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Playground Day
The request was simple. Eva, the 10 year old, LOVES playgrounds and asked if we could spend one entire day of school spring break visiting playgrounds in the area. Unlike America where life goes on as usual during the COVID-19 pandemic, here in Deutschland the lockdown continues in some fashion now in its 14th month. And rather than discuss loosening restrictions, national and regional leaders are strategizing how to tighten the restrictions. With this background we set out to do one activity that was initially banned in Deutschland early in the pandemic lockdown but was now allowed, visit playgrounds. Our first stop was Schwaighausen which is a ten minute drive…
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Choosing Battle Lines
Have you felt as if battle lines were drawn on the virtual learning front with your children over the past year? I have some thoughts on that, but first, how I got there. Having left Facebook several years ago due to the incivility that was present (how tame those days were), I eventually found my way back to the social media platform. It wasn’t due to FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). It wasn’t because I regretted my decision. Hardly. No, it was because the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, gymnastics, and a host of youth sports teams only communicated to families through Facebook. Technically, I didn’t have to rejoin Facebook. It would…
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Ghost Stories for Dinner Parties
But Do They Appreciate All They Have?
Thinking About Living Overseas?
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Burgruine Kürnburg
Prior to COVID-19, we traveled extensively across Europe year round. So much so that my wife Jules often lamented how infrequently we enjoyed the confines of our own home. With travel restrictions in place across Europe that is no longer a problem. In some ways we are now under house arrest. Unfortunately, this time of year is not ideal for being under house arrest. When the last rays of summer warmth dissipate into the brown and crumbling leaves of Autumn in November, the fog descends on Bayern like a cheesy 1980s horror movie set. Our little river valley in Deutschland can be a very foggy place. For days on end. …
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Rothsee
Hohenfels Castle Ruins
EN ROUTE TO ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER
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But Do They Appreciate All They Have?
If the title of this piece caught your eye, a number of things could have crossed your mind. Because you are most likely part of the military family, you may have thought it referred to civilians whose spouses are not at risk of dismemberment and death on their “work trips.” Or perhaps you thought it referred to other military spouses whose active duty member hasn’t deployed seven times in the last ten years. No, I’m referring to the children many of us are raising today. Like many Americans I cannot get enough of Stephen E. Ambrose’s Band of Brothers. He perfectly captures what Tom Brokaw coined “The Greatest Generation.” Following World…
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Finding the American Pioneering Spirit
The Never-ending War
Choosing Battle Lines
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PRE-TEEN AWARENESS
Ah, the life of a pre-teen. And he had no idea why I was taking his photograph while leaning there.
