Personal Log: Ursprünge
Posted on June 9th, 2021 by Rike Herschel

Henrike Herschel, Personal Log. Stardate 12106.08…

“My story starts on April 27th, 2342 in Munich, Germany. I was born to Jerome and Ada Herschel who are a farmer and beer brewer, respectively. I was raised on a farm near a small village named Streitberg, in the market borough of Wiesenttal in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in the German state of Bavaria. The farm had been in the family for nine generations, and was about an hour’s walk from the village.”

“Our house was near the road that led to the village, and there was a small herb garden to the back of it. The house itself is fachwerkhäuser style which is similar to some of the buildings in the village. I remember my father telling me that the timber used on the framing was reclaimed from an old barn that used to be on the backend of the property. It is not like there’s anything wrong with replicated wood, it is just that my family for as far back as one can remember, always preferred the real thing and to do everything by hand. That is actually why my father continues farming the way he does and using as little replicated items in day-to-day life as possible.”

“I took on the hand-on yet meticulous approach of my father to my life growing up. He was always the one to measure twice and cut once, so to speak. When it comes to agriculture and caring for flora, it is important that the soil quality, watering, sowing depth, and other factors are all as precise as possible. Any one of these things being off can affect the entire yield. This was a lesson I learned early on when there was a near uncontrollable pest infestation that wiped out the entire season’s crops.”

“It was another year that further emphasized that point, only this involved my mother’s beer brewery. There was an instance where she had made a fairly large batch of beer only to toss it due to improper sanitation. It is rarely an issue, but as with everything that is hand-done, there is a possibility that things will go wrong. Better to do things the right way the first time than to do it again, eh?”

“Even though I was considered bookish in my school days, I made sure to balance out my time with all sorts of clubs. I did gardening of course, but also debate, literary magazine, community assistance, and drama. I managed to balance all of those in between extra tutoring sessions both for myself and those younger than me. When I attended my Gesamtschule, I was even a Schülersprecher, a student representative, on the student council.”

“I suppose all of this is to say that when I was a child I was very high achieving and meticulous. I even had the chance to apply for Starfleet after I had graduated from Gesamtschule. But I felt something was missing. I had spent too much time listening to authority figures and working my butt off to slow down and actually enjoy things around me.”

“There was one person that told me I needed to go off on my own and that was Mr. Walter. I started taking care of his garden when I was volunteering for the community assistance club. His wife had passed away and he was too old to get on his hands and knees and get down in the dirt. The three years that I went to his garden, he always had many words of wisdom to share. When he passed he left the garden to me, which I expanded into a community garden.”

“It was then that I remembered what he quoted at me one day… Lebe, wie du, wenn du stirbst, wünschen wirst, gelebt zu haben. Live like, when you die, you will wish to have lived. I spent my entire life up until then focused on academia and my reputation. When did I ever focus on what I wanted to do without restraint? So I left Earth and what I knew behind me to travel, and to enjoy myself and my life.”