Category Society
Amputated?
My wife said “you have to take a picture of that.” I smiled and replied, “I already did.” Yesterday was a day to wander. We left Sulzburg with some gentle snowflakes falling and hopped a train to Freiburg. No plans, just enjoy the day. The snow turned to rain, more of a gentle mist really. […]
I Don’t Believe In Winter
Last winter everyone assured me that snow and cold was on the way. Yet my winter boots were never taken out of the box they came in. I realize that southern Germany is not as cold as the north, but I was told it was just a matter of time until the big storm came. […]
Welcome to 2019
This new year already doesn’t seem right somehow. I suppose I’ll get over that. Though after seeing the old year out and the new one in the same way for a quarter of a century, change is hard. Last night we didn’t count down to midnight with the same group of friends we have shared […]
Thank You 2018
It seems somehow fitting as the old year ends, as 2018 rolls into 2019, that I pause for a moment and thank you for being here. I’ve been inhabiting this small corner of the internet for more than four years, and have enjoyed being able to share my thoughts, to make concrete some things that […]
He Who Must Not Be Named
It’s been 20 years or so since the first of the Harry Potter novels was published, sparking a reading craze and transforming author J.K. Rowling from impoverished single mother into the world’s richest woman. A generation has grown up with the books (and the subsequent movie adaptations). They are a powerful marketing force, and Rowling […]
Say It Ain’t So
Many years ago I worked for Canada’s famed national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, colloquially known as the “Mounties.” I was a civilian employee, not a police officer and had the opportunity to view many officers first-hand in my work both in the national and eastern Ontario headquarters. As with any organization, the […]
Happy New Year!
No, I didn’t get it wrong. I know what day it is. Today is Christmas Day. Think about it though. Maybe December 25 should be the first day of the year. Certainly the birth of Christ was momentous enough, even if not recognized as such at the time. Most of the world divides their calendar […]
Christmas Eve 2018
The world pauses tonight, at least in theory. With bated breath we await the announcement of a miraculous birth, the Christ-child, the Prince of Peace. Every year we remember the world-shaking event. Occasionally I have detailed my struggles in learning German, but when I saw this picture I realized I had learned something. I understood […]
Christmas Dinner
The sign said they were Weihnachtsganse or Christmas geese. This flock of white birds was in a field just below the castle in Emmendingen when we visited a month ago. I thought perhaps they are named Christmas geese because they are snow white. I suspect though that they are so called because that is when […]
Tannenbaum
It is our second Christmas in Germany, and I can’t decide if I prefer the simple white lights used as Christmas decorations here, or the multi-colored ones of North America. I think the white ones are a remnant from the days of wax candles – you didn’t have the options electricity gives. The displays here […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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