Street Anatomy

OK, maybe you can blame it on the fact that I spent lots of spare time browsing my father's medical textbooks as a kid, as well as putting together a "Visible Woman" in homeschool (my mother taught me first through third grade in Africa)--but the Street Anatomy site fascinates me.

Make sure you check out the anatomy tattoos. Not something you see everyday.

Also, the National Library of Medicine held an art contest for children, asking them to portray what they thought the body looked like under the skin. Quite a few beautiful drawings resulted from their answer to that question.

Stuttgart For A Day & Night

Tomorrow I drive down to Stuttgart (only an hour and a half away, if I don't hit any traffic jams) because Jeff is working in the area for two days. Also, the paternal side of my family came from a little town near Stuttgart, so I'd like to explore the region more.

Next week, Jeff has a class up in Amsterdam, so Anna and I will join him and see a bit of the Netherlands.

This is one aspect of his job I'll miss when we eventually move back to the US...

You Saw A Bike Where?

Inside Frankfurt airport, you might see a bike like this whizzing past:


Shocked me a bit, the first time! The airport buys the bicycles for their workers to get from place to place within the terminal more easily. As I've said before, Germany is a paradise for bike-lovers.

*Photo from the Alex Moulton website

Betwixt and Between

I've been reflecting on the last month, during which I flew back to see my family and friends in Oregon. While there, Anna and I visited our old neighborhood, where we talked to folks who still live on the street where we spent twenty-plus years.

Very strange feeling--this is the first time I've returned to Oregon when it's not felt like my real home. Germany has become home. And yet, at the same time, I know Jeff's job here will only last one to three more years, at the most. So this isn't really my long term home in many ways. I ultimately define "home" as a place where I live and put down roots.

So where is home? I'm still trying to figure it out.

Rabbit Ears Murphy

It's Murphy Monday again, and I'd intended to post some photos of Murphy as the dog-around-town. But that will have to wait until next week, or whenever our weather improves. Don't think you want to see a matted, wet bundle of dog hair posing in the rain.

So, ta-da, here's Murphy in one of his cutest impersonations: Dog with rabbit ears.


We do insist on having our twisted version of fun once and awhile, so if people ask "Is that a dog?" we sometimes say that he's a giant guinea pig or rabbit. Which is feasible, given that Murphy has no tail, and is approximately the shape of an overgrown guinea pig...

„Wicked - Die Hexen von Oz

We've been listening to the original "Wicked" soundtrack for the last 2 weeks, after Danielle bought it in the States. Then I found this video recently. Good way to learn a few new German words.

Now I want to see the live musical!

Oh, the Beach!

I seem to have finally conquered jetlag--Anna and I arrived back in Germany last Saturday, after a leg-cramping flight from Portland to Amsterdam, then Frankfurt.

But I must post more photos from the coast! We stayed one night at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, my favorite bed and breakfast on the face of the earth. Due to cost, Anna and I slept in the women's dorm (a little-known secret--their less expensive bunk-bed room which still includes the hotel's huge breakfast and other amenities).



We peered into as many of the writer-themed rooms as possible, from the Agatha Christie room to the E.B. White room. Anna and her friend Amy really wanted to see the Edgar Allen Poe suite, so were thrilled when the guest finally left and they could sneak in to check out the pendulum blade over the bed and a lurking stuffed raven on the dresser. Cool details.



During our hotel dinner that night, each table played the "Two Truths and a Lie" game--as is traditional at the Sylvia Beach hotel. I've perfected my lies over quite a few years of visiting! We each got to ask 3 questions of every person, then guessed which fact about them was a lie. Try it with your friends, you might learn some surprising things.

Oregon Coast Photos

Last Sunday, I drove Anna and her friend Amy to Newport, where we visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Yellow jellyfish make great abstract art!



It was fun peering up at the fish in water tunnels overhead, too. Felt a bit like being under the sea, which I'm sure is the effect the architects aimed for.



The freaky car gave us all a few moments of amusement. Note the pairing of one of the seven dwarfs with a rubber duckie and a praying nun, not to mention several decapitated dolls' heads with wind-blown hair and unnaturally red lips.



Wonder how many traffic accidents this car causes, when people do double-takes? Must be fun to drive around town.

This and That

Well, I'm in Oregon visiting my folks and extended family and friends. Highlights from the last week:

* Trying on a shirt in a Maine mall, when my daughter suddenly exclaimed, "Mom, what's that huge black mole on your back?!" I examined my "mole" in the mirror, and shrieked when I saw its tiny wiggling legs. Somehow, I'd picked up a tick while walking the backroads of rural Maine. For the next hour I gritted my teeth and tried not to think of blood-sucking bugs while I drove home to the inlaws and got Jeff to pull the tick off carefully with tweezers. Now I need to watch for symptoms of Lyme disease, but I think my critter was a wood tick, not a deer tick, so that's fortunate.

* My first full day in Oregon, I walked into a Safeway store and asked my mother, "What in the world is that?" as I pointed to the grocery cart. She peered in and then told me, "Laurie, that's a cup-holder. Haven't you seen them before?" Ahhhh. Remember, in Germany, most of the cars don't have cup-holders, and none of the grocery carts do! (It's illegal to drink or eat while driving in Germany. Also against the law for the driver to talk on a cell phone) Funny moment there, and I realized it's indeed been awhile since I've lived in the States..

* Have I said that I adore the abundance of coffee shops in Oregon?? Free wireless, indie music, and shelves of books in English.

* I do miss the network of bike trails and well-constructed walking paths in Germany. Oregon's one of the better states in terms of bike-friendliness and pedestrian awareness, but I had to walk from the urgent care clinic where my tetanus shot was updated, and trekked over broken concrete, barkdust, and a few blocks of mediocre sidewalk.

*Dad's picking fresh Hood strawberries for us to feast on each day--the best breakfast on earth.