I'm Sorry, Mom (Part 1)

Today is the last day of the Bible Girl & the Bad Boy book launch.  You can see that HERE.  We've had over 65,000 entries so far!  I'm amazed. Also, today is the last day Bible Girl will be on sale for $.99 HERE: Bible Girl.

All right, Fishducky, take it away!

We have a friend who was a successful practicing psychiatrist.  He went back into the Army when he was in his 50’s so he could serve his country.  Also, because there was no war & the Army took him in as a full colonel & promised him travel, interesting work & an excellent retirement. (Iran held 52 Americans hostage from November, 1979 to January, 1981.  He debriefed them after their release.)  He was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany when we went to visit him & his wife.

    Germany is an absolutely beautiful country.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many shades of green in one place.  I don’t remember too much about Frankfurt except that there was beer everywhere & that it was much better than American beer.  I also remember that you couldn’t get a meal without kartoffeln (potatoes).This just popped into my mind—there was a street fair & an artist was drawing portraits.  She had a sign that translated into “One hour portrait in 5 minutes.”

 

      I try to buy a little “duck something” as a souvenir when we travel.  Usually I get a tiny figurine.  This is what I bought in Frankfurt.  It says, “liebe ist… zusammen die enten zu futtern”—“love is…feeding the ducks together”.

     One day they drove us on the autobahn to Garmisch-Partinkirchen.  I loved the speed!  Bud, not so much.  Garmisch is in the Bavarian Alps & is one of the most colorful places we’ve ever seen.  Stores hung an item next to a sign explaining what type of business it was.  A tailor might hang a replica of a sewing machine under a sign saying “Schneiden”.  A hardware store might have a sign saying “Werkzeuge” and a saw.  The ones that surprised us were the jewelers.  Over the door there would be a watch or a huge ring & the sign would read “Schmuck”.  (I’m surprised I couldn’t find a picture of that.)

     The balconies on the houses were full of flowers.  When we were there, they were mostly geraniums.  Many of the houses & shops were painted with scenes from operas or fairy tales.  This one that I took had scenes from “Little Red Riding Hood”.  There is no other word to describe them except CHARMING!

 

    We were crossing one of the streets in town when we had to stop to let these cows pass by.  A few minutes later, an old woman came riding in on a bike.  She went right up to the cow in front & starting bawling her out & shaking her finger in her face.  We found out later that she owned the cows & that every day at the same time she would let them out to graze.  When they were through they would return to the barn.  This day, however, they apparently decided to do some shopping.  Someone apparently told her they were in town & she came to get them.  I don’t speak German, but it wasn’t necessary in order to understand their conversation.  It was like she was talking to her child, saying, “Do you know how worried I was about you?  You could have been in an accident.  Don’t ever frighten me like that again!”  The cow looked directly in her face & mooed—you could almost hear, “I’m sorry, Mom.”  She got back on her bike & rode home, with her cows following her.

     We came back on the QE ll & toured New England & the gorgeous fall foliage, but that’s another story—or two.

    Auf wiedersehen----fishducky