Winter Kite Festival at Lake Harriet, Jan 12, 2008

How a big kite takes to the air:


The German word for kite is "dragon" and we can see why.

But there's lots more going on: Toasting marshmallows around the fire.

A little picnic can't be missing, after all the sun is shining!
Ice-fishing of course -we are on a lake for Pete's sake! And you gotta start them young.

Patience in pink.

Now there's an interesting technique from a young hopeful.

Snow leopards sledding.

A n d back to kites!

Are they not an epitome of fun and carefree childhood?

Sunshine Gilds the New Year

To cold to linger.

Two bouncing dogs left their traces.

Copper Tones.

Delicate resillience.

Snow dunes.

Happy New Year!

My all time favorite way to spend the last evening of a year is with good friends at my or a friends home!

I was lucky enough that some of my friends had time to come round for a nice 4 course dinner everybody had contributed to!


Laurie & Kurt and Frank & Laura, Roxanne behind Lila visiting before dinner.

People regularly seem to be surprised, when they first encounter my domestic side. The other day I threw a few simple things for a card evening together and a friend asked me what was going on and whether I had been overdosing on the food network. (I don't have cable, I need to get recipes the old fashioned way, through the internet...)

I am messy and the number of things I'd rather do than spend time cleaning is infinite. But I really like to cook and I really like to set a nice table. Maybe that's a bit of a European thing too, but for a festive occasion a several course sit down meal is quite the standard. It is fun though to mix it up with the more American way of a buffet style meal and alternate between one and enjoy the variety.

Funny thing: I used to think that having sweet and savory food touching on the plate is just gross. In fact my brother who had vacationed in the US quite a bit used to tell me horror stories about breakfasts with sausages and bacon on the same plate as pancakes and people pouring sweet syrup on top of it all. (99% of Europeans will shudder violently) as they read this. And then I saw Swedish meatballs and fresh fruit salad happily intermingling next to each other on my Iowan friend's plate, joyfully forming more and more complex marble patterns of opaque gray and brilliant reds, as the eater progressed. But I digress...just one more note, while I still, after nearly 6 years in the Midwest, can't see myself having meatballs and fruit salad on the same plate , I wouldn't hesitate a second to ladle big dollops of orange jello salad next to pretty much whatever :-)

Hurray! Scott (on the left) had arrived and the feast could begin!

Just to make sure that everybody knows I am not actually "downloading" a life from the internet I made Laurie take a picture, well actually Laurie made Kurt take a picture with me in it as well, just to prove I was there :-)

Aahh, after our leisurely meal, which lasted until about half past 10 we were all pretty mellow and leaning back to give our stomachs a little more space than they had needed a few hours earlier...

We had toasted the New Year as it reached the North American continent at 9.30 pm CST so those who wanted to beat the drunkards could slip out before midnight.

For the rest of us Garisson Keillor counted in the New Year. I take that as a sign that 2008 is going to be a very amusing year ;-)

It was a lovely evening! (Lila and Scott somehow never made it to either of the two parties they were invited to...)

Happy MMVIII !

Come out, the snow is beautiful!

After all this partying in the last month and the afternoon, beforenoon or whenever naps in the last week it was not easy, but so good to get out into the cold, fresh air and for a good workout. I had enroled in a beginners cross country class after doing really, really badly, albeit in crappy conditions, a couple of years ago. I ended up waiting for my friend, who had braved the trail, sitting in the chalet. Well, I can't say that didn't have its attractions, I had a very good view of a lot of fit guys skate skiing past in very tight outfits...Huh, I thought to myself, I won't give up on that sport just yet, I'll have to get myself some lessons!

Here she is carving a track for us on the bunny... er... flat.

We had absolutely perfect conditions, the snow was lovely and powdery and in fact it was snowing all during the day! It was cold enough to have stable snow, but warm enough not to bite our faces. AND I had the best teacher I could have! Her name is Jenny and she had a really gentle approach, putting us at ease and explaining about gear and technique, while at the same time challenging us and constructively critiquing our moves.

Everybody is watching Jenny's technique, while I am funnying about with the camera instead of paying attention of what I am supposed to be doing. I bet Jenny thought I was going to be "one of THOSE students".

Tracey-Lou and Li-Hwa. Yep, it's snowing.

There's Chris and there is Alison! I actually know her from brunch at Hell's Kitchen. I love it, when I bump into people I know, when I least expect it. Makes me really feel like part of a place!

There's Jenny with more helpful pointers! She did a fantastic job! Within a bit more than an hour we had all improved a lot and where ready to go on the trail. After her instruction I felt so good about my skills, that I was going down hills with my sticks tucked under my arms like a race driver in tight bends and everything, only slowing down when I caught up with the skier ahead of me! I can't believe how dare-devil I was! What a great day! I am still sore from it after 3 days, but again, what a great day! I hope to do that again next Saturday :-)

Heilig Abend

Finally we get to see the beautifully dressed tree that we had gone to find at single digits temperatures in the snow from Up North.

Isn't it beautiful! Again, next year, I'll have a tree too :-)

Uli yearning to open the big parcel he got from Germany!

Look at that spread! The Bergers sure know how to have a party!

Presents from all over the world! And lots of them!

Here's the dynamic duo themselves Markus and Chrisy!

Champagne! Those Bergers sure know how to party!

No, this is not a picture from Better Living, that was "just a bit o' cheese"!

Christmas cheer! Look, they even got stars from the sky for their guests! Well, I guess it's easy for Markus, with him working for an airline...Those Bergers sure know how to party!

(Uli, John & Joan, Markus & Chrisy)

The shimmy round the hors d'oeuvres buffet, yep, that's just the hors d'oeuvres, kinda just to warm us up before the sit down meal. The meal was two different kinds of salmon with mango salsa, homemade cranberry relish, asparagus, potato salad a la Markus Mum and much ah-ed over bread that Ulrich and Jessica brought along with those delicious cheeses. Those Bergers...I think I need a nap now...

(Ulrich, Jessica & Uli)

For me always a high point: The singing of Christmas songs. There is never enough singing in our lives! When Markus and I sang a traditional song (Es wird schon bald dumper) in our native accents that was very special. That evoked homeland feelings like few things do. And what is Christmas without the feeling of being at home... Well ok and the fact that Markus is a former member of the most prestigious Choir in the Western World (Wiener Saengerknaben) is pretty cool too :-)

Ah, the presents are unpacked and it's off to church. At this point I had to bail out with my cold catching up with me, which prevented me to go to my friends houses the next day, but it HAD been a lovely Christmas with Chrisy, Markus, Joan, John, Uli, Jessica and Ulrich!

Thanks for the lovely presents to all of you! Happy New Year!

My Friends' Wedding

Yesterday my friends Curt and Krista tied the knot! It was a beautiful candle-lit ceremony I dedicated my full attention to and don't have pictures of. I can't wait to see the pictures that photographer took! Also the couple asked me not to share pictures of them through this medium, which I obviously respect!

Several of my friends had a photographer at their wedding, who took fabulous pictures of them as a couple, just to realized later with regret, that they had virtually no pictures of the party and their guests! So I decided to step into that niche here!

Kurt the best man with his best woman Laurie.

Paul and Marsha with Roxanne at the neigbours table. You can tell, everybody is just having a good time!

Carol and Paul enjoying themselves.

That's me, in case you don't recognize me so dressy. Yup, I cleaned up alright with a little help from my friends (Laurie; and Kurt's approval didn't do any harm either :-)

And here's my table with friends of the couple..err.. I can't remember all of their names, but they were a lot of fun to talk to over dinner!

Tom and Courtney all spick, span and sparkly!

Molly and Mike on the right, nice fellow whose name I also forgot on the left.



Theresa in the Middle. She was taking pictures also, I hope I'll get see those soon! Ah well if nothing else a reason to arrange a sociable event to get together for exchanges!


And then it was time to dance! The music was fantastic, heavily leaning on 60s, which are my favorites. I can't remember the last time I had such a good dance! Thank you so much Curt!!! Needless to say, that the camera lay all but forgotten back on the table while there was music going!

In a nutshell, it was a wonderful wedding! I hope for you Krista & Curt, that this is the start of a life with many happy occasions and joyous dances!

And thank you so much for putting up that suggestion box and plenty of paper and pens. That was a suggestion box, right? I was a little surprised, we don't have those at weddings in Europe, anyway, I already mentioned it to Krista yesterday, but I also put a note in the box. I really hope you guys will renew your vows every year and have a fabulous dance like yesterday to celebrate it!

Thanks so much for inviting me!

The Very Best of Luck to You Twos!