Category Society

Simpler Times

  I saw this cash register at Uncharted Grounds, the coffee roastery in Kandern, Germany, where some friends work. It brought back memories. When I was a child cash registers looked very much like this one. There were no bar codes or scanners. Each item in a store had a price sticker, and at checkout […]

Changing Times

Saw this card in a bookstore attached to a church in suburb of Freiburg. Since you probably don’t read German, allow me to translate: “All the best for your wedding and the baptism of your child.” I would think I had gotten that wrong, except for the wedding rings on the baby’s toe. Apparently having […]

Feminism 101

  After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb… 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped […]

Only Half The Story

The poster I saw downtown was designed to shock. I think it succeeded. Too bad the people behind it didn’t know what they were saying. It is advertising a small music festival in Freiburg, Germany, one that started yesterday and ends today. My guess is that all the bands sound the same. By telling you […]

Why They Call It Good Friday

How is it possible to believe, how can anyone believe without fear and trembling that all of God was present in a man? Who can believe that God incarnate is dying on a cross? No reasonable being can accept such an implausible and frightening revelation, the impact of which always makes one reassess everything. – […]

Behold the Lamb!

I think it is a cake, though I am really not sure. At least it isn’t an Easter egg. Easter is this Sunday, for those who aren’t part of the Orthodox tradition. That means Friday is a holiday. Sunday as well. Monday too in many places. I gather this Easter Lamb is a fairly popular […]

My Mother’s Pet Peeve

It is one of those days. I’m up to my ears in work, metaphorically speaking anyway, and don’t want to take the time to finish one of my half-written posts. But if I don’t have something in this space every day my mother thinks I have died. Such pressure. So today a rerun of post […]

Stumbling Stones

They are a common sight in German cities. So common they are easy to ignore. The weather was a little frosty Sunday, but that didn’t stop us taking a walk through the old section of Freiburg. It is an historic section of the city, with many buildings proudly displaying dates from five centuries ago. I […]

Largely Forgotten

I went for a walk in the neighborhood and got slapped in the face by history. Almost knocked me over. It wasn’t in Sulzburg where history can go back a millennium, but Rome where recorded history can take you back 3,000 years. We were just wandering through the neighborhood where my son and his wife […]

The Hole Story

I know you were wondering. The question was just eating away at you. I’ve written about this construction site a couple of times before. The first time I was wondering what was going on, as nothing was happening. The next time I provided an answer. Time for an update on the hole at the outskirts […]