Auf Wiedersehen - Until I See You Again

Our precious three weeks with Phil have finally drawn to a close. We accept it, though. We're used to these goodbyes. First Phil was deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months in 2006, then he PCS'd to Korea for 8 months in 2008. Thankfully we're getting really good at "soldiering up" and dealing with missing each other. Separations force us to be our strongest selves, and help us to appreciate one another more than we otherwise would. There are so many lessons to be learned, and so much growth to experience, from these goodbyes. 

I attribute much of our family's closeness and team mentality to our extensive traveling and also to these lengthy separations. We're constantly in situations that call for us to think and act as one mind, to help one another, to depend on one another in critical ways. We're each a pillar of our family structure, and each of us knows it.

The Frankfurt airport never saw so much hugging. Surprisingly there were very few tears, because we all felt so loved and so close, and we knew that Phil would only be gone for another three months. Compared to eight months, three is a breeze.

Comic relief!

As Lvov used to say, "We love our-chothers!"

From France to England: the Floating Road Trip

After splashing around at the beach in Belgium, we drove all around the coast of France to different ferry operators looking for the best deal and the shortest wait. This is how we like to travel. As a result, our road trips are whimsical and serendipitous, not cemented into any one set course of action. As Akychame says, the absolute BEST trips happen on accident, just stumbling across one lucky surprise after another! 

The ferry has the feel of a luxury ship, with gourmet dining, massage services, duty-free shops, and great views. It was a lovely break after our 10-hour drive from Germany to Belgium to France! 

We usually take the "Chunnel" (Channel Tunnel) to England. To take the Chunnel, passengers drive onto a train and park their cars one after another. Although you can walk around or use the lavatory, it is basically an uneventful 35 minutes. Since you're in a tunnel under the sea, there is nothing to look at. There are no cafes, either, which is fine because it's such a short trip. The ferry, on the other hand, takes a few sprawling hours. It's wonderful. We took the Norfolk Line, which is a mere 45 EUR or so per car, as opposed to about 125 EUR for the Chunnel. 

Yay, wireless! Akychame's new tiny laptop was so convenient for the trip - we even booked our hostel reservation for Oxford, England while on the ferry. 

The best part of the ride was being greeted by the white cliffs of Dover at the other side. In the past five years we have taken an undersea train, flown in a small aircraft, and sailed in a ferry across the English Channel! Next we'll have to swim.  

Once out of the ferry and navigating our way north to Oxford, we passed street signs pointing us in such directions as "Nottingham" and Canterbury." We always feel, when we are in England, that we've entered a fictional literary landscape. It's magical.

Next stop, Oxford: the "City of Dreaming Spires." Sigh.

Beachcombing Belgium

On our way to catch the ferry in Calais, France, we visited a lovely stretch of beach in Belgium. It was a chilly, sunny day - sounds of seagulls, surf rolling itself at our feet again and again like a mantra. It was wonderful to walk on sand again, to sink into sand dunes, our bodies avalanching to the glossy glow of beach below. 

Hunting for empty razor clam shells -  they look like old Chinese men's fingernails stretching outward  from beneath the sand. Hours later we boarded the ferry with pocketfuls of them.

This is the North Sea, close to the English Channel. Across the water, England. Our new home.

Akychame and Daddy: reminds me of the "Footsteps" poem. 

We watched the barnacles poke out for meals, then hide in a wink.

Little miss celebrity in Hello Kitty bathrobe and "bling"-ful shades.

Windswept, barren loveliness everywhere. Everything buried and unburied by sand and sea.

Salvador Dali, Chocolate Body Parts, and a Farmers' Market in Brugges, Belgium

Akychame's Dream-Warmer

This quilt has many memories. I sewed the log-cabin centerpiece when Akychame was two, before we moved to Japan. Six years later, freshly arrived in Germany, the quilt just barely covered her toes. 

Stories are stitched invisibly into this fabric of Akychame's childhood. For instance, you can see a mismatched purple patch covering the spot where Akychame's hamster tried eating the quilt for dinner (in 2003). Incidentally, there are scraps of this same fabric sewn and woven into many crafts around our house: the covers of nature journals, skirts, napkins, artwork, etc. So many family memories have taken on the hue of lavender and rose.

Since 2004, it's been my best intention to stretch the quilt to fit her growing body, but with homeschooling and all, the project gathered dust and Akychame's toes (and dreams) got a little chilly at night. In addition, the fact that I had absolutely no idea how to make a quilt lent a feeling of mystery and gravity to an already insurmountable-seeming project. Of course, Akychame had other blankets, but when you know there's a blanket out there made just for you. . .Well, any other blanket positively will not do!

So this year, while Phil's been gone in Korea, I've made it my joyful mission to complete her "teenager" quilt - stretching the fabric to cover her body as it is now, how it will be in college, and how it will be when she is married and there are more feet and dreams to keep warm. 

My Golden Girl with the Sunshine Hair

and cute little nose

Little Pleasures While Dishwashing

September Creations with my Two Sous Chefs

Voila! One lovingly hand-picked and home-cooked apple torte (created with apples hand-picked from a little orchard nearby). Every bite is filled with memories of tree climbing, laughter, and ripped jeans (mine, ripped while climbing). Even the executive chef does a little "sous" chef-ing from time to time. Who knew that serendipitously discovering apple trees along a Nordic Hiking trail in the Rheinland-Pfalz counts as dessert preparation?

Deep sweet chocolate and Kahlua brownies with bitter almond-cinnamon cream and toasted almonds.

Love Love Love

Just thinking about our little family today, and all of our happy memories together.

Miniature Family Scrapbook from 1999

This is one of the first miniature books I made (around 2000, in Japan). It's just about two inches tall. I made it from old photo proof sheets, bits of tissue paper, a silk flower, gum wrappers, and (of course) gold thread.

I'm a gold thread junky. Mythology's Ariadne unspooled a golden thread for Theseus as he ventured into the Minotaur's labyrinth. Like Hansel and Gretel's bread crumbs and shining moonlit stones, the golden thread would bring Theseus back to the light of day, to his home, his love.

The word "clue" derives from the ancient word "clew," which means thread. I use gold thread somehow in everything I create. It is my clue, my sign post directing me toward love, light, and family. Of course, these are all the same thing. My lifeline.