An authentic day in Bavaria

We were fortunate enough to attend a 500 year old tradition today (which was special enough for me to dust off the blog and remember my password for WordPress 3+ months after the last post). The four of us drove out early this morning to the small village of Fischbachau/Hundham to attend the annual Leonhardiritt, a horse-riders’ and carriage procession, including an outdoor service in the meadow with a special blessing for the horses at the end. It was a beautiful costume parade that was absolutely authentic. You won’t get more Bavarian than the day we had.

April’s weekend road trip

It’s a pity how poorly I’ve been keeping up with the blog. In many ways Facebook has been the quicker solution to capturing some of our happenings, but it lacks details. So here’s a few posts, out of order, but still worth keeping for posterity.  This one is about our family’s weekend getaway in April to a few cities close to us: Augsburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and Nürnberg.

Happy to kick off the 2017 Hosting Season

I was thrilled to have our friends from Florida, Vicky and Donnie, visit us this month. It was even more exciting to have rendezvoused in Rome first (see previous post). Oh so cosmopolitan!  This was Vicky’s first European visit, but hopefully not her last.  She and Donnie were celebrating their 10 year anniversary. They visited Florence, Tuscany, Rome, then took an overnight train to visit us here in Munich.

Their visit kicks off the Underhill Hosting Season for 2017, and we even managed to open the balcony for a quick glass of wine and appetizer on their last night here (granted we needed the portable heater and blankets, but we sat out there, damn it!). We had a fantastic time and got to enjoy some rare nice weather, but too soon they had to leave. Here are some pictures from the visit in Rome and in Munich.  Miss you guys!

One year later – a post for posterity

Looking forward to 2017

Well, as has happened in the past on our family blogs, I’ve paralyzed myself with a backlog of good intentions. I thought I would be able to go back a give a proper summary to the myriad activities and visitors we enjoyed since July.  Nope. I just can’t keep up, and it’s been keeping me from posting anything else. So I hereby declare Blog Bankruptcy (again).  Instead of beating myself up I will take this opportunity to summarize our first year in Munich.  One year ago today, we left Salem.

Half of July’s Adventures

I know I am woefully behind on keeping the blog updated. I can barely keep up with life, never mind finding the time to document said life.  And if I can be frank, the life that we are living right now vacillates between the mundane, difficult life of making our home in a foreign country to an unreal life with crazy opportunities and experiences that are out of a dream. We knock on wood until we get splinters in our knuckles, and we occasionally have minor panic attacks over the absolute unbelievable fortune we have had so far. It’s a crazy life. It’s an amazing life. It’s a beautiful life. Sometimes we just shake our head and wonder what we ever did to let us get here. We are eternally grateful and hashtag blessed. That said, let’s give updating the blog a go.

Sleeping under the stars

The balcony off our kitchen has become my new happy place. It’s where I always want to be, tending my plants, watching the birds, feeling the sun and the breeze. Larry says I’ve become solar powered, and maybe he’s right. But the other night I was lunar powered, too.

It was a full-ish moon, just past the solstice, the dusk was clear and warm and beautiful, and I just could not bring myself to go inside. I stayed to watch the sun set. Then I listened to the birds settle down. Then I watched for bats. It was past ten when I watched the fairy lights come on. Then I watched the stars come out. One by one, the stars in the Big Dipper appeared over me. I laid back on the couch and closed my eyes, to doze, but I left my glasses on so that when I opened my eyes I could see the stars and the silhouettes of my crooked willow trees, and the pretty lights strewn through my herbs. And that’s where I slept.

My Crows

It dawned on me that I haven’t mentioned my crows in the blog. This is a terrible oversight considering how much joy they bring me on a semi-regular basis.

An Epic Weekend

This has been an amazing weekend, and I’m a little sad that it’s over. 

A change in approach

I’m not sure why, but today I interacted with a few strangers differently. In my current world especially, it feels like the little things can really make or break a situation. I can’t figure out what was different about today, but I definitely had a new approach. Was I braver? Maybe.

a little mid-week check in

This has been a good week so far. Yeah, I know it’s only Tuesday, but I still stand by the statement.