Past Adventures: Stories of Immigration
For many people, Bremerhaven was the gateway to a new life in the new world. © Laurel Decher, 2015. What did it feel like to go to America to make a new life? My family and I visited the German Emigration Museum in northern Germany. The museum is in Bremerhaven, literally “Bremen’s harbor”, so there […]
That’s the hardest part about . . .
I wish I’d asked what was the hardest part about working with a horse: keeping the rows straight or making the turn at the end of the row? This post is a mini tour of the open-air museum in Lindlar, Germany: the LVR-Freilichtmuseum Lindlar. “That’s the hardest part of weaving. Getting the edges even.” -Weaver […]
Planting Seeds for Peace in the Ukraine
A package of seeds doesn’t cost very much . . . In the last few years, the world seems to be specializing in crises that are too big for one person or one country to solve. We could get angry or discouraged or depressed and sometimes I feel all of those things at once. Or […]
8 Ways Books are Better Than Scrolls: eBooks of the Ancient World
What were libraries like in the past? While trying to figure out how ancient books were repaired, I came across the delightful Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson. It’s a small, friendly sort of book, clearly written and even the black and white illustrations are fascinating. If you asked for a book in […]
Growing into shape: A 1,000-year-old linden tree
This 1,000 year old linden tree has such a perfect shape from the outside. A really old tree gives me a new perspective on life and how long it takes to grow something beautiful. This one almost certainly saw a procession of Emperors passing by. It’s very near the open-air museum of Tilleda, a kind […]
An Epic Tree
My husband and I went looking for a half-circle of oaks he knew from thirty years ago. (No comments from the peanut gallery 😉 He said their group held hands around it because it was so big (nearly 8 meters around and 24 meters tall!). It’s gotta be old: 600-800 years!
The Day the Wall Fell
A whole world in a tiny valley. The town of Mayschoß in the Ahr River valley. © Laurel Decher, 2016. Every year on October 3, Germany celebrates the Tag der Deutschen Einheit, (literally, the “Day of German Unity.”) It’s the day when East and West Germany came back together after World War II. Once as […]
The Joy of Exploring Your Writing Territory
The first hand-held calculator was invented “after hours” in Buchenwald concentration camp by Curt Herzstark. Image: Arithmeum, Bonn. I’ve been reading Susan Kaye Quinn‘s Indie Author Survival Guide (Second Edition) Crafting a Self-Publishing Career Book 1). Unfortunately, the book is no longer available, but there’s an interview with Susan Kaye Quinn on The Creative Penn […]
Marc Chagall’s stunning gift of reconciliation
St. Stephan’s church in Mainz, Germany has stunning stained glass windows. The church burned on February 27, 1945 and Marc Chagall designed most of the current windows in the late 1970’s.
The windows show love stories of all kinds: Colorful people and angels float in a sea of blue glass. In light of the Holocaust, I was especially touched by the window of Abraham pleading with three angels to spare Sodom and Gomorrah.
Create something new: Lessons from a re-cycled Convent, a Peacock with a Looking Glass, and a Cow with a Drinking Problem
Roman pipeline to convent to farm. Gut Schillingskapellen, Dünstekoven. © Laurel Decher, 2016. In the small village of Swisstal-Dünstekoven, a one-time convent was built solely with materials scavenged from the Roman water line. Now it’s a farm with Scottish Highland cows and reflective peacocks. Lesson #1: Try a bit of creative re-cycling. If Roman ruins are […]
Create something new: What would you do with 500 olive trees?
500 olive trees. Sciacca, Sicily. © Laurel Decher, 2016. I recently came across another inspiring example of using your inheritance to create something new. Alessandro inherited 500 olive trees with his grandfather’s Sicilian property. Most people look at 500 olive trees and think olive oil, but Alessandro had a different idea: soap. His engineering Ph.D. […]
Spring is coming. Let’s not give up on hospitality yet.
Forest road in spring green with a blue sky above. Kottenforst, Germany. © Laurel Decher, 2016. Is Migration Our Lot? Lately, I’ve been wondering if migration is our natural lot and living peacefully in one place all our lives a rarity. Cranes are migrating and their calls remind me of spring. The current news shows […]