Steffen

Looking back, I have probably emptied the dishwasher over 100 times or more in my life. Still this time I noticed something for the first time. In our cupboard we have sets of cups associated with table ware sets that we have purchased over time – some still complete and some slightly diminished through breakage. […]

Having friends with whom one can discuss a wide range of topics like family, life, politics – is a blessing. One can learn, test ideas or just have fun recounting stories old and new – some awkward, some embarrassing or just funny. There are lighter topics; and some are heavier, for example caring for one’s

This saying sounds familiar! Triggered by a sign at an Airbnb we stayed at recently I got curious to see if I could find its true origin. The search yields plenty of signs with a rich selection of designs and also contents. Amazing what people can envision to flush – beyond the expected items that

Traveling is a rich opportunity for observations – here I am combining two airport stories. Airports are places for a lot of “goodbyes” and “welcomes”. As we were marching towards the TSA station there were two older women looking and waving after their friends that had entered the maze of ribbons guiding the queue. They

At Frankfurt airport I noticed interesting devices today. They looked like an inverted umbrella that sits on a tube that sticks out of a box about 12”x12” square and about 3 feet high. They could almost go for a lamp for indirect illumination. Upon closer look I noticed the label, which said something about water

The seasonal changes are often if not most of the time associated with visual cues. The color green reappearing in the spring alongside early flowers, the rich flowerbeds of the summer with lush forests and meadows, the turning leaves in the fall and browns and greys that eventually get covered by snow in the winter.

Last week I rode my bike in the morning on the Portland Springwater Corridor – a trail that goes along the Willamette River between the Tillicum bridge and the Sellwood bridge and then turns inland. In the morning this trail is used by a good number of commuters, headed into Portland for their day’s business.

On our final berry picking trip in the middle of August we wanted to fetch the last harvest of blueberries for the year. We knew it was late but the websites for the farm we intended to go to showed berries still being available. In hindsight one has to wonder if indeed the webpage was

After visiting the nuclear reactors in Hanford in Washington and watching the movie Oppenheimer the historical loop closed for us this week with a visit to Los Alamos in New Mexico. The small town is only 45 min by car from Santa Fe where we were staying. The drive is interesting since at one point

For sure most of us have seen bags of large fresh cranberries in the stores around Thanksgiving. You may also have seen the Ocean Spray advertisements for cranberry juice and other cranberry products with men in waders standing in a pond with cranberries floating around them. I always had trouble imagining how one would harvest