I probably would’ve never believed I would say this, but you know what life is right now?
Normal.
It’s a weekend in Germany. We watered the lawn, took a walk to the park, made good food and cleaned our house. I called a local Greek restaurant and ordered dinner in German. We sat with neighbors late into Saturday night and enjoyed a mixture of songs from the 80’s: both German pop songs and American classic rock. I went to church and got invited to sing in the church choir. And yes, I understood the invitation after struggling with the German word “Choir”. I know you’re probably confused, but in English, it translates to “Choir”. (In my defense, they DO sound different. LOL).
There are little things about life that no longer surprise me. We eat cake before dinner with friends. This is the way. And frankly, I’m sure it’s healthier. I haven’t had “Fresh” milk in our house in 2 years. We buy shelf-life milk and it’s basically only used for our cappuccinos. The sun is staying up late as summer approaches and it feels a little like a familiar, “Here we are, again”. Somehow, I will try again this year to go to bed on time… when the sun is up until past 11 pm. Even our daily routines are working better, especially since I’ve been working 4 days per week instead of 5. This month I took a walk and finally visited a cemetery near work that I had been curious to visit. It was stunning:
I have never seen so many beautiful displays of flowers in a cemetery in my life. It was like walking through a field of bouquets. It seemed as if none of the graves went unnoticed. It seems odd to share something like that, but it was moving. Somehow it felt like I had snuck in to someone else’s family gathering, but was allowed to wander and connect with something so beautiful about the culture here. The flowers here have always been the most stunning I’ve ever seen… And I’m delighted that they’re used for both the living and the deceased.
So I guess I’m sitting here wondering if it’s fair to hop on to the blog and tell you nothing… Probably not. But here we are. We’re all alive. We’re all working and playing hard. We still love our cappuccino machine. Driving stick shift is the regular. We know how to buy movies and usually remember to make sure that it’s not only in German. (Side note: Mary Poppins in German is available in a living room not near you… ours.) And you know what… that’s the whole story right now. Hoping you are also seeing the flowers pop up and the promise of summer as the light at the end of the tunnel.
Tschüss!
Couch von Rot 