Travel to Charlotte

We traveled down to Charlotte yesterday to begin our Thanksgiving holiday with Mom, Mike and Carroll and all the kids. (Dad could not join us this year. They are moving factory equipment up in Minnesota, and he just couldn't get away.)

After a very long seven hour drive, we arrived at Mom's place. We set off at 5:00am, so the first order of business was catching up on some much needed sleep.

While I napped, the kids chilled with Nana in the bonus room.  The cats all took a liking to Eddie, and began grooming him by licking his head.  (My mom has the strangest cats.)

Later in the evening, Mom took us to the Waldhorn German Restaurant in Pineville.  Of course, I chose to make a spectacle of myself by wearing traditional German lederhosen.  Strangely, I was the only one in the restaurant wearing lederhosen, including the staff!  Hmmpfh!  Some authentic restaurant!

Seriously, though, the food was amazing.  For appetizers, we got crab cakes, goat cheese pastries, and gulaschsuppe.   (And I had an enormous Spaten Oktoberfest.)  Then, for dinner, we had jaegerschnitzel, weinerschnitzel, a roasted half-duck, and a gorgeous roasted trout.  (Very traditional and very delicious!)

Then, for dessert, we had schwarzwaldenkuchen, heissen lieben, and apfelstruedel.  (Which I failed to photograph because we dived on them so quickly.)

It was an excellent pre-Thanksgiving eve.  So nice to see Mom again, and it will be a nice restful vacation away from the distillery.

Volksmarching in Germany, 1977-1981

Google Earth image of the areas we Volksmarched. KML file of the sites.

Germans have a great tradition of enjoying the outdoors. Though the weather in Germany is often sporadic and rainy, every weekend (at least in the 1970's), you can find a town or village hosting its weekend Volksmarch (literally, folks-walk). The events are usually 5 km and 10 km hikes through the Stadt, neighboring Walden, meadows, along river trails, past castles (or Schlossen), and anywhere the town planners decide must be a nice stroll. Every town showcases their best views with their Volksmarch.

For every hike, which occurs snow, rain or shine, the registered family is given a map or instructions of what kind of blaze to follow. It was often my brother's job and mine, as kids, to "be on the lookout" for these blazes, usually painted on trees, posted along fences, etc.

All along the trail are rest stops where one can get hot broth, cider, and tea. At each checkpoint, you must get your booklet stamped to show proof that you walked the hike. (This is Germany, after all!) And at the end of the hike you present your booklet to obtain your award, usually either a plate or a hefty bronze medallion.

For the family completing the 5 km trek, your award will be accented in silver; for the 10 km trek, gold. And after obtaining your award, the rest of the afternoon is spent enjoying beer, schitzel and brats in the festival tent, usually to raucous singing and oompah music.

It was really great fun; I still remember it well. Every time we'd set out, we'd take our wired-hair dachshund, Muffin, with us, and she'd proceed to roll in every mud puddle on the trail--that dog loved her mud puddles. I remember the warm taste of the hot broth, a perfect comfort on a crisp German morning. I remember the old-timers, stumbling drunk in their lederhosen and Bavarian hats. We traveled all over central and southern Germany going on these hikes, enjoying the quality family time of a 3-4 hour walk in the woods. And then, of course, there was the joy of a well deserved meal at the end of the walk.

What a great family tradition, and what a way to see a country. As the first plate below says,

Wandern bringt Lebensfreude

which means

Walking brings Joy!

Medals from 1977-1981

Plate from Oberleinach, 1978

Plate from Wendelstein, 1978

Plate from Würges, 1978

Plate from Ochsenfurt, 1978

Plate from Dittweiler, 1978

Plate from Münster, circa 1978

Plate from Haag, 1978

Plate from Bad Soden, Altenheim, Neuenheim, 1979

Plate from Sankt Goarshausen, circa 1978

Page 1, Medal from:
1. Neuhütten, 1979

Page 2, Medals from:
1. Mannheim, 1980
2. Oftersheim, 1980
3. Bergrothenfels, 1978
4. Baumholder, 1977
5. Wombach-Lohr, 1979
6. Grömbach, 1980

Page 3, Medals from:
1. Karlsruhe, 1980
2. Weiler bei Bingen, 1979
3. Epfenbach, 1979
4. Reihen, 1979
5. Waldaschaff, 1979
6. Bügstadt, 1979

Page 4, Medals from:
1. Schlitz, 1979
2. Helmstadt, 1979
3. Leavenworth, Kansas, USA, 1981 (an American Volksmarch sponsored by the Ft. Leavenworth military post)
4. Lichtenfels, 1978
5. Meckensheim, 1979
6. Wald-Amorbach, 1979

Page 5, Medals from:
1. Eppertshausen, 1979
2. Michelstadt, 1979
3. Rippberg, 1979
4. Babenhausen, circa 1979
5. Drehenthalerhof, 1979

Page 6, Medals from:
1. Heidelberg-Ziegelhausen, 1980
2. Obersinn, 1978
3. Walldürn, 1979

Christmas with Peter and Elisabeth

When we lived in Germany in 1972, we lived with Peter and Elisabeth. Elisabeth was our German landlady, but Peter was from Latvia, a refuge of World War II. During the war, he was forced to leave behind a wife and all his family. We were always told that if he went back to Latvia, he would be imprisoned. So after the war, Peter settled in with Elisabeth. Though they were never officially married, they were always like husband and wife.

My fondest memories of Peter was his gentleness and his love of Jack Daniel's whiskey. Dad always got him a bottle of that stuff when we visited. Elisabeth always greeted us boys with chocolate bars from her pantry, and then at dinner, she filled us to bursting.

We'd chant, "Ich habe genug! Ich habe genug!" (I've had enough! I've had enough!) before she'd stop filling our plates. As a very small child, I could get through three or four plates before giving up. Elisabeth loved me very much because of this. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more endearing to an old German frau than a kid who loves to eat her cooking.

To me, Peter and Elisabeth were like grandparents. I'm pretty sure that to her dying day, Elisabeth still had a pair of my baby shoes hanging decoratively from a pipe in her basement lounge.

We kept up with them clear until the 1990's, when we got word that Peter had died. We've never gotten word about Elisabeth or her family since then, and our cards and letters aren't answered anymore, but we're pretty sure she has passed on by now. She'd be near 100 if she were still alive.

There are more fond memories of Peter and Elisabeth in my blog here. My favorite is the time I learned to use a bidet.

But I digress--back to the video. In the video below, Peter and Elisabeth show up around 2:10. Video of Peter and Elisabeth is extremely rare in our family. So too is video of Dad with hair! And here is more!

Looking at Dad's hair in these videos, I can't help but thinking, "Dead man walking!"

Terrible Twos Straight Ahead

I was never terrible before I was two. But I've been terrible ever since!

Mom was about three months pregnant with Michael in this video, and we were living at Peter and Elisabeth's in Vogelbach, Germany.




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Second Christmas

You gotta love these videos of Dad with hair!

First Birthday Party

More video from the days of old. Here's my first birthday party, which is almost forty years ago! Incredible!



And if you wanted to see what military housing looked like in the early 70's, here's Lanstuhl Army Base in 1971. (Which looked exactly the same as Heidelberg, and Babenhausen, and ...)

Uncle Butch and Vogelbach, Germany in 1971 1972

Here's Uncle Butch, Kimberly, and Aunt Ruth in 1971 1972. I'm pretty sure this video was taken in Germany.



In the early years in Germany, our family lived in Vogelbach with Peter and Elisabeth, our landlords. Peter and Elisabeth would become like grandparents to us boys. They don't show up in this video, but you can see a really good view of their yard by the train tracks.

Germany in 1971

Family time in Germany, 1971. I'm not even sure who some of the people are in the last part of this video.

Christmas 1970

The new family has their first Christmas together. I was pretty much out of it, contented to swing in my swinging chair.

As always, Mom is looking pretty darn stylish. If you pay close attention to all these videos, you'll see a progression from 1969 to 1973 of my mother's hair getting longer and longer and longer (approaching Cher-like proportions). Then she gives birth to Michael, and she lops it all off.

My father has the inverse progression, with his hair mysteriously vanishing through the years.

We're still looking for where it went.

A New Baby

Finally, Dad gets a good reason to put that new 8mm film camera to use. And for those of you who've been eager to see me naked in the bathtub--here's your chance!

High On a Hill Was A Lonely Goatherd... ROCK ON!

Strolling through my morning blog rolls over coffee, I saw these on Boing Boing. Lederhosen with built in iPod controls.

I simply must own a pair. They look to be the finest goat leather. You can see how the ladies go for them!

International Night

Our family participated in the second annual International Night at the boys' school. This program is a lovely way to demonstrate and celebrate cultural diversity in the county. The program is run by Tiffany Whalen, one of our neighbors and a mega-volunteer at the school.

Tiffany does a great job with it. There are craft stations, performances on stage (like Irish dancing, belly dancing, clogging, etc.), a trivia quiz for prizes, family displays, and (my favorite) a mega-buffet of food! (Guess where I plant myself?)

The buffet is truly awesome. The food committee seeds the buffet with a few items from Costco--tiramisu, taquitos, egg rolls and the like--and then families prepare and bring in the rest. I brought in three pounds of Currywurst from Germany, and it didn't even last half the evening. Overall, we had all kinds of food from Europe, Asia, South America, and even Africa. It was great!!

I've always enjoyed these kinds of events, and for a man who relished ethnic clothing, these events are a must!

Ein Bier und Sechs Schnecken!

Occasionally, all one really asks of life is a really nice dinner. Never mind the Body For Life--just for tonight.

Dinner tonight was at the Kaiserhof restaurant. This is bound to be one of those places that becomes a regular, must-visit stop on every trip out here. For one, I love German food. Two, I rarely get it because it's not exactly healthy, and Becky doesn't really prefer it. Three, it's like five minutes from the hotel. So, since I'm out here, alone, and left to my own devices, well, what's to stop me?

Most of the guys from the meetings today joined us for beers and dinner. Dinner was delicious and authentic. I started with Kaiserhof Kölsch beer, then had an appetizer of Schnecken (even got Matt to try one. Good job, Matt!), then Salat, Spätzle, and Schweinerschnitzel. I had to skip dessert because I was full by the end of the Schnitzel. Ich habe genug!

Dinner was good, but I had to beg off early because one of the Marines in the meeting wants to take me swimming with him early tomorrow morning. The guy trains with a bunch of Navy SEALs, so I expect he's going to kick my butt up and down.

I ate my huge dinner tonight secure in the knowledge that whatever calories I put on would be paid back in spades tomorrow morning at oh five hundred.

Abendessen

Tonight we had German food for dinner. I put some bouncy polka tunes on the stereo, and Luke and I made Wiener schnitzel, Jägerschnitzel, red cabbage, spätzle with cream and sage, and a nice Warsteiner beer "für trinken." Luke was a huge help in the kitchen, actually helping me pound out the meat, bread it, and fry it. We used the spätzle that Mom sent us from New Ulm.

Since Gabi was over, she ate with us. Becky was out with her girlfriends doing "Let's Dish!" But when she got home, I had a plate in the oven for her too.

Schmeckt gut!

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd...

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

Folks in a town that was quite remote heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Lusty and clear from the goatherd's throat heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[the Children:]
O ho lay dee odl lee o, o ho lay dee odl ay
O ho lay dee odl lee o, lay dee odl lee o lay

[Maria:]
A prince on the bridge of a castle moat heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
[Kurt:]
Men on a road with a load to tote heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[the Children:]
Men in the midst of a table d'hote heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
[Maria:]
Men drinking beer with the foam afloat heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

One little girl in a pale pink coat heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
[Brigitta:]

She yodeled back to the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[Maria:]
Soon her Mama with a gleaming gloat heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
What a duet for a girl and goatherd
Maria and the Children:
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[Maria and the Children:]
Ummm (ummm) . . .
Odl lay ee (odl lay ee)
Odl lay hee hee (odl lay hee hee)
Odl lay ee . . .
. . . yodeling . . .

[Child:]
One little girl in a pale pink coat heard
[Maria:]
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hoo hoo
[Child:]
She yodeled back to the lonely goatherd
[Maria:]
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[Maria:]
Soon her Mama with a gleaming gloat heard
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hmm hmm
What a duet for a girl and goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[Maria and the Children:]
Happy are they lay dee olay dee lee o . . .
. . . yodeling . . .
Soon the duet will become a trio
[Maria:]
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

[Maria and the Children:]
Odl lay ee, old lay ee
Odl lay hee hee, odl lay ee
Odl lay odl lay, odl lay odl lee, odl lay odl lee
Odl lay odl lay odl lay

[the Children:]
HOO!