Lives of Others

After helping a student find her way on the S-Bahn to visit a friend of her mother's sister's cousin's boyfriend in Berlin (something like that), I stopped off in the far east where few tourists go and took in some of the old Berlin that's stayed the same. I found a rusty old houseboat and was surprised to see a man pop off of a hatch for a smoke break. Despite the general disorder, three flower boxes decorated his boat. On that same section of the Spree river, near Treptower Park, a couple was enjoying a kayak in front of newly constructed apartments. For a few moments, their lives were intertwined with the old man along the river.