Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to you Markus! We all celebrate the day you were born! Yippee! Happy 29th!!

Little Poems

here's my try at a little poetry. Inspired by a yoga session.

Same Pen:

Like love and fear
hot and cold
thick and thin
straight and round
and all things that appear opposite
when they are closely examined
you discover they are written with the same pen
by the same hand
on the same page
in the same book
both part of the same
Actually two parts, making one whole
To consider your breath
the uptake, filling the belly and ribs
fully filled up
the exhale
squeezing the air out, out, out
blowing out to empty
air blowing in to fill
it is one breath
inhale
exhale
opposites make the cycle complete
all day long

The Great Escape

After days of pestering, I finally watched the Great Escape with Markus yesterday. It is quite a story of the war. If you haven't seen it, it is worth the watch.

http://www.ateal.co.uk/greatescape/

this is the real story, although the movie seems fairly accurate. These men were determined beyond belief.
I guess the interesting part also worth mentioning, is the cross cultured nature of our home, with a German and American. Markus understands the war much better than I, after all, his grandfather died at a Russian front. I cannot imagine the time or how it was that these very civilized men were taking each other prisoner. There were many levels of military, then there were the Gestapo, which I didn't really realize were different. Anyway, good to know a bit more about that history, even if I will never really understand the rules of war.

Another year...

Well, that's it folks. Christmas has passed for yet another year. Now onto the New Year...

Today is the one year anniversary of Markus and I. Thanks to you all who were part of that special day and also part of our first year. We have some wonderful people in our lives for sure.

Holiday Cheer

Well, another Christmas here. Yesterday we had a really sweet day with my parents...went on a hike to Cherokee Marsh, played cards with the neighbors, sang carols at the piano which we played badly, and put together a puzzle.

Last minute shopping!

Sadly, no takers for the top 5 list so far...how about top 5 anything you want? movies, songs, tacky celebrities of 2005? Can you believe there are people who have entire blogs about celebrities? I won't go on about this too much, but aren't you all tired of the AngelinaBradJen Saga?? That is one thing I did not miss in Germany. They don't have magazines covering the checkout lane and they don't seem to be into celeb gossip to the extent we are. There were some, but since I didn' t know anyone it was cooler.

Christmas shopping is such a nightmare. Why do we all wait until the last week when we know it's coming at the same time every year!??
So, this is my list of Christmas renewables: (gifts to get for _____ who has everything)
*deliver a dinner and a movie
*coupons for chores-this was my favorite to give as a kid
*regift the worst gift you ever got for a good laugh
*gift certificate for massage, professional or personal
*make a donation to your local food shelf in that person's name
or I think these are some cool organizations, I think my mom is getting a goat. Don't tell her yet, it's a surprise.
http://www.farmfriends.org.uk/
www.50lanterns.org
http://www.networkforgood.org/giftbasket/

Post more ideas!
May you all get your heart's desire from Santa and keep the love flowing!

Happy Solstice

I heard the most funny hippy lady call into a radio station and wish everyone a happy solstice today. She talked about how she celebrates this holiday with her dark side and the kids...amusing. Anyway, the holiday isn't just for hippies. It's the shortest day, longest night of the year.

Wish you all the best parts of day and night!

Top 5 (1-2) of 2005

Top 5 moments of 2005
in no particular order (except #1):

1) My wedding (actually Dec 26, 2004)
What started as a stomach ache turned into the most beautiful winter day. For a couple months it totally stressed me out think of planning the day. After we sat down and decided on the 26th, I realized I had three weeks to plan. It all came together perfectly, including my grandparents impromptu trip to Madison for the wedding.
The day went off without a hitch: The vows were a surprise, the cake was buttery heaven decorated with baby pink roses, the people were merry and the groom was handsome in a red tie. This was all I wanted out of the day, but there was so much more too...my grandma’s fur, the warm fireplace in the barn, the love songs I picked out, the champagne, the pink lilies. Thanks to Jana's insisting, we stayed at a lovely little inn that night with a jacuzzi hot tub and king size bed under skylights. I have to tell you without being too graphic that there is definitely something to "consummating the marriage" for the first time. It was quite magical (aka super great sex). The night was just alive with love.



2) Day at the Wisconsin River
This year I have had the lovely chance to meet my neighbors and for the first time (since I left my parent’s house), I feel at home where I live. These golden people are such treasures. This summer we all spent the day together at a tiny cabin on the Wisconsin River. It was a warm, sunny October day and we were all in bare feet playing on the smooth sand beach without any sign of civilization in sight. It was one of those ageless days that I could have been 6 or 16 or 26... where I felt I could cartwheel my way down the river. I was simply delighted to feel the weight of the sand on my hands and between my toes as I was buried up to my neck, to float down river in the canoe with no destination with my lover, to watch the hawk dive into the river for a dinner of fresh fish. We followed a tiny trail on the beach and found the fuzziest black and brown catapillar making his way through the weeds over mounds of sand. I watched him for awhile, imagining how in the world he would become a butterfly. And thinking that life is like that, feeling like a small catapillar on a big beach, how every footprint becomes an tedious obstacle, but how easy and satisfying it can be just to trudge along. How knowing that days like that exist and that catapillar has the potential to be a butterfly. I was with all my new friends who felt like I had known them for years and this was our reunion after not seeing each other for a decade. Together we laughed and played in the sand, and simply loved life for the day.

Top 5 of 2005

So, around this time each year I have a ritual that I write up the top 5 moments of the previous year. I am starting this today and I invite you all to do the same. I have found it a fun writing exercise, plus a good way to reflect on the year passed. I would love you to post a comment with your top 5 list to share. Click "Comments" below.

Deer Skin

The other day I helped my neighbor skin a deer in our backyard. We made a fire to help keep us warm and I watched as he carefully made the cuts to start pulling off the hide. The image seemed so old as we were transported back in time when people hunted for survival. I thought of the women who stayed home tending the fire while the men went hunting and how good they must have felt when they came home, successful after the hunt. How they must have cooked a meal of fresh venison as the deer still hung from the tree. The longer I watched him, the colder I felt, the more I remembered this scene. My ancestors survival revolved around the ritual of the seasons. This is the season to hunt. I took off my gloves and with bare fingers started pulling on the thick hide, slowly separating the fat and muscle, carefully pushing against the deer. We talked about all the ways to use the deer, to make soap or candles with the fat, to make string with the tendons, to tan the hide for leather. Back in the day, life revolved around the changing seasons. Sometimes, I long to live that life. One where my daily life is in rhythm with the land around me, and I don't have hobbies but meaningful activity that sustains my life with the land. I can imagine what that would be...especially on a lazy Monday morning when it is too early and too cold to get out of bed just yet.

Winter in WI

Look how white the world is!

So much snow

There is boat loads of snow outside. I should take a picture of the house or something. I will in a second when I get my boots on. I have been working this week and happy that now is the weekend.. Currently I am doing occupational therapy in a rehab/nursing home...in case anyone wondered. The people are mostly old and fighting the effects of gravity after many years. I help them get strong and go home, essentially. This week I treated people named Eunice, Bulah, Buford, and Pauline. Such old names aren't they? I have many stories about this although maybe not super interesting. Overall it seems like a worthwhile thing to do with my time, plus they pay me for it which is a bonus. I am contemplating a career change sometime this year...if anyone has ideas I love them. I could be anything! A firefighter, an auctioneer, an insurance agent, a chaplin...maybe not an insurance agent. Ok, I will go take that picture and be right back.

Wedding Cake

Married: Dec. 26, 2004
One year ago at this time I was planning the wedding...I still have the to-do list I used. We planned it in about 3 weeks and it ended up so lovely. I think the best part about planning something so fast is that you can't change your mind about the details or think too hard about it. So, you make it simple and go for exactly what you want. Making the invitations by hand was the only time consuming part of the planning. The cake with real baby roses and buttercream frosting was the amazing creation of my good friend Cathleen. The top is in our freezer for Dec. 26 and if Markus is lucky, I will share it with him. (it's sooo good) I would love to do all it again. (the wedding part, not the planning part). I do!

post secret

Last night we watched a movie...Me You and Everyone we Know. I think that's what it was called. Super movie...there was this child actor who was brilliant. Anyway, makes me think how we communicate, secrets we keep, about the internet and the effects on real life and how it mingles in our daily lives, exposing our selves in new ways.

I will post a few links:
http://postsecrets.com

http://triptronix.net/ishbadiddle/archives/2005/04/11/22.59.00/
http://www.apologyproject.com/samplecalls.htm
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/default.cfm?cam=LP2


These links are secrets that people have posted for the world to see.

Sled Away

Look at us! We were sledding and biking today in the snow....I hit a jump and something cracked in my neck. My friend Abby is here with me. Don't we look warm? Sledding is all fun and games until someone gets runover at the bottom...we helped a little girl who was totally swept off her feet and hit the ground hard. She got a bloody nose and bruised cheek, but said that she felt OK after a bit. Her parents weren't there. I felt bad for her. Anyway, like I said...sledding is dangerous! Look up and look often!

Sunday mornings...

It's Sunday morning. Woke up to the cat scratching to crawl under the covers and warm up. It has continued to snow a little every day I have been home. The world is white and clean as Joan Baez sings in my kitchen. Markus is shoveling the sidewalk while I make breakfast of Mexican eggs...one of my favorites. Friday night I went out with Jana for a super fun time. We ran into a bunch of new characters and ended up laughing most of the night, I suppose we had a few drinks. We tried out the new bar in town...The Old Fashioned. It's supposed to be classic-ly Wisconsin. We ate cheese curds and drank a local brew. The curds were deliciously cheesy. Overall, the place has some potential, even if it is a bit generic-ly wood. Last night I went to a couple art openings in the neighborhood and sewed a Christmas ornament at my neighbors and then we watched a movie. It was really nice. I have a super sweet life.

HOME!

Oh sweet home! After a full day of flying, I am home at last. My wonderful parents picked me up and I am slowing unloading the rock collection I carried home. I will post a picture of the chocolate. It is unbelievable. I wasn't kidding.
What I noticed:
My house is so bright! I have not seen the sun for a week or so.
My cat has a new winter coat!
My parents cleaned!
My bed will be sooo good!
I am not sure I remember how to drive it's been so long.
My plants are all alive!
All is good here.

Almost home

(Pretending I wrote this yesterday)

Hold the welcome wagon! I am stuck at Schipol again! I think there are a bunch of stoners running the airport here. I will go to a hotel for the night and get up for an 8 o'clock flight. Although I would rather be home, I feel a good sense of humor about it. It's nice to not feel super stressed out. I think the experience on the flight here prepared me for this.

Bis Morgan!!
(see you tomorrow!!)

Warning: Heavy Luggage

Packing is such a drag. Not only does it mean the end of a trip, but is a really bad reminder of all the stuff I own and bought. It's a bit ridiculous how much stuff I will carry home. Just the chocolate alone is an amazing quantity. If the plane goes down and I get stuck on a desert island, I hope I find my suitcase first. I am sure I could survive at least 2 months on German chocolate. Hint hint to all my friends/family back home, if I don't go down in the plane you all will share in the chocolate feast. Jana's mouth is watering as she reads this...I know it.

So, back to the packing dilemma. No matter how I try, I always tend to overpack. For example, I never once wore my workout clothes or a pair of shoes I brought. I just carried them across the ocean to sit in a suitcase for 5 weeks. My vow next time is to underpack. I will wear the same clothes for 5 weeks. I could do it. Just ask my mom--one time I worethe same pair of jeans for 2 weeks until she made me wash them. 5 may be pushing it.

Sweat and Swim

This is the local swimming pool, public and super nice. We go as often as we can. The pool outside (in picture) is super warm and salty, open all year. Because of the high salt content, I can float without hardly trying...it is so beautiful to look up at the sky with the steam pouring off the water, the lights in the pool sparkling blue...tonight it was 34 degrees outside, and the water was 96 degrees. There are also many saunas, both indoor and outdoor. Tonight we were there for the FKK (Frei Korper Kulture--free body culture (full nude)). It is so lovely and civil to swim and sweat and shower in the nude with everyone else. In the warm pool, it is such a luxury to float around with the one you love. So easy to get lost floating around. The saunas are super hot and all smell different, some like vanilla or menthol. There are so many places to lounge around and just do nothing; including a fireplace or a foot bath...How wonderful the world is sometimes.

Great Heights

Great Heights

Fairytale castles and gingerbread houses. From such great heights, these are the places where dreams are made and swirled into the world on wind that spins up the stone walls and carries geese into the sun. Climbing, breathless to the top I am bathed in sun and wind and tiny pieces of land surrounding the stone walls. Playhouses and winding streams mark the land as far as the eye can see. Miniture world below, great big sky above and I am forever in this place-- inbetween, standing at the top of a great castle above the tiny earth.

Once upon a time...

Hattingen is so lovely! Look at these old wood frame buildings. Many of them look about to topple over. The cobblestone, the colors, the smells, the unusual angles of the whole place transports you to a time long ago.

Markus the Engineer

Today we visited an interesting place in a kind of industrial park. Markus is learning a lot about renewable energy, especially these panals in the picture. They are called evacuated tube collectors that use sun's energy to heat water that passes through the top of the tubes. From there the possibilities are endless! With these collectors and a few other bits of machinery, it is possible to make hot water to use for showers, to heat a house, to cool a house, or even make ice. The place we visited also had a natural gas turbine that generates power and uses the heat from the exhaust to keep the office building warm (combined heat and power generation). For the next year tri-generation is planed using the process heat for cooling. It is all complicated for me to understand...(How in the world do you make ice from hot water??) but I am slowly beginning to understand. I also understand sometimes it is not so important to understand, but just to know that it can be done. It's OK if I don't know exactly how.

Markus is learning a lot about this process and all the possibilites with these hot water collectors. It is fun to see his brain ticking. The collectors are very popular in Eastern Europe and as the cost of energy goes up in the states, I think they will catch on there too. It is a very efficiant way to heat water without natural gas. There are so many ways to heat and cool without fossil fuels. The magical sun has much to offer.

Parking lots...

This pic is interesting for two reasons.
First and most obvious: the shoes...They are super.
Second, the parking lot I stand on. These blocks are so clever because they are easy to drive and park on, yet grass can grow inbetween, thus making it prettier with less runoff and more environmentally friendly than tar!

Someday this will be our driveway.

Sun!

The sun is out!!

I'll be sure to get a picture to prove it to all of you...

Books I have read on my trip:
*Adrian Mole and Weapons of Mass Destruction
(British and SO annoying, supposed to be funny, OK-maybe a little funny)
*The Feast of Love
(a good narrative of many people's love stories)
*The Inner Circle
(about Kinsey and sex research in the 20-40's super interesting and risk-y)
*Crampton Hodnet
(about New England tea parties and spinsters, cracked me up)
*Bell Canto
(really enjoyed it all around, even if a bit sad)

Now I am nearly out of reading!!

I am curious what you all are reading?? Post a comment and do share! I need some ideas...