Author Archives

Bill Pearse publishes memoir, travel journals, poetry and prose, and lives in the Pacific Northwest.

• 1989’s Disintegration

  By Bill Pearse on September 30, 2009 • ( 1 )

  I had a cassette copy of this record by The Cure (“Disintegration”), and I wrote “1989’s Disintegration” on the spine of the tape when I dubbed it. I did this to be ironic, since 1989 was the year my first… Read More ›

• Englischer Garten

  By Bill Pearse on September 30, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  Just got back from my second overnight trip to Munich: spent the night with a former boss of mine. He’s working with Starbucks again as an operations coach, or consultant, to help the stores in the south improve. When I… Read More ›

• An Empty Shelf

  By Bill Pearse on September 28, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  I was the only American among 24 tour-goers, when we went around and introduced ourselves at the memorial site. Our guide, a young woman from New Zealand, asked us to say our name and why we’ve come to Dachau. I… Read More ›

• Dachau

  By Bill Pearse on September 28, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  As a show of moral conviction, I was seriously thinking about a visit to the concentration camp here, to balance out my weekend of beer and excess. 15 years ago, on my first trip to Munich, my girlfriend wanted to… Read More ›

• Speak My Language

  By Bill Pearse on September 28, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  It has been a strange week. Tuesday, I went with Gilles to get a haircut in Erligheim. The plan was for him to leave me there, and then I would walk home, through the forest. He took great care describing… Read More ›

• Eight More Weeks

  By Bill Pearse on September 20, 2009 • ( 0 )

  I have eight more of sabbatical, six of which are in Europe. When I got up this morning I realized there’s two more days of Winzerfest too, which is too long for a wine festival. It is fascinating to observe,… Read More ›

• Winzerfest, Day 1

  By Bill Pearse on September 19, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  We got through our first day of this four-day festival, and the only thing that woke me was the sound of the truck cleaning the streets, this morning. There was a reggae band down the street that started at midnight… Read More ›

• Besigheimer Winzerfest 2009

  By Bill Pearse on September 18, 2009 • ( 0 )

  

  Winzerfest starts tonight, at 7 p.m. It will go on for four nights, and segments will be televised on German TV. This is a wine festival that occurs every two years, just here in Besigheim. They’ve been primping up the… Read More ›

• Fall Status Report

  By Bill Pearse on September 15, 2009 • ( 3 )

  

  We made it back in one piece from France last night, and we’re enjoying doing nothing today. We have black-eyed peas with kale planned as a late lunch, and then fish with roasted potatoes, for dinner. It’s cool and cloudy… Read More ›

• Road Fatigue

  By Bill Pearse on September 12, 2009 • ( 2 )

  

  We’re in Aix en Provence, staying in a renovated, 16th century Bastide I found on the internet. We have another two days of driving to get back to Besigheim, and decided to dwell here in Aix en Provence for a… Read More ›