May 4, 2013
What’s one of the most important things we learned on our trip to Germany last summer? Why, how to make a coffee float, of course! It’s the perfect refreshment for a hot afternoon: iced coffee, ice cream, and (ideally, although we didn’t have any for today’s experiment) whipped cream. And on top of all that, perhaps some chocolate shavings. Yummmm.
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April 26, 2013
This is waaaaay off topic, but it made me laugh so much I cried. So of course I figured I should share it …
For a bit of Friday silliness, click here to head on over to CuteOverload.com, where you can watch a video that features a duck, a dog dressed like a hammerhead shark, and a cat in a shark outfit, riding a Roomba (a robot vacuum). Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s funny …
March 9, 2013
We really did get the beautiful Saturday the weathermen promised: sunny and warm(ish) … perfect for our first “work-day” in the garden in a looong time. And we were finally able to do all the remaining late-winter / early-spring cutting back and cleaning up in our big perennial garden, while our cat lounged in the sun on the porch and “supervised.”
We’re ready for spring!
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March 8, 2013
One of the sure-fire signs of early spring around here — the Kentucky Horse Park’s annual farm-equipment auction — is this weekend. And the weathermen are promising that tomorrow will finally be both nice (i.e., dry) and warm enough to actually go out and do some yard work / gardening.
I went for a walk here at the Horse Park this afternoon (in sunshine … hooray) and what must’ve been hundreds of birds, chiefly robins and cardinals, were belting out their pretty springtime songs.
This little guy was one of many singing his heart out. (Can you see him on the fence? I couldn’t get very close before he flew away.)
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February 11, 2013
Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans and elsewhere may culminate tomorrow, on Fat Tuesday, but in most of Germany it’s today — Rosenmontag — that marks the end of the Carnival (Fasching) season. And the highlight of Rosenmontag in several German cities is a huge, festive parade.
When I was growing up in southern California, the big parade, of course, was the annual Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. I dutifully watched it (and still do) every year on TV, and have even seen it in person a few times.
But I didn’t grow up in a culture, a town, or even a part of the country that really celebrated Mardi Gras and so never really knew much about it. Then, when I was twelve, we moved to Germany, where I lived for most of my teenage years. And we lived near Mainz, which is one of the hotbeds of Fasching celebrations. After growing up with the Rose Parade, Rosenmontag’s Fasching Parade was quite a change of pace (although, coincidentally, “Rosenmontag” literally means “Rose Monday).
Most of us skipped school that day to go into downtown Mainz with our families or friends, to stand along the parade route with thousands of other people, all of us bundled up against the cold, and many in wacky costumes. I remember a group of people waddling along the edge of the parade route one year, in chicken costumes, stopping periodically to perform the, well, the “chicken dance.” (You’re humming the tune now, aren’t you?)
In the parade were huge-headed “puppets,” bizarre floats displaying political satires, all sorts of crazy costumes, and people throwing candy and confetti and more candy. And everyone, participants and spectators alike, shouting “Helau!”
While we lived overseas our “hometown” English-language newspaper was, of course, the Stars and Stripes … which just last week published an article on Mainz’s Fasching celebrations. And there’s even a video, so you can see and hear a bit of the festivities for yourself.
Happy Rosenmontag! Helau!!
The Slower Road 