Crazy, but the mall fifteen miles from our house is always packed.  And that baffles me.  Malls in American have been on such a steep decline with their empty storefronts and low foot traffic are depressing dinosaurs. Not so in Deutschland (this photo was purposefully taken just after opening to avoid having many people in the shot). Part of it is Amazon and how they are driving all Americans, not just those that use Amazon, to do more and more shopping online.  Germany is Amazon's number two market but Amazon.de is not the same in matters of convenience. But part of it I think are the store offerings.  As detailed in this...

One of the options we were given for housing when we arrived in Deutschland was the standard government owned off post multi-story design house with the spiral child wiping out staircase. On the face of it, it's kind of blah, like many of the features in the home.  But like so many things in life--and life itself--it's what you do with it that matters most. While enjoying a post-Christmas Christmas party at a friends house I spied this nugget looking up her staircase. Oh, I was in the stairwell after having just comforted Eva from wiping out on the stairs.  Kids love to walk down the inside of the spiral stairwell, ie, the...

Though I was not there when the United States Government delivered our United States Government owned washer and dryer--on loan for the next three years--I do know Jules asked if they could be stacked. Sure they said. But what they did not do was attach a bracket between the machines 'cementing' the stacking. The result is exactly what you see.  I just pray I don't have a full 'tumble dry' that leaves a dent, or even a hole in my bathroom floor.

I-89 IS MY LIFE LINE 20 NOVEMBER 2019 "Vermont wasn't made for drivin' 'Till Ford made a truck for Vermont' Okay, so most of you don't know that commercial but at least G.B. does. As I drove down this typical Bayern country road I thought about Vermont country roads. See in Vermont, and America, we just widen our roads to accommodate the traffic that will pass each other once an hour. Deutschland?  They just throw some dirt on the shoulders of road with 60 m.p.h. speed limits and expect you to put your right tire on dirt as you pass another vehicle driving equally as fast.  Seemed strange at first. Now? Seems like a cost...

I chuckle when I see the examples throughout Deutsche society. The American influence. Can't call it white bread.  Can't call it plain bread.  So why not call it American bread.  I suppose the origin comes from the fact that backereis (bakeries) are as ubiquitous to Bayern towns as church steeples are to Vermont villages.  Every small town has at least one and usually more than one.  And nearly all grocery stores have an in-store bakery and a bakery at the front of the store run under a different name.  With such great crusty bread baked daily, I guess our preservative based store shelf bread is unique to our...

In many ways moving to Europe is like moving back in time. As in, 'what are credit cards'?  As in, always hearing a jingling in your pocket as you walk down the street.  As in, always having to check your seat as you get up to pick up any and all coins you deposited due to shallow pockets. These European Unionists LOVE their coins.  Like the greenback?  Forget it.  There is no Euro bill, just a Euro coin.  And a two Euro coin.  And think having pennies is good enough?  Not for Europeans.  They have a 2 cent coin.  I'm surprised they don't have a 1/2 cent coin. Every few days I have to remind...

There are many things I love about our 450 year old home but the mice are not one of them.  After three confirmed kills the previous week, I heard the little buggers racing through the walls above me as well as chewing the wall next to where we sleep.  Enough so that I was no longer sleeping. The next day I placed these three traps and had two confirmed kills the next day.  Guess what I did not hear last night--racing and gnawing.

27 OCTOBER 2019 So the children came back from school with their school photograph proofs earlier this year.  Julia loved them.  What we didn't like was the price.  Crazy isn't it?  I believe in compensating professional photographers for their work but $40 for a few wallet size hardly seems fair.  Especially when you have three children.  $120 for a few photos of the children in front of a green screen background?  Why?  Not when you live in one of the prettiest places in Europe. So I made Julia a promise. I promised to get the children dressed up in their traditional Bayern lederhosen and drindls. I...

OCTOBER 21, 2019 We arrived 15 July and this was the first day the entire family was able to 'take it easy' (okay, it was the first day Jules was able to take it easy with the rest of us). We took advantage of the lazy day by taking a ten mile bicycle ride along the Naab river.  Note that Acadia is on the sidewalk while Hunter and Eva ride in the street.  Deutsche law. Some of the country roads are bicycle, pedestrian, horse only.  Some allow automobile traffic.  Regardless, you can navigate along these roads with very little traffic.  However when those few cars appear, you can guarantee they will be going fast and...

Deutschland represents a number of firsts for our family.  Among them is the first time Hunter, Eva, and Acadia have attended a Department of Defense school.  Like all schools there is both good and bad.   Hohenfels Elementary School is reminiscent of a small Vermont town elementary school.  Nestled among the changing autumn leaves where most people know each other because your child is in either their child's class or they do gymnastics together or they did a library even together.  How do the kids get to school?  Why in a luxury bus of course.  No yellow school buses here.  There is a fleet of...

Americans stationed in Deutschland for decades or the ones who were posted here previously tell stories of how until recently you weren't expected to hide your 'Americanism'. For our own protection we are expected to keep a low profile and not draw attention to ourselves.  Understandable in today's geo-political environment. So within this context I find it funny that our temporary license plate had 'USA' written in the corner.  Don't let anyone know your American!  Now drive down the street with a license plate that says USA on it.  I'm still chuckling thinking about that temporary tag, even as I type this. Of course we...