polished shoes

My children love polishing their shoes as much as I do, it is a trait I inherited from my grandfather. Can the love of polishing shoes be genetically encoded? Anway, it was a happy Sankt Nikolaus Day in our house. The girls were quite happy with licorice gum and licorice Mentos from Denmark, erasers from Japan, chocolate from Germany, bath bombs and mini Klutz books.

angel and cherub in Venice

It is Saint Nikolaus eve tonight and five years ago I spent it in mysterious and magical Venice. This marble angel and cherub were found in the stairwell of the magnificent Museo Correr which wraps around the West and South side of the Piazza San Marco.

angel in Shrewsbury

Today is the day of Saint Barbara, one of the fourteen holy helpers and the patron saint of explosives and math. In honor of my name I picked an angel who carries a resemblance to me when I was in my late teens. I found her right here in Shrewsbury.

angel in Quebec

It looks like this angel is ready to join forces with some occupy movement, fighting for justice, doesn't it? But this angel - one of a pair - is guarding the entrance to the cemetery in St. Therese, Gaspe-peninsula, Quebec, Canada. A beautiful final location, high up on the cliff and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. When my friend lived next door in her youth, she and her siblings would put wine bottles in the hands of the angels who probably at one time held some kind of trumpets.

We have been having blue skies like this the last days and it is starting to get cold now.

angel in the Dorsoduro district of Venice

This sleeping angel was found while walking around the quaint Dorsoduro district in Venice. It is a small statue in an art gallery and thematically very appropriate, since I am terribly sleep deprived due to insomnia.

angel in Boston

Advent and December arrived and I am slowly recovering, though my damaged occipital nerves might need a few years for that. I have spent a long time 'collecting' angels via photos for a friend and I am working on a calendar for her upcoming birthday. Given the season, I thought I might share some this month as I am not out and about with my camera that much.

This angel was found in the Boston Public Garden.

seize the moment

I decided to have the inauguration of my fire spiral tonight exactly because I am being in the midst of a medical nightmare, in terrible pain and inhaling painkillers like breathing. We had a bbq and bonfire with my mom, my best friend from Germany with his daughter and truly wonderful friends from here. And it was the best thing I could have done, being distracted by lovely and interesting company on a perfect fall night. We never know how much time we have: seize the moment.

paradis de pommes

Nothing comes in as many variety, except for humans I think. If a snake would offer me an apple, I could not refuse.

shroom

... and all of a sudden it was summer in fall, the leaves were resisting change, the mercury was rising and the sunbrellas had to come back out.

walden

"I went to the woods..." Well, I just went to try and have the crisp air clear my extreme headache. It did not work, but was utmost beautiful anyway. There is something very special at Walden Pond and I fail to put it into words.

intrinsic happiness

Though quirky and definitely having strange moments at times, this child of mine has such an intrinsic happiness and an infectious joy of life, I am glad I get to share it.

birds like fish

A display of sparkling white feathers in the sunlight and amazing synchronicity, a huge flocks of sand pipers was flying left and right over the Atlantic ocean at Crane Beach, looking rather like a school of fish than a flock of birds.

weathered

We came across this old cemetery right on the coast in Rockport, stones all weathered and beaten, yet still standing against time, marking what is no more.

sky

Sometimes I experience a tantamount need to have a wide and far sky to look at for an incredible feeling of air and freedom and possibilities.

linger

The day yesterday was so incredibly perfect that it lingered on in our minds and attitudes today. I know it sounds like yet another juxtaposition, but everybody was infected by a giddy, happy calm yesterday, almost like knowing that it was the last lovely day before a long winter and this shared feeling created a common ground between strangers everywhere.

promise

Extraordinarily lucky me, going to the beach today to let the waves crash over my feet, the wind blow through my hair, to walk in the sand and hear the seagulls. The promise of 'lovely' :)

grey

A grey day is at times all I need to kick into gear, get my creative juices flowing and get a lot done. Especially with the knowledge that I will be rewarded with a sunny day at the beach the day after.

little things

Often it is the little things that make us happy, for example looking at all these driftwood pieces that I collected on various beaches and that I now used to hang my hurricane bell.

apple tree

The Roxbury Russet apple is believed to be the oldest variety of apple bred in this country, actually in the early 17th century here in Roxbury Massachusetts. One of my favorite apples ever - a tree full of it is heaven to me. Thomas Jefferson planted a number of them in Monticello's South Orchard in 1778. I bet he had it with some cheese, wine and a good book just like I did today. Nashoba Winery has a huge variety of antique apples, people have no idea what they are missing if they only know Macs and it is one of the most beautiful places to visit in the fall.

goats

Goats are so funny and cute, for some reason they always make me happy when I watch them. Plus, they give us great milk to make the yummiest of goat's milk cheese.

get lost

Unanimously all five girls decided to ditch the map and try to get lost in the corn maze. So I just followed two of them since it is kind of nice to just keep walking without really any aim. We still never really got lost though, maybe we should have tried the map to get lost?

painted clouds

At times the sky is challenging our perception, throwing wild layers of chaotic clouds and weird weather at us. We found Salisbury Beach without the slightest breeze, but with humid and sticky air instead and the strangest sky that looked bizarre and different in every direction. I love the sky.

balloons

No matter what your age is, balloons are always fun and fascinating. Incredible how whipping out a box of these can induce excitement and hilarity.

autumn

Happy equinox day - autumn is here, my favorite season!

refuge

A space I call mine, a refuge, a garden-room, a place to take a break. Click on the picture to see my escape and join me.

happy beet surprise

It was raining all day today, though not beets (or frogs for that matter). Though when I came out of the house I found a bunch of fresh harvested beets on my car. It made me rather happy for multiple reasons. First of all I love beets, second it is wonderful to have a great friend who knows that and brings them by and as if by predetermination, I was making all-the-veggies-you-can-find-soup. To top it all: these beets are gorgeous, right?

kindred spirits

These rocks are in my mother's garden, they could just as well be in mine, since we are kindred spirits when it comes to rocks in the garden. We spent a day gardening today and it is so nice to have somebody understand your vision and ideas, getting excited about the same things and just actually getting 'me'.

first apples

The sudden switch to cold fall weather and the arrival of my apple-crazy mother prompted us to go out for the first apple picking of the season. A Sunday with sunshine, wind and a crazy sky and apples in abundance. To be honest though, the best thing was the hayride up the hill :)

stage light

It can be so fascinating to see the world differently via the means of a camera shifting time, light and space and altering our perception while often expressing more than the visual context and adding 'feel' to a scence. Here are glow bracelets during a dance number.

stage girl

I am completely amazed that my otherwise often shy and reserved daughter (purple dress) has not only a lack of stage fright, but actually loves being on stage and performing in front of an audience. I myself am near sudden death any time I have to put my feet up a stage.

iron spiral

Oh yes, lucky me, another spiral - hurrah! They have a very fun exhibition at Tower Hill with very big and very small iron sculptures. This one was rather big and looks like a fiddlehead.

peachy

Isn't this flower amazing? All the peachy tones in all those many petals - radiating in the sunlight with this warm color. That is actually the color of my bathroom and on grey days, it looks like the sun is shining in there.

head up the hill

A day so gorgeous as today needed to be spent out of doors. So I met a friend for a lovely brunch in a meadow of clover overlooking the South Bay of Wachusett Reservoir from Tower Hill.

incandescent gas

Sophie and I got to watch the gigantic nuclear furnace, that is powering all life, slowly disappear over the horizon. The sun was so round and orange and beautiful and at the same time, the full moon was coming up behind us, spectacular.

singer's camaraderie

In remembrance of the victims of 9/11, Johanna* and I participated in a big choral collaboration of many choruses and choirs. The music was wonderful and the ceremony moving without being too much to bear. What I found really amazing though was how nice almost all choristers were. You have 350 people thrown together in a small space, working to make one piece of music out of all the voices and everybody is friendly and courteous and there is a certain kind of singer's camaraderie. My mother used to say: "Go where there are people singing, 'cause evil people have no songs." That is a nice thought.

* (above in a picture from the T&G)

red & orange

This one is for you Marc! Recently the question came up if red and orange go together and I was the only person who loves that combination apparently. Of course it needs to be the right choice of each color with a similar degree of warmth, otherwise it might clash. How can they not go together, think about beautiful sunsets, amazing blanket flowers or hollyhocks and of course: gorgeous fall foliage.

type a

Call it type A or a touch of OCD, but I love all my pencils to be the same and all organized in a row. Don't really know how this fits in with my artsy brain, but I just shake it off as one of the juxtapositions of my strange mind.

mother and daughter

I am looking through my photo library for a contest of the perfect pair and when I saw this one, I thought it looks for sure like my oldest and me, just a bit cuddlier to the touch maybe.

malva

Woolen socks on my feet, hot tea in my hand and a thick fleece cardigan -  if it would not be for the flowers outside, I would think summer is over with. Thank you Malva Parkallee for the reminder.

lightning

Life is not always fair weather and star shine and that is okay with me, because lightning and thunder are pretty darn amazing. Drama in the sky.

dock

If one were to ask me what my favorite place to be is, the answer would always be: a boat dock, there is nothing better in the world!

starry sky

The dark hemisphere of the endless universe with sparkling stars above, all huddled together on the dock, swaying oh so gently on a very still night. Just the eerie sounds of loons and conversations about astronomy to be heard.

not exactly a difficult choice

You know you are having a great weekend if the biggest choice to make is between margaritas, Sam Adam's Oktoberfest or sangria. Sue's perfect margaritas won, hands down, no competition. Relax and enjoy the end of summer.

round and round

One year and 290 posts, this blog has its first anniversary. And because that's how it is in life: things go round and round with repetition and rituals. One of the nicest rituals in our life is the long and merry labor day weekend at Lake Kezar with friends. And that is where we are going tonight, to have a great time and soak our souls in the grandness of the ever changing beautiful sky over the lake!

suspension

Just like life, everything in suspension, every moment transient...

excitement

Sometimes being the onlooker is the more difficult role. The kids were all psyched and excited to start a new year of learning today, while I felt a little worried about their transitions. They came home with big smiles and enthusiasm, loving every single teacher they had the pleasure to meet.

All is good at ONE ✷ ELEVEN.

P.S. Sophie insists on wearing socks with sandals because "she is German".

library museum pass

I love my library, their museum passes are such a gift. They allowed us a long overdue visit to Fruitlands in Harvard and gave us: beautiful nature and magnificent vistas, classic and contemporary art, history and of course a puzzle piece of transcendentalism I was actually missing. There are great things all around us, sometimes it takes us a while to notice.

leaves

The hurricane that posed an extreme threat luckily turned into nothing but a little more than usual wind and rain. Nothing really extraordinary happened here outside of leaves everywhere. I myself caused the storm to fizzle out by using Murphy's law, preparing for the storm of the millennium and also cancelling the birthday party of my little one.

cat in a hat

Boredom often is the root of creativity and at times purely annoying to cats.

k-ah-f-ee-zeit

You can count on it, at some point in the afternoon, one of my children will say it: "k-ah-f-ee-zeit" (Kaffeezeit), meaning it is time for a leisurely sit-down, have a cup of coffee or tea and maybe a biscuit. I believe it is the ritual and the connotation of this being so traditionally German as well as the mix of having a little time out and the sweet treat that makes this so appealing. And in case you are appalled, I do not regularly caffeinate my kids, we make fruit or herbal tisanes or like today, what we call 'Kinderkaffee', a malted grain coffee.