Category: Memories

A Man For All Seasons

I knew a man once, named Otto. He was quite a man. He seemed to know so much about so many things. I loved to speak with him, and I loved to walk with him through the Black Forest in Bavaria.

He was the man who introduced me to Rauhhaardackels, mushroom hunting, and Slivovitz. He didn’t laugh at my naivety, and since he spoke beautiful English (his native language was German) we were able to really connect.

He did have a wonderful laugh, and when we spoke he always called me “My dear girl”, making me feel very cherished.

He and his wife owned the first Shubi.
shubi1

The first Rauhhaardackel that I fell in love with. Their Shubi was such a delight and my love affair began with this wonderful breed of dog.

We went to see him and his wife in Bavaria, shortly after their Shubi was killed by a car. I remarked that we should buy puppies together. I said this as we left to go out to the store. By the time we got back, Otto had located a litter of puppies, and the rest is history!

magic
Me with my baby, Shubi.

I visited him and his wife often, always bringing Shubi to see her brother, Toni! This picture was taken of Otto and I as we walked along. That is my Shubi between us.

936204

Otto passed away a few years ago from cancer, but his kindness, his hearty laughter and his love will remain with me throughout my life. Even though he was Hubby’s friend, and the friend of Hubby’s first wife, he never made me feel that I was any less. In fact, I always felt special when I was visiting him and his wife.

I miss him still, and I think I always will.

Arizona

In the second year of our marriage, we lost our White German Shepherd, Rex, when he passed away at age 10 1/2. We did some researching and located a new puppy out in Arizona. As I had never been to Arizona, we planned a trip around the state to see all the highlights, the Grand Canyon, the meteor crater at Winslow, Oak Creek Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona, and Montezuma’s Castle, cliff dwellings from a long extinct tribe.

Two days before we left I heard the cats fighting at the foot of our bed and I jumped up and when I came down I landed incorrectly on my foot and broke it! Hubby was not at all happy because this certainly would make the trip difficult. But here is what happened.

Upon arriving in Manchester to take our flight out, a Porter met us at the curb and wheeled me to the gate. I was pre-boarded and given a nice crate to rest my foot on. Everyone was so nice.

When we arrived in Phoenix, I was met with a wheel chair, and wheeled to the car rental company. The car rental agency gave us a handicapped placard for our car, giving us the best spots in all of Arizona to park. At each state park we were met with a wheel chair and smiles. What a great way to go.

We traveled down to Tucson to pick up our puppy and the woman who raised the pup asked if we had seen Tombstone? Since we hadn’t, she offered to keep our new puppy, Max, for us so we could visit this famous town.

Tombstone is a real western town. With a saloon and of course the OK Corral, we found the town, really interesting. At a saloon there was a photographer who took pictures in period dress. I wanted to have our picture taken in costume. Hubby said that was fine, as long as he got to be a gun slinger!

WILDWEST

It was so much fun to do and I love the picture of Hubby and I. It still hangs in our office.

We also went to Boot Hill Cemetery where Hubby saw a headstone, “Here lies Lester Moore, four slugs from a .44, no Les, no more!” Yes, that still cracks up Hubby!

Once we got done posing, we headed back and picked up our boy Max and flew home. Max was a dear big boy (128 pounds fully grown!) for nearly 13 years. In many ways that picture of Hubby and I reminds me of Max when he was a puppy.

Max at sunset
Max at sunset in his later years.

20 Weeks!

Can you believe the pups are 20 weeks old? I was watching them today, as they frolicked and played and I realized how grown up they’ve gotten. Arnie is 14 1/2 pounds now and Anneliese is 11 1/2 pounds. Anneliese is 99.9% house broken now, and Arnie is 75%. Yes, he is a little slow, but we still love him. He is 100% paper trained, so even if I don’t get him outside for the big event, he will run into the puppy room and use the papers. Not perfect, but it has saved me a lot of time cleaning my carpets with the big green clean machine.

They’re both sweet little sleepers too. They love to cuddle
(Arnie)
April 29 024

or stretch out in the sunshine
(Anneliese)
April 29 013

and just be close.
(Arnie (blue) Anneliese (red))
April 29 001

They cuddle with each other still and I wonder if this closeness they share will be life long? They both adore their Uncle Fritz.

April 26 007

Greta still watches over them, but in many ways she keeps her distance too. Although today she played a wicked chasing game with the puppies until I thought they might tear up the rug! But it was so much fun to watch

Five months old. Wow! This is going so fast!

April 29 017
(Anneliese)

Nineteen Years

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary. I have spent countless hours trying to put into words how I feel about my loving husband. Then I stumbled across this wonderful poem by Sharon MacFadyen, and her words said everything I was feeling in my heart.

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

wedding photos
A Gift Of Love

Author: Sharon MacFadyen

My gift to you is my love
Given from deep within my heart
It is the best I have to offer
And its yours until this earth we depart

You have captured a part of me
A part so very fragile that I am in fear
For it is my heart I have lost
To you my love, the one I hold most dear

I chose to love you now
With all that I have and all that I am
And I pray that God follows us
To guide our steps as we cross this land

For it is with His blessings
We will live most at peace with each other
For He is the reason after all
We found one another …….. I Love You!
Love

,

Saturday Scavenger Photo

PSHunt
Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Architecture

brandenburg gate 2

This is my friend Uschi and I standing in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.
It was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II as a sign of peace and built by Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791.
It was built as the grandest of a series of city gates constituting the passages through the customs wall encircling the city at the end of the eighteenth century. It is the only gate which survived, because it constitutes the monumental termination of Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees which led directly to the residence of the Prussian kings until the destruction of the city castle. The entire construction and ornamentation of the gate reflect the extraordinary importance it was granted by its builders.



Quiet

We are due for the mother of all storms tomorrow. They are saying we will get two feet of snow. And due to the temperatures around here being a tad warmer than they have been, I suspect it will be fairly heavy snow.

I like snow. I do. It’s pretty to watch as it falls, and if you go outside during the storm and stand very still you can hear something wonderful.

Quiet.

I think in this day and age most people have forgotten what real quiet is. We have the noise of TV, or music or automobiles or machinery. When was the last time you can remember hearing nothing? That sweet silence that you can only hear during a snowstorm.

I was about six years old the first time I realized that there was such a thing as quiet. I had gone outside of our house when the snow was falling after dinner one evening. I remember coming back in and asking my mother why it was so quiet outside and she explained to me about the snow soaking up the sound.

Pure quiet.

After that I would always try to go out in the snow during the storm, even if it was just for a moment. When I listen to the quiet of the storm it would always bring me back to that first time. When I was so very young and so very innocent. Back when a good snowstorm meant a day off from school and snowmen in the front yard and snow Angels on the lawn.

So tomorrow I am planning a little trip. Just a few steps outside my door where I will stand alone and listen and remember.

Quiet.

Saturday Scavenger Photo

PSHunt
Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Antique


When I was a little girl, I would go to visit my grandparents quite often. They had a few toys at their home on Murdock Street in Brighton, Massachusetts, but the toy I always wanted to play with was the wooden Noah Ark. It had been my grandfather’s toy when he was a child in Germany (Papa was born in 1897) and came to this country with him when he was 9 years old. It was very fragile and I was only allowed to play with it in their living room while I was being very, very careful. I spent many hours playing with this wooden ark filled with hand carved animals and of course Noah’s family. It sits in my family room now, untouched by anyone but me, and when I do touch it, I am taken back to those long ago days when Papa and Grandma had me at their home and I played, happily.

Feb. 16 010