Lullaby

Some parents read bed-time stories, I chose to sing when it was time for my children to be calm and to sleep. I would tuck them in, sit on the edge of the bed, bend over their little bodies and sing 5 songs. First to hear my songs was Pasha and 16 years later it was Besito de Luz T. and a year later Moselito joined the audience. I sang in German. Never learned any English children songs.

One of the songs was about this little man standing in the woods, on one leg, all alone. He wore a red coat.  'Ein Maennlein steht im Walde'

 

Then there was the one about the farmers moving manure on a rainy day - 'Es regnet, es regnet die Bauern fahren Mist'

 

and the one about the fox who stole the goose - 'Fuchs Du hast die Gans gestolen.....'-

 

 

and the one about little "Haenschen" who takes off to see the world - 'Haenschen-Klein ging allein in die weite Welt hinein....'

 

I did not always sing the songs in the same oder but - 'So good-night now once more, Guten Abend gute Nacht' was the last one, loaded with kisses and hugs.

 

Autumnal Equinox

The first day of fall flew in on the back of this leaf today and landed on my patio.

These two leaves were lying in the grass two weeks ago.  For now they are resting inside the Webster's dictionary and on the first week of November the big decision will be taken as to which one will be tucked away in a birthday card. A long flight all the way to Germany is awaiting the chosen one. The Edelweiss Man is celebrating his 80th.

    

Hm.......

Just finished reading today's Montreal Gazette.

The "Fukyu Sushi Bar & Restaurant" owners were forced to change name of this eatery. The name was said to be in bad taste by a Quebec Superior Court judge.
----The owner of one long-standing company in the building, which has a business selling urns, said in a letter that while he found the name to be "highly amusing" on a personal level, it caused him professional problems given the sombre nature of his work.
"As we are in the funeral business, I am not so sure that giving directions to clients who have recently lost a loved one by telling them that we are "two doors down from Fukyu" will go down very well with them. ----(Paragraph copied from Gazette).

Dear Rosa

Do you remember those thrilling very hot summer days?  You were the chubby little 11 year old girl with blond long braids growing behind your ears, thick and strong enough to be used as a weapon for chasing flies and bumble bees. You knew all about weeding vegetable patches, gathering freshly laid eggs, milking the cows, feeding the pigs, picking berries, collecting mushrooms, sweeping the huge front yard and half the width of the main road the length of your farm property on Saturday afternoons, the farmer across the street was in charge of the other half, sitting on top of the hay without falling off when your dad and brother Max were bringing it in from the fields, piled up very high on those oxen pulled carts.                                                                                                                                                       My braids were as long as yours but not as thick and strong as yours. Our family had arrived in your small hamlet a few months ago. We had left everything behind in war bombed Berlin and saved our lives by settling in your village. I knew nothing about all the  things you knew but I had stories of my own to tell you of things that you knew nothing about. Such as being shaken awake in the middle of the night and being pulled half asleep down into the dark cellar where strange unknown faces had already gathered while frightening noises were heard and the walls were shaking, about living in the dark and in fear, about asking for an apple as gift on my birthday, about people that can communicate in a different language than ours with each other, about the taste of an orange and much more.
You do remember the 'fun-rain' and the oxen pulling the heavy laden hay carts through the village on the paved main road and these large flat pancake-shaped splotches they left behind. The hot tar backed them quickly and when a summer shower started dripping cool rain we could see the steam rise into the air from those cakes. Remember how fast we kicked our sandals off our feet and ran onto the street to hop from one steaming cake into another? Squish and squash and laughter and giggles as this velvety soft and warm-feeling substance soothed our feet. Hurray!!!
No, nobody stopped us. Your parents were busy in the fields and my parents never came around to the farmers. If they did I don't remember it.

A short visit

Many years ago if 15 is many, my first born, a Sunday Child, also known as 'La Puce' and/or 'Pasha' could arrive whenever she wanted, twins, dog and all and stay as long as she wanted. At midnight or 4 in the morning or 9 in the evening. My door  was never locked. Now, it's better I know the time of her arrival. She called to say "I'll be there in about half an hour, I'll stay for a while because cottage won't be ready before noon". The twins have their own life now. La Puce now comes with Nikita dog only. She knows that she can't visit with dog and that's why she rented a cottage 30 min car drive from here. I reminded her that Nikita will have to stay in car while she pops in to kiss and hug Mom. Since it was to hot for dog in car, we agreed to meet somewhere around the corner. As I was nervously fixing this and fixing that while awaiting her call to tell me she arrived, I got more and more upset, ran outside to the front of the building and searched for neighbours sitting on balconies or patios. Out of 10 residents in the front only 4 were out. It told them each that I was about to commit a criminal act by allowing a dog on the premises. None of them cared. When La Puce called I told her that it was ok to come in with dog.  

I was lucky she did not turn around and leave again

since a neighbour who was not out when I made my announcement stepped out on her balcony and greeted her with "no dogs allowed here". "I know, drove 7 hours do get here, dog stays in my arms for next 30 minutes". Sad thing this is being faced with no this and no that. I want to be back in my house again.

We had a great time together.
La Puce introduced me to this gentle homeless cat which had welcomed her as she and Nikita reached the chalet. She named her Booty whereas I would have named her Clipped Ears (15 cm missing top of each ear).

      
We got some exercise with the paddle boat on Lac Gagnon and made sure not to put much distance between us and the shore since my legs were not much paddle help.

Perfect trio    Daughter - Nature - and I

4 hours later: Not only do I need a ghost writer I also need a blog fixer.