I just have to tell you...

 

Dear You, 

it was such a beautiful symmetry: 

in number, in age and in the way they sat. 

This afternoon I sat on the sofa and was reading a story to the triplets - one sat on my lap, the others snugged closely at my left and my right. 

And when I lifted my eyes I looked straight on three very young sparrows - sitting on the balustrade of my big Bavarian balcony - watching us intently. 

They hadn't just landed to draw breath while learning to fly - they deliberately stared at us for at least five minutes. 

Both young folks looked highly interested at each other. 

It was an unforgettable moment for us. 

PS: The view from the window above I took at castle Caputh in Brandenburg. I am never quite sure whether you are interested in a more detailed portrayal of historic buildings I visited, or if you think that boring - please give me a hint. 

 

A very strange fashion...

 

Dear You, 

I know, I know... it is fashion now, and deep in my heart I should be thankful that it is so ... instead of grieving Highheels (oh my poor back!) - where you needed a man at your side to grab his arm if you walked on the slippery  Jungfernstieg in Hamburg where they had the extraordinary idea to put marble slates as pavement - in a city which has as often rain as London...

Yet I look disapprovingly into the mirror. My skirt is still wonderful and fitting (I bought it 17 years ago in Hamburg, though didn't wear it very often - most time I am a Jeans-type, so practical, especially now with grandchild-triplets).

Normally I never tell if a garment is new or old - I take a compliment and smile. 

But those awful looking comfortable plump shoes... 

I hunted through Berlin for something cozy AND a bit more graceful. Well - at least a tiny weeny bit. 

I found a less ugly version - French, of course. Sort of tennis-court shoes, small, no high plateau sole (the photo is not correct here).  

Happy and comfortable, 

Yours Truly 

PS: Do you remember about ten years ago, when I had those wonderful light white leather ballerinas? By Jeremy Scott for Adidas - they have little white wings at the heel - I floated through Berlin. 

No Fast Food

 

Dear You, 

I am back from Berlin - and have enjoyed my friends and the beautiful big flat, the fine weather and breathed culture in the capital. 

The gaps between my visits are still long - sometimes I float in a feeling of unreality: in the kitchen I grab for a pitcher - and it isn't there, it stands on another board (though I tried to make arrangements in both flats as similar as possible) - I feel a bit alien in a place where I live for more than ten years. So reassuring that I still can enter - do you know the weird feeling when you pass a house in a city where you once lived - and now are standing "outdoors", no way to get in? 

In the Bavarian village I see the opposite way of life - which also has its charms: families living in houses their ancestors built hundred of years before, never moving, and almost all of them know each other quite well and are often related in a remote way. 

Now to the zucchinis above: I planted one on my balcony (escorted by a cherry tomato) - and am happily surprised: too late I had read that you need two of them to get "fruits", but this one seems to "Live Alone And Like It", as Marjory Hillis called her very sweet book. 

The zucchino (shouldn't be that the correct term? - but the spellchecker refuses, having no Italian connections) spreads its huge leaves and enjoys parthenogenesis - with convincing results. 

Yours Truly