Big Storm in Duesseldorf

There was a huge storm in Duesseldorf Monday night--sort of a small hurricane actually. It happened around 9:30 in the evening, when we were home watching a movie. The buildings here are very solid and the windows are tight, so I didn't worry for our safety. When we ventured out on the balcony to see what was going on, it was a wild sight--it seemed as though a wall of trees was advancing on us. I couldn't stand there for more than a few seconds, so terrifying was it. The next day hardly any trams, busses or trains were running, due to all the downed trees and damage to electrical lines, and there still aren't many running today. The cleanup will take quite a while, and many people are still stranded.

Apparently, it's the worst storm of this sort in about 10 years. When the TV weather person was asked if such a fierce storm was proof that climate change is occurring, she answered without skipping a beat that it was indeed proof. I couldn't help but think about how they would have answered this question in the US...they would have probably hemmed and hawed and said no, that violent storms have always occured. But maybe that attitude is changing now in the US too.

Wooly Mice

A friend asked me to make a knitted cat toy--she said just a tube of some sort--that she could fill with catnip to give to her kitties to play with. I quickly found this pattern for knitted mice and it's been hard to stop making them ever since. I read that the cats prefer the toys made out of all wool or other natural fibers; that is no problem for me since I almost always only use natural fibers. And I have lots of leftover yarn...watch out, cat owners. You may be getting a shipment of these soon.

Conrad and Chris are Traveling

Conrad has been on a two month around the world trip, of sorts. He went to Japan in mid August for a few weeks (I joined him for 10 days), and then spent September in Hamburg at a Goethe Institut, polishing his German. In his usual way, he saw and did a lot on his travels! After Hamburg he went to Copenhagen, Denmark to visit Chris, and now they are traveling together through Sweden and Norway.

I'll see Conrad for a couple of days when I arrive in Duesseldorf tomorrow. He flies home from Duesseldorf, with a week stop in Washington, D.C.

Chris went to Copenhagen in early September, and now he is planning to go to Berlin and work on his German at a language school there. Greg and I will be able to visit him at Christmas in Berlin (since we'll both be in Duesseldorf then).

Both boys are enjoying using their newly acquired German citizenship and passports in the EU! Here they are touring the world's largest ship that recently made a stop in Copenhagen.

Spokane Falls in Spring

Conrad and Greg at the lower falls

This year Conrad made a great looking video of our Spokane River Falls in its thundering spring glory:

Fall Hike in Idaho with Unexpected Story of Heroism

Winter is rapidly approaching here, so this past weekend Greg and I took a final opportunity to go for a fall hike. We went to Wallace, Idaho, a small historic silver mining town not two hours away from Spokane. All of the buildings in downtown Wallace are on the national historic register, but after strolling around for an hour, one has seen what there is to see. However, the surrounding area is a beautiful valley full of evergreens and aspen, trickling streams and wide rivers. A hike was in order.

Just outside of Wallace is the Pulaski Trail, a well-maintained hiking path that leads to the Pulaski Mine, where in 1910, during the Great Fires, a forest ranger named Edward Pulaski led 45 of his men to safety. These were apparently the worst forest fires the United States has ever had, raging all across the West. Pulaski and his men were sent to try to get the fires under control, but it was impossible because they were so huge and gale force winds were turning the whole area into an inferno.

On horseback Pulaski rounded up his men and commanded them to follow him to safety into the mine, some two miles from where they were. The men were panicked, and it took him a long time and a lot of shouting to get them to follow him. When Pulaski finally got them into the mine, one wanted to leave, but he said he would shoot whoever tried to go. He ordered them to lie on their stomachs on the ground while he staved off the flames with wet blankets at the opening to the mine. Miraculously, this worked, and all but one of the men survived.

We hiked the trail that Pulaski and his men took and saw the opening of the mine. All along the way signs tell the story. It was a glorious fall day, cool but mostly sunny; following story of Pulaski's heroism made it seem like we were experiencing history.

Click to enlarge if you'd like to read the text.

A Nice Picture and a Quote

(Conrad took this picture in March when we were all visiting Greg's parents in Laguna Niguel, California.)

Es scheint...dass wir uns unsere Wünsche, unsere Interessen nicht einfach wählen können, sondern sie wählen uns und wir hängen ihnen an, ohne dass wir sagen könnten, warum.

(Uwe Timm, Halbschatten)

It seems that we are not able to simply choose our desires, our interests, but rather that they choose us, and we become attached to them without being able to say why.