Join me this month for stories of our time here in a small German village where we’re visiting with my mom. I’m experimenting with straight journal-style blogging as a ‘post-a-day’ challenge. Thanks for reading, Bill Fake snow, film set snow,… Read More ›

German history
‘Strangeways, here we come’
When I lent Benny’s dad Christoph a book on German history and explained the author’s premise, that too much focus had been placed on the Hitler years, he said that’s because no one told them what happened, no one talked… Read More ›
The Thane of Cawdor stole my log-in
Our kids threw a mild hissy fit about not being in the States for Halloween, complaining they’d gotten gypped, or in Germany — where the holiday’s just caught on — instead, we’ll be somewhere in Scotland, hopefully near a castle,… Read More ›
Dangerous Heat to Build Across Germany, Poland
A week without my cell phone now, breaking the habit of checking, responding like a lab rat to artificial chimes and chirps, the desire to be recognized. Benny comes at 5 and spends the night, gets right into the story… Read More ›
The infinity mirror
There are many clocks in my mom’s 500-year-old house but none of them agree on the time, they’re all about 10 minutes off and it’s unclear which one is right — so instead we go by the town church bell, and… Read More ›
The hopes and dreams of Robert Zimmerman
Not even a week in Germany, and Dawn suggested we revisit our decision about living here, and apply for a year-long residency permit. It reminds me of working in a complex corporate environment, where it takes countless hours and input… Read More ›
They pulled in just behind the bridge
BESIGHEIM, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG 1ST VIII 2015 Dawn and I lay in bed with our arms threaded through each other’s until I lost track which were mine and which were hers, but I could tell she was awake despite the time, so we… Read More ›
Vergangenheitsbewältigung
Our German teacher has us saying the words Cherry, Church and Kitchen in German. They all sound the same, she asks if we can hear the difference — it’s how you clasp the vowels. We can’t. It’s a “ch” sound… Read More ›