Like
all I need is a Gartenzwerk
Sorry to have vented about my garden woes in my last post. Really though, it’s been a joy having a garden. I never realized all the wonderful sensations one experiences with gardens. Like the smell of spearmint, lavender or tomato leaves on my hands. Like the prickly feel of a pumpkin vine against my skin. Or like seeing a cute little ladybug pigging out on aphids. I never knew cilantro produces such delicate mini-flowers. Here are a few highlights:
An Accident In Art
I was asked to at look both of these pictures..
..and write an “Aufsatz” or essay of my interpretation of these two pieces. Yep, my first essay written in German, you can read it here.
As for the Artist, his name is Arnold Odermatt, a retired Swiss policeman whose job it was to photograph accident scenes.
Odermatt was the first officer in Switzerland to begin documenting these tragic scenes on film. According to the Record: “Setting his tripod on the roof of a police van, he first shot a series of straightforward images to accompany accident reports and on-site police drawings.
Hours later, when onlookers had gone and most traces of violence had been cleared away, he returned to make a final, more highly aestheticized portrait of the wrecked vehicles.”
Tiger’s Surprise
That Tigersan, the Chihuahua from Okinawa, is at it again…making Mango Magic. He made me this cool puzzle from one of my pictures. Can you guess which one?
Here’s the file with a groove tune to bob your head to while you solve the mystery. It fits perfectly with the picture.
Oh and check out Tiger’s Log. It will put a smile on your face and make you crave mangos. Thanks Tiger 
Fröhliche Weihnachten! Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!
I’ve got thirty minutes before I need to leave for the Munich Hauptbahnhof for my ride to Regensburg. From there Alex and I are off to the fun festivities in Iserlohn. We look forward to the 24th of December, the date when Germans celebrate Christmas and then a German wedding, (its only the legal part, the church wedding comes in the summer), and then New Years. I just learned that Germans use the expression, “slip into the New Year” instead of Happy New Year….I will be the would-be observer because I have no idea what to expect. We will be eating Alex’s Grandmother’s special Christmas dish: Cow Tongue! I keep hearing about this tongue and how good it is. She’s is so excited that I am willing to try it. I’ve won brownie points already.
This past weekend, Alex and I enjoyed ourselves in Vienna; my first time there. The Cafe Malange (coffee with a little bit of milk, and no sugar was amazing!), and Kaiserschmarrm were like no other, Prima! I ate all of my desert so you know it was good. And we visited the Schloss Schönbrunn on the coldest day I’ve experienced yet. The grounds were amazingly wide, even with all the vegetation dormant or covered with icy snow, it was beautiful. We also experienced sun both days we were in the City. We will definitely go back when the weather’s warmer. The Christmas market in the city is also very beautiful and the highlight for me was to see a street trio play with Middle Age Instruments.
Happy Winter Solstice to you all!
P.S. Thank you to Zennie for the Christmas card and pictures of the girls they are growing up to beautiful ladies; thank you to Aunt Mary Ann for the small treat will have to use it when we visit Florida during Christmas 2006 :thumbup: and the Christmas emails from Stacy Haag, Craig and Desi, and Janny…miss you all.
