Recently Read

The Old Devils (1986) by Kingsley Amis. A long, rambling and kinda crazy story about a group of Welsh friends who meet up again when they are getting on in years. I thought about putting this down several times while reading it, but I love Amis's humour, and the ending made it all worth it.

A Handful of Dust (1934) by Evelyn Waugh. I didn't remember that I had read this before until I was well into it, but it certainly was worth a re-read. It's one of the great ones! It chronicles the story of a young British couple in the 1920s. It's fascinating how modern their lives sound.

Das Wochenende (2010) by Bernhard Schlink. Schlink wrote the best-selling novel The Reader that was turned into a movie. In both novels he presents difficult moral issues that the characters struggle with. I appreciate what he tries to do, but I don't think he does it very well. Somehow, I don't find the situations he sets up to be believable, or maybe it's the characters that aren't believable.

Dreamers of the Day (2008) by Mary Doria Russell. I have been reading a fair amount of historical fiction lately that is really good and quite believable. This belongs to that category. I loved it. It's a beautifully told story about the Middle East in the days of Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchhill (between the world wars).

Romeo and Juliet (1597 (first appeared)) by William Shakespeare. What can I say, it's Romeo and Juliet!

Schliersee, Bavaria

This part of Bavaria is full of many small glacial lakes with charming villages around their shores. I hiked around this lake, called the Schliersee (photo from flickr), with some friends today. The hike was about 10 kilometers long, and there was a bit of a detour to go up the hillside to see the ruins of a fortress first built by the Romans in about 400 A.D. It was a gorgeous, sunny day in Bavaria, and many people were out enjoying the weather, but the trail was not too crowded. The same cannot be said of the train going back to Munich! There were so many of us crowded into the little local train, you would have thought it was the subway in Tokyo. But it was a great day, and a nice way to start the week.

Happy Birthday to Chris today!

Munich Spring

This lovely photograph (from flickr) shows the Isar River in Munich with early spring color. It is such a beautiful time of the year here.

After classes today I went to the Hofgarten cafe with a friend, and we sat outside and enjoyed sipping our cappucinos in the coolish warm sunny day. What a treat...maybe even as great as Paris in the spring!

April Update

Life has been very busy since I got back from New Zealand three weeks ago. It seems there are never-ending household chores to attend to, and now there are even more since we decided to put the house up for sale. Then there are the dogs...they'll take as much care and attention as you can give them. Then there are the miscellaneous things, like trying to open up the cabin for the season, discovering the pipes had frozen, and dealing with the consequences of all of that...sigh.

I've also been translating poetry in my spare time and reading and translating Old English. I've put together a panel presentation for the fall conference of the American Literary Translators Association as well.

But, of course, I'm still knitting! I've been trying to do some serious stash busting. Above is a scarf I made out of mohair purchased in New Zealand, and below is "Fran's Sweater."



On Monday I leave for another semester in Munich.

Another Stocking and a Half

The fourth installment of Sigrid's stockings has been completed, and I've got a good start on the fifth and final one. I saved the most intricate one until last, but it turns out that it isn't that difficult to knit with two colors at once (I had done a little two-color knitting years ago). I'm really looking forward to seeing all these stockings lined up on the fireplace some day!

South Island, New Zealand

We just returned a couple of days ago from an incredible week on the South Island. The scenery overwhelms you really. It's just like the glossy pictures of New Zealand you see in books and magazines, and you often find yourself thinking that the whole island really is the most beautiful place in the world.

We started in Christchurch and then drove over the Southern Alps to Greymouth on the west coast, the Tasman Sea. Then we went down the coast a bit to the Franz Josef Glacier and Doubtful Sound. We finished the trip by crossing back up to the east coast via Queenstown and ranching country that was reminscent of Montana.

Naturally, we enjoyed the consumer side of being tourists as well! I have several nice samples of New Zealand wool to add to my stash.

Click here for more pictures of our trip!

I'm Getting the New Zealand Thing!

It is indescribably beautiful here. It's sunny and green, and there are always ocean breezes. We just got back from a 3 day sailing cruise on a 72 foot boat in the famous Bay of Islands north of Auckland. I went snorkeling for the first time in my life, and I swam in bays and lagoons with clear turquoise-colored water. We ate fish caught from the sea (smoked, and raw in sushi) and hiked barefoot on grassy islands with stunning views. I now understand the appeal of vacations on warm islands, and I really appreciate being forced to "do nothing" for 3 days. It is not over-stated to say that the trip was life-changing for me!!

Here are a few highlights. The skipper sailed up very close to the "Hole in the Rock" where the water is a dark inky blue-violet color:

The "Hole in the Rock" is behind me in this picture; it looks like a woolly mammoth from a distance.

There were stunning sunsets; this picture was taken from the land looking out into the bay:

We even got lucky and had some dolphins swim with the boat on our last day as we were heading home, and they showed off a bit for us too!

There are a few more pictures here.