about the fate that brought us together? I think fate did us a big favor.”
“You’re the nicest gift fate ever gave me,” Mathis agreed. “But I’m afraid it’s a bit more complicated than that. You’ve got your life and I’ve got mine. Your vacation will last . . . how many more days?”
I calculated quickly. “Oh my God. Only three more days. Then what?”
“‘Then what?’ is exactly what I’m talking about. That’s the problem.”
“Every problem has a solution,” I told him.
“I used to think so, too.”
“You’re being awfully pessimistic.”
“I’m just trying to be realistic, Nele. It won’t be easy to make this work. The more I thought about it these last few days, the more problems I saw ahead of us.”
“Starting with your wife.” My voice shook a little.
“My wife? No. We’re still legally married, but we went our separate ways long ago.”
My heart started to race. “Well, then, what’s standing in our way?”
“Plenty of things. That’s just one problem we won’t have.”
“Well, it’s a big problem not to have!”
He laughed. “Oh, my darling, you’re so right. Things could be a lot worse! Let’s save the problems for later and enjoy the days we have. I say we start immediately.”
And we did.
W e sailed along the North Sea coast under glorious summer skies, heading southeast into the Wadden Sea. We passed islands with sandy beaches where seals lounged in pairs and welcomed us with big yawns. Gulls circled and screeched at us, then flew off with loud protests when they realized that we weren’t going to share our food with them.
At ebb tide one morning, the Spieker ran aground. But when the water finally returned she came afloat again slowly, and we continued our days of lying lazily on the deck or taking long walks on the foreshore.
During our walks, my appreciation for the sensitive ecosystem grew. Mathis seemed to know everything about the Wadden Sea—its history and characteristics, its flora and fauna, and its importance in the global ecosystem. I wished every biology class could include a section about the Wadden Sea. Every student should have to come here, I thought. As a student, I’d always wished schools would make practical, hands-on experience more of a priority. The average textbook might include a few photos and sketches of an animal or plant, but that was no substitute for seeing them in nature. I might have excelled more at the natural sciences if I’d been able to breathe in the scent of a flower or listen to a native bird warble cheerfully, or if I could have waded into the sea. It was no different with mathematics, physics, or chemistry, and the relevance of most exercises those teachers assigned had been lost on me. I could already tell after her first year of school that it was going to be the same for Paula. Mathis felt my pain.
“I should have done things differently with my kids,” he said.
“Did you have another choice?”
“I could have made some other plan for our lives.”
“You mean, emigrate?”
“No, I wasn’t talking about moving away, although we could have done that. I meant I should have traveled much more with the children. Not just during the holidays, but for months at a time. They would have learned a lot more from traveling the world than they learned sitting around in school.”
“About what?”
“About the way the world works, and about all the important things everything else gets built upon.”
“You’d have gotten in trouble if you pulled them out of school. Imagine if everyone flouted our sacred education laws like that! Where would our country be then?”
“Those laws protect a lot of people’s jobs. But they probably would have let me, whether they wanted to or not.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I am a teacher. I could have taught the children myself, wherever we went.”
“But I thought you were an architect!” I said.
“I’m that, too. But I studied teaching and I even
“You’re the nicest gift fate ever gave me,” Mathis agreed. “But I’m afraid it’s a bit more complicated than that. You’ve got your life and I’ve got mine. Your vacation will last . . . how many more days?”
I calculated quickly. “Oh my God. Only three more days. Then what?”
“‘Then what?’ is exactly what I’m talking about. That’s the problem.”
“Every problem has a solution,” I told him.
“I used to think so, too.”
“You’re being awfully pessimistic.”
“I’m just trying to be realistic, Nele. It won’t be easy to make this work. The more I thought about it these last few days, the more problems I saw ahead of us.”
“Starting with your wife.” My voice shook a little.
“My wife? No. We’re still legally married, but we went our separate ways long ago.”
My heart started to race. “Well, then, what’s standing in our way?”
“Plenty of things. That’s just one problem we won’t have.”
“Well, it’s a big problem not to have!”
He laughed. “Oh, my darling, you’re so right. Things could be a lot worse! Let’s save the problems for later and enjoy the days we have. I say we start immediately.”
And we did.
W e sailed along the North Sea coast under glorious summer skies, heading southeast into the Wadden Sea. We passed islands with sandy beaches where seals lounged in pairs and welcomed us with big yawns. Gulls circled and screeched at us, then flew off with loud protests when they realized that we weren’t going to share our food with them.
At ebb tide one morning, the Spieker ran aground. But when the water finally returned she came afloat again slowly, and we continued our days of lying lazily on the deck or taking long walks on the foreshore.
During our walks, my appreciation for the sensitive ecosystem grew. Mathis seemed to know everything about the Wadden Sea—its history and characteristics, its flora and fauna, and its importance in the global ecosystem. I wished every biology class could include a section about the Wadden Sea. Every student should have to come here, I thought. As a student, I’d always wished schools would make practical, hands-on experience more of a priority. The average textbook might include a few photos and sketches of an animal or plant, but that was no substitute for seeing them in nature. I might have excelled more at the natural sciences if I’d been able to breathe in the scent of a flower or listen to a native bird warble cheerfully, or if I could have waded into the sea. It was no different with mathematics, physics, or chemistry, and the relevance of most exercises those teachers assigned had been lost on me. I could already tell after her first year of school that it was going to be the same for Paula. Mathis felt my pain.
“I should have done things differently with my kids,” he said.
“Did you have another choice?”
“I could have made some other plan for our lives.”
“You mean, emigrate?”
“No, I wasn’t talking about moving away, although we could have done that. I meant I should have traveled much more with the children. Not just during the holidays, but for months at a time. They would have learned a lot more from traveling the world than they learned sitting around in school.”
“About what?”
“About the way the world works, and about all the important things everything else gets built upon.”
“You’d have gotten in trouble if you pulled them out of school. Imagine if everyone flouted our sacred education laws like that! Where would our country be then?”
“Those laws protect a lot of people’s jobs. But they probably would have let me, whether they wanted to or not.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I am a teacher. I could have taught the children myself, wherever we went.”
“But I thought you were an architect!” I said.
“I’m that, too. But I studied teaching and I even
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