No Shade, No Ducks

The heat that Tuesday showed no mercy, burning everything down since early morning. Becca and I made it out to the Lamerdinger Baggerweiher—a gravel pit lake outside town—which the local school paper once reviewed under the most inspired headline imaginable: "With ice cream truck, ducks, and fish but no shade." No ducks or fish in sight, as it turned out, just a lot of old bodies baking in the sun and one older gentleman who had clearly stopped caring some years ago.

The cool water didn’t hold us long. We drove home and stuffed ourselves with Ofenkäse—thick baked cheese, heavy and greasy—which somehow works even in crushing heat. That evening a bigger crew: Becca, Ana, Martin, Marina, her boyfriend Basti, and me, all at the Chap. Little Straub immediately got on my nerves. Just play the damn game. Otherwise a decent night, though twelve euros for a cocktail still feels obscene.