Hello friends,
We’ve had a mixture of blue skies and rainy days over the last couple of weeks here in Tübingen.
We had friends come to visit and they definitely experienced a bit of every kind of weather.
We even had a bit of snow.
We headed back to Castle Lichtenstein where we had a gorgeous birthday lunch at the Altes Forsthaus. If you ever go, I strongly recommend the Maltauschen!
It was so fun to have folks here from our life in Aberdeen, and I especially adored having a bit of girl time! Living in an all male household is still a new (and sometimes harsh) reality for me. The struggle is real, y’all.
A few other bits and pieces from this week:
I went to a new weekly gathering (Sprach-Café) for beginners who want to practice their German and I met a family from Syria, so that was my daily reminder that while learning German for me is a sort of hobby and I can go back to English + The USA anytime, some people are learning this language to survive + build a permanent life in a new place.
About once a week, a movie is shown in English in a theater here in Tübingen and this week it was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so the boys and I went and y’all! I’m so happy to know that Empathy is a superpower. I finally have an answer to that party mixer question: If you were a super hero, what would your superpower be?
We planned most of our summer travel this week, booking hostels and train tickets, and Taido has a series of hikes planned for which I seriously need to train. Time to get outside.
A dear friend of mine sent me this Henri Nouwen quote recently:
Writing is not just jotting down ideas. Often we say: “I don’t know what to write. I have no thoughts worth writing down.” But much good writing emerges from the process of writing itself. As we simply sit down in front of a sheet of paper and start to express in words what is on our minds or in our hearts, new ideas emerge, ideas that can surprise us and lead us to inner places we hardly knew were there.
One of the most satisfying aspects of writing is that it can open in us deep wells of hidden treasures that are beautiful for us as well as for others to see.
from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen
I’m keeping this idea in front of me as I fill up the pages of my notebooks with what always feels like drivel!
I’m going to try Rosa Parks’ recipe for pancakes. She used peanut butter, which seems like a fabulous plan.
Randomly, I found this simple, but beautiful sketch of Jesus.
We missed our friends’ Eurovision party this year but we joined via Twitter and my favorite did not win. My first choice was Romania, because yodeling! And second place goes to France for the beautiful video of Paris! But the real winners of the night were a guy streaking the stage and this tweet! Oh Eurovision!
I finished reading Africans in America, which I’ve been reading for a couple of months. It’s the companion book to the PBS series about the history of slavery in America. Each chapter is accompanied by these exquisite short stories by Charles Johnson, who also wrote Middle Passage. He brings the history alive in this achingly beautiful way. Highly recommend. It’s an older book so you can get it used for super cheap.
Now I need a book recommendation for while I’m traveling. Preferably something set in Italy!! Thoughts??
I’m packing my backpack to meet my sister in Italy and will be traveling for the rest of May and a lot of June! I’m ready to feel that Tuscan sun on my face.
Then in June, the boys and I are off to Arkansas for a visit because they have two weeks off of school for Pentecost. (Soooo many holidays!)
Because I’m heading out on the road alone for the first time in a while, I decided to hop back on Instagram.
That’s it for me at the moment. Sending you a squeeze from sunny Germany today!
XO
Alison
