Category Archives: Rural scenery
If you’ve read the children’s classic, Heidi (and if you haven’t, then you should immediately do so), then you’ve already learned about die Alm. It’s such a unique term that it isn’t usually translated. Die Alm is any high mountain …
The Spirit of Bavaria
If you travel to Bavaria or Austria, you’re likely to notice that every other town name ends in “-au“: Ramsau, Schönau am Königssee, Lindau, Oberammergau, Grainau, and the list could go on and on. That’s because, in this stony, mountainous …
The Most Beautiful Place on Earth
In my fifty years, I’ve been to twenty-one countries, and I’ve done my best to see the best they had to offer. Two weeks ago, I saw the best of the best: the Königssee and Obersee in Berchtesgaden National Park. …
To the Heart of Winter
In February, Joe and I spent a happy four days near Feldberg in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). It didn’t snow while we were there, but it had just finished snowing, and the stuff was lying around everywhere. This utterly fascinated …
Almond Blossoms
This is why we came to Edenkoben, Germany: to see the almond trees in blossom. A herald of spring, the almond trees bloom while many other trees are bare, sometimes as early as February. Like Easter, they promise rebirth. But, …
Migration
To our great delight and lasting enrichment, Joe and I are once again in Germany. We moved back to Rodenbach in July, but I had no time for the blog because I was working on two manuscripts at once. I’m …
The Big Sleep
When we place a city on the imaginary globe in our minds, we tend to think first in terms of weather. Kaiserslautern, Germany, has a wonderfully mild climate: the average daytime temperature in winter here hovers several degrees above freezing. …
Yet Know I How the Heather Looks
Where I live in Texas, we have only two seasons: blazing hot and “I wonder if I should take a sweater.” The chance to watch four seasons unfold is a precious gift to me. A month ago, I wrote a …
The Passing of a People
At the end of October, nature is preoccupied with death. Leaves fall, plants decay, and even we modern humans feel a shiver pass down our spines and race out to purchase plastic skulls and polyester costumes–which, sadly, will last long …