Stealing....uh "Appropriating" Cherries

Beautiful Blossoms


Ripe Red Cherries...right in my own back yard...


Wow, I have just done something that I have NEVER done before…OK, so that has happened a lot for me over here. But this is so cool. Right next to my house is a very large cherry tree. It had such beautiful blossoms during the spring, but it never dawned on me that a month later I would have access to the most ripe and plump cherries. The tree is not on our lot, but in the field next to us. So I figure that anything I can reach from standing in my back yard is legal. I don’t think that the farmer who owns the lot has any real desire for the cherries as he mowed the field today and never went for a single one. Hmmm, his loss! Also since it is a lone tree I know that it’s not a “crop.” Besides, if he really wanted cherries I imagine he would pick from the trees next to his house.

I think that I may have to sneak out later and raid the rest of the tree. Of course that would mean crossing a barb wire fence, so I think I’ll just get Mike to use a hockey stick to pull the branches closer as I pick (ha ha). Mike said that he wanted no part in my “ill-gotten booty.” They are not “Bing” cherries at the “meat” is yellow and just slightly tart…so yummy!! So, do cherries freeze? Also, how long will they stay good on the tree? The tree is so huge that I can sit at my computer looking out at it and gaze at the ripe beauties at least 20 feet off of the ground…I guess that I’ll leave those for the birds.

I did find out that according to German law, any part of the tree and its’ fruit hanging over my property line is free for the taking. Somehow this just beats berry picking, maybe because I don’t have to bend over and there are no bears to watch out for.

Katten Stoet 06 Ieper, Belguim

Cieper, the mascot


Funny homemade float

The "witches pot"


When the cat is away...the mice take over





A real devil kitty


The town jester, note the official "cat on a stick."


Cat tossing


Balloon release


Witch burning


Belgian kitty

(written in June)
Once every three years the city of Ieper (Ypres), Belgium celebrates the “Kattenstoet” or in English, the “Cat Parade.” The idea behind the festival is to celebrate the history of the cat and the love hate relationship that many medieval villages had with said animal. Cats were once feared as bringers of evil and minions of Satan himself. I even read in a book that it was believed that cats were actually placed among humans to keep an eye on things while Lucifer was Hell. That same author then mused that cats were sent Earthbound because they were trying to take over Hell. Anyone who has ever owned a cat can probably see how those sentiments could have come about.

During the middle ages the village of Ieper was a major storage point and commerce area for wool, which of course attracted rats. The simple solution to the rat issue was to bring in cats to keep the rodent population down. Unfortunately, once the wool was sold and transported away the town was left with an over population of cats which were often feared as bringers of doom, evil, destruction, yada yada yada. The solution was to round the cats up and have the town jester toss the live cats from the church belfry. This “tradition” continued until 1817. In 1938 the “tradition” was revived but they used velvet cats instead. WWII put a dent in the festivities, but in 1947 the festival began again, this time with a small parade that honored the cat. The yearly festival continued, growing larger and larger until 1991 (with once exception for the Pope’s visit in 1985) when it was decided that the larger parade and other celebrations (such as the witch burning…more later) would only take place every three years. The cat tossing, sans parade, still takes place yearly on the second Sunday in May.

This May (14 May 06) we attended the 41st Kattenstoet with our friends Pam & Doug Wiggins and Catherine & Al Pongratz. We left early in order to get to the town and find a good place along the parade route. The trip was just under 3 hours from our house and we were able to find a parking spot just a few blocks from the city center. The main village of Ieper contains mostly medieval architecture and is surrounded by an outer wall. The church, where the cat tossing is done, is located right off of the main square which also serves as a market area where a weekly market still takes place on Saturdays. The square is bordered by cafes, touristy shops, full restaurants, bakeries and such. Pretty much the layout of you typical old European town. On our walk in I noticed that almost all of the shops had some sort of cat decoration on their doors and in their window displays. Once we reached the town center it was easy to see that they meant business. I was expecting a grandstand of a few wooden benches and a small VIP seating area of a few dozen chairs. Instead the entire market square was cordoned off with barriers, the church tower was decorated with huge cats, the vendors all had outside stands, and the grandstand was a large affair containing 3 sections totaling around 1000 seats.

After a nice lunch and a few Belgium beers the guys went off to check out the WWI museum while the 3 women went to stake out our space on the parade route. It was about 2 hours before the parade started but most of the front row along the barriers was already claimed by smart people who brought their own chairs. We selected a space behind an older couple and their grandchildren, right beside a small stage set up for an official parade photographer and across from the grandstands. Directly behind us was a small barrier for the stage so we would really have our own little area…or so we thought. After the first 30 minutes more people started showing up so I placed my sweatshirt on the ground to “hold” the space that we needed for 3 more people. A gentleman from England sat his stool next to my shirt so I figured that we wouldn’t have any issues holding that spot, boy was I ever wrong. A short while later some lady, and I use that term very loosely, showed up and glared at the sweatshirt on the ground. Pam informed her that the place was saved and the lady glared again. She then pushed her unsmiling husband and kid to the other side of the sitting Englishman and then tried to push her daughter in front of the family that we were standing behind. When that didn’t work out to her satisfaction she tried to get the Englishman to scoot over. When that didn’t happen she spent the next few hours glaring at us. I am not exaggerating here. The parade was in front of her, but when I would look to my right she was just pouting and glaring back at out group…scary. During the same time more people were also trying to push their way in. Another couple coveted the “saved” spot and I, a little stressed at this time, informed them “nein, meine Mann ist hier” (no, my husband is here) then I pointed to the sweatshirt. Pam and Catherine added in that their husbands were also going to be there. The man laughed and asked how big our husbands were. I responded “ein grosse Mann.” (a big man) while gesturing the body width of a VERY large man. Laughter followed and his more positive response made us relax a bit, but the space crunch was going on everywhere and these people simply had no respect for personal space. Another older couple squeezed in behind us with their folding stools and got so close to me that I swear if I had broke wind I would have knocked them down.

On the photographers platform many kids and some adults were gathering, even though it was clearly marked. One crazy Belgian lady kept trying to slip off the stand in front of Catherin and Pam. They stood their ground; Catherine even leaned against the woman cutting off the open space as she tried to coyly cut in. Then the woman tried to “explain” what she wanted in French in hopes that the girls would give in. Catherine, who speaks French then told her what was what. A few minutes later, when the photographer arrived, that same lady argued with him because she wanted to stay on the platform. She even got back on it after being kicked off twice. A policeman finally had to come around and then she stayed off the platform and behind us. The 3 of us were fed up and tired of the mean lady’s glare so Pam called her husband on a cell phone and told them to make tracks over to our spot. While we hated to cut their museum visit a bit short, we needed reinforcements. The guys showed up, took their positions, and everyone seemed to settle in a bit…well except for the glaring lady. I swear neither she nor her husband smiled once or even seemed to have any fun. Pam did say that she saw their daughter, who was about 10, crack at least one smile.

Speaking of smiles, Pam did manage to entertain the two young Belgian guys to the left of us on the other side of the photographer platform. During the breaks of crowd onslaught we were able to enjoy the pre-parade festivities which included marching bands and cars that were driving the parade route playing music and handing out flyers. At one point the song was “My Humps,” by the Black Eyed Peas. The words go “My humps, my humps, my lovely lady bumps.” As you can imagine the tune is pretty infectious and Pam was dancing along right as the two guys looked over, made eye contact with her, and then promptly cracked up. They were also experiencing crowd “issues” and the two groups bonded a bit at that moment. As the parade started I let the elderly couple sitting behind us move in front as they were sitting and they fit right into the spot behind the first row of children in front. Good karma, right?

The parade was simply the best parade that I had ever seen outside of the Walt Disney Empire. It was so large and long and it’s very hard to describe all of the different floats that were on display. All of the floats were hand made and they were really creative and very entertaining. Each float or walking group stopped to perform in front of each grandstand section. Some of the action included the throwing of a witch into a pot of boiling water. The “witch” was someone pulled from the audience who, after being pushed into the pot, emerged from the rear of the float and was returned to their seat. There were giant cat floats, people dressed up at cats throughout history from an Egyptian Pharaoh’s boat complete with a full slave army to a very demure Japanese “geisha-esqu” cat. Of course there was a Garfield float, but my favorite was the devil float. It had flaming eyes on all sides and kids were sitting in slings off of the side beating on the eyes which doubled as drums. It was very tribal and dark sounding. You could feel the evil of the cat being portrayed in this float. Many floats were built around tractors, but some were pushed and pulled by people or even draught horse. One guy misjudged the last turn before the stands and ended up hitting the stands with the main body of the float. I’ll just bet that those horses were pissed! It took a little pushing and pulling, but a small group of people manage to realign everything and then the horses were hooked back up and continued on with the parade.

After the parade, which was over 2 1/2 hours long, we needed refreshment. Of course everything on the market square was full as thousands of people were also seeking the same thing. We walked a few blocks down and eyed an off the beaten path kinda place. In fact we weren’t even sure if it was open as the lace curtains blocked the view of anyone inside. Pam walked up the steps and was trying to peer in under the lace as she leaned against the door, which of course opened so she stumbled inside. It was a very “local” place, but we were treated well. After that beer it was time to return to the church tower for the cat tossing. While we grouped around the tower Pam was wondering where the witch burning would be taking place. She asked a policeman if he spoke English and he replied “a little.” She then asked him where was the witch burning going to take place. He responded, “Why, have you been invited to burn?”

Finally the cat tossing began. The jester, dressed in a jaunty red and white outfit danced on the tower balcony to work the crowd up into a frenzy then he began to toss the stuffed cats. My guess is that 41 cats were tossed simply because it was the 41st parade, but I didn’t count. Rather than fight for a kitty I purchased an official one (the same as the jester has on his “stick” in the photo) later at the museum and had Pam toss it to me while I stood in the square. That way I can honesty say that I caught a cat at “Kat Fest 06” woooo hoooo….say it out loud…”Kat Fest 06” Just rings in your ears huh?

Meanwhile, back in front of the grandstand the official witch burning pile of wood was being prepared. Bundles of sticks were stacked up and the men in their “traditional” Ieper Fire Department uniform prepared the wood with the “traditional” accelerant gasoline. (can you read the sarcasm here?) Still, it was cool..well, uh “hot” after the fire started. They held a mock trial with the townsfolk, royalty, and church officials. Once the witch was convicted (yeah, like we didn’t see that one coming…) there was a balloon release of hundreds of red and white balloons symbolizing the burning of the witch and the release of her soul. Then an effigy of the witch was placed on top of the wood which went up pretty quickly. To be honest, the trial and burning was a bit of a disappointment. The trial took too long and was not in English, but hey, it’s their country right? I would definitely go back to see another parade and might even attend another cat tossing for fun…but I’d skip the witch burning as I can set Pam on fire at anytime…ha ha

On our way back to the car Mike and I tried to get a Bratwurst for the road but the stand was sold out. I think Doug may have bought the last one (not really, but it’s nice to have someone to blame.) We stopped at a tavern and planned on eating at their outside tables, but it didn’t look like they were serving there. So we went inside and what a treat! The tavern was located in the basement of the building and the walls were filled with all kinds or WWI memorabilia. The atmosphere was very homey and we found out that the Mom cooked, the Dad tended bar, and their son was our waiter. Poor Pam couldn’t get any of her first few ice cream flavor choices as the place was simply sold out. I tried another great beer “Babar” yep, like the elephant and had a wonderful Bratwurst with cheese baked on top. As we ate, the owner’s cat wandered from table to table saying “hello” and getting scritched...yes, “scritched” not “scratched.” Pet owners know the difference. It was pretty obvious that the cat knew that today was “her” day. The drive home was a little rough as we had stood for the most of the day and all I wanted to do was stretch out and sleep. Mike’s only regret was that we hadn’t brought Spud along so he could have been thrown from the tower.

Prague

Prague Castle

Tyn Church

(written March 06)
WOW is the best way to describe this city. Every building has something about it that made it stand out. From a bright yellow or pink paint, a wild façade, gargoyles, statues on the roof, or spires to the sky. We flew in from Dusseldorf Thursday evening and then took the bus and metro into the city itself. Public transportation is very cheap, maybe a buck to ride the bus and metro across 3 “zones” with transfers. We were pretty tired that night so we just headed to the hotel.
It was Easter weekend so there where a lot of tourist and it seemed that Italy must have been empty because they were all in Prague. There we also a lot of Asian tour groups and many smaller packs of Brits, Germans, and Americans. The Old Town had a large Easter Bazaar as well as a bazaar in Wenceslas Square. We discovered a wonderful Czech pastry that we dubbed “those round thingies” and we ate many of them throughout the weekend.
Friday was damp, but we didn’t let that stop us and we headed out to “The Old Town” to meet up with our “Communism Walk Tour.” It was just us and two Swedes on the tour. Unfortunately, while our guide was nice and told great stories, he just wasn’t informative and didn’t have a very organized presentation. I think that he relied on bigger groups with people asking more questions, whereas we just wanted to listen and learn. Joseph, our guide, did have a few interesting opinions as he told about being “liberated” by the Germans and twice by the Russians. We discussed the “Velvet Revolution” when the Czech people broke away from the Soviet Union and then went down the creepy street where the police department and jail where located. People used to whisper the street name as everyone knew what sort of evil went on behind the walls. There used to be a huge statue of Lenin that towered over the city but it was “accidentally” destroyed during the time of the revolution. The descriptions that we have heard and read about say that there was “an explosion” and the statue crumbled. Those Czech do have a great sense of humor. (grin) On the flip side, the Czechs have taken to capitalism like fish to water. The souvenir shops sell all kinds of Russian and Soviet memorabilia, even stuff that is newly made to meet the desire to own it. There are McDonalds everywhere, along with many, many pubs, shops, and bookstores. After the somewhat disappointing tour, we grabbed some lunch at an…..Irish pub then headed toward the Museum of Communism. The museum is located above a McDonalds; next to a casino…hmmm I’ll just bet that Lenin is spinning in his grave. After the museum we walked some more, just taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Then we went to a very exotic restaurant to sample some excellent foreign cuisine……TGIFs. OK, so I had some guilt at first, but remember, I don’t get to go to places like TGIFs very often so it was a real treat.
The next day we had an earlier start as we had to meet out city tour guide at the St. Charles Bridge. Blanca was our guide and our group had 9 people. We toured the city on foot heading out to Prague Castle (the largest in the world) then into Little Town, the Jewish Quarter, and Old Town after watching the Astronomical clock …again…not so great the second time, but this was our third…the group broke up and only 4 of us plus the guide went on and had a traditional Czech lunch. The desert was a traditional Prague specialty known as “little coffins” and was meringue coffin shaped pieces smothered in fresh whipped cream. They were invented because so many people committed suicide by jumping from the St. Charles Bridge. Then we took a boat tour of the Vlata River. Unfortunately due to flooding the ride didn’t go very far, but it was the only sunny day that we had, so it was nice, plus we got to hear even more history.
We wanted to take a beer walk tour that evening, but the person running the tour never showed. We hung around the plaza at St Charles and just soaked in the atmosphere; finally we took our own beer walk and went to…hold onto your hats folks…an Irish pub. Then a British one and finally for dinner we took off down a narrow alley, into a small courtyard, and down into the cellar of a building for a great tradition Czech dinner. So many of the best places here are off the main road and down narrow alleys.
We were worried that Sunday would be slow because it was Easter, but we couldn’t have been more wrong…the Italians were everywhere…ha ha We crossed to the other side of the river and rode the funicular railway up to a tower on the hills near Prague castle. The park was beautiful and we took our time strolling back down into the city. Lunch was pizza baked on a wood stove…with more beer. The restaurant was located off a side street, down a narrow alley and across a courtyard…but it was worth getting there! FYI, the Czechs drink more beer per capita than any other nation. Their Pilsner Urquell is said to have many medical benefits including curing kidney stones, so I figure that we were just trying to get healthy. Also Budweiser originally came from Czech, but it’s now called Budvar and it’s MUCH, MUCH tastier than the US brew. That night we took in a show at one of the black light theaters which were first developed in the late 60’s. It’s a non-verbal show with lots of modern dance and imagery…all under a black light. It was actually pretty cool and I think that it’s probably where Cirq de soils (yeah, it’s spelled wrong) started from…of course the Vegas show is much, much better. We ate American again, but it was the best damn steak I had eaten in 8 months. The restaurant was called “The Crazy Cow” and it had an interesting spin on what the Czechs thought that an American steak house should look like. Lots of Pancho Villa photos along with a copy of the Declaration on Independence.
We got on quite well there speaking only English as everyone under 40 seems to have a pretty solid grasp of the language. The people were so nice, well except for the Italians…but that’s another story…and seemed to enjoy answering our questions. Monday we just strolled around the Old Town and Wenceslas Square, eating more round thingies until it was time to head out to the airport. I did get to see some of the areas outside of the city center and boy are the buildings ugly. The outskirts were filled with Sovietesque apartment complexes. I did learn that the Czech really dislike the Roma (Gypsies), Ukrainians (the new refugees), and of course the Russians. They might be willing to sell Soviet trinkets, but they boycott any business owed by Russians. The history here is just amazing for such a tiny little country and we hope to go back to see some of the countryside and other cities.

Amsterdam

(written March 06)

Mike and I took the train into Amsterdam Friday afternoon. It’s a 90 minute ride straight through from Sittard, The Netherlands which is a small town about 15 minutes from our house. Once we got there we followed Rick Steve’s (tour book writer) advice and purchased a 3 day pass for about $15. That gave us unlimited travel on the trams, busses, and the metro. The first night we stayed in a quaint (European for “small’) room at the Hotel Jansen. The biggest problem with Amsterdam is the hotel prices. Anyplace you can afford you don’t want to stay in…ha ha. Well, the room was clean and we did have our own bathroom, but it was just a little more than two twin beds wide and the floor had a funny angle to it. The rain had started but we wanted to go out and see the city. We had passed the Hard Rock Café and a few other hot spots on our tram ride to the hotel so we headed back in that direction.
Walking in Amsterdam is downright dangerous. It’s very busy with cars, busses, trams, motorcycles, scooters, and bikes. In fact all of the main streets have a special bicycle lane and if you dare to walk in it, you are taking your life into your own hands. They will run your ass down without ringing their bicycle bells. I was caught on a median when a tram took the corner and well…lets just say that if I was a cup larger…I wouldn’t be anymore. We saw many car/tram near misses and paid extra attention to avoid the bike paths. Hungry and wet we entered an Irish pub only to get blasted by rap music. After a beer we decide that we would eat elsewhere. We had not intended on eating at the Hard Rock, but it was late, we were tired, and it ended up being a great meal. It’s really hard to get a good burger where we live, so it was a nice change of pace. After that we headed off to the Red Light District. We didn’t go to any of the shows, but people watching provided plenty of entertainment. It’s hard to explain, but this area is a MUST VISIT if you get to the city. I felt very safe and the biggest danger is pick pockets. While soft drugs are legal, just take a sniff and you knew it, many harder drugs were plentiful based on the number f business propositions we received from the ubiquitous drug dealers. Again, I felt very safe as they took “no” for an answer.
The next morning we took the tram to another hotel where we would spend the next two nights and where some friends of Mike were staying for a NATO conference. They were people that Mike had worked with while we lived in Texas. We dropped our bags off and then did some more city sight seeing. The Anne Frank house line was too long so we decided to try again later. After some shopping, walking, and people watching we headed back to the hotel. Most of the group was there so we drank beer…lots of it. The group of 13 headed to another Irish pub for dinner then over to the Red Light to another pub for drinks. We had a great view of some of the working girls behind their windows and just watched the show. Many guys went up to the door but wouldn’t pay the price. Finally two guys went into a room with two girls, one man came out in 5 minutes, and the other hung in for 12. Needless to say we were laughing our asses off. Unfortunately the pub was located above a coffee house (which doesn’t serve coffee if you get my drift) and the pot smell was so obnoxious that most of us wanted to move on. The rain had started up again so about half of us called it a night, Mike and myself included.
The next day started bright and early at 10 for a walk and breakfast in a local place near the Heineken brewery. The brewery tour was the best that I have even been on! It was 10 Euros, but you got 3 beers, a souvenir beer glass in a cool tin, and they had many interactive displays and 2 cheesy rides. I now know what a Heineken bottle feels like. Speaking of Heineken, I had sworn the stuff of a few years ago as being skunky, not so here. It was very, very good. It just doesn’t ship well in the green bottles so the flavor turns before we can drink it in the states. They are trying some new bottles, so hopefully it will taste better in the US. After that tour our group of 6 broke up and 3 of us went to the Anne Frank house. That is another MUST DO while in Amsterdam. I wasn’t as emotionally moved as some people were, but after seeing Dachau last year the Annex visit just wasn’t as depressing. Still, it was just amazing to think that they almost made it through the war living in such deplorable conditions.
Back at the hotel we met up with our buddy Pete Godwin from England and we spent the rest of the night just catching up on old times. Pete insisted that we head to a decent pub for some “brown stuff” (Guinness beer) as he can only drink so much of the bubbly pilsner beers…so good friends that we are, we headed to yet another Irish pub. Did you know that the first bar opened in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban was an Irish pub? We had to head back on Monday so we slept in, did some more walking, watching, and shopping then returned by late afternoon. We really didn’t do much real “touring” but since it’s so easy for us to get there we plan on going back any playing “tourist.” We wanted to do a canal cruise but it was windy and cold and since we had family and friends coming to visit so it seemed silly to do everything in one visit.

"Fussball"

Written (March 06)

Mike and I went to Dortmund with 62 thousand of our closest friends to watch a "fussball" (football or soccer) match between team USA and team Germany. The US had the snot stomped outta them....4-1. Boy did we ever cheer when we got our one goal. It was a fun bus trip about half and half of Germans and Americans. We also received a very friendly welcome from just about ALL of the German fans. Mike and I were interviewed for an American radio program and some German reporters took our pictures for a sports magazine. I think that the Germans just liked seeing US fans attending the game. The hooliganism just isn't as bad here as it is in Great Britain. One German kid did say "USA go home," but he was grinning at the same time. My USA jester’s hat with blinking lights was a big hit and it put a lot of smiles on people's faces. The German fans had some great fan wear too! I'm hoping to get the black, yellow, and red Mohawk attachment that I saw one fan wearing.

On a sad note....I did drink too much. However I had already planned to take the next day off from work today...but I'm still suffering.....We leave for Amsterdam Friday and will get back Monday...should be fun!

Midnight Visit

NO....THIS IS NOT A PHOTO THAT I TOOK....I "BORROWED" IT FROM www.google.com and I know that someone else has the rights to it...so this is published for "educational purposes" only and will be removed if the real owner makes an official request....call my lawyer, Mr. Dewy Cheetham. (written 17 June 06)

I had an exciting wild visitor last night...and I’m not talking about the neighborhood soccer hooligans either! Around midnight I went outside and was sitting on my front porch swing listening to the cows across the way. Suddenly to my right I hard a soft noise and saw something hopping over from the field. It was pretty dark and the animal had dark fur, so I assumed that it was a rabbit due to the noise that it made while moving. When it moved again I clearly recognized the distinctive hop of a ferret, or ferret like animal. It hopped behind our cars, over the small property dividing wall, and into the field on the other side of our property.

After a moment I heard more noise on the wall by the cars. I had a mini flashlight in my pocket...what luck there…and put my visitor right in the spotlight. I knew instantly that he must belong to the mustelidae family (weasels), but I wasn't sure if he was a wild mink or a pole cat. (My research led me to believe that I found a "stone martin" but I could be wrong.) I think that he was marking his claim on top of the wall and then after a few more stomps and hind leg scratching he dove under the car. So I waited and soon enough he was staring back at me from under the front of the car. His eyes reflected yellow with the flash light. He then went under the car and came out from the side. While I wasn't frightened I was glad that I was up on my porch so he would have to take some effort to get at me if he wanted. Of course our little two foot high porch wouldn’t stop him, but it made me feel better.

So for a few minutes we played the game of him hiding under the car then sticking his head out to see if I could shine my light on him. He finally grew weary and went down our driveway and then back into or hedges, stopping every few feet so I could catch the reflection of his eyes with my light. I’m not 100% sure on what he was, but he was too large for a weasel or European polecat. I really couldn’t tell much about his markings even with the light on him. I attached a photo of a stone martin just so you can get an idea, but I could be wrong. However, I do know for sue that he was not a cat, rabbit, skunk, hedgehog, weasel, freaky dog, or escaped ferret. Sure wished that I had my camera!!

Those Crazy German Kids

(written 14 June 06)

Hi all, if you don't know, Germany just defeated Poland and is now 2-0 in their World Cup run. Now here's the funny part...it's almost 11pm here and I only know because the farm across from my house must have sponsored a youth watch party. I know that because about 10 minutes ago Spud freaked out and I heard kids singing in German. Now you want to hear even funnier?

Of course you do.....so I open the door to pin-point the singing...yep it's at the farm house (more of a nice manor with a huge cattle barn next to it) which has a large party tent up in their driveway and the singing is coming for there. Since Corpus Christi is tomorrow I quickly turned off my lights and moved to my computer to check out my "German Customs and Traditions” web site. I don't want any surprises like kids showing up on my door step dressed like the Three Wise Men expecting candy and/or money as they did on January 6th (Epiphany-Three-Kings...the money goes to charity). So I hid out like any non-knowing American would and did my research…no luck...then it dawned on me, they had to be watching the World Cup.

I went back to my front door and opened it (I had to make sure they weren’t getting closer) right as the song changed to “We Are the Champions.” Yep, sung in accented English, and they were firmly rooted in their tent (thank God for the rain or the little buggers might be roaming the streets.) Another quick search and I had the mystery solved Germany won. So...no more hiding out in the dark for me. However I might just put on my Deutschland t-shirt to be on the safe side…ha ha