Submitted by Susanne Bacon. The Holidays are over. January has sneaked in on us with snow and ice. At one point, Western Washington was totally cut off from the outside world (except the seaports) because pretty much all SeaTac flights were cancelled, the mountain passes were closed, and a 20-mile-stretch of I-5 south of Chehalis […]
Across the Fence: Good Intentions
Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions for 2022? Have you managed to keep them for the past week? Because that’s almost exactly how old the New Year is. Yes? No? If you have already broken with your intentions, what went wrong? Statistics have it that around 80 percent of all New Year’s resolutions will […]
Across the Fence: A Shoe for Good Luck
It’s New Year’s Eve. As I’m getting older and the world has been changing so much, I will probably do as I have done these past few years – have a glass of bubbly to send out 2021, then go to bed sometime between nine and ten. The fall of the ball in New York […]
Across the Fence: A German Childhood Christmas
The older one gets, the fonder one looks back on memories. It’s called nostalgia, and often enough things seem rosier than they were. But I think my German childhood Christmases were pretty much perfect. I can’t transmit you the fragrances, but I can give you some impressions of the sounds if you care to click […]
Across the Fence: The Art of Speaking One’s Mind
Some of you may remember this year’s first article in this column. It was about Stefanie Skupin from Tonasket, WA, a former veterinarian who created herself a niche as a communicator and facilitator in her company, The Leaders Work, which offers tools that increase self-awareness and reduce stress. And she explained that 80 percent of […]
Across the Fence: Anticipation
It’s this time of year again. The time of anticipation. Advent. The most wonderful time of the year. The quietest time of the year according to Austrian author Waggerl (and, following his narrative, these were busy times even back then). The most stressful time of the year. Have you baked cookies yet? Shared with your […]
Across the Fence: It’s All About Context
Where does all the anger come from that we have seen in the past years, ever-growing, to become even a topic in the news? Where does the aggression come from that turns a person who might have been raised more or less properly into a being they would probably rather not have been, once they […]
Across the Fence: Authentic German Cuisine
When I first came to Washington State, I was surprised about the enthusiastic welcome Germans get over here. I realized quickly that it had to do a lot with American military being deployed to my mother country. And, as ever so often, the way to a (wo)man’s heart is through their stomach. Yet, not everybody […]
Across the Fence: Gifting
Are you in the mood for the upcoming holidays? Have you been to one or the other Christmas store already? Have you maybe even wrapped your first gifts for your loved ones? Some people have started their Christmas shopping early this year. And for a good reason. We have been warned for months, now, about […]