16.7.10

the angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory



Someone who means the world to me sent, years ago, a card that has become a lodestar, one of my greatest treasures; the thing that's special is the love with which it was created, that it is written in her hand (which is unmistakable and fills me with happiness), and that it has two quotes which have come to represent more than I can say. The first, from St. Augustine:

Lord, our hearts are restless
until they find their rest in you.




The second?
It refers to a work in progress.
Things take longer than you'd like, sometimes.
(The journey, though, is good.)





I'm hoping to take a break from blogging.
It's summer.

There are fireflies to catch.




(but one never knows)


13.7.10

to market to market too




wonderful

(of course)




great happiness



cannot fail to mention that
the best part of germany is
visiting our redhead and B.








echte





Having arrived in Langenburg fairly early
in the morning, the first stop I made was
Cafe Bauer. There was a young woman
sweeping the steps on the side of the cafe,
and it was open, and I trotted in and was
overcome with nostalgia and brought out
my camera for the first time (on the trip).
(Clearly, not the last. Can I admit to having
a bit of a blogging hangover from the posts
yesterday? What was I thinking?)

Where was I? (Not doing the time-change
thing as swifty as my husband, who has it
down. Not sure I ever will. Okay. Onward.)

So. The young woman sweeping the steps
wasn't really very excited about me taking
pictures. Not at all. But before she could come
in, and sort of let me know that I was free to
buy something or maybe just leave and let her
get back to her business (fair enough)...I snapped
a few. And I did buy something, and got all fumbly
doing so and at the last minute had a tear in my
eye because darn it I missed my family. My
whole family, yes, but at that moment most
especially my little sister who had been -- with
me -- lucky enough to have an overnight at the
castle right down the street, with the very very
delightful family that lived there then (and a
few of whom live there still) and lordy I did
also miss my parents, who had joined us after
the weekend we stayed and had a lovely
barbecue (including corn on the cob, on the grill;
a rare treat at that time) with the family in the
courtyard around their sweetly chic pool
(if I recall correctly, everything Princess
Charlotte did was quietly and somewhat
amazingly chic, in the most subtle way).

Where was I again? Okay. I'm trying to tell
the young woman, as I buy the Wibele, that
my sister and I used to love them. Was also
going to tell her that my mom would put
out the Jagst Kiesel (candy, above, that
looks just like pebbles; serious heaven) in a
small elegant dish and how magic it seemed,
but the young woman didn't (or was just in
a hurry to get me out the door) seem to
understand a single word so I just gathered up
my small bag of goodies, took them to the car
and then ambled around Prince Kraft's auto
museum (which can be seen here) and the
palace grounds (which are open, outside the
gates) and took more photos and kept missing
everyone. Funny how strong a hold some
places have on our memories, and how
flooded the senses become when suddenly
you are there again. Wibele, now that I
think of it, taste a bit like crunchy tiny
slightly meringue-y madeleines.

There you go.







12.7.10

wallpaper four








here's the thing about the goethe haus;
it was about 102 degrees in there. really.
and muggy. the good thing about this
was that there was almost no one else crazy
enough to be trotting through the rooms.
the tough thing was i could barely breathe.
so i just sort of stumbled quickly through
taking random photos between breaths and
hoping they'd come out all right. it was that
kind of hot where things aren't even registering
in your brain. the kind where you just want a
cool drink and a fan and...anyway. looking back,
i like the photos. maybe being in a heat-induced
trance keeps you from over-thinking things.

something to think about, i suppose.




wallpaper three










wallpaper two











wallpaper one









just one more thing and then








(here we have the





that's it for today, folks

(maybe)













back to dessau







"a longing for excitement can be satisfied
without external means,
within oneself; for creating
is the most intense excitement
one can come to know"







portrait of lucia moholy by anni albers




goethe






goethe haus

11.7.10

dessau











progress









so many churches

began to feel like a pilgrimage



(not a bad thing)







dear einstein kaffee,

please
come to
northern california,






alice in linderhof








got to linderhof late in the day,
which was nice (avoided summer
hordes); became so enamored of
hilltop gardens and grotto that
i realized i hadn't seen anyone in
about 20 minutes. no one. anywhere.

then became a little concerned that
they'd closed the place with me in it.

(although...how bad would that be?)

anyway, the first pic is me practically
running down the deserted pathway
(well, taken during the jog) and the
others in this little group (all iphone,
for i'd filled up my other camera a bit
earlier) were taken about that time.

you're not allowed to take pics in the
palace. 'tho some did (on the sly), i just
couldn't bring myself to (except for
photos of front entry, when it seemed
a free-for-all; those will come later,
probably).

anyway, as you already know, the
palace is something else. each small
room might merit a week, at least,
of looking.







(just got back, have had no internet
for awhile. more soon. hope your
summer is delightful and in full bloom.)