home sweet home

Es tragen die Winde ein Lied in die Welt
the winds are carrying a song into the world
Ein Lied von den Trossingen Harfen
a song of the trossingen harps
Es klingt von der Stadt über Häuser und Feld
it echos from the town over houses and fields
Es rauscht in Tannen und Arven
it whispers in firs and pine trees

Wo Schlehndorn und Flieder am Gauner erblühn
where blackthorn and lilac are flowering at the Gauger
Zwischen Schwarzwald und Alb auf der Höh'
between Black Forest and Swabian Alb up high
Da liegt meine Heimat im güldnen Gewand
there lies my home in golden garments
Die Baar das klingende Land
the Swabian Baar the resounding land

Und was auch die Fremde an Glück dir gebracht
and no matter what fortunes the world might have brought you
Auf einmal erfüllt dich ein Sehnen
suddenly you are filled by a longing 
Die Liebe zur Heimat sie ruft dich mit Macht
love of home calls you with force
Hörst fern vom Türmle es tönen
faraway from Türmle you hear the sound

Wo Schlehndorn und Flieder am Gauner erblühn
where blackthorn and lilac are flowering at the Gauger
Zwischen Schwarzwald und Alb auf der Höh'
between Black Forest and Swabian Alb up high
Da liegt meine Heimat im güldnen Gewand
there lies my home in golden garments
Die Baar das klingende Land
the Swabian Baar the resounding land

Es tragen die Winde das Echo zurück
the winds are carrying the echo back
Das Echo der Trossingen Harfen
the echo of the trossingen harps
Es ist doch das Lied von der Stadt der Musik
it is the song of the town of music
Das Lied von den Tannen und Arven
the song of firs and pine trees

Wo Schlehndorn und Flieder am Gauner erblühn
where blackthorn and lilac are flowering at the Gauger
Zwischen Schwarzwald und Alb auf der Höh'
between Black Forest and Swabian Alb up high
Da liegt meine Heimat im güldnen Gewand
there lies my home in golden garments
Die Baar das klingende Land
the Swabian Baar the resounding land

(Josef Zepf, Fritz Jöde)

happy childhood memories

This year's summer vacation with my parents in Southern Germany is a romantic trip down memory lane, as my father takes my son hiking across the rolling hills and endless forests of my youth, sharing old stories, remembering previous generations, feeding the insatiable curiosity of my multicultural offspring with local history and family traditions.

I can barely believe the beauty surrounding me. How fortunate I am to be able to share this with my children, and how lucky my children are to share these memories with their grandparents!

And I wonder why ever did I leave?

packing

The children are happily playing at the neighbors (thank you, Tessa!) while I'm busy washing and packing for our trip to North Carolina. Traveling certainly has become much more complex and cumbersome these days; a suitcase for the parent's clothes, a suitcase for the children's clothes, a suitcase for toys/diapers/milk bottles/etc, two strollers, two car seats, one camping cod ... ufff ...

It's a bit stressy to fly to the States with the kids for just one week, but we're really looking forward to seeing our dear friend Sunde again!

There are no direct flights from Amsterdam to RDU, so we'll have to gather up our sleepy children in Philadelphia, collect all the luggage, join the long queue for immigrations, get thump printed & computer scanned, check the luggage back in, and race to the departure gate for the onward flight.

Unfortunately, there won't be any time to meet up with my cousin Xandra, which is a real shame. I guess we'll just have to wave from the airplane as we fly over Princeton.

The weather forecast for North Carolina sounds like a very nice change from the miserable cold & wet autumn in NL (luckily so far no hurricanes in sight, though possibly some exciting thunder storms in the middle of the week). Certainly rather uplifting to be packing sandals and T-shirts, instead of boots and winter jackets :-D