While I was waiting to meet a friend for a walk and coffee on the Van Loon ship in Urbanhafen.

A bit of the Teltowkanal, and afterwards a quick visit to the oldest part of Teltow. The route on Komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/488208177.

Can’t seem to get to grips with the much-lauded Canon 100-400 mm is II usm.

A sure sign of autumn – when the starlings congregate to bask in the late-afternoon sunlight – here on the crane next door yesterday.

Had they been there this morning, they would have had this view of the sky:

Sadly, for four or five years Berlin’s only annual art fair. The good news is, it is a great fair, and takes place in one of my favourite venues – two hangars in Tempelhof Airport.

On the way there, stumbled upon a new exercise pad in one of my local parks:

Some impressions from the fair and surroundings:

And finally, while having a drink in the outdoor area with an old friend from Denmark who now also lives in Berlin, we spotted many hawks (I think they are ….) hovering above. Unfortunately, I did not have the right lens with me so I might use my invitation to visit the fair again, if only to bring a more appropriate lens and spend more time in the outdoor area. Meanwhile, this was the best I could do under the circumstances:

It is interesting to see how the new house rules create the kind of world order which suits Max and which he understands.

This is especially obvious with the rule that I eat first, before I feed him (just like in the wild, the alpha male eats first). Before, when it came to feeding time, and I fed him before I started to prepare my own meal, Max used to behave as if it was a matter of life-and-death extreme urgency for him to get fed the minute he heard the sounds of his meal being prepared. Now that I cook and eat first, he either sits or lies, just outside the kitchen, and watches me, completely patiently, or he goes to his bed and goes to sleep. He is still back on his feet the second I then start to get his food ready, but he observes those preparations with much more patience than he used to. This sequence of events is clearly more in his nature and something he can relate to.

This morning, we visited a new (at least for me – I am not sure about Max) dog park – also on Tempelhofer Feld but over on the other side, nearer to Tempelhof S and U station and a little less than 5 km away on foot. I had only recently discovered its existence. It is about the same size as the other one, I think, so not much difference except there is a lot more going on on that side of the airfield. I think we will alternate between those two as long as weather and time permit, and then use the ones at Gleisdreieck and Hasenheide when it becomes colder and windier and on days where for one reason or the other we have a little less time. I love Tempelhofer Feld, but it is a little bit further away than the other parks, and it can get unbelievably cold there. Even if it is not particularly windy in the rest of Berlin, it can get incredibly windy on that airfield.

On this week’s me-me-me day, the weather was the best it has been all year, so I skipped the indoor exhibitions and went to the nearest stretch of water to have lunch on the van Loon boat at Carl-Herz-Ufer and spend some quality time with my camera, hoping to get back in photography mode.

First morning ever where I got out of bed before Max did, and he came to greet me enthusiastically but not trembling or whimpering, and when I started making my coffee, he went back to his pillow in the living room on his own initiative.

Relaxed walk to Tempelhofer Feld, with no incidents of lunging or growling, despite the fact that we have not walked that route for a long time, and it is via busy streets with narrow, but busy pavements.

Max enjoyed frolicking in the dog park there – the one near Herfurthstraße – an old familiar place for him, but my first time inside the dog park with Max, for almost an hour. This is the largest of our three within-walking-distance dog parks.

The walk home was even more relaxed, perhaps because Max had blown off a lot of steam there and even seemed a bit tired before we reached home. Most of the morning spent in September weather at its best.

And then – woohooo – coming home to discover that the most invasive part of the scaffolding – the one that has now ruined three summers and stolen valuable light for that entire year where light would have been really valuable because, like so many others, had to stay at home as much as possible – had gone! The light was almost blinding. Just kidding – in the meantime, the weather had turned quite grey. But still – a feeling of being able to see and breathe.

September is my favourite month and often the weather is really lovely, so I am planning on enjoying this fully, including being able to again leave my balcony door open overnight, since it is no longer possible to walk directly onto my balcony.

In the photo, Max is one of the dots over by the fence in the background.