come to a "T" at Magstadterstrasse. Turn right and shortly you come to a big curve. Right in front of the Waldhotel Schatten, a beautiful hotel stuck in the woods (hence the name "Waldhotel"), the road goes into a deceptively sharp curve and starts down a pretty good hill. The road curves back to the left and heads down the hill to another road, Mahdentalstrasse, that leads to a traffic circle at highway 14. That was the "back-way" to Robinson Barracks. Sorry, it's the trucker in me, but I got all the street names and routes out of my system now so we can get back to the purpose of this story. Going back to the front of the hotel, as soon as you pass it and are heading downhill there are three or four trees on the side of the road that every year turn the exact same yellow as our local trees. They have a backdrop of the hills and forests and are stunningly beautiful.
The Schatten used to be painted pink and was a known landmark for giving directions and locations. The Pink Hotel. Being on the curve had it's disadvantages, though. One morning as I was enroute to Robinson Barracks on business, I found the curve in front of the Pink Hotel covered with Polizei and fire trucks (they are all color coded but I don't remember which was which). There was a "stau" (traffic back-up) for a kilometer or two, and as I crept closer to the hotel I could see the back end of a large-body Mercedes sticking out of the second story window on the corner of the building. The Merc's driver apparently was unaware of the curve and went straight instead. He passed between two large trees with barely enough clearance to do so, hitting the slight incline of the trees' root structures, and launched his Merc about 12 feet into the air. Just enough to enter the corner suite and disrupt the sleep of the older folks who were spending the night there. Looking it over later after all the law and order had gone away, I couldn't find any trace of car paint on the trees even though there was just barely enough room between them for a car to pass through. The fellow at the desk told me the most amazing thing about this incident...it had happened just a few years before... the exact same room and all.
I included this photo because it shows the curve really well. From the ground, as you drive by, you never see all the hotel that is behind the front of the building. Dating from 1783, this four-star hotel boasts a gourmet restaurant, modern spa and fitness center, and spacious conference facilities. So for an establishment of this caliber, it had to be a Mercedes, nicht war?