I woke up early to make Zane and Oma some carrot apple juice. It was a crisp morning, enjoyably so, I thought. Oma and I ate together while Zane continued to hibernate in his way, whenever possible... I had Musli and Oma toast with coffee, and of course, the carrot apple juice on top. I brought Zane his juice in a german beer mug, thought it would do the trick.Oma and I drove to the post office for our rail tickets to Karlsrue, they would only sell us 5, 1 way tickets, so we drove to Beitighiem train station and I bought them from the machine beside the tracks. For cheaper too, I think..Upon return, Zane had had enough sleep and was ready for action. So I took him on a walk around the perimeter of town. We went up the stairs and through the alley next to the church and my kindergarden, where Incidentally I was offered my first cigarette at the age of 11 m, but flatly refused, and continued to do so for the next 11 years, until one drunken night I lost a battle against peer pressure and succumbed to the darkness. We went to the the center of town, then around the outside near the event grounds, soccer fields and shooting club. When we got back we made mini cheese pizzas from the freezer, Oma keeps all kinds of nice frozen foods in her freezer in the basement. She has them delivered by a sort of catering company that makes each food themselves for certain regions in Germany. When I was younger I used to think that it was scary going down there with the huge water heater the size of a room, spiders and cob webs, bottles of strange brews and racks of sharp and dangerous tools. Not to mention how dark it is. It still looks like that today, with a few newer additions to the decor, but still with the same feel. Some things never change, others very slowly, especially in Germany.My Uncle Armin came over with his wife Dani and my cousin Lisa. In true German style they brought with them pre dinner desert, a homemade coconut cake with Mango gelatin topping, and her new age (78) written on top, made of hardened sugar. When we approached the time of our reservation, They left us with whatever remained of the cake and went home to change before the main course. We all met at Saba, http://buergerstube-saba.de/index.php/en/ a restaurant made to look like a cave. Its one of the fancy places to eat in our little town. You know, special occasions only. I drove the three of us there, a journey of no more than 4 minutes, depending on traffic, and sat down some 5 minutes before Armin and company arrived to join us. I ordered a Flankuchen, and they brought me a flamkuchen... The last time I was here I ordered the same thing and they brought me the same different thing. Zane got a steak that oma suggested for him and he loved it. I suppose its just my bad restaurant karma from my terrorizing years of youth playing itself out, It's got to happen. Overall though dinner was a pleasant affair and passed quickly. I drove us home and we all Skyped mom in America, who was already talking to Michelle, my older sister on the phone, so she was put on speaker and we had one of those funny three way communications that the digital age has made possible. I gave Oma the necklace and bracelets that Michelle had intrusted with me to bring to her and then Zane and I started to watch a movie, but I went to bed as soon as I figured out the entire plot of the movie in 5 minutes and didn't care to prove or disprove my theories..

If there is one thing I can tell you about Zane, it's that he's a sleeper. Unless he has no other choice than to get up really early, to catch a bus or plane for instance, he wont. Not that theres anything wrong with that, especially on vacation, but Im the opposite, as soon as the sun is up, I'm wide awake. Not that I'm jumping out of bed stretching my arms and running to get my shoes on to go chop wood in the misty morning light or anything, but still, were different in this way, and it greatly influences our experiences. When I got up at around 7am I went downstairs to the 1st story, and had a shower. Oma's shower head is the detachable kind you can hold and direct as you like, which is nice, only thing is it sprays water in tight ultra small needle-like streams, which sting regardless of how far away you get from it, which is why I sat on the floor of the enclosure and untangled my hair as I was stung lightly from above.I used Dr. Bronner's soap on my head, which as I would shorty realize is a mistake, lest you dilute it heavily with water, for it dried out my scalp immediately afterward. So Ill have to deal with dandruff for a while, Oh well, if it's not exploding ass syndrome it's another thing I guess...At 11 or so, three hours after Oma and I had breakfast, Zane came down from the attic to the ground floor and greeted us. The first thing to do was drive Oma's car, a fun little Kia four door hatchback to Edeka, one of many German supermarkets that riddle the country everywhere you go, Aldi being the largest, with over 10,000 stores and 50 billion in yearly revenue. Aldi also owns Trader Joes in America, and is the largest most profitable individually owned business in the world. Just a fun fact. We stocked up at Edeka with whatever we might need for the week were in Bietigheim, spending roughly €60.Then we drove over to a local mans house who has converted his two door garage into his own beverage dispensary. Serving mostly beer of varying German brands, but also suppling juice, and Mineral water. He's been doing this for a long time, and our family has been doing business with him since long before I was born. We bought a case of beer, 30 glass bottles of Hoepfner export for €14, a great deal really, and headed home, which is literally down the street and around the corner from his house.We ate lunch and then finished watching the Hateful Eight, Quentin Tarantino's eighth movie, which we started watching last night but were too tired to finish, and what a movie it is! Not nearly as bloody as some of his films, but just as violent and gruesome in so many ways. His mastery of dialogue and story telling however is still the main focus and attraction of his work.For dinner we made a big salad and baked a Pizza, Im not a big bread person anymore, but now that Im with Zane, it's practically a staple again. I have three choices if Im going to party, either I don't drink and eat whatever I like and influence the party with my normal overly logical and mind game playing self, which can go either way really. Drink and eat what I normally do but get so drunk so quickly Im out of the game before its even begun, or drink and eat bread and maintain myself throughout the festivities with acceptable levels of drunken psychobabble.Either way Im far too much of a lightweight these days being a Vegan and all to hold my liquor on nothing but salad and juice, and as I've already explained, drunk Danny has his quarks but at least when he's drunk he's way more relaxed about his attempts to rouse your soul and all its trauma, your mind and all it's ideas and beliefs to the heat of the moment, in what Danny hopes will be a defining moment in your life worth considerable thought and soul searching sometime in the near future. Which is what he does nearly every moment for himself, so I suppose he's just sharing what he knows.My uncle Armin, who also lives in Bietigheim, along with almost all my German relatives, came over to visit as we were eating. We greeted him and he invited us to join him in beer brewing this Saturday, three days from now, at his home. Tomorrow is Oma's birthday and we will be going out to Dinner with Armin, his wife Dani, and Lisa their daughter, my cousin. For now, Zane and I drink beer and talk about our future plans, as we listen to the rain rattle against the roof we sleep beneath.