As the sun was setting in front of the Imperial Palace in Trier we stumbled upon this group. They were kind enough to explain the game to Stephen, who was kind enough to go ask the questions we were posing to each other.
Category Archives: Germany
spring on the farm
Rarely do I have the forethought to bring my camera along when I run the girls back and forth to their friends. This day it was in the car though, providing me incentive to launch another Moira and Mom adventure, whereby I slow down just long enough so as not to attract the neighbors' attention and she hangs out the window just far enough to get the shot without dropping the camera or herself.
That was a very long sentence. <g>
I thought you might enjoy springtime on the farm in Germany as much as I have. These were taken the other day just before the sky dumped buckets on us from great blue clouds.
this abides
"I don't think I got it, Mom. The sun is right behind the nest."
One hallmark of springtime in the German countryside is the return of the storks to their wheel high on a rooftop in a nearby village. Moira, tasked as she was with snapping the mama stork as we drove 'round the corner, doubted the shot was salvageable.
"Let me look at it in editing. I might be able to save it," I told her. When I went through them later, one image just caught my breath. Most of the storks we have seen have been pristine, almost regal. Through the zoom lens, however, this mama appeared a little bedraggled. Tired, but steadfast, serene as she has been every time we have passed lately. She was plucking down from her undersides and dropping it into the nest.
I keep returning to this image. It stands in start contrast to a world that insists we mothers must reach for our own oxygen masks first. Perhaps in our quest for self-preservation and fulfillment we have missed what these creatures just know instinctively: It is in giving that we receive.
"'There were in Delft innumerable storks' nests. When the fire broke out, which was on the 3rd of May, the young storks were fledged, but could not yet fly. Seeing the fire approach, the parent storks attempted to carry their young ones out of danger, but they were too heavy; and after having tried all sorts of desperate efforts, the poor birds were forced to give it up. They might have saved themselves by abandoning the little ones to their fate. But instead, they stayed upon their nests, gathered their little ones about them, covered them with their wings as if to retard as long as possible the fatal moment, and so awaited death in that loving and noble attitude.'
Truly this was a remarkable illustration of devotion, and again demonstrates the fact that there is no greater love in the world than mother love. This holds homes together and comforts in distress. This abides when all others fail.'" – Edmondo De Amicis
Sunlight through Shadows
Friday morning found me a little groggy and road weary. Allen was traveling and I had been glued to my mail and phone for 48 hrs so as not to miss an update. Grandpa, the only father I've known, entered hospice care and died soon after.
There would be no more news on funeral planning for several hours due to the time difference between here and there. I briefly considered crawling back into bed but the sun was beckoning and little people were getting cabin fever. Some days you just know you will be more rested when you wear them out. So we packed up the blanket, packed water bottles and sunscreen, and met our friends at the Seewoog.
Maria is one of those friends I don't see often but, when we do, words spill out easily. The time passed is quickly bridged and there is great comfort found sharing with another soldier's mom.
( I suggested sunscreen…)
(the men in this family take ball sports seriously!)
The boys ran themselves ragged playing ball in the open fields. The ant mound drew them not surprisingly, and plans were made to begin an ant farm. (and just as quickly laid aside ; )) The little girls, too, fell right back into step. With clasped hands they roamed the reed strewn banks with their brothers, bringing us lily fronds and fish eggs, daisies and dandelion. We left filled to the brim. Just what the day called for.
convoy
So, it's the first sunny weekend in our corner of Germany and what comes to mind to while away the hours? Why of course, you form a tractor convoy with your neighbors and snake your way through the backroads of local hamlets until you're all tired out. Then you go sit a spell at the corner pub and have a rousing singalong.
At least that is how local folks were spending the day around here. Never know quite what you will find as you turn the corner. <g> I hope your weekend is full of silly surprises.
adventures every day
bits of spring
Smile because it happened
There she was, that nanny goat, as we turned into the marketplace full of Easter revelry. She arched her blonde neck to nibble the last bits of grain from one wrinkled hand. Moira and I tried to coax the little girls in close to feel that soft nose, to see the sleepy burro in the straw. Oh, they stepped in a bit. Tentatively.
They don't remember.
Their world is so new that their memories don't reach back beyond these cobblestones. Tess talks of loving to ride the horse, but it is not our horses she speaks of. It is the pony ride tent she recalls. For a minute my knees are weak.
It wasn't so long ago. I sat on an upturned bucket and ran my hand along the side of doe like this one, coaxing milk from a warm udder and knowing exactly how long I had to work before the feed was eaten and she'd stomp impatient. If I close my eyes I can feel the metal handle of the water bucket, hear the bleating of goat kids in the stall nearby.
It wasn't so long ago. And it was good.
Things are different today. We stand here with these girls peeking between old boards. Another farmer will gather this flock in tonight. My husband and I will gather our own little flock into a yellow house at the edge of a village some 5,000 miles from a barn in Colorado. While they sleep we pore over pictures of houses in yet another country, wondering which we will find ourselves in this summer.
This too is good.
Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned these past two yrs is that happiness is not wedded to a place nor a circumstance. It is not frozen in time. It is fluid and changing and can pour out of its old containers to fill up entirely new spaces. Even to overflowing. I think I didn't know this for sure until I left.
I leave here with something I didn't have when I came. Faith. Faith that happy isn't just a fluke. It can happen again. And again. Just like challenges. I don't know where we are going exactly but I feel sure there is good there and we will find it.
Still, I hope that just maybe, there will be another day when I turn a corner a England and see a nanny goat.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. - Dr. Suess
Frohe Ostern!
Spring Break so far
Shortly after we returned from Prague we drove up to Frankfurt to pick up the son of our close friends from Colorado. I am still recovering.
I can't tell you how many times over the years I have looked out my window to see this boy and his brothers jumping on my trampoline, embattled in Airsoft wars on the prairie, dogs and chickens and kids in a flutter. We have shared holiday meals and sacraments. We have watched him grow up with our own kids. I must have blinked however, because I was not prepared for this 6ft, self-assured young man, on break from university studies in Florence, who entered my vehicle.
I always figured this move from middle school to college, while of course important, would nonetheless pale in comparison to the unfolding of life from its first appearance on the ultrasound screen to that delightfully mispronounced speech of early childhood.
I was wrong. This? This is amazing.
It is such a blessing to have true friends. It is an even greater blessing to raise your kids together and watch this whole crazy incredible life thing happen before your eyes. We love you Chris and Becki, and we are so grateful that you have included us on this wild adventure.
(pictures taken near Burg Nanstein, hiking before dinner at the Schloss Hotel )
Starry Sky Journal 