I went for a walk in the woods here in suburbia and took a turn, I haven’t taken before. Wandering throught the beautiful 50 shades of fresh spring green, I happened upon this: a concrete post with a neon-pink arrow spraypainted on it. I understand, that clear directions may be helpful for runners or riders also using this path. But where did the post come from? And to what end was it rammed into the woods in the first place? No idea. Half an hour later, I passed another one, this time dropped to the ground. The arrow thus pointing back to where I came from. And some time later yet, one more….

A weird parade of material not belongig into a wood. Which was otherwise very much to my liking: full of birches. I know, they are called weed of the woods. But actually, birches are pioneers. No matter how difficult the ground may be or how dry or otherwise hostile the environment is, they thrive first. Along with alders. And if there is some water, also any kind of the Salix family, better known as willows.

Here in suburbia, the ground was formed by glacier ice sliding by. Leaving behind many a swamp, where former icebergs meldted. Berlin basically is built on swamps thus formed. Or by the water from Spree river not having enough slope to really flow anywhere (just kidding- it is actually a hig hlevel of ground water). But Ice Age also shoved lots of sand from the coasts inland. Or else, maybe the coast was here a long time ago. So around Berlin there a many former sand dunes – as weird as this may sound. Brandenburg itself is actually often nicknamed “Brandenburger Sandbüchse” (Brandenburg Sand Shaker), for its sandy ground. Often, there is nothing but pure sand just one centimeter below vegetation looking lush. Another reason to take climate change seriously, around here – we are just one step away from turning into an outright desert. As green and beautiful as the woods may seem, right now….