Rhine Valley
Festive Tasks: Door 1, Task 1 – Of Chocolate, Cathedral Architecture, and Veerry Old Bones
Festive Tasks Master Update Post HERE Task 1: In Australia, it’s common to brag about having the “biggest ‘X’ in the Southern Hemisphere!” Biggest mall, biggest prawn (don’t ask), biggest pineapple, biggest earthworm. What does your country / city / region brag about having the best or the biggest of …? I’ve never […]
Read More
An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “L”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
Read More
An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “G”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
Read More
Heinzelmännchen
24 Festive Tasks: Door 23 – Hogswatch, Task 2: A Cologne legend dating all the way back to the Middle Ages has it that once upon a time, there was a race of busy little household gnomes called Heinzelmännchen who would come at night and secretly do all your work: If there ever has been […]
Read More
November Sunset
24 Festive Tasks: Door 6 – Veterans’ / Armistice Day, Task 4: The Forest of Compiègne, just outside Compiègne, France, is the site of the signing of the 1918 Armistice. It was also the site of the signing by the French of a truce with the Germans following the German invasion in 1940. – Find […]
Read More
November Sunrise
24 Festive Tasks: Door 6 – Veterans’ / Armistice Day, Task 1: Sunrise services are a staple of this holiday: Take a picture of the sunrise where you live and share it with us. I’m decidedly more of a night owl than a lark, but this past week was an exhibit of the kind of […]
Read More
John Le Carré: A Small Town in Germany
This book is seriously odd — and it cut very close to home not merely geographically but also in terms of my own political formation. Le Carré first takes eons to trot out his personal disappointment with having been posted to Bonn instead of a “sexier” capital (via the voices of the British diplomats and […]
Read More
A Mother’s Day Memory
24 Festive Tasks: Door 11 – Russian Mother’s Day, Task 2: Do you have a favorite Mothers’ Day memory that you are happy to share? Photos welcome but optional. I usually give my mom a bouquet of flowers and take her out for lunch or dinner on Mother’s Day. One occasion I remember particularly well […]
Read More
Glingleglingleglingle
24 Festive Tasks: Door 23 – Hogswatch, Task 1: Glingleglingleglingle – if you could wish any kind of god(dress) into existence, what would they be in charge of? Dusting? Weeding? We’re not aiming high here… tell us! The Cologne “Heinzelmännchen” fountain: detail A Cologne legend dating all the way back to the Middle Ages […]
Read More
Rhein in Flammen / The Rhine on Fire
24 Festive Tasks: Door 10 – Bon Om Touk, Task 2: If you’ve ever attended a procession or an event involving festively decked out boats, post a picture and tell us about it. I’ve posted about this before: “Rhein in Flammen” (“The Rhine on Fire”, or “The Rhine up in Flames”) is an annual event […]
Read More
The Rhine on Fire
(Source) https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js “Rhein in Flammen” (“The Rhine on Fire”, or “The Rhine up in Flames”) is an annual event, inaugurated in the 1980s I think, linking the towns along the Rhine, all the way from Koblenz to Boon, by a chain of fireworks. The whole thing gets kicked off in Koblenz as […]
Read More
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Final Tally
The Markers: Stack of Books: Books read Red Bows and Ribbons: Other Tasks completed Joker cards used: The Squares, Books and Other Tasks: Square 1: November 1st: All Saints Day / Día de los Muertos & Calan Gaeaf Book themes for Día de Muertos and All Saint’s Day: A book that […]
Read More
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Updates / Blackout
I’ve yet to read at least one book for some of the squares, but I’ve completed a minimum of either one book or one task for all of the squares, and in several cases, more. The Markers: Stack of Books: Books read Red Bows and Ribbons: Other Tasks completed […]
Read More
November 11 in the Rhine Valley — Yet Another Sort of Holiday … and Party! (Also: Task for Square 11 of the “16 Festive Tasks”: Soyal)
In the Rhine Valley, where I live, November 11 has yet another meaning, in addition to (and even more so than) the two holidays we included in the “16 Festive Tasks”: 11/11, 11:11 AM marks the opening of the carnival season, which ends roughly three months later on Ash Wednesday (this season: Feb. 14, 2018), […]
Read More
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Square 2 – Bon Om Touk
Tasks for Bon Om Touk: Post a picture from your most recent or favorite vacation on the sea (or a lake, river, or any other body of water larger than a puddle), or if you’re living on the sea or on a lake or a river, post a picture of your favorite spot on the […]
Read More