Birthdays

It's hard to have a big celebration after a big celebration, but sometimes you just have to! Joey's 50th birthday, close on the heels of Christmas, was one of those occasions. (Lest we forget, also Michelle's birthday, but at 42 this year, hers didn't qualify for a special "0" birthday.)

Michelle had done all the planning and lots of work beforehand. We all pitched in at the end - there's always a lot to do at the last minute - getting the house ready, final cooking, putting the goodies on the table. The guests were mostly friends from the neighborhood and a few others from around PC. And the foreign guests -- me and Werner.

Joey seems to have weathered the transition to the next half century pretty well, don't you think?

Merry Christmas

The food has been eaten, the presents have been opened, the bags are packed. We'll be heading out at half before early tomorrow morning for the US of A.



Peace
Joy
Love

I'm Late, I'm Late ...

So, what else is new. Actually I thought I was in time, but I guess I forget how busy it gets at Christmas thyme and the mail persons have been down-sized here and the planes are fuller and slower (that saves fuel) and, and, and ... I just shoulda finished them and mailed them sooner. But I didn't and facts is facts.

So here are pictures for Michelle and Joey and Lee and Crissy to show them what the pillows and the ornaments for the kids look like and we will hope in our deepest, deepest of hearts that the packages are not lost forever in the dark void. Been there once and do not want to go there again.

Here's the proof that they existed once. Crocheted snowflakes, cross stitiched names, hand stitiched, unique. Not for purchase. Unbezahlbar. Oh, sorry, that's German. That means, you can't buy this.

Green, Green

Not Christmas green, not Kermit green, not money green (though we know that lots of that green is now invisible to the naked eye), not green with envy (though the ones who didn't have the aforementioned money are not so envy green these days, I think), not puce or Irish or emerald or hunter or olive. No, this green is environmental green.

You all know we are pretty Green here in Germany and I myself am a pretty Green person. Recycle. Ride the bus. Take the train. Ride the bike. Proud to do it. But now it's getting personal! Now the feet are to the fire and the rubber hits the road and if you got 'em smoke 'em and oh my.

Now there is the "green" sticker you have to have for your car. Starting January 1. Aren't they pretty? So, 4 - green - means you can drive anywhere and everywhere. The yellow and the red are increasingly restrictive. Then there's the "you don't even qualify for a sticker that limits where you can drive!!!"

Guess what category we're in?

This is tough. Getting a new car is a bit of a stretch. But if we need to take Mutti to the doctor, we can no longer do it in our car since we can't go into the city center with our car. Green has its price. Episodes to follow.

Memorial

Today we took Werner's mother to the funeral for her dear friend Ruth. They got to know each other late in life but struck up an incredibly close friendship. EVERY NIGHT when they were in Bremen, they'd alternate calling each other at 11PM - when the rates went down - and talk for an hour. EVERY NIGHT. Ruth came with Mutti to Florida in 1988 to visit Werner when he was teaching at FSU. Ruth's husband had died some years before and they never had children; her closest relative was niece and her husband who live some hours away from Bremen.

But the church was her home and it was heartwarming to see all the white-headed ladies there giving special comfort to Mutti but also to each other. At least two of the ladies - both well into their 80's - had come to the service by bike!! One has a tricycle in deference to her hip replacement, but another of the ladies still gets around on a two-wheeler. Wow.




Ruth had an infectious laugh and could hardly talk without smiling. I think this picture - from Mutti's 90th birthday - captures her spirit well.

Auf Wiedersehen, Ruth.

Market Magic

Werner's been teaching German to two students from Jacobs University (the international university in our neighborhood). They were here Saturday so they could squeeze in all the meetings they wanted before Christmas. How convenient - after the lesson we could go to the market.


Sidhant (from Nepal) and Mahesh (from India) are graduate students in sciences I don't even understand the names of - nanobionuclearphysiophysicschemistry or something like that. I don't want to make fun - they are both in basic science and do research for the sake of reasearch. Suffice to say they have more than a few smarts; in addition they are just nice to be around.

They'd never been to the market so it was lots of fun for us to explain stuff, fun for some of our regular vendors there to hear me speak so much English, and nice for the guys to pick up some fresh veggies and fruits.


It was closing time and the vendors were packing up. At one stand I asked if they had some old bananas, thinking about making Banana Bread for gifts. "No - they're all gone. OH, NO, wait, wait, I have something for you!" The vendor proceeded to give us about 6 pounds of sugar bananas! Then he asked, "Do you want some oranges?" Not waiting for an answer, he packed up all the cut oranges and melons that were on display. My goodness!!! Lots of food ! The guys loved all the extra stuff, I've already made 12 mini loaves of banana bread and I have to work fast to use up the rest of these sweeties.

Going to the market at closing time on Saturday might be good planning. The magic? Bananas for a smile.

Circus Time

All of you know it's sometimes hard to find just the right present. That gets a bit harder when the recipient is 91 (Werner's mother, that is). So, Werner decided - and I concurred - that since the circus was in town, that could be the answer: Nothing to open, nothing to save, nothing to display, just something to enjoy.

The Circus Roncalli has a long tradition here and it's a bit more Circus de Soleil than Barnum and Bailey. But a bit of both. Like all circuses, it's magical. This one, too, is somewhat less directed at the little ones. The acts are sophisticated and the clowns aren't too slapsticky, but nevertheless fun and funny.

It's in a tent- lots of tents are around along with all the attendant wagons for the artists and hands - set up on the grounds near the main train station ; everyone has a part to play, a costume to wear, the public to enchant. There's even a Café des Artistes, but Julia, not the one in New York! Here they advertise heating, not the food!

There's an official video here that gives a clue of how fun it is, but of course it's not like the real thing. The guy in the bubble was hilarious, the performers with the twirling rugs were unbelievable, the woman whose clothes changed in an instant was amazing!

Most wonderful of all was hearing Mutti laugh out loud. What a nice present for us all.

Here come da Judge

Of course, Chief Judge Meyer (Ilsemarie to us) is FAR FAR more sophisticated and serious than this. Nevertheless, Tuesday, was a day to smile and celebrate and enjoy.

We'd only been to the upper hall of the Town Hall once before for the performance of a Schubert concerto - which was just lovely - but it didn't give us a chance to really look around the hall. We have decided that a guided tour is in order - there's so much history there! Huge paintings from the 1600s on, decorative wood and stone doorways from that time and later, intricate model ships hanging from the ceiling. Though impressive - and recognized by UNESCO as a Heritage Site - it's still a rather warm and intimate place. I suppose all the wood contributes to that.

Chief Judges of Adminstrative Courts around Germany came to the reception, yet another honor.

Of course, it was a day for the family to celebrate too. Here's Judge Meyer with her husband Ulli, her sister and niece and nephew.

Besides that, we got to dress up and sit in some really really old benches. AND drink some champagne!

First Advent

Sunday was the Annual First Advent Family Feast at René and Rima's. We'd had Amina here for the weekend so the Chief Cook and First Assistant could devote their time to preparation and I think they used all the time they had! Here's Mutti at the table, anticipating the first course.

René wrote up a menu for us to read and Mutti to take home for reference so she can tell all her friends about the food. One does need a reminder - it's a bit exotic:

The Flight Show

Pheasant broth with ground pheasant meatballs and vegetables

Fried Marinated Quail with Avacodo-Coriander Mousse and Fresh Figs

Fowl in Fowl in Fowl: Dove with Corn Stuffing

in

Guinea Hen with Bread Stuffing

in

Duck with Duck Farce

The soup was delicious and whetted the appetite for the next course. René fried up the quail. He has a monster gas burner and skillet outside for just such things (as well as browning roasts, steaks, frying batches of rosemary potatoes, etc. - but not today!)

I'm not exactly sure when I last had quail. At Judy's in 1978 or so? At Mrs. Phipps' in 1987 or so? I have NOT had it much more than that, but the next time I do, I'll have to try and do this!

Then we had to wait a bit while the birds were watched. Though the cooks had got up (temporarily) to put the birds stuffed in birds stuffed in birds in the oven at about 5 AM, they had to cook a bit longer and then a higher temperture to make them brown and crusty. It needs 10+ hours in all to fully roast!! In the NY Times you can read this article on Turducken which is the same idea. Arrangements of other birds in birds besides the turkey-duck-chicken go back to court days in Europe and beyond. Suffice to say it's rich, filling and wonderful. We decided he should put this meal on the regular rotation - three or four times a year at least!






What? No dessert?? Well, sort of. I brought Cranberry Bread (always a hit) and Pumpkin Bread with Orange Cream Cheese. Rima's mother has a wonderful reptoire of yummy cakes and she did not disappoint. Coffee. Schnapps. DONE and DONE IN.

There were lots of satisfied smiles after the feast. I was SO grateful that Werner volunteered to drive home. I was too stuffed to move.

Thanksgiving

It's taken a few days to get over it this year, the feast of the Thanksgiving, what with days of preparation then immediate departure on Sunday after too little sleep for yet another feast. Hard on the constitution, not to mention the waistline!

But it was good. As always.

We made our shopping list and left it with the ladies at our regular vegetable stand at the market and Thursday I picked up all that along with eggs and potatoes from the Schmidts and a turkey neck and giblets from the chicken stand. I had to walk the bike home - it was too loaded to ride!!

Friday was spent making the chestnut soup Michelle had recommended (fantastic!: here's the recipe and you should definitely try it!), making broth for the gravy, pastry for the pie, and such and so. And it started to snow. It snowed pretty much all night and in the morning the terrace was so pretty.

Yow! We had to walk to the market to get the turkey, but walking in the crunchy new snow is always fun. Besides that, there was enough stuff for a snowman!

The table was set. The guests arrived - we tickled to have Peggy and Wolfgang join us. (They were the first to arrive and the last to leave.) The turkey was served. We ate!

We had the usual turkey and cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce and fresh cranberry relish. The sweet potatoes are always a hit. We opted for green beans with roasted fennel - good but we think the brussels sprouts in all their variations are better. Pumpkin cheesecake (filling wonderful, crust soggy - gotta find a new way to do that) and pecan pie (delicious but the crust stuck to the pan - honestly! I thought I was the pie crust queen!)

But minor disasters aside, it was a great meal with great company. Next year we've voted to do it earlier in the day, take a walk and return for coffee and cake. That way, we can all enjoy the meal AND Werner and I can get in bed before 3 AM!

Sunday Day Walking

Even though we don't have full-time jobs anymore, there's still plenty enough scheduled during the week that we enjoy the weekends and the time off - expecially now since almost every weekend has some event. This was a free weekend, so today, after the usual late-Sunday-morning breakfast, we chanced the weather and drove to Meyenburg for a walk.

It's one of our favorites (see here) and walking along we came to a sign that said "Kriegesgräbstätte". Germans like to put all the nouns into one word whenever possible, so in English this is War Cemetery. We took the path through the woods and 15 minutes later came upon the site.

It is so far off the beaten path - you have to want to go there. These two huge cypress trees frame the stone memorial to fallen Russians and Serbs of World War I and II and are big enough to have been planted just after the war.

Each grave has a marker - this one for a boy of 20. We don't know why these soldiers were buried here - so far from any war front.

This plaque is at the entrance to the cemetery:

If, wanderer, you come to this place
Do not disturb the quiet and the peace.
For all who lie here deserve their rest
Since they were fated to suffer.

It seemed so appropriate, and not a little soothing, to have seen this rainbow after our walk.

Friends in High Places

We always knew Ilsemarie was special, but now it's official: she's been appointed as the Chief Judge of the State Administrative Court of Bremen. Wow. If you're a law geek and want to read about the work and responsibility of the German adminstrative courts, you can do that here.

That said, it is no small position or job. Here's the announcement that appeared in the paper today:


It says: The Long Road to Career Success
and gives info about her training (here, law school graduates decide to train to be judges - if they're good enough - and are not elected) and the steps along the way. She's only the second woman appointed to such a position here in Germany. We have a woman chancellor, but there are woefully small numbers of women in other positions of importance.

So, here's to Judge Meyer ! May you live long and prosper ! And may you be an example for lots of other women to follow.

And -- we're really looking forward to her official investiture which will take place in the historic upper hall of the Rathaus. December 2. More reports to follow!

WEEK IN REVIEW

1. Congratulations to US (A)

The spontaneous outpouring of good will, the smiles, the calls and notes of congratulations have been better than a birthday and a wonderful lead-up to Thanksgiving. When I went to the market on Tuesday, all the vendors I deal with were wishing us luck, and my Siemens group that day wanted to know if I was staying up all night (yes, and I did!). There were election parties all over Germany - one guy in Hamburg had this sentiment about Obama - however, I think Chancellors have to be German.

2. Amina's Birthday

We were back at René and Rima's to help celebrate Amina's 5th birthday. It was a nice crowd with Rima's parents, 3 of her four brothers, a sprinkle of other friends. (Monika and Lex were in Holland, so couldn't make it.) She got more things for her new room - and she was happy!

3. Kristallnacht

The Night of the Broken Glass. November 9, 1938, 70 years ago, the Nazis stood by while synagogues, Jewish businesses and private homes were burned. In our little neighborhood there's a memorial in an empty lot where a synagogue was burned to the ground on that night.

That's not vandalism on the surface of the plaque; it is symbolically made to look as if it is on broken glass. Serious services were held in Berlin and many other locations around Germany. Living with the past is an everyday event, here.

Follow the Leader

A well-beaten path does not always make the right road.

People like sheep tend to follow a leader,
occasionally in the right direction.

Sunday it was cold and rainy so we decided to take a walk on the beach. Makes perfect sense to me! We drove to the other side of the Weser to walk along the dike on our way to the beach and decided - since we had our Wellies on anyway - to march ON the dike.

Here's the evidence of why people have sayings about sheep, sheep to the slaughter, follow like sheep, etc. etc. Grass everywhere, but only one well-beaten path that the sheep follow.

Ursel's Chair

Sounds like the name of a movie, or something. But it's just a chair. Well, not JUST a chair since the chair is a family piece well over 100 years old, hand carved and irreplaceable. Unfortunately, it was covered in old-lady velvet, the shade of which was akin to spoiled meat. A new cover was demanded.

Ursel and I visited the fabric shop, found the perfect piece and then Werner and I got the chair. Yow.

It was a daunting task. I was scared to death of harming the chair and constantly fussed at Werner to "watch out!!" for anything and everything and unimagined things.

But finally it was done and done well. Ursel pronounced herself delighted! Werner and I are delighted too now that it is back home where it belongs.

Hawaii + Stuttgart

Of course Hawaii and Stuttgart have nothing in common except when cousin Tom Strickland from Hawaii (mother's cousin's son, which if I am correct makes him my 2nd cousin and is realted the same way that Hunter/Hannah/Hayden/Dylan and Rachel/Rebecca/Robin/Kelly/Daniel/Sean are related - whew!) is here visiting his friend Gila. Stuttgart was the closest major city and it was a nice terminus since we could take a short tour of the city before heading out to where we were staying.

Once again we went by train - quicker, easier, cheaper than by car. Especially easier! Sit, read, gaze out the window, snooze, stitch, eat, and let someone else do the driving.

After greeting us at the station, Gila and Tom took us to the Stuttgart old city. Germany had kings and princes in every region before it became a sort-of-united country under Bismarck in 1871. That means that before that time castles and royal residences were built all over the place in various sizes and shapes so that the various princes and kings could demonstrate how cool and rich they all were. (Sort of like the Wall Street guys before the current unpleasantness.) Stuttgart is no exception. Here's the square in front of the royal palace, now the administrative offices for the city. Quite imposing still. No one but the state can afford these places anymore.

There are lots public parks and public art. And - SURPRISE - we found a modern bronze sculpture of a pelican. Naturally, a picture with my pelican man was in order.

Here's another castle, located near our hotel. We noticed it when we took a getting-oriented walk around the neighborhood. What do you think it is? We thought: a children's playhouse, or puppet theater.

Nah. PUBLIC TOILET. How's that for German humor? It is fun to go potty in Germany!! You still have to pay, but it's only 20 cents.

The next day we visited another royal residence in nearby Ludwigsberg. This is a smaller version of Versailles, but no less impressive.

Funny, this palace had NO toilets! The last queen - an English import - had to have her potty chair carried all over the palace for her convenience. She was inconvenienced.

Over 450 rooms (but no bathrooms, remember).Royal audience room. Ballroom. Baroque gardens (shown here). Opulence.

And finally the end of opulence. After 200 years, the lace curtains finally show appropriate wear and tear. Wouldn't the original residents be appalled!?

There was a pumpkin festival on the grounds, billed as the largest in the WORLD. I don't know, but it was big enough.

Hey, some LARGE pumpkins!

They had displays of all kinds of sorts of varieties of types of pumpkins from here and there and everywhere. Some were reallly ugly. Some were of course really really really big. The theme this year was "Stars and Space" so there were displays of astrological signs and space creatures all made of pumpkins. Weird. But the pumpkin goodies were good - we tried the pumpkin quiche and pumpkin bread. Then Werner had to go back for pumpkin snack bars. We did not try the pumpkin schnapps. Next time.

On the way back to dinner (Tom made a Mexican dinner for us - really good!) we stopped to look at the vinyards. I don't think I knew that the different vines changed colors differently. It was a sight!

We had a nice visit. Even though we only met cousin Tom a year ago, he's still family and somehow that trumps all. Thanks to all ya'll for being my family.

Weekend Delight

Last Sunday was lovely - mild temperatures, sun between the clouds - perfect for a bike ride. And coincindentally there was a craft show downtown. Cool.

The Glocke (The Bell) is a concert hall in the center of town (we'll be there on the weekend before my birthday for my birthday present - a Blue Man concert!) but Sunday it was a high class market. Hats, jewelery, woods, ceramics. As you can see, we weren't the only ones there! We found a couple of things suitable for Christmas gifts.

We took the train into town so we could look at the show at then take a meandering trip home by bike. I really wanted to go by the still-in-development old Überseehafen (Foreign Port). The port has been largely filled in the last few years and they're developing a shopping/office/apartment area using the old warehouses as a base. The old warehouses are solid brick industrial buildings, but nonetheless interesting and appealing. There are lofts, apartments and lots of retail space for rent or purchase (actually, I'd love to live there myself!).

We stopped for a look, had a coffee and found this gem in the parking lot.

Wow. Wow. Shiny black beautifully restored Speedster. Wow. Wish I could take that home with me!!

Bohnen, Birnen und Speck

In English: Beans, Pears and Bacon. Somehow it's more musical in German (if you can imagine German as musical). I thought I'd written about this before, but a search didn't find anything, so I guess this is new.

We do this meal once a year and invite Werner's mother to join us - it's a reminder of old times and she loves it! It's a very traditional, down-home, country meal known here in north Germany but totally foreign in south Germany. (Sounds like grits!) This time of year there is an abundance of fresh pears and fresh green beans, so naturally folks try to find a way to put them together. Of course, there's always bacon hanging around.

This is my favorite combination of tastes: sweet, salty and smokey. If you want to try it yourself, here's the recipe:

Bohnen, Birnen und Speck 4 servings

1 pound cured bacon in slab
1 1/4 pound green beans
1 1/4 pound potatoes
8 small pears (Bergamotte if you can find them, otherwise small and firm)

1 bunch parsley
salt and pepper

Boil the bacon in water for at least an hour. Wash the beans. Peel the potatoes. Cut the blossom end from the pear. Put them all in the pot and cook for 17 minutes. Remove the bacon and slice. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with mustard if you like. (Germans like mustard with meat it seems)

It can't be easier. We cook the potatoes separately since it makes the pot a bit crowded.

Mutti and I decided that this was the best ever. We don't know why, but it was. The pears were just done, the beans were bright green and tasty, the bacon was smokey and yummy. Mutti has to be careful with her cholesterol (don't we all?) but she had her share of this.

Afterwards, we took a walk along the river and then had some coffee and cake. What a nice day.

Translation Woes

I suppose I could start a lot of these entries with that header. Sometimes I don't even see the translation errors; sometimes I've got so used to a particular misuse that it doesn't register.

The other day I needed to make a stop at the public toilet (50 cents to use) in the train station and this caught my eye:

What kind of role does the tissue want to play? The hand towel role? The wet wipe role? The ingenue role?

We'll hope it is the role of a lifetime.

Class Reunion

Last weekend Werner had a class reunion - number 47 - of his high school graduating class. The class had dinner Friday night , then Saturday we met in Fischerhude, a picture-book village close by that all of you who've visited us have seen as well! Usually the event is restricted to just class members, but a couple of us spouses tagged along on Saturday.

We met at Lotte's house, right across from the old mill, next to the stream that feeds the water wheel, home to lots of very vocal ducks! It started with high fog and a bit of cool.

Our walk through the fields and countryside took us by this rustic bench. You can see the mistiness in the background.


Not far from there was a bridge over the stream - ideal for a class photo! You can see it's not a big group; a class in those days was the group with a "homeroom" teacher, a group that took almost all their classes together and had little interaction with other classes in the school. There were 21 who graduated together in Werner's class; some have died, not all could come. One came from New York but was at his 50th middle school reunion! (We met up with him later in the week.) Another who lives in Bremen was having a reunion with Peruvians he'd participated with in an earlier exchange.

It's fun for me now to tag along - in a limited way - in these get togethers. People are always curious about the US and what's going on there and I can finally speak enough German to converse with people. I am of course the resident US expert. It's nice, too, to listen to old stories that I otherwise wouldn't hear! Besides, it was a pretty day at the end. Here, a lovely fall yellow over a thatched roof against a brilliant blue sky.