"Lord of the Flies" comes to Morning Song...

Yesterday Sasha was still feeling a little weak so he stayed "home". We rode the Gazelle (him on the Kinder-seat up front) to Poggio in Sausalito. Our morning was spent relaxing, sipping tea, eating samples and talking. It was heavenly!

Just before lunch we rode to Mill Valley to clean-up/warm-up (take tub and shower)and fill our bellies with some soup and fresh bread. As we were getting ready to sit down I received the phone call that all parents dread, "Please come and pick-up Jonas from school, we are having some behavioural problems". The teacher elaborated. It seems Jonas, along with two other kids (girls none the less so all of you thinking boys will be boys can toss that idea), had been kicking the youngest and smallest boy in school. Three on one and Jonas had on his new (handed down from Sasha) Cowboy boots! Oh no!

When we arrived Jonas was clearly embarrassed but also smirking (this could be from me, I have been told I have a tendency to smirk when I am really uncomfortable). Here was one of those huge tests of my parenting abilities.I had better do this right .

I took him aside, explained that his kicking feet are meant to kick balls and, given he had shown he was not yet old enough to understand that, his pointy cowboy boots would have to go away. We drove straight to the donation place at Safeway, I took off his boots and handed them to the "man in the truck". At first Jonas thought I was bluffing. It took him a moment and then it sunk in, his boots were really gone. As he began to wail I wondered if I had done the right thing (too harsh?). In that moment, all I wanted to do was to hold him and make it better, but I resisted the urge.

We went home where he spent story and resting time alone in his bed. When we finally got up, I asked him to make the boy from school a card. He drew a beautiful card, unusual for Jonas as he still likes to mainly scribble, and HE suggested we add a book to the apology card. This is HUGE as books are like gold in our family. I know I let out an inner sigh at that moment. He had gotten it!I finally allowed myself to take him in my arms and hug him.

People often say that parents are what influence children the most, up until they are teens that is. Today was a day where I had influence and knew what to do, more or less. The next one might not be so clear, and when I need help, let's hope that my pool of support has the wisdom to help me through.

Jakub being sentimental...

I am IM'ing with my mom, something I could not have imagined only a few years ago, while listening to this song Jakub sent me from Hamburg ...and fading, quickly....life is not easy but thank God it is great! Gotta love technology.

BTW some pics from Lizabeth from Martinmas and one from last year.Sorry about the resolution, I will fix it later.

Life on both sides of the Atlantic

Jakub has been in Hamburg for almost 2 weeks. While he misses us terribly(hiding in nice bars for drinks with friends, having dinner at posh restaurants, running to avoid getting soaked in the rains) we sit here in sunny Northern California missing him (while we have play dates, go for Martinmas Lantern walks, fold piles of laundry, deal with illness). Yes life on both sides of the Atlantic seems to have its pros and cons.

It was pointed out to me today, albeit indirectly, that I may have a slight tendency to express (while not inwardly focusing on) the negative side of things in my Heim. I read a blog from "The Replacements" as we endearingly all the American family, also from SF, that came to Hamburg just after us. If I am not mistaken, my tales of hellish days in Hamburg are not only referenced, but dramatized to a point of being, well, blogworthy. In fact, it appears that my stories were so inspiring, "do-over days", as they are referred to, have now come to have a special name, mine! Here is the excerpt.

"Today was a classic “do-over” day. In fact, we heard about another American couple who moved to Hamburg for a stay and the wife had many such days … we heard about the day the bike broke down and no one would help, despite the fact she had two small children who were all stranded with her; how the neighbors never ONCE in the entire year, said hello to her; how in anticipation of the move, she alerted her neighbors that they would be moving and to expect the elevator to be busy only to discover some un-named neighbor had written on her note that the elevators were not to be used for moving that if they were damaged they would hold her responsible. In general, she did not find the German experience a hospitable one and at about 1 pm today I, too, was ready to throw in the towel. We have named this type of day a “N*$#CC day” in her honor (I removed the name to protect her as I am sure she had a great time and would resent us using her stories in this way; I know I would)."

I think it is time to make an early resolution, be more Pollyanaish (believe or not there was a time in my life when people hurled this at me as an insult).You do remember Pollyana, the gal from the 60's Disney movie who saw the glass as half-full no matter what. Perhaps I lost my inner Pollyana when I started working on exotic invasives, perhaps when I met the man who's favourite quote is "When life gives you lemons...make lemonade." Who knows....all I can say is I will try, for the sake of posterity, to express more of my inner Pollyana. That said, nothing goes better with sweet than a little bitter:-)

Back from the Arctic

Jakub has emerged from the tundra and returned to civilization. He will post a detailed account of his epic journey once he catches up on missed housework.

For now you can see pictures from the trip on Craig's site and here.

Day 1 Mill Valley - Inuvik

Jakub hat sein epicische Reise nach Inuvik, North West Territories, Canada heute Morgen begonnen. Ich habe ihn um 04:00 Uhr aufgeweckt und unsere Nachbarin, sie arbeitet mit Mutual Funds an der Ost Kueste. Sie hat mir erzaehlt, dass Jakub viel zu früh weggefahren ist. Er hat uns einmal, um 13:00 Uhr angerufen und hat gesagt, „Wann endet diese öde Wüste nur“? Mir ist sehr heiß, aber ich komme gut voran! Wenn Ihr neugierig seid, findet Ihr meine Reiseroute unter folgendem Link: http://tinyurl.com/2kvafo.

Für unsererseits, wir haben die Aufträge gemacht (Auto waschen, etc) danach sind wir ins Kino gegangen für “Artic Tale” zu sehen http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488508/ Es ist eine düsteres Geschichte aber sehr süβ. Ich war gefreut das ich bin meinem Fahrad gefahren für zwei Gründe 1)Hatte das Gefuehl das wir machen etwas gut für Umwelt 2)wir sind mit “Yummy Dad” danach getroffen und er war sehr begeistert von unserem Fahrrad.(macht keine sorge, ich habe, in letzter Zeit, eine Allergy gegen Treulosigkeit!)
------------------------------------------
Jakub began his somewhat epic journey to Inuvik this morning. I woke him shortly after 4:00am and our neighbour, who manages mutual funds and therefore works east coast hours, reports she saw him departing bright and early. We received one phone call mid-day where Jakub said, :”Where does the high desert end? I am hot and slightly chaffed. All is going well.” If you want to check out his proposed route it is as follows: http://tinyurl.com/2kvafo

For our part, we did errands (washed the car etc) and then went to see “Artic Tale” in the afternoon. It is a somber tale about where the world is headed and despite making me laugh at several points it left me wondering how the world will look when Sasha and Jonas are my age (35 as of this week!). I was certainly glad we rode our bike for two reasons really 1) I felt like we were making choices that would help the environment long term and 2) we bumped into “Mill Valley Yummy Dad” right after and he was enamoured with my bike. Yes, he is actually called “Yummy Dad” by all the local moms due to his extreme hotness.(For those of you that are worried, not to worry, I have recently developed an allergy against infidelity!)

Back in Mill Valley

We are back in Mill Valley, the kids are performing Zirkus Krone, a big circus from Hamburg, while I write this blog. I've just read the NY Times and was amazed to see that the Democratic debates included questions submitted on YouTube! Makes me realize why Euros think of the US as being so flashy. Fun but flashy.

We are trying to settle back in to life however, boxes still fill all spaces save the kitchen and bedrooms, we have no furniture in the living room or office space and the daily demands of life - dishes, laundry, cooking, groceries etc - still need to be met.

I am hoping to find work once our green cards come through and the thought of even looking for a job makes me feel excited! As usual this is written with the pitter patter of little feet.....hard to focus.....so off we go!

River Elbe Panorama

Welcoming Spring...

There is a phenomenon in Germany that I truly appreciate, living in rhythm with the year. In many parenting books, especially those with a Waldorf influence, following a daily, weekly and seasonal rhythm is cited as something critical to the well being of the child. I have witnessed the positive influence this has on our children but what surprises me is how much it influences my own well being, in particular the seasonal rhythm. Celebrating the turning of the season sets everything in the right direction.

We are in the middle of celebrating the coming of spring, my personal favourite! By the way it is so heartily celebrated her in northern Germany, I think I am not the only one. Perhaps it is due to the long dark, dreary days of winter, perhaps because it is a season of life after so much stillness? Whatever it is it is fantastic!

Sasha's Birthday in Mill Valley

Sasha's Birthday Celebration in Hamburg

Jonas giving his birthday speech...

Easter Egg Hunt

...and the bounty

Easter Bondfire

Cutting willow for pomlazka with babi Bara

Lounging on Sylt

Jakub at sunset

Launch of a new cruise ship Aida Diva

Home trip to San Francisco

Recently we made a trip back to San Francisco to ensure that we stay connected and have an easier transition back into our surroundings. We had fantastic time, although I am sure Nicole will come up with a much more eloquent and critical description. For me it was a reminder not only of all we love in the Bay Area - visit from grandparents, our friends, running on Mt. Tam, fishing, my motorbike, but also a realization about many great aspect of living in Europe that we will miss once we return. Both places are incredibly beautiful and here are few pictures from this trip.

Nicole on Crissy Field

in Stinson with grandpa

moon rise over Bay Bridge

on top of Mt. Tamalpais

San Francisco Bay panorama

Vltava Grayling with Jan Šiman

grayling underwater

Last year, in early October I fulfilled my dream and fished the headwaters of the Vltava river. Since this was my first time fishing for greyling I enlisted the services of a great fly fishing innovator and guide Jan Šiman. His expert advice put me into fish right of the bat and I had fantastic 2 days in the most beautiful

Here are few pictures of Vltava river, the glorious grayling living there and even a short video produced by Jan.

Jan's video

brown trout

czech trout flies

More to come...

Steelhead on the Trinity

virgin no more

While in San Francisco I sneaked off with Mitch and Bruce for a quick trip up to the Trinity. We timed it perfectly and had two outstanding days between two storms. The fish were relatively fresh, the river was in a great shape and best of all the action was non stop (well almost). Oh, and I landed my very first steelhead! A beautiful chrome hen that made a fisherman of me...

mitch

bruce

silver bullet

a very happy man

winter

Coming Home...

When you are an expat, the feeling of "coming home " is usually reserved for the place you grew up. That moment when you see the small creek you swam in as a kid, or your feet hit the sand that was once the material for many a sandcastle. I love that feeling - and normally only get it when I go back to Vancouver Island.

It took relocating to Germany for the past 9months to let me have that feeling here, in Marin. Jakub let me take part in the Saturday morning run yesterday, very generous on his part as I am sure he was also dying to run with our regular group. As I got hugs and kisses of greeting, saw the familiar smiles, and the began moving my feet up Mt. Tam I realized I was home. For those of you that know us well you will realize this a momentous realization for me. I am always struggling with the idea of moving back to Canada closer to family, never really feeling at home here in California. Maybe more, never wanting to feel at home here? Either way, it sure feels like home now!

Planet Geneva

On the way to Chamonix we stopped for a morning in Geneva. Here is a picture of the lake by the outflow of Le Rhone.

Ski Week in Chamonix

Last week we managed to take some time off skiing in the French Alps. We absolutely lucked out on the conditions: after a 100 mph storm the week before we got 2+ feet of dry powder and sunny skies later in the week. The highlight was without a doubt a run down Vallée Blanche starting at 3700 m. We did not take the tourist route and instead skied steep and deep. Our guide Mark skied first on a mono ski which was very impressive. Nicole held up her own and I managed to stay out of trouble. Despite the fresh snow on top of some older ice we did not experience any avalanches and only a fool could fall into the giant crevasses on the Mer de Glace glacier. Definitely the best day of skiing for both of us despite the fact that the gondola to the train was busted and we had to hike out from the valley.


While we were skiing at altitude, the boys were learning to make turns at the ski school. After a day or two Sasha was taking the Poma lift and skiing all by himself on the easy slope in La Tour. Jonas got also the hang of it and would chase a pole while skiing downhill all by himself. And when we wanted to make few runs by ourselves, our friend Jirka Schmiedt graciously stepped in and played the role of “babicka/granny” – as Jonas called him.


Bummer to be back, I think we all could get used to the lifestyle.

New Years Resolutions

I know that a great deal has happened since we last wrote in our blog. Since it is the New Year I thought perhaps I could write once a week - even saying that I am listening to Sasha complain that I am not baking banana bread as promised, thinking about the German homework that needs to be done, laundry to be hung, dinner to be cooked, house to be cleaned and, worst of all, ironing that needs to be done. That said, it has been a fun New Year.

We decided to take the train to Wien (Vienna) for god only knows what reason. It is a 9hr train ride that required Jakun taking 2 days of holiday. Had we factored that into the budget we would have quickly realized that it did not pay, in any way, to take the train. Jakub had the boys mostly for himself for both legs of the trip due to me vomiting on the ride their and having a migraine on the ride back(both due to some weird health thing that we are trying to clear up, no worries).Once home, we were glad to be in our own flat but sad to be back in the land of no smiles and "No kids please!".

That said, we are back! Sasha and I did our yearly ritual last night and saw the Nutcracker or "Der Nussknacker" at the Hamburg Ballet. He and I were both looking forward to Christmas trees, mice and lots of snow. Unfortunately,John Neumeier decided to update the ballet and it instead featured Claire at her 12th birthday. Drosselmeier the head of a ballet school and her dream involving seeing the inner workings of how a ballet comes to life. It was a ballet in 2 Acts, the first of which I found rather weak, the second I loved.

Jakub and I have also joined a gym here, with free child care. Given that it is dark out here as late as 08:00 and it only light till 16:00 we felt a gym would be a good investement. We just don't have the motivation to run although, Jakub did buy himself a Christmas gift that is helping a little to get us out the door. Check it out at: http://www.jplichta.motionbased.com and click on the runs listed on the right hand side.

Both boys are up so that is it for me today....bis Nexte Woche