Schildkröte und Schmetterlinge

Turtle and butterflies. I posted this picture for no particular reason other than I just simply liked it.


There’s not much to report. This week has been rather dull. George developed a slight head cold and hasn’t been feeling his best the last few days. He’s improving though.


Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and the Southern Nevadan desert is experiencing very Spring-like conditions which is rather unusual for this area. Normally it jumps from cool winter season right into hotter than hell summer weather without even the slightest trace of anything Spring-related. So we are enjoying this tremendously. There are blooming flowers and fresh greens sprouting everywhere. We can open our windows to let fresh air into our home and not yet having to worry about turning on the A/C units.


However, during our planned walk in the park yesterday evening the weather turned very quickly into this ferocious wind storm. One moment the air was still and quiet and the next, just as if someone flipped a light switch, we found ourselves in the middle of a dust storm. The wind was so strong that it picked up sand and smaller debris. We could barely walk and had to cover our eyes as we quickly returned to our car. The howling winds would continue to blow well into the early morning hours. The winds have subsided and now it’s merely a breeze.


Now guess what we will be doing on this Friday evening? Preparing our taxes. Yeah! That’s right, doing taxes on a Friday night makes us the life of every party. And for this weekend there’s grocery shopping, a visit to the library, a study group meeting, and lots of yard work on our list of exciting activities.


However, a friend of ours would like to take us out to an early birthday dinner for George tomorrow evening. So yes, there’s time for a little fun to be had.


There’s always time for some fun and food. That’s a requirement.

Fog

A few weeks ago Las Vegas had some rare fog in the early morning hours just before the sun was rising. In almost twenty years that I’ve been living in this city I experienced fog only once before. Fog does not usually occur in an arid desert climate.



But we had an unusual wet winter so far. Add the high desert elevation into this equation and the result can be an extraordinary weather phenomenon. A fog may not spark much of an enthusiastic thrill in other parts of the country, as it may be rather common there. Here in the Southern Nevadan desert however, a few drops of rain or even a snowflake are just as sensational as the latest UFO sightings over Area 51, located just outside the City of Sin.

I merely enjoyed the very sight of fog for the simple reason that I’m not accustomed to it anymore. It’s like a treat to be savored and appreciated. A visual feast. I always found it fascinating how fog can transform one’s own familiar neighborhood into some mysterious, almost otherworldly place. Like a veil covering everything with a haunting but beautiful glow. Especially in the few precious moments before the sun comes up.



And with the first rays of sun peeking from behind the distant mountain ranges to the east, the fog slowly started to dissolve into nothingness. The higher the sun rose, the quicker the fog disappeared. The only evidence it left behind were the dew drops clinging on to every leaf or the patio furniture in our backyard. Eventually, those drops too would roll off, fall to the ground and being absorbed or just evaporate.

Moments like these makes me ponder about a lot of things. It makes me appreciate life a little more. Just like fog in the desert, life can be here one moment and gone the next.

Live life to the fullest. And enjoy the beauty around you. As trivial it may look at first.

A camera can never capture the true beauty and the colors of an occurrence like fog. Nevertheless, I wanted to freeze that moment in time.


After the fog has lifted, the westerly mountains unveiled their snow powdered peaks, illuminated by the first morning sun light.

Logorama

This short film (approx. 16 minutes, contains profanity) has won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at yesterday's Oscar ceremony in Hollywood. It's one of the best short films I've seen in while. The sarcasm and irony is priceless. It's also kind of sad that I recognized pretty much every single logo used in this film. I'm such a graphic designer. And for a designer this film is like porn.

Fab!

That’s my George. Isn’t he just fab?


It was kind of a slow day at work yesterday for whatever reason. So I was having fun playing around with a photo of George in PhotoShop and Illustrator, trying to turn it into some sort of pop art, if you will.


Fabulous, Dah-ling. Absolutely fabulous!


Don’t you think?

Marching Right Along

This year 2010 is just marching right along, isn’t it? It’s already the month of March. Before you know it the days will be longer and temperatures will get hotter again.

George and I are still keeping busy with mostly work. In addition to his work schedule George is currently working on getting his master in education as well. He already got his feet wet as a substitute teacher. And he enjoyed it tremendously. I’m so happy for him to have found his calling.

We’ll be going to Los Angeles again in May. We got tickets to see Peter Gabriel performing some of his own songs and some cover songs live with an orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. I can’t wait! And yesterday we got our hotel reservation confirmed too. The Hollywood Bowl is such a great open-air venue up in the Hollywood Hills. We’ve already seen John Williams conducting some of his now classic movie themes there as well as listened to Joel Grey and Ute Lemper singing Broadway tunes and some of the best American Standards songs together.

Hollywood, here we come...again!

Yesterday evening we saw Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” at a special screening. We went in with low expectations. The film was alright, not bad but not great either. George and I felt it was ordinary at best. I was surprised that certain computer generated scenes and effects looked rather tired, which surprised me. In this day and age of almost perfect computer technology and imagery one would expect better. I was also hoping that Tim Burton would finally start evolving from his predictable visual style. The film also dragged at times and some scenes were downright tedious. There were a few laughs here and there but overall the film was a bit stale. I also could not connect to the film’s heroine Alice whom felt cold and standoffish. Given the opportunity a story like “Alice in Wonderland” has to offer this movie could have been so much more.

The sun is out again in full force here in the high desert. Trees are turning green already and spring flowers are blooming. Since we had a rather unusual wet winter we can expect more wild flowers and grasses to cover the arid desert landscape with a burst of color in a few weeks. It’s a fairly rare occurrence but if it happens it’s one spectacular sight to behold. But for now more clouds and rain is predicted to move into the Las Vegas Valley as early as tomorrow.

We’ll see.

Not that we’re complaining. We need the rain desperately. The more the better.

Below are some random shots taken in the last two weeks or so.

One of many winter storms in February, which dumbed lots of snow in the mountains surrounding Las Vegas.

Detail of rain droplets on the window glass.

Detail of water drops caught in the weave of the sliding door screen.

Chocolate Chip Brownie, fresh out of the oven. George made it for a pot luck which was held in one of his classes. It smelled so good but I couldn’t have any. Only lookie lookie, but no touchie touchie. Darn!

Oma

Today is my grandmother’s birthday. She would have turned 106 years old. Incredible how time passes.

When my mother and I moved to Munich, Germany in the mid 1960s I was five or six years old at the time. It was supposed to be a temporary stay. My father was in the Air Force then but had to leave for Vietnam and my mother didn’t want us left isolated in the vast farmlands near the stateline of Iowa and Nebraska. So my mother decided to stay with her mother in Germany for the time being until my dad would return.

Life, fate, or whatever one would like to call it, would have it otherwise. Due to numerous unforeseen circumstances my mother and I, and eventually my father as well, would end up staying and living in Munich for the following 25 years or so.

My grandmother, or Oma as I would call her, was a fully integrated part of my life growing up. She helped raising me as both my parents worked full-time. She was a very old-fashioned and simple lady with a traditional mindset, believing that the world was changing too much and too fast. She had her own worldview and little quirks but that made her so much more special.

She was indeed somewhat disconnected from a world that was going too fast. Progress would somehow not include her. And she wouldn’t allow a new evolving society to dictate how she should live her life. She had her own way of doing things and dealing with problems. Which basically meant sticking with old traditions and a way of life which was less affected by consumerism and the mass-movements of the time but being more entwined with self-reliance and common sense.

Oma lived a life reminiscent of simpler times. And it worked. For her and for us. I was heavily influenced by this way of thinking. Show humility and be modest. One can do much better with less but is not less worthy for it. Always be kind and polite, even if others don’t reciprocate. Always be mindful of your surrounding and use common sense. She taught me things without having to explain it with a million words. I learned and just knew...by watching, by listening, by participating.

She always worked hard all her life. She made sure we were all fed, clothed and everything was in its place and order. To leisurely spend a Sunday afternoon or even taking a vacation was unimaginable in her mind. But she would always be there for me. Despite all the household chores, health ailments and other hardships, she would always take time for me and made sure I was taken care of.

I remember her heartfelt and infectious laughter and her big hugs. I remember her making the most amazing Apfelstrudel, Marble Cake or Topfenkuchen, a Bavarian-style Cheesecake, all made from scratch. I still have yet to find anything even remotely delicious as these extraordinary treats.

I remember her amazement being on an airplane for the very first time when she was already over 70 years old. We would took her on a trip along the Eastcoast from New York City down to Florida. It was quite an effort to convince her to finally go on a vacation trip with us. But she enjoyed every single minute immensely.

I also remember that evening when she would leave us forever after a long sickness, standing next to her hospital bed and having to helplessly watch her slowly slip away. But I also knew that she would finally find that well-deserved rest. As devastating this moment was for all of us she was going to a better place.

Today is the birthday of one truly amazing person.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Oma.


George and I visited my grandmother’s grave at the Haidhauser Friedhof (cemetery) in Munich last month. It’s very customary for German gravesites to have an area to keep holy water, usually a bowl-shaped mold carved out of stone. The above photo is a close-up of the cover for the holy water.

Repent!

...Love Is All You Need