It’s a smoky morning, natürlich

A dense fog rolled in this morning. Much like rain, a good fog awakens my soul. It reminds me of Germany and baking bread and hot coffee and walking around with coats and mittens on-while hoping this next ancient church might let me use the bathroom.

And due to the fact that I’m a German-born woman, with thick German blood, who married a German, who speaks (broken) German and loves a good Weinerschnitzel, fog is the memory catalyst into my mind bank.

(A memory trampoline, if you will.)

A long walk on the top of an Austrian mountain-in the wrong direction-brought Biceps and I to this gorgeous churchyard. We rewarded ourselves by eating at a local restaurant, enjoying pommes fritas und bier. The fog blanketed the cemetery as we ate, reminding me simultaneously of bad horror movies and the hovering of the Holy Spirit. (Is that possible?)

After hours on a train, in a cab and then on a boat, we made it to Hallstadt, Austria. It was a silent and foggy morning-no motor cars, no tourists and no one awake yet-making us feel as if we were the only two people in this quaint town.

However, once the townspeople woke up, they proved us wrong-hollering out their “Guten Morgens” und “Kaffee?”. But for a moment, it was just us, the cows and the fog.

It may be weird, but fog wraps me up in a cozy blanket and makes me feel protected. What’s your favorite weather change?

We aren’t fancy enough. Hail, go away.

We aren’t fancy enough to own a garage. Midtown is full of older homes with either converted garages, or houses that just simply never had a garage. Ours is the former.

When we first bought our home, the “garage” looked like this.

Yep. Toilet, shower, awesome paneling and fake brick linoleum flooring. (Mind you, we had already removed the wooden swedish sauna.)

So, although our house is a nice size-with four bedrooms and three bathrooms-we have no garage.

Meaning, no protection from snow, falling debris, rain…

…or hail.

This morning, about 5 am, I heard the faint sound of ice pinging off the back porch’s metal awning.

During the torrential downpour, the hail continued to bounce off of our unprotected and garage-free sweet ride.

This made me think about how unimportant my possessions were and how quickly they can be destroyed.

(Thankfully, Biceps and I don’t put much stock in fancy possessions-we want to be debt free rather than own an impressive vehicle.)

But, our slightly dinged, slightly used, 15 passenger van is still a possession that I worked hard for and paid for with real, green cash.

And, I was reminded of this scripture: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:34 (NIV)

It made me think if I was storing up treasures here on earth or focusing on the treasures in heaven? After all, I can’t take my possessions with me.

The only thing that I will leave this earth with is what I did while I was here. I hope what I do today for others creates a treasure for me in heaven.

Now, that’s something fancy to possess.

There once was a decent looking princess….

…who lived high up in a beautiful castle that was built by her father. She loved her castle and rarely, if ever, wanted to leave. She enjoyed her time at the castle with her brothers and her parents-the King and Queen. They were fair and just and were loved by all the land. But one day, her parents decided that it was time the decent looking princess left home to see more of the world and to begin a search for just the right prince.

 

With a heavy heart, she saddled up her white horse and took her most prized possessions to keep her company on her long journey-her black panther-“Oreo”, her favorite red dress and her most cherished books. She knew her journey would be a long one and also brought her favorite provisions to satisfy her hunger-a side horn of coffee, several types of cheese and a few bottles of her favorite wine.

First, the decent looking princess had to cross the Great Ravine that divided her country from her neighboring country. Although the two countries were friendly, she knew that she was no longer under the protection of the King and Queen. She marched on in search of new things to see, new foods to eat and perhaps a prince worthy of the decent looking princess’ love.

After a brief bathroom break or two, and a picnic of cheese and wine, the princess made it into the neighboring country’s market place late in the evening. She saw foods never before experienced, heard dialect never before spoken, purchased fine clothing not available in her own country-and also found a great coffee shop to warm her cold hands.

While gazing upon the city, she heard soft music coming from below. She had never heard this type of music before and curiosity took hold. The decent looking princess searched the market place until she found the source of the new music. Standing before her with a sitar in hand, a crown on his head and a lovely smile, was what she knew would be her prince. For weeks, the princess enjoyed several of his musical performances throughout the city and the two quickly fell in love.

The prince and the decent looking princess were soon married and lived happily ever after. The end.

Are we dead yet? Were the Mayans correct?

Were the Mayans correct with their end of the world calendar or did this merely happen?

If you are reading this, then we are not dead and we should celebrate our non-deadness.
However, I did wonder if there was something to the Mayan predictions when this rolled into town.

 

The dark sky caused quite a bit of concern. Several neighbor’s were out scanning the change in weather.

 

Of course, I was the only one with a camera feeling like a weirdo.

 

It was oddly and uncomfortably quiet. No dogs barking. No birds cheeping.

 

After turning on the weather channel, I went back to cooking. I figured if we are about to die, we should do it with a full belly. I suppose the world has to come to a close sometime and you don’t want to enter heaven starving and scanning for the nearest buffet, do you?