rekindled spirit

it is fasnacht season or carnival. a strange combination of mardi gras- everyone is out parading and partying on the streets and halloween because they wear scary masks and costumes

fasnacht season officially begins on 11.11. at 11.11 pm- and is celebrated at it’s height after the new year

every weekend until dirty thursday all the villages or towns in the area take turns hosting parades and all the neighboring villages attend wearing their representative masks-  made out of wood and usually a witch or an imaginary animal of some sort 

 spectators dress in costumes and or funny clothes and are  often victims of tricks- i got confetti not thrown- but poured on my head a few times and thomas had his shoe laces stolen-

they parade down the streets dancing, throwing candy at children, and sometimes performing circus acts- not only is this celebration a time of indulgence before lent

but also to scare and ward off evil spirits and rush the winter out in order to usher in spring

“hochzeit” is the word for wedding in german. pronounced “hoh’ kh’ site”, it literally translates to “high time”.  i find this word to be charming and reflective of such a joyful and significant event.  

this hochzeit geschirr or wedding china was made in bavaria between the 1940s and 50s and found at a flohmarkt (flea market) in überlingen. 

take a look at the bottom or leg of the cup.  gorgeous, isn’t it?

“professionalism is way overrated. it is the spirit of the amateur that people in creative occupations- in almost any occupation- need to cultivate more than anything else. a couple of hundred years ago, “amateur” was an entirely positive, noble description of someone. the word comes from the latin amator, which means “lover.” an amateur undertaking was something you did out of love, for the pleasure of doing it- something you did out of passion (and if you think about it this whole country was a nation created by passionate amateurs).

-kurt andersen, in “ode o amateurism”

there is nothing little about little wing

this is tom our neighbor and little wing’s drummer. he also is a member of another band called the lunatics. he plays the hell out of rock and roll but his true love is the blues. he has toured all over the world for over 20 years playing with the likes of carey bell, louisiana red, champion jack dupree, lovie lee, katie webster,  karen carroll, jeanne carroll, rudy rotta, steve “big man” clayton, and vince weber. what an impressive list! he also is president and ceo of his own very successful print marketing company. 

what makes the entire band so special is that like tom, carry other titles. they are corporate professionals, business executives, not to mention, mothers and fathers who are passionate lovers of music and get together to make good, wild, make you shake your body music (jam session video).

often rotating guest musicians, they get down and dirty, feeding their souls doing what they love, what gives them joy, sharing it and taking us along for the ride. it is wonderful to see these guys enjoying their passion for music.

one our favorite things to do is going to see live bands so we were excited to go see these wild guys last weekend hot- date- style with an overnight babysitter thrown in for extra fun.  we had a blast. the energy was unbelievable, we were all shaking our bodies and howling like wolves to the wee hours of the morning.

i have said before, we don’t get out much, and when we do, we talk about it for days like to kids just back from disneyland. so yeah, we are still talking about little wing and will forever. especially since they let me sing back-up when they played mustang sally!

*more here* local paper coverage 

i will be away for a while. delight your soul, ears, and eyes, during the warm summer evenings of august. let yourself be enchanted by nature under your big, open skies. 

feel wind

listen to water

and marvel at the sun

last week the sun, moon, and i, went to pick up the moon’s prescription glasses. we ended up at the farmer’s market in the center of town afterwards

this market which is in überlingen is held every wednesday and saturday and is embraced by the community. it is packed and very busy everytime we are there. 

we enjoy it very, very much. the freshest in season fruits and vegatables are available and we always come home with something special

this time we had a somepinkflowers sighting. she had the hair and was sporting a pink halter dress to kill

i thought to myself “what is that travel slut doing here?” we followed her into a shoe store where she was trying on shoes. while we were or i was stalking her, the sun was trying on shoes and found sandals that she really loved and could not part with. as we made our way up to the register, she turned and smiled at us.  

we went to say hello to her just to double make sure it was her but it was not her. she was beautiful just like the real somepinkflowers but the the proof that it was not her was that she could not speak english. needless to say, she was very sweet and kind and after i explained to her that i thought she was somepinkflowers, she agreed to pose for a photo.

we came home with delicious summer fruits  that mmm… were so good, so delicious. i honestly think that the fruits here taste a million times better than they did in the states or maybe i should say texas

here’s the moon devouring his juicy nectarine and wearing his new spectacles like a champion!