Yea for bulk pick up service!

Featured photo is AI generated, because I didn’t think to get a photo of our pile of discards this morning…

It’s about 9:00 AM, and a truck has already come here to pick up most of our bulky discards. This excites me, because that stuff has been cluttering the house for years. I’ve been bugging Bill to get rid of the old freezer he bought from a former co-worker for at least five years. He bought it in 2017 or so, when we lived in the old house, and it quit working in 2019 or so. It probably just needed a new freon bottle, but it seemed like that was more trouble than it was worth, so we never bothered. But it was a large appliance taking up space, collecting dust, and reminding me of yet another time when Bill should have listened to his woman. 🤨

I’m kidding, of course. He listens to me all the time. He just didn’t in that instance.

We also got rid of two US spec TVs that still work, but are outdated and not quite perfect. One was purchased in 2007 or so, when we lived in the Stuttgart area. The other was purchased at a Target in San Antonio. It was fine, until last year, when it became impossible to remove graphics from the screen. It bugged me enough that we got a new TV. The old one was collecting dust in the basement, next to the broken freezer.

At this writing, we’re still waiting for the trash pick up to get our old king sized mattress. That thing was a real bitch to move out of the house, mainly because it has no handles. We’d put it in Noyzi’s room after we replaced the old mattress. Last night, Bill and pushed that thing down the hall, and down the steps. It got hung up on the downstairs ceiling, but with some elbow grease and muscle power, we finally got it out the front door.

Bill’s two friends and co-workers came and helped us out last night, getting the freezer out of the basement. Bill had already taken the door off and removed the drawers. When they were picking up the freezer, the freon bottle released a puff of gas, which got Bill in the face. He wasn’t any worse for wear.

Noyzi and Charlie were absolutely DELIGHTED to meet Bill’s co-workers. I was so proud of Noyzi, especially, because there was a time when he was absolutely terrified of men. Now, he loves everybody. He’s learned that people are mostly good. And Charlie, of course, was his usual social self. He likes men, so he was very happy to meet the guys last night, both of whom are dog lovers, too! One of Bill’s friends noticed Charlie’s eyes staring out from a crack in the door. It was so cute. I wish I’d gotten a photo.

Now, as I look around the house, I see other items that need to be ditched. Bill says we can get stuff picked up four times per year. I don’t think we’ve ever had a bulk trash pickup in all the years we’ve lived over here, but it sure is a nice service. I see our next door neighbor is also ditching some stuff today, including a mattress.

I’m not sure what will happen next year. It’s entirely possible that we may have to move next year, but that’s true of any year. It’s a fact of life, when you’re in the military lifestyle– even after retirement. But it’s good to know that it’s easy to schedule these things, and they work out so well. There’s an app that is simple to use for scheduling. I have a feeling we’ll be using it again soon!

I’m not sure if this service is available everywhere. My German friend, who lives down near Stuttgart, says that it’s not available where she lives. It probably depends on the county. I’m sure she’ll tell me the scoop.

Hessen, trip planning

Our last wine stand in August…

We had really pleasant weather last night. It was warm and sunny, but not too hot. Bill and I decided to go to the wine stand, but we left Noyzi and Charlie at home. It was pretty well attended last night, so it was probably good that we didn’t take them with us.

The wine was pretty good last night– better than usual, actually. I didn’t wake up with a hangover! And the company was especially fun. We ran into the American couple who live around the corner from us, and their two kids. A German lady who sat with us last time we went to the wine stand greeted us warmly.

And the pretzels and Spundekäs were both totally off the chain! The pretzels were very fresh and tasted like they had just come from the oven. The Spundekäs was creamy and tasted like it was made “mit Musik” (with music– raw onions that supposedly make one fart more). I already fart a lot anyway, so I don’t know if that’s a real thing. I determined that I liked it better with the onions. This is a very special cheese dip to the Rheingau region. It originated in Mainz, which is about twenty to thirty minutes away from where we live. The only time I ever saw anything like it near Stuttgart was when we visited the home of a guy who married a woman from Hanau. And she had Handkäse, which isn’t really the same thing. I doubt I would like Handkäse.

I got some photos of the event. Most of the usual people were there, so it wasn’t super unusual or exciting. Once again, I was very glad to be in our little village, which has become my favorite of the three I’ve lived in during our German sojourns.

Next week, we’ll be in Iceland, enjoying everything… I don’t know how much travel blogging I’ll have the time and energy to do while we’re gone. We have a pretty full schedule. But I’ll do my best to at least share some photos. Hopefully, we’ll have good weather.

We came home last night to our dogs and enjoyed a light repast as we closed out another week here in Deutschland… I can’t believe we’ve now been here for ten years!

*Tater tots, cucumbers, hummus, and pita…*

Hessen

We chose the wine stand over wine week…

Bill got home from Stuttgart yesterday afternoon. He was pretty tired from the traffic he faced on the drive home. We were supposed to go to Wiesbaden and join people from his company at Wiesbaden’s wine week festival, which will go on through next weekend. But, because Bill was so exhausted from driving, we decided to go to the much quieter wine stand that was hosted by the SPD last night.

*Our village square has a communal chess set. Sometimes, people even use it!*

We could have brought Noyzi and Charlie to the event, since it wasn’t very busy. I think they would have been fine. We decided not to, though, because I think we just wanted to hang out for a bit. The weather was pleasant– kind of cool with a breeze– and we just wanted to enjoy the ambiance. Other people brought dogs. One guy even had his little white dog in a baby carriage!

After we sat for a short while, and older local couple joined us, and then we saw our American friend and neighbor whose house was being “sat” by the American couple we met last week while she was on vacation with her family. She said they’d gone to Paris and she caught a glimpse of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics!

It turns out our neighbor also had a colonoscopy at the same hospital where I had mine done… but hers was not done by the chief. She described her experience as much better than mine was. I think maybe the secret to decent German healthcare is to have someone more junior do the procedures. Our neighbor also highly recommended the local Hausarzt (family doctor) in our town, although it’s hard to get an appointment with her. Maybe it might be worth seeing her.

We chatted more with our neighbor, who is also fluent in German. She translated a little for us with the older German couple. As it turned out, they did speak a little English, and Bill and I used our budding German skills. Then friends of theirs showed up, and we had a little party going on. As usual, I drank too much wine. 😉

*This dog was so cute and well behaved!*

After we went to the wine stand, we came home and Bill cooked burgers on the grill. Then we talked for a bit, mostly about how busy the summer has been, and how fast it’s flown by this year!

It’s hard to believe that pretty soon, we’ll be in Iceland, enjoying Arctic breezes and hoping for sunny skies. After that, fall will be upon us once again. I’m sure we’ll get to the wine festival, too. I’m kind of glad we skipped it last night, though. I’m sure it was very busy!

Running into friends

We are now in Cesky Krumlov… (cross-posted)

We arrived here, in the Czech Republic, yesterday afternoon. The drive wasn’t too bad, because it was a German holiday. But once we got over the border, we wound up on some pretty primitive roads through the country. It kind of reminded me of the last time we went to Croatia, although we have been to Czechia a lot more times than we’ve been to Croatia. It just hasn’t been recently.

It wasn’t easy to find the right parking lot for where we’re staying. We ended up parking at the bus station; then left our bags in the car, and walked into the cobblestone town, which is just as pretty as I remember it from 2008. As we were checking into the monastery, Bill recognized one of his colleagues, who had brought her mom, aunt, and uncle with her. They were checking in, too! It’s yet another one of those times when I (or we) run into someone we know, somewhere unexpected. It also happened on our cruise back in June, when we ran into a guy and his wife we met on a cruise in 2012.

Prior to this year, I’ve run into people I know, or people my friends know, in exotic places. The most amazing example was back in the 90s, when I was waiting tables, and I waited on a couple with an Irish accent. They turned out to be neighbors of my friend, Chris, from Newtownards, a town near Belfast. But I’ve also run into old work buddies, like in Texas back in 2013, when Bill and I ran into a couple I knew when I worked as the cook at a Virginia summer camp as we were going to see one of Bill’s high school pals. Or back in the 90s, when I randomly reunited with a guy whose floor I slept on in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the Peace Corps office in Washington, DC. During that same period of time, I ran into the Vice President for Student Affairs at my college and another woman I worked with at the summer camp.

It always amazes me when this happens, but it shouldn’t. By now, I should expect that at least when it comes to me, and my life, it’s a very small world after all. I don’t know if other people have experienced this phenomenon, though. You can tell me in the comments if you have.

Anyway, once we got parked, Cesky Krumlov gave us a warm welcome. It’s not super crowded now, although I have seen lots of Asian families. That’s not so unusual, especially in this area. Bill and I have run into so many Asian bus tour groups in Austria and the more popular cities in Bavaria. It makes sense that they’d visit a beautiful old city like Cesky Krumlov, which is now very touristy indeed. We’ve also run into a few Americans and at least one couple from France. But it’s not totally overrun with people right now, and the weather is good. So I expect we’ll have a great time exploring, then get back on the road tomorrow, to head to Brno.

I’ll put this post on the main blog, too, for the half dozen regular readers I have there who might enjoy it… 😉

Hessen

Noyzi makes even more friends at the wine stand!

Here’s another quick post about Noyzi’s progress becoming more socialized. Since we lost Arran last month, Noyzi has become more insistent about coming with us when there are Friday night wine stands. I don’t know how he does it, but he always seems to know when it’s a wine stand versus us going out somewhere.

We were a little late getting there last night, because Bill is involved in a big project at work and was later getting home. Consequently, we ended up sitting on the other side of the Dorfplatz, on a bench, instead of at a table. That turned out to be a good thing, as we met another one of our neighbors for the first time. She lives in an old house right by the Dorfplatz and works at the local Kita (kindergarten). One of her students came up and gave her a hug while we chatted.

It turned out she has a dog, too. His name is Billy, and he was once an Italian truffle hunting dog. When he got too old to hunt, his former owners gave him away, and she wound up adopting him. She later brought him out, and he and Noyzi got along great.

Our next door neighbor was also at the wine stand, and she went to get Tommi, her labrador. Meanwhile, between dog company sessions, Noyzi met some of the attendees, many of whom were curious about him. More than one person asked if we’d had his tail docked. I was able to tell them that he was born with a bobbed tail. We had his DNA tested by Embark and the results indicated that he was born with a short tail.

*Some of Noyzi’s DNA results. Regarding his little tail, he was “born that way”. I can also confirm that he sheds a LOT.*

Most of the people we talked to were really nice. We did meet one fellow American who was a veteran and had married a local. When he found out Bill is a contractor, he seemed to get kind of bitter. He mentioned that contractors and government civilians are hired in the States and brought over to Germany. I sensed that he was kind of upset about that. However, Bill’s company does hire people locally, if they have skills they can use. They might not get the same local benefits or access to facilities that States based hires get, because they are local residents. But, if the company can use their skills, they will pay them a salary that is adjusted for the local tax rate. I don’t know the guy at all, or what his skills are, but it’s my guess that he might simply be unqualified for the jobs available on the US military installations here. That’s not our fault, and not really a valid reason to be pissy toward us.

As he broke off the conversation, he noticed that Noyzi is neutered and said, “Poor guy.” Well… that’s something else we had nothing to do with, as he was neutered before we adopted him. I thought that was kind of a strange comment to make. It’s true that a lot of locals don’t get their animals “fixed”, but Germany generally has much less of a problem with stray dogs than the United States does. Personally, I kind of agree that it would be better to do vasectomies or ovary sparing surgeries on animals than simply removing their sex parts. Those surgeries can be done. But they aren’t popular yet, so they aren’t widely known or done at this point in time.

At least the guy’s wife was really nice to us. She was enchanted by Noyzi, who was doing his best to charm everyone. Every time we take him to a wine stand, he gets more comfortable with meeting people. I’ve even noticed that he’s much less afraid of men, now. That’s a pretty awesome development. He used to be terrified of most men, even Bill.

We met another lady who had adopted a dog from Spain, but hadn’t brought her to the wine stand. Several people showed us pictures…

I think dogs are the very best social icebreakers in Germany. Recently, The Local: Germany ran an article about how to make friends in Germany and German attitudes toward English speakers. I noted that having dogs was a great way to meet and interact with locals. Many Germans LOVE dogs. However, some of them also act like they know best how to take care of them. Our neighbor has, for instance, occasionally commented about our departed beagles, Zane and Arran, barking when we weren’t home. But she also has a dog who barks. We don’t complain about him, because he’s very sweet and adorable. Noyzi loves him. But he’s not perfect, either.

Anyway, we had a good time last night, and Noyzi really obviously had fun meeting new people. It was gratifying seeing his little tail wag, and watching him happily meeting new people with increasing confidence. He really does love people. He just needs to learn that most of them love him back.

Below are some photos from yesterday. The top three are Noyzi saying good morning to me, and the rest are from the wine stand. We really enjoyed ourselves, although I woke up with quite a headache. I think I need to embrace drinking apple juice or Schorle instead of wine. 😉

Bill found out his boss/co-worker/old Army buddy got a new job and will soon be moving on… It will be a sad farewell, because they work well together. But it’s also a new opportunity for both of them to work with others.

We might go out to dinner tonight. Bill had to go into work today. He has to go TDY next week, and will be gone for eight nights, I believe. I hate these work trips, but at least he has a good job, and at least this time, I don’t have to fret over Arran. And once he’s done, we can prepare for our vacation. It’s pretty much all set now. I just have to pay the bills we’ve run up so far. 😀

Uncategorized

Beer and old buddies at Brauhaus Castel…

Last night, Bill and I had another outing! I know– it’s quite a shocker after our homebody winter. Arran did well on Friday night, so we decided to join Bill’s old Army pals from the 1980s at Brauhaus Castel, a popular Biergarten-Brauhaus in Mainz-Kastel. Bill and I had been to this particular brewpub before. I remembered liking it, plus I like Bill’s Army buddy and his wife. They’ve reunited and work together; we spent Thanksgiving at his house. Every time I’ve seen this particular buddy of Bill’s, it involves hanging out with other guys Bill knew in the 80s, when I was in high school, and he was a young lieutenant. They are unusually bonded.

There was actually an occasion for this gathering, other than having dinner with Bill’s colleague. A large group of wrestlers from the Army post in Vicenza and Aviano Air Force Base in Italy had come up to Wiesbaden for a high school wrestling tournament. One of Bill’s other pals from the 80s was there with his wife and their son, who is a high school junior and avid wrestler. So, besides Bill’s Army buddies of yore, there was also a large group of high school kids– mostly boys and a few girls– and their chaperones and parents who came up for the tournament.

I don’t always enjoy work related events I attend with Bill. To be very frank, I’m the kind of person people tend to love or hate. Sometimes people are taken aback because I have a tendency to be blunt. For instance, Friday night, Bill and I attended a work party that included a trivia game. It was getting late, so we decided not to participate.

The organizers of the game asked us to move to one of the big long tables, as we were sitting a small side table. I blurted out, “We’re not playing.” The hostess answered in kind of a dismayed way, like I was being a party pooper. But we needed to get home to Arran, plus Bill has a hard time staying awake beyond 9:30 or so. He is a morning person. So, rather than take part in the game and get stuck there until midnight, I said we were not playing. Maybe it made me look curt or bitchy or something… but I figure that’s better than being stuck. Besides, I don’t work for Bill’s employer, so it’s safer for me to be assertive.

Last night was thankfully a lower key affair. It was just old friends hanging out. I also enjoyed the food. I had a half chicken with fries and my beloved Hefeweizen. Bill had Dunkelweizen and Frankfurter Schnitzel, with green sauce, a local delicacy. Most everybody else went with the dreaded Jaeger Schnitzel (breaded pork cutlets with mushroom gravy). I know people love their mushrooms… they can have mine.

I always get a kick out of watching teenagers, especially boys, in restaurants. And wrestlers have to make weight, so they don’t eat as much as they might want to during wrestling season. Last night marked the end of the season, so there was quite a chowing down going on. It was pretty funny to watch!

We like the Brauhaus Castel, as the inside of it is very quaint; the food tastes good and is reasonably priced; service is professional; and they are very friendly to the military community, as evidenced in the photos below. The only thing that isn’t so good is the parking, which is only a problem because it’s a popular place. But they do have their own lot and parking is free of charge. I have definitely encountered worse! We need to go there more often than we do.

holidays

Our International Thanksgiving…

Since we moved to Germany in 2014, our Thanksgiving celebrations have been decidedly less traditional. There’s only two of us, and we have small German appliances, so it hardly makes sense to roast a turkey. Yes, I know we could just do a breast, but I like dark meat. I think in 2020, we ordered a Thanksgiving feast from a local restaurant that was obviously catering to Americans. Otherwise, we’ll often go out to eat somewhere, since it’s not a holiday in Germany, or we’ll have something more mundane.

This year, Bill’s co-worker invited us over for Thanksgiving. I almost didn’t go with Bill, because I expected a couple of important packages. The one I was most worried about showed up in the morning. I was also waiting for dog food, which we really need. Sure enough, it showed up after we left. It’s sitting at our neighbor’s house as I write this. I’m surprised they didn’t just leave it on the stoop, like they usually do.

Bill’s friend’s house is enormous and beautiful, with charming, traditional accents, as well as the amazing international furniture one tends to find when one lives abroad for many years. My mom also collected some beautiful pieces when we lived in England. I inherited a couple of pieces, but they’re in storage.

Bill’s co-workers have a living room with a gorgeous view of the village, a large dining room, a terrace, and a lovely front lawn. I was there one other time, and had occasion to use one of the bathrooms in another part of the house. I even spotted an indoor pool! They had it covered up. Bill and I haven’t had a chance to buy a lot of nice furniture. Maybe someday, we’ll get lucky and acquire some, although now that I’m half a century old, it seems almost pointless. For instance, I always wanted to buy a home of my own, but now it seems like a bad idea, as Bill talks about permanently retiring. A house seems like something a person should buy when they’re young.

As nice as our house is, and as high as our rent is, my guess is that Bill’s friends are paying even more… But it seems fitting, as they have enough furniture to fill their home, and the furniture they have is good quality. We have a bunch of stuff that could be right at home in a college dormitory. I have to admit it. I was coveting their house, even as I realize that I’m allergic to dusting, and if I had a house that nice with lovely furniture in it, it would be cluttered in a heartbeat.

We had a very convivial group last night. Several of the guys were folks Bill knew early in his Army career, back in the era of Desert Storm. Now, several of them have managed to land in Wiesbaden, where they can talk about old times, sometimes to hilarious effect. One of the guys brought his huge dog, a female Hungarian street dog who weighs about 150 pounds. He said she can’t be left alone with his other two dogs, who are also from the streets of Eastern Europe. We bonded over our street dogs from Eastern Europe, as Bill and I have Noyzi, from Kosovo (and Arran, of course). The guy also has horses, which was another reason for us to bond. I spent most of my childhood in a barn. It’s probably obvious to some people.

An enormous street dog from Hungary who was bred to fight wolves. Her name is Ki (pronounced “key”) Oma.

Ki Oma was very sweet and friendly, but apparently she wants to fight other dogs. So she gets to travel a lot. Her master actually bought a van so he could transport her more easily. We were commiserating, as I drive a Mini Cooper and we can’t get Noyzi, our enormous street dog, into the back of that.

Another couple brought their dog, a very sweet shepherd named Izzy. She and Ki Oma didn’t interact, so there wasn’t any fighting.

It was really nice to hang out with people last night. I enjoy Bill’s friends/co-workers. Hopefully, I didn’t turn anyone off too much. Two of the guys brought their wives—one was from France, and the other was German. And one of the guys was, himself, half German. Two of them were even born in the same hospital in Stuttgart! It’s plain to see how long Americans have been living in Germany. There’s a very long history, and quite a lot of Americans are actually half German, too. Some have managed to find themselves making a home here, instead of our chaotic homeland.

At one point, we were talking about Mormonism, and the French lady was fascinated. She seemed okay with giving up alcohol, tea, and coffee… but maybe might have drawn the line at the temple garments (special underwear) required for the ultra faithful who have taken out their endowments. It probably wasn’t the most appropriate dinner conversation… but then it devolved into war stories, most of which were hilarious.

Bill and his buddies from way back… I had to take a photo so I could share it with another one of the gang who wasn’t there… He became Facebook friends with me because of a mutual friend. I knew the mutual friend from college, and he knew him from the Army, and he knew Bill from being in this cohort of Desert Storm veterans (although Bill didn’t fight in Desert Storm). The world is very small when you come from a military friendly state like Virginia.

We ended the evening with a photo of the four guys who spent time in Germany in the late 80s, early 90s. It was great to see everyone so happy and healthy. I’m grateful to be here, and I was grateful for the invitation last night. It was a lot of good food, good conversation, and bonding. A fun and festive time was had by all.

When we got home, we found that Arran hadn’t invaded the basement, like he did when we saw James Taylor. But he did tear up the box that held our pizza stone. I feel like he’s been regressing since he’s been getting chemo… acting like he’s 5 years old again. But then he makes up with us in the most adorable way. Noyzi, as usual, stayed out of trouble and camped out in his room.

booze tourism, Germany, shopping, Wiesbaden, wine

“Wining” away our Saturday in Wiesbaden…

A couple of weeks ago, one of Bill’s co-workers invited us to go to a wine tasting/market in Wiesbaden. She bought tickets for us, two of her other friends, and of course, herself. The event was held in the Colonnades near the Kurhaus in downtown Wiesbaden. To gain entry, we had prove we were fully vaccinated, but all other COVID related measures were dropped. We were supposed to be limited to two and a half hours, but fewer people showed up than were expected, so we could have stayed longer if we’d wanted to.

I really had a good time. I had forgotten how much fun these events are, even though I usually end up drinking too much. 😉 We met people representing wineries from around Germany, but there were also a couple of wineries from Italy and France in attendance. We also talked to a lady who runs a nut business out of Freudenstadt, which is very close to where we used to live when we were in the Stuttgart area. She had some really tasty cashews and other nuts that had complementary sweet and savory flavors. She also had salts, cheese breads, and granola.

We didn’t manage to hit every table. If we had, I would be in even worse shape this morning than I am… My liver really got a workout. But I did manage to get some photos. Lots of people were out and about, including a number of wedding parties. Springtime in Wiesbaden is a great time to see brides!

It’s so nice to have some normalcy again. I hope to enjoy it for as long as possible.

I enjoyed talking to some of the winery reps. One French lady bonded with us over a love for Georgian wines and the ancient way wines are made in the Caucasus. She said she did an internship in the Republic of Georgia, and since I lived in Armenia, we both knew about the region. ETA: It turns out the woman was actually from Germany, but she imports French wines. We found this out when Bill got the Rechnung!

Another winery was represented by the founder’s son, who said their winery was extremely tiny, with just one hectare of vines. Besides wines, they also made plum brandy and wineschorles (wine spritzers) that were refreshing. I think we came home with about 30 bottles!

I think we’ll take it easy today… enjoy the nice weather, and take care of some chores.

Here are a few shots of some of our neighborhood’s cutest residents. We ran into them on our walk the other day. Our neighborhood also has a bee feeding vending machine made from a repurposed gumball machine.

I guess these mallards were on their way back to the creek.

markets

Wiesbaden Christmas Market 2021

My friend Priya, her husband Ron, and our new friend, Heather, came up to Wiesbaden from Stuttgart yesterday. They asked Bill and me to join them at the Wiesbaden Christmas Market. The markets down near Stuttgart have mostly been cancelled, due to rising COVID-19 infections, but there are many towns in other states that are having smaller versions of their markets. Priya and Ron have been making their way to a number of them.

I was glad they invited us to join them. I had been wanting to to go the market, but was having trouble with motivation. The weather hasn’t been nice lately, and the COVID rules can be onerous. But thanks to our friends from Stuttgart, we managed to have a great time. It was quite a shock to hang out with people again. We were all laughing about the erosion of social skills that has happened since March 2020.

After a few hours and too much wine and beer, we said our goodbyes. Priya, Ron, and Heather went on to visit the market in Mainz. Bill and I went home to feed the dogs.

For some reason, the connection on this site is excruciatingly slow today. I’ll have to keep the commentary to a minimum. I also can’t delete the photos, so there are a few that look like repeats. I’ll try to fix these glitches later.

The weather was cloudy, but not too cold.

A good time was had by all!

holidays

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today, I received a package I had been eagerly awaiting. It came from County Clare, Ireland, and was decorated with stamps and stickers. The lady, name of Anne, who had sent me my order from Luka Bloom, had drawn little musical notes next to my name, which she had written in cursive that looked a lot like my own… especially after I’ve had a couple of beers.

The mailman asked me in German if we didn’t have a post office box. He was a young lad and I hadn’t seen him before. He’d also caught me off guard when he spoke German to me and I was standing there in a nightie with no bra on. I responded in English and he understood, just at about the time that I mentally translated what he’d said. No matter, since I wouldn’t have been able to speak German back to him. Isn’t it cool that my Irish music got to me on St. Patrick’s Day? Especially since I wrote to Anne to ask her to send it to Germany, even though I have a U.S. billing address and there was no way to add a different delivery address in their order form. It was no problem to make the change– and if I hadn’t, God only knows when the APO would have sent it to me.

So who is Luka Bloom (born Kevin Barry Moore)? He’s a fantastic indie folk musician and the brother of Christy Moore, another great indie folk musician. I was introduced to Christy Moore by an honest to God Irishman with whom I used to work at a Presbyterian church camp in Virginia. Funny thing is, my Irish friend, who lived near Belfast and most definitely not a Brit, was a Catholic. He ended up marrying one of the other counselors, a lovely Black woman from Stafford, Virginia. They have been together now for over twenty-five years and have six or seven children… I’ve lost count!

My Irish friend sent me a mix tape when I lived in Armenia and it had some of Christy Moore’s music on it. I liked it so much that when I got back to the States, I sought it out and stocked up my music collection.

Anyway, Christy Moore recently plugged his brother’s latest album, Out of the Blue. I am more familiar with Christy Moore’s music, so I decided to pre-order the new album, as well as a couple of others that looked interesting. As I’ve gotten older, I often find myself drunken downloading music or buying CDs from street musicians others I don’t know well. I’m very seldom disappointed in the results, but then I have very eclectic musical tastes. Luka Bloom’s new album, by the way, can be downloaded. I decided to get a CD because he was signing them. I also bought a CD that I couldn’t download, and another came with a download I got from the site.

Other than listening to my new CDs, I have no other special plans for today. I might not even have any whiskey or beer, because I’ve kind of been enjoying letting my body go booze free. I’m hoping Bill will be home sometime between tomorrow night and Friday night. After that, I suspect my teetotaling will conclude. I haven’t been totally faithful to the wagon during this latest marathon TDY, but I have found that I’ve not really wanted to drink alcohol so much… which is a relief, given my colorful family history.

I’ve found that I like Luka Bloom as much as I do his brother. Right now, I’m typing this and listening to one of the albums I bought, remembering when Bill and I took our cruise from Scotland to Northern Ireland with a stop in Carlingford, which is in the Republic of Ireland.

Our guide was a local guy named Dermott who bore a passing resemblance to Joel Osteen and had a charming Irish lilt. He told us about how Carlingford has an annual Leprechaun hunt (April 17th) to raise money for the town. Then, he started talking about Northern Ireland vs. the Republic of Ireland.

It turned out Dermott was Irish, but was born and raised in Newry, on the northern side of the border. He spoke of how in the 80s, the border checks were brutal. Guards would literally take cars apart, looking for bombs and contraband. Then he said he hoped one day Ireland would be reunited– it became clear that Dermott had Nationalist leanings. That got a rather disgruntled reaction from the elderly Brits who were on the cruise. Bill and I had no real skin in the game, except for our own Irish heritage. Turns out that other than the Irish surname I got from Bill when we married, I am actually more Irish than he is.

Then, Bill proceeded to annoy the Brits, who just wanted to get away from Dermott (I got the sense they thought he was an ingrate). Dermott was talking about Irish folk tales. Bill happens to love Irish literature and actually studied it in college. And then it seemed that he knew more about it than the guide did… The guide had heard the stories from his father, while Bill had studied it at American University and written papers on it… I got the sense that the other cruisers were irritated with both of them by the time that excursion. Luckily, there was a lot of booze on the boat.

Bill and I have been to Ireland a couple of other times. We went in 2016 for our 14th anniversary. One of my funniest memories from that trip was running into a bunch of 12 year old boys on a crowded train to Kilkenny, where we were going to tour the Smithwick’s Brewery. The kids were hilariously witty. When they found out Bill had been to Iraq and we were from America, they asked all kids of cheeky questions. The poor beleaguered “den mom” who was with them kept giving the look. But I swear, we about died laughing when one of the kids said, “Nobody vacations in Ireland! It’s AWFUL!” Then, a few minutes later, he asked us if we considered Canada our “goody two shoes neighbor to the north.”

The third time we went was to Dublin, to attend a marathon concert featuring Paul Simon, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt. The six hour concert, in and of itself, was reason enough to love our visit. But we also stayed in a fabulous hotel– the Merrion– and we had high tea. It was a marvelous time. I really miss travel… especially carefree travel. Here’s hoping that COVID-19 will be arrested soon, so we can go back to Ireland and raise a pint with those lads who were on the way to Kilkenny, who are now closer to 18. Seems like whenever we go to Ireland, we make at least one new friend and many new wonderful memories. At the very least, I come home with new stories… perhaps more than I do in some of the other places we’ve been.

From Luka Bloom’s latest album, Out of the Blue. I’m listening to this as I type this.

And one by Luka Bloom’s brother, Christy Moore. Believe it or not, this was the first version of “Fairytale of New York” I ever heard. It’s a cover… but it’s a damn fine cover!

Well, that about does it for this wistful post. I sure am ready to fast forward to our next trip. But barring that, I’d just like to fast forward to seeing Bill again. I have really missed him.

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

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