Leaving adorable Hameln behind, we continued on to Gutersloh, home of my friend Roland, and his family. Roland and I were canoe partners (and hunting partners, and beer drinking partners.....) in the Yukon. We took prospecting courses together. We hiked the Chilcoot trail together. Our big claim to fame was our Rat river trip. From Fort MacPherson in the NWT, to Old Crow in the Yukon. 32 days in the bush, 28 of them without seeing another human being. The route crosses the continental divide, so most of our time was spent going UP river....surrounded by mosquitos for all of the 24 hours of daylight. Lets just say the kind of trip that you come out of being either close friends, or hating each other. Roland is on my very short list of ‘close friends’.
Among other jobs he had in Whitehorse, Roland was a river guide; leading tour groups on various Yukon rivers. Now a Canadian citizen, he’s originally Swiss, and speaks English, French, German, and Italian, so he was a real gift for the European tourists. Well, the inevitable happened.......on some romantic Yukon river, he got a little too close to one of his clients, and is now raising his family in Germany!
Karen and Roland got married and lived in the Yukon for for a while, then eventually moved to her home town, Gutersloh. They have 2 of the most adorable boys you could ever meet; Roman and Timon. Roman is the oldest, and a little more serious and a bit quieter than his brother. He’s unbeatable when we’re in the car playing ‘Ich sehe, was du nicht siehst’ (I Spy With My Little Eye). Timon is best described as the devil incarnate. If there is trouble to get into (or not), they will find each other! Both boys were a complete joy to be around. It was wonderful to take a look at life through such young eyes. Everything was a game, everywhere a toy. I completely enjoyed them. Barbie started say there were really three little boys! Timon’s sense of humor matched mine very well, and I think we got ‘the adults’ annoyed at us more than once. I took to calling him my ‘kleine Kumpel (my Little Buddy). He’d look up and say ‘Big Kumpel’! It was really pretty special.
We had of course met Karen before, but had never spent that much time together; Barbie & I were leaving the Yukon pretty much as she was arriving. The more time I spend around her, the more I can understand how she captured the heart of my good friend. She is a very warm and kind person, and I might add an incredible cook. She is a terrific hostess, and I thank her for her patients; both when I played too much with her ‘little boys’, and when I played too late with her ‘big’ one!
Karen’s parents live downstairs in the same house, so we were fortunate enough to meet them also. Last winter, Karen’s Mother saw a pair of tiny little Hedgehogs alone; way too late in the fall. The experts say that if they don’t weigh a certain amount (I think 400 grams), by a certain date (Nov 1???), that they will not survive the winter, and should be brought inside, if found. She raised them well, and returned them to the (semi) wild in the spring. She of course maintains a feeding station, and up to 5 of them come around each night. What a wonderful treat for us! They will actually come to Karens’ Mom’s call, ‘lecke lecke’ (it means delicious, or tasty) and they must be able to recognize her footsteps, because they always came to her, but ran away when I came with the camera. Barbie was patient enough to get a few good shots. They are sooo cute!
As you’ll see from the pictures, we toured around, and visited some local sights, ate good food......even had a little fire and some beer; but most important, got to spend time with good friends. I hope someday soon I get to spend some more time with those boys while they are still boys! Roland mentioned some day he would like to take them paddling on the Yukon river...........Now that’s the stuff that dreams are made of!!!!
 Family Wuethrich. Thats Roman on the lef... |
 The old downtown area. |
24-27 Sept.
