Sometimes we don’t even know what little jewels are right in our neighborhood until we stumble across them. One of these past sunny, icy-cold winter days, my husband and I decided to take a walk on a trail we hadn’t explored before. And it would be an utterly exhilarating experience. We drove up SR 99 […]
Across the Fence
Across the Fence: May It Bring Luck!
Numerous are the customs and traditions we stick to in order to bring about good luck for a new year. This year, we are expecting an entirely new decade to begin, and I bet a number of you have already made plans how to change their lives, have bought bubbly, might pour molten lead to […]
Across the Fence: The Celebration of a Plant
Alright, you may think: What has a plant to do with the celebration of Christmas? I’m not even talking Christmas trees today. Most of you probably know that story well enough. I’m talking of a popular Christmas carol, “The Holly and the Ivy”, which was created in Britain in the early nineteenth century. When I […]
Across the Fence: Turkey Days
When I was planning my first Christmas dinner after my arrival over here in 2010, I found to my surprise that there are obviously just two options promoted by supermarkets all over the country – you either have turkey, or you have ham. Not like back home where different regions have different traditions. There’s Christmas […]
Across the Fence: Not All About Kisses
Now that the Christmas season is upon us once more, let’s see who has a mistletoe hanging somewhere from a door frame or ceiling. Do you? And would you know why? Sure, you might like to snatch a kiss from the lady or gentleman of your heart underneath it. But what is it all about? […]
Across the Fence: Stepping into the Past
The other day, I finally did something that I had wanted to do for a long time. And, actually, I think it’s one of the first things one should do if one’s hometown has one: visit the local historical museum. It was a sunny Thursday afternoon when I parked at the new Motor Avenue Plaza […]
Across the Fence: Spreading the Joy
Remember those days when you were little and you knew soon it would be Christmas? You had no clue when exactly, and every day was filled with wonder and worry whether Santa, in a German’s case the Christ child, would bring you gifts? Because you hadn’t been all that good as expected? But you were […]
Across the Fence: Mix it up!
When I grew up, meat was on the table only scarcely. Which made the Sunday roast my mother prepared for lunch ever so much more special. Besides she had quite a variety of recipes. It could be a sauerbraten or a beef roast, a larded beef roast, a pork roast, a crusted pork roast, a […]
Across the Fence: Us and Them
Do you remember November 9, 1989? If you have a German background or were traveling there at the time, you will. Thirty years ago, the Wall in Berlin fell, the Iron Curtain was lifted, and apparently Communism as known in the Western world was defeated. This is what Germans will be celebrating this Saturday. But […]