Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Saturday 19 June 2021

Morning Fog and Name-dropping

 


Another very hot day will unfold - the last two days we had temperatures of 34° C, which make you feel as being clad into hot blankets. 

In the early morning mist rises from the meadows on the low ground near the little river. It is always a stunning sight.                                                   


So: No walk with the triplets' electro mobile - but I brought two watering cans, thus we spent a very vivid and wet afternoon in the garden - little hands slided into the cans, discovered how to splash fountains - and the sun dried the clothes at once. 

I wonder how I shall name the triplets here - to respect their privacy. They have very beautiful names (and each of them has three - fortunately we only use one, otherwise they would be up and away while we stand around and call them :-) 

Elizabeth von Arnim called hers fictional "April, May and June". Might bring confusion to the readers, especially in months with the same name? 

Maybe I call them by the name of the Three Graces: Euphrosyne, Thalia and Aglaia - but Euphrosyne is a bit long - and my son detests abbreviations...  

So: I will call the unidentical triplet "Igel", which she choose very early to name herself, meaning hedgehog - in the beginning her abundant hair stood away from the head in little spikes; so she heard it very often. Now the spikes changed into a sort of long curls.The uniovular call her "Igel" too. 

The first uniovular triplet calls herself "Ada" (which I adore!). 

The second uniovular, who is very determined and fearless, has the name of a strong Nordic goddess - the name is short so she can pronounce it almost correct. She is the third of the Three Graces, Aglaia- so I will call her Glaia.  

Igel, Ada and Glaia -time will show if that fits. 








21 comments:

  1. Bavaria, morning mists, and three little girls to top it all off - Igel, Ada and Glaia. How blessed you all are to have your very own three little graces.

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    1. Dear Rosemary, yes, I feel very blessed and thankful.
      Life is so strange, it takes and it gives - and though I knew that of course, what makes me always astonished is the utterly unexpected form it chooses to surprise us.

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  2. 34° C is quite warm, even in countries that have a lot of hot days in summer. So I hope the triplets love splashing around in the water. They will be taught to swim properly in time, but in the meantime most young children love beaches more than any other place. I remember it fondly!

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    1. Dear Hels, yes, it is surprisingly warm - but I can enjoy it as long as I see it as an exception.
      The triplets will learn swimming very early, I am sure - my DiL has been a swimmer for Niedersachsen before she studied Law - and I think still profits from the discipline she was taught there - and she taught children around 10 years old in the federal state club.
      But the most important is: she enjoys swimming tremendously and impatiently waits that the swimming baths after Covid-19 will open again, to go there with the triplets!

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  3. It does strange things to your thoughts using pseudonyms to protect privacy, which I do quite a lot. You use them for two or three posts, and sometimes they remain the 'right' names, but other times you realise that for someone what you have been using is completely wrong and there is a much better name. Twice I've gone back through my blog to change someone's pseudonym, and I'm about to do it again - I've been calling someone 'Tony' but it has become obvious to me they are a born 'Gilbert'. Maybe I'm being too perfectionist, wanting too much consistency, but for me the names have to feel right.

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    1. Dear Tasker, you speak out of my heart!
      People characterised by pseudonyms might become some sort of fictional character (in a way).
      And to choose names that really fit is important - and a way of trial and error, as you described it.
      In real life one is sometimes astonished to meet a "Carmen" for the first time - a blond pale slim little thing, when one expected the attributes of a real Carmen (dark, full bosomed and fiery).
      So parents must be attentive which name they choose - in Germany the poor bearers of non-fitting names have almost no chance to change it later.
      Easier for people in a blog.

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  4. Mist over meadows, always very haunting. We get it here too sometimes. I like your photographs and you clearly have splendid views from your little apartment. I had to look up words like uniovular and now I am a little more educated about triplets. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you, Rachel! I had to look up the translation for "uniovular" too .-)
      What fascinates me is the difference between all three of them - the way they behave , their personality.

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  5. What a beautiful view from your window. And the names are wonderful.

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    1. Thank you, Yael! I think their real names are even more beautiful and as every grandmother burst with longing to talk about the little ones - but will keep an eye on that - as you say: the view here - and the world around - is also so fascinating .

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  6. I'm sure you had fun deciding what names to call them for us. I understand your desire for privacy for them. I feel the same way. I wish I had thought to use pseudonyms. At the same time I have way too many to keep the new names straight. I do like your choices.

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    1. Dear Emma, thank you! Yes, chasing the pseudonyms was a lot of fun, and as Tasker said above: I hope they fit!
      Not to show photos is a bit hard, sigh...
      And you are right: too many persons to re-name in a blog might be difficult for the author to remember.

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  7. I really love those photos Britta - they remind me of early morning scenes I saw when doing the river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam few years back.
    The triplets, with such beautiful names, must be such sweet little girls - know they will keep you busy!!!

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    1. Dear Mary, thank you!I will be in Amsterdam soon - but Budapest is still on my wish-list.
      Oh yes, the triplets keep everyone busy - my son and DiL are working hard - with joy - but imagine: when two sleep the third might wake up at night, then, after feeding and diaper, the next might come - constant interruption of sleep with not many time to fetch that up in daytime...

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  8. Your photos are quite lovely showing early morning mist following the river bed. How lucky you are to enjoy your sweet triplets as they grow, explore and have new experiences. Seeing them delight in splashing cool water on a very hot day is what simple pleasures are made of. Pure joy!

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    1. Dear Susan, yes, I feel very blessed. Grandchildren are even more easier to enjoy than children of one's own (I have only one son - and he is a joy) - because one can revel and savour without being heavily responsible for their education (though of course I try to give them something - especially love for nature).

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  9. I envision the babes splashing in the watering cans. How big are they now?

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  10. They are almost two years old now, Joanne - and the uniovulars are quite tall for their age (no wonder, my son is 2.02m). Igel is tinier, all are very athletic - a present of their mother, who is such a sportive woman! (Otherwise her back might have cracked - imagine: up to ten times a day lifting 3 (!) little girls to change their diapers!)

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  11. It sounds like you've found the perfect pseudonyms for the girls, for now at least, and much more colourful than EVA's mere months, as clever as they were for then.

    Your photos of Bavaria are certainly living up to the mystique it holds for me - darkening woods and mysterious mists are a cracking start! How long will you stay there? Will we get the full seasonal magic, à la Elizabeth's German Garden?

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    1. Thank you, Pipistrello, I will watch out wether they will fit into the names - otherwise I will change them. (The pseudonyms :-)
      I rented the apartment for three years - hoping to prolong that (the renter has a daughter who maybe wants the flat, because of the beautiful balcony and that it has more place). I'll have to wait and see.
      But of course I do still have the big flat in Berlin - so trying to get the best of two worlds (or three, as I am often in the Netherlands too).

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