PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

My Life in the Countryside — Between Living in the Trailer Park, Cycle Adventures and Jumps in the Sky

Week 91 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

There are many ways to improve the value of your lifestyle. Upgrading your housing situation or buying a new car are options to do so. But the quality of a living standard isn’t just defined by goods. It’s more to life.

And for me, none of those options would make me happier right now. I’m living in a trailer. It’s not even my own. I’m renting it. For nothing more than some peanuts. Yes, I’ll be saving lots of money. I almost pay no rent, very little for water and don’t use much electricity, because well, it’s a small space.

But most importantly, I live in nature.

And that is what quality life is for me. The connection to nature is all I need. I’m not a city person and don’t see myself ever being happy in a city apartment. Then I’ll rather rent an old trailer.

So here is more of my life in the countryside and my work in the sky. You know it. It doesn’t get boring over here.

Another week of mine has started with some student training in the air. This was this person’s third jump. The jump where both instructors will release the student. We don’t fly away. We’re still right there but not holding on anymore.

It is a big step for many and a difficult jump for the instructors. We need to be ready to grab the student at any time as soon as we see some instability happening.

(Picture taken with a camera mounted to my chest.)

And after so much adrenaline I got a soothing and relaxing image for you on the following day. I was just walking a small round in the afternoon when I came across a stretch of grassland right in front of the forest.

A stretch of grassland where butterflies were dancing. They were loving the late rays of sunshine soaking up some warmth.

And another picture from work. I was booked as a camera flyer today on one of the loads going up. Whenever I’m filming the passenger in freefall, I also fly up for a moment to capture the scenery below the tandem pair.

Currently, the blooming rapeseed fields are a highlight from above. They are not in full bloom yet but the yellow stands out from the rest of the farmlands.

Sunday. Our last day at work for the week. After work, I relaxed and did later a short photography walk spotting a sea of tulips in the trailer park, pink blossoms, and a sunset scene.

Taking so many photographs at once I didn’t just create a few posts out of them, I also decided to share with you more than one picture of today.

These three sunset photographs are all taken minutes apart but represent different feelings.

And then, just as I was nearing the wide-open field I spotted some white fluff moving in the distance. Only once I zoomed in with my camera I could identify the creatures as two White Storks. They were picking for worms and insects in the field. I assume.

Monday. Our off day. And what a beautiful day it was. We couldn’t hesitate but head out for another trip through the fields. The rapeseed plants are about to be in full bloom and are shining already from far.

Of course, yellow is my favorite color, and yes I love these bright shining fields. But the yellow also creates a great contrast to the blue of the sky and the lush green grass.

I took this picture this morning after I hung up the laundry. Yes, this is our home. For now. And for the next 6 months. It’s small but big enough for us. And most importantly it is surrounded by nature.

I don’t have to walk 5 meters and I’m in the woods. I hear the birds singing day in and out. If I’m in bed, in the kitchen, or busy doing my gym session on the grass in front of the trailer. I hear birds all the time and from everywhere.

And yes, the flowers are blooming. Others have started to mow the lawn but I asked my husband to wait a little longer. I don’t like clean-cut lawns. I love the wilderness. Even in the garden.

When we were told there was no work today we quickly started making plans. At first, we were thinking of going to Berlin but then my husband said “how far is it to the ocean?”

I’d take any ocean at any time over a city trip. And off we went this morning. In under two hours, we arrived in Rostock, a famous ocean town on the Baltic Sea.

I might have taken over 200 photographs (don’t tell my husband) and I have more to say about this day trip than I have space in this photo essay, so I’ll cover that in a different post. Or two.

But here for you is a photograph from today. A picture of the Baltic Sea with the tall standing Neptune Hotel of the city Warnemünde close to Rostock in the background.

This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett was the one starting this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.

Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian

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