Tag Archives: Religion
Visions of Fastnacht
Today is the annual Fastnacht parade in Sulzburg. I won’t be watching. Whether I am even in town will depend on the weather forecast. My thought had been to avoid the festivities completely and take the train to Freiburg after church. There’s nothing open in Freiburg on Sundays, but I can at least wander through […]
The Easter Bunny Comes Early
My wife texted me shortly after she left for her walk to work. “We have a rabbit.” I knew she didn’t mean that we had acquired a bunny, I don’t want pets in our apartment, but rather that she had seen one. I didn’t find that surprising. Her walk takes her through the vineyards. I […]
Love and Denial
It seems a little strange that, due to the way the calendar works this year, today is not only Valentine’s Day, devoted to celebrating love, but Ash Wednesday, the day of fasting that opens the season of Lent. How are you supposed to celebrate the two together? Valentine’s Day is a big deal in North […]
Cultural Differences IX – Holidays
It was Friday night, getting late, and our hostess casually mentioned, “of course, tomorrow is a holiday.” Nobody told me. I knew Saturday was January 6. I knew in the church calendar that is Epiphany, the dated celebrated for the arrival of the Magi. But I’m from Canada; it never occurred to me that the […]
The Copyright Notice
It wasn’t a website I would have normally visited. Having seen it though, I feel an urge to discuss it. I’ve never bothered to discover what is considered proper etiquette for bloggers. When I started this project I wasn’t a regular blog reader, not even the posts from my friends, so I didn’t have much […]
Welcome to Fantasyland
Americans are crazy. Kurt Andersen should know; he’s one of them, though he insists he is sane. Don’t all crazy people say that? Fantasyland, which is published today, is a voyage through American history, a look at how American society reached the point where someone like Donald Trump could be elected as President of the […]
Canada Day 2017
Canada celebrates its 150th birthday today. I can’t decide whether I should head downtown to Parliament Hill for the festivities and fireworks. I haven’t made the trek for at least 15 years, but had decided that this year I should. The fireworks show will be extra-spectacular given the year, and Bono and The Edge (from […]
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