Steffen

July is the time of the year when the nights are warmer, and we make use of that by staying out late on the terrace. One of the benefits of living in Central Oregon is that there are few cities, so the skies are dark and our entire area is considered one of the best […]

Just about three weeks ago the department of transportation completed a road project not far from our house. A tricky three-way intersection that operated as a two-way stop was converted into a traffic circle with three entrances, a bike path, signage and streetlights. The motivation for this change was, as people have been saying, a

There are many beautiful natural sites, that draw large amounts of visitors. The more accessible they are the broader the range of people that come and visit. While it requires some navigation, I do believe that all people have the same right to access and as it gets managed by the park service, I am

During our hike in Portugal and Spain we had reserved hotels for most of the overnight stays. In a coastal town called Cee we spent the night at the Hotal Oca Insua Costa de Morte. Like any morning after staying at a hotel overnight we went for breakfast before resuming our journey. Nothing special to

On our hike in the coastal areas of both Portugal and Spain we had the opportunity to observe a wide variety of flowers. Some are associated with the spring season that we witnessed, some probably have a more permanent long-term presence. Two flowers in particular resonated with me in a profound way. The first one

Every night we spend a little time to watch some news – on our local channel or on one of the larger networks that offer reviews of the most important topics of the day. When using the over-the-air channels or streaming services like Roku we understand that advertising is necessary to cover the cost for

There are terms for describing confused multilingual speakers. Here in the US the term Spanglish describes intermingled Spanish and English portions in a line of communication. Consulting with google – the term Denglish describes the mix of German and English words. This is still different from natural integration processes of foreign terms into a native

When we went on our recent one-week trip to Mexico I was excited for the opportunity to practice the Spanish skills, that I have acquired over the last six month or so. Leading up to the trip I increased the number of sessions I signed up for, and I also made sure to go through

Get ready for the Superbowl! Though I am not talking about the game that observers say will be exciting and also I am not talking about the creative advertisement spots and the half-time show that are expected every year with equal suspense. You would wonder why, what I am about to refer to, would not

There is a lot of wisdom out there on how to live your life and how to recognize its twists and turns. Many, by now, famous quotes and sayings to enforce it can be found. “Life is happening” – a quote originally made by Allen Saunders in 1957 – he was a journalist, cartoonist and