04) The Eriskircher Ried

In the month of May, the Eriskircher Ried near Friedrichshafen was alive with new life. Wildflowers bloomed in scattered colors across the wetlands, and the breeze carried the scent of fresh water and earth. Birds circled overhead, their calls echoing in the stillness.

Jürgen walked slowly along the familiar path, his hands clasped behind his back. He had grown up here, in this corner of southern Germany where Lake Constance touches the sky. Every bend in the trail, every willow tree leaning into the reeds, was etched in his memory. But today was different. Today, he wasn’t walking alone. Beside him was his son, Huayna—born far away in Brazil, under the wide skies of South America.

This was his first time in the Eriskircher Ried. The landscape was new to him, unfamiliar but not unwelcome. He moved with quiet curiosity, taking in the rustle of the tall grasses, the mirror-like surface of the water, the pale green light filtering through the trees.

“This is where I used to come as a boy,” Jürgen said softly, his voice filled with something between pride and longing. “Before school, after chores... sometimes just to think.”

Huayna didn’t answer right away. He was listening—not just to his father, but to the land itself. Though he had been raised among the dense forests and rivers of Brazil, something about this place stirred him. Perhaps it was the way the land seemed to breathe, slowly and patiently, or the way the wind carried voices that were not quite voices.

As they walked, Jürgen pointed out plants he remembered, the small birds nesting in the reeds, and the quiet pools where frogs once sang in the evenings. Huayna asked questions—not many, but enough. He was learning more than just facts; he was learning his father’s memories, and the invisible thread that tied them to this land.

By the time they reached a clearing where the light spilled across the wetland like gold, something had shifted. They stood there for a moment, neither speaking. There was no need to.

In that moment, the Eriskircher Ried was no longer just part of Jürgen’s past. It had become part of Huayna’s story too.

Published: 29/04/2025