The Germans never look up. Why should they? There is nothing much to see by looking up. There are no stars, no moon, no sun to gaze upon. At least not often as the heavens are so completely and often obscured by grey cloud cover. There aren't even mountain tops to admire. (To put this in perspective, the highest Mountain peak in Germany is about 2900 meters high. The highest point of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is about 4300 meters high). As a result, their eyes are trained solidly at ground level. They plod along without looking up Without looking out. Without seeing beyond. This translates into what I think is a cornerstone of their general pragmatism. Greg would tell you that when asked where his employees want to be in 1,2 or 5 years.. they haven't the foggiest. Its just not in their nature to dream or reach. They simply find joy in what they have.They are supremely practical. There is a deep beauty in it. One of the lessons that was impressed upon me in college, and has proven to be very true, is how so very much of culture is determined by the physical world that a people live in. It is something I admire and if I were to spend a lifetime here without ever really seeing the sky, I would be as German as they come.
But I would be missing something very central to who I am individually...That expansion of the soul that happens under the stars. Returning to the High Desert, I realized just how much I had missed full moons and sunshine. I soaked up as much of both as I possibly could while I was there.
I also soaked up a lot of other things. For instance, Americans are very loud and somewhat obnoxious. When previously immersed in it, I didn't tend to see it. But returning, my senses were initially quite jarred From the stretch of billboards and signs everywhere to the inevitable question of "Why in the world is this person telling me some superficial story in the supermarket line?" Americans are really quite colorful, in your ear and all up in your space. It took me a minute or two to adjust to the glare. Now that we are back.. it seems almost too quiet.
Also something that took some adjusting to was the heat. We went from an typical high of of 66 degrees (19 C) to a daily average of 97 (36 C) with peaks of as high as 109 (42 C).
Anyway, The trip was split into various phases. Phase 1 consisted of the first 5 days which we spent on the coast. Details are posted in the Album linked below
Phase 1 California
Phase 2 consisted of our relocating to Reno and spending a few days with the Cousins.
Phase 2 Photo Album (Kaleb and Kira's)
Phase 3 . I am not going to edit this photo album like the other one. Instead I am going to tell the story here. After a few days in Reno, we moved on to Carson where we stayed with the Whatleys. They were incredible hosts. We had a party with Dave who was in from France. Nell and David who came up from the Bay Area, Daves and mine dear friend Denise was there as well. I was also able to dig up an old classmate named Tim whose friendship had been very important to Dave back in the day. It was a lovely little reunion of sorts. Lots of laughter. Later during our week with the Whatleys, we would meet Sydney, Nell, David and the Schoeppler Family at Sand Harbor for a day of sun and sand. Still no one got burned! When we were not visiting with friends, or admiring the scenery (There is such hidden beauty in that stark dry desert!) and the night, we were busy assisting with Wedding preparations or attending to business at the DMV. Two days of governmental fun... now done and a relief.
But I would be missing something very central to who I am individually...That expansion of the soul that happens under the stars. Returning to the High Desert, I realized just how much I had missed full moons and sunshine. I soaked up as much of both as I possibly could while I was there.
I also soaked up a lot of other things. For instance, Americans are very loud and somewhat obnoxious. When previously immersed in it, I didn't tend to see it. But returning, my senses were initially quite jarred From the stretch of billboards and signs everywhere to the inevitable question of "Why in the world is this person telling me some superficial story in the supermarket line?" Americans are really quite colorful, in your ear and all up in your space. It took me a minute or two to adjust to the glare. Now that we are back.. it seems almost too quiet.
Also something that took some adjusting to was the heat. We went from an typical high of of 66 degrees (19 C) to a daily average of 97 (36 C) with peaks of as high as 109 (42 C).
Anyway, The trip was split into various phases. Phase 1 consisted of the first 5 days which we spent on the coast. Details are posted in the Album linked below
Phase 1 California
Phase 2 consisted of our relocating to Reno and spending a few days with the Cousins.
Phase 2 Photo Album (Kaleb and Kira's)
Phase 3 . I am not going to edit this photo album like the other one. Instead I am going to tell the story here. After a few days in Reno, we moved on to Carson where we stayed with the Whatleys. They were incredible hosts. We had a party with Dave who was in from France. Nell and David who came up from the Bay Area, Daves and mine dear friend Denise was there as well. I was also able to dig up an old classmate named Tim whose friendship had been very important to Dave back in the day. It was a lovely little reunion of sorts. Lots of laughter. Later during our week with the Whatleys, we would meet Sydney, Nell, David and the Schoeppler Family at Sand Harbor for a day of sun and sand. Still no one got burned! When we were not visiting with friends, or admiring the scenery (There is such hidden beauty in that stark dry desert!) and the night, we were busy assisting with Wedding preparations or attending to business at the DMV. Two days of governmental fun... now done and a relief.
Phase 3 - Friends and Formalities
And so we moved into Phase 4. After staying a week with the Whatleys we returned to Reno where we had booked a house rental for the remainder of our stay. It was a lovely little home in Midtown with a pond and deck. Perfect for visiting. The house even came with a cat! We had a night of quiet .. it wasn't that quiet Greg and I ended up going out with Friends to an Art town event and then off for drinks and karaoke/dancing at the gay bar where Greg was manhandled a bit more than he was comfortable with.. but he handled it with dignity while hiding behind a wall of women. The next day the family began arriving from out of state and wedding adventures began. We had a couple young cousins stay over with the kids. There were mani-pedi's with the girls, the heart stopping emergency with a distant Aunt. Then there was the cousins getting locked in their RV for 14 hours.
Phase 4 - Before the Ceremony
Eventually it was time for the nuptuals. My mom looked lovely (If not a little drugged) and Dunkle Dan was dashing. It was wonderful to have all of the family together for such a joyous event. It seems that these days we usually don't gather except for Funerals. How thrilled I am to see these two together. How thrilled we all were actually!
Phase 5- The Wedding and Reception
That evening we all went out dancing at a local hotspot. A funny story, when we came from Germany we brought a little wall decoration that was a heart and on it it said that Gram and Grandpa are the loveliest. Not speaking German it became a joke that Grandma and Grandpa are lesbians. What makes it funnier is that when we were out dancing the only slow song that Mom and Dunkle danced to was Big Little Towns "Girl Crush"
Dance me to the end of time
The next day family began to return home. Goodbyes were said and things began to wind down. We had brunch with Gregs Aunt and remembered Grandma Mary who passed away not to long ago. We went to see movies with Kaleb and Denise. There was a Pokemon Go and Sushi. And then it was time once again to pack up and head back to the Bay Area to catch our flight home. We stayed the night in Alemeda and got in one last (And all together to short) visit with Nell and David. At our hotel, I looked over the baconly and saw a naked red headed barbie doll "sunning" on a towel on the patio below ours. I called it a German Barbie. Later we went swimming and realized that it did indeed belong to some young german girls. How funny is that?
Thats a Wrap
And so we said goodbye to America, Good bye to the Sun, Goodbye to the Moon, Goodbye to eyes turned to the stars in high dreams and expansion, Goodbye to the blossoming of love. Goodbye to family and those dearest (Although goodbye is not gone.. especially in this day and age of technology) Goodbye to heat. Goodbye to the desert and the lake and stone and sage and pine. Goodbye to our tans. Goodbye to wonderful food. Goodbye to noise and smells. Until we meet again...
