Travels

The posts got sparse in August, not because nothing happened, but because too much was going on to think about sharing it with the one or two souls that actually read this blog.  Never fear, I will try to update you right away.

First, THE EVENT:

My (baby - favorite - only) brother got married on August 17th and celebrated the occasion with great gusto and in an amazing way on the next day.

It was definitely the wedding of the century.  

It couldn't have happened to a nicer couple.  The royals have nothing on them.  It did however require travel, since he and his new wife Sibylle reside in Leipzig, Germany (yes, there is one there, too).

About the wedding:

It was a celebration of such splendor and note that it was well worth it for me to drag my butt into the more populated regions of the planet, suffer through the worst trans-Atlantic flight in history (freezing temperatures, no food, screaming and vomiting kids unchaperoned by their producers and uninterrupted by 'flight attendants', who were absent and only appeared to say "bye" or "get off the plane") and inhale enough cigarette smoke to last me a life-time.

But more about that later.  

Remember Calamity Jones?  First things first...

[As an aside, here:  It is amazing how much Germans smoke, and EVERYWHERE.  Frankfurt airport is touted as smoke free, but that is clearly a joke, for there are glass cubes inside filled with smokers and smoke, but lacking any ventilation so that whenever one enters or leaves, which is frequently, everyone in the area is breathing concentrated smoke spewing forth.  For an asthmatic, this is  a minefield.  Further, and shocking to me, Germans have apparently given up cleanliness.  Cigarette butts and trash is everywhere, weeds are thigh or waist high, and in nearly two weeks I did not once see a street sweeper.  I guess countries change in a generation, and since my last visit to (then West-) Germany was nearly 30 years ago, well, it clearly wasn't like in my childhood anymore.]

Okay, where were we?  Oh, yeah:

To recuperate from the flight I relaxed in a suburb of Wiesbaden, where Mom and Bernd have an apartment with fantastic views.  It's like living in a castle, only without the moat and drawbridge, I guess.


We hit Wiesbaden during the Weinfest - yes, wine festival - and did day trips to Heidelberg and Ruedesheim, complete with train and ship rides, all during the best summer weather ever, before we headed to Dresden well rested.  Bernd had to work and met up with Mom and me at intervals.

Wiesbaden is rather fancy, (see http://wikitravel.org/en/Wiesbaden for more) with a Kurhaus and casino, and thermals that bubble and boil out of the ground all over the place (but the water tastes really bad, thus it must be good for you), and we could walk there along the park from the apartment:

Kurhaus

Kurhaus showing red carpet that we never failed to use

Kuckuck's Uhr - not the world's largest, although it says it is.

My Mom pointing out stuff I did not buy for Harold.

Marktkirche with wine stands

A tiny part of the wine fest, it went on and on and had food, live music, and wine,  in all colors, still or sparkling, and more wine.  Good thing we could walk home, barely.

This was a great vacation tour and I have too many pictures to share, but I will put them in another post.
Heidelberg was fun though, because it gave me a chance to visit with a former daily companion of mine, Bob.

Here's a picture of Bob:

 The wedding?
Oh, yes, let's get to the main attraction:

The wedding ceremony was in Dresden, very official and yet very nicely and tastefully done, and yes, I got leaky at the eyes, right here at:

The always happy couple, Kay and Billy, before the deed.  

Here they are during...

Too late to back out now...

And the official stamp is on.

 Then, we walked to the Blue Wonder, which turns out to be a bridge,


but there was a fancy restaurant just ready to spoil us with good food and wonderful views, and best of all, great company.

I put my camera away to eat, but after the food and getting to know each other, we got a super tour of Dresden, especially of the restored rebuilt Frauenkirche, where we climbed to the top, and while one can argue about rebuilding and restoring such things, and the costs related to it, once you see it, there is no question, it was worth it.  My brother did such a great job telling us about the sights, he must have jobbed there as a tour guide, but he denies it.

Then we continued to Leipzig because the actual festivities were about to start the next day.  Many of their friends came from far and wide, and then we all got on the party bus, and got a tour of Leipzig and the area, 

ended up at a large lake with lakeside restaurant, the Seeteufel, where all stops were pulled, and the food fun and festivities just kept adding up.  There are not enough superlatives to describe what I ate there, and the company was outstanding as well.  

You'd think that would be it, but no, no way.  We got onto another bus, and back to the middle of Leipzig, we went heavenward, to the top of the Panorama Tower, where there was more of everything, plus a DJ and soon the place was hopping.  I am quite sure that some dancers limped home with blisters, but hey, it was such great fun, and lasted well into the next day.  I tried to take pictures of that, but my little camera wasn't up to night-scenes.  

You can see some of it here: http://www.panorama-leipzig.de/de/dachterrasse although that's during the day.  At night - way better!

Later, ... much later on Sunday we got a quick tour of Kay and Billy's home, then back on the train (ICE to Wiesbaden, and we traveled in STYLE, first class all the way!) and after a few days of recovering from the celebration, back home, which was a pleasant flight, great service, no screaming kids, the nicest reception from custom and passport officials, and a painless way home.  Wow, now I am tired just from reliving the whole vacation.  

Last weekend we spent with our best man (wow, wedding related, but also ancient history) Tom visiting, so we had even more fun, and now I really really should do some laundry, oh, and it rained here too, finally, but we got about 4 inches of a good soaking rain, so things are greening up, but now the sun is out again, so I will be as well, shortly.  

Oh, finally, about Bob:

Decibel's joke

This morning I come outside, lagging behind, but not last, that was Ralph, so I figured I was doing well.  Harold is sitting on the steps, chatting animated with someone, and giggling.  Decibel is giving him a smooch.

"What's so funny?"  I ask, trying to figure out which shoe goes where.
"Decibel told me a joke," Harold claims.

"What's big and brown?"

                                               "---    ME!"

Then he was laughing again, with Decibel hugging him, wagging her tail like mad and licking his face.  She is a very enthusiastic kisser.  Apparently she also tells jokes now.

More kid encounters

We get our haying done by a three generation team, and while the youngest member, Michael,  has always worked hard at pulling his weight, he finds time to visit for a few moments, and brighten our dogs' days.  This is much appreciated, because the dogs must remain locked up until the large equipment leaves again for the year, and our canine contingent feels quite left out, and craves attention.
So when Michael comes in to visit the dogs, a balance is reestablished.
Michael is very good with animals, and he seems to genuinely like the dogs.  He plays with them, without getting them riled up.  Decibel took right to him.  As Michael was sitting on the stairs updating us about his 4-H projects, and haying work, not to mention the fact that he just got his learners permit, Decibel was encroaching on his space.  Suddenly she got the look... it means only one thing.  She is going to kiss this human, and there is no escape.
I warned Michael, and he laughed it off, trying to push Decibel away, just to prove me wrong.
Hah!  He doesn't know that Decibel can be "the Determined".  After a bit of wrestling Michael ended up stretched on the stairs, Decibel on top, finally reaching his face, giving him a few (not too sloppy) kisses, before she let Michael get up.
Naturally I got to the camera way too late.

Best TOY we have:  doggie door.  It has seen a lot of human action lately.

Then we had another set of visitors with children, and again Decibel did quite well.  She didn't jump on anyone, didn't use her massive paws, and in the end played with the boys, mostly bring a toy and tug of war.  Ralph is an old hand at kids, he grew up with his own, and I think he misses them still at times.  Skeeter loves the extra attention that visitors entail, and he always finds someone who will pet him.  Maggie finds the whole bit rather boring, and in the end gets a bit grumpy.  I think she fails to see the point of it.  She is not allowed to boss the little people around, she can't ignore them, and they are ruining her hunting.  So she goes off to wait for them to leave.

Migrant workers

Faced with a peach avalanche, I decided to invite Sheila and Elliot and their sons Noah and Samuel, for rather selfish reasons:  To pick peaches!

It was a clever ploy, and they worked really hard too, and best of all, they TOOK a whole bucket full of peaches.  I asked Noah, who is a fruit connoisseur, how many peaches he wanted to take home.  Without hesitation he decided on 180.  I think they got that many.

Now just to review Decibel's faces (previous post):

This is the "I'm not sure what is going on, but something is happening.  Mom brushed me, and the floor is clean.  Visitors?" face.

I was a little worried about Decibel, she hasn't seen short humans for a while, and with her jumping up on visitors lately, I didn't want to have any injuries, we needed peach pickers!  

But Decibel showed how smart and good she can be.  She never jumped on the boys, she tried to be on her best behavior, and only once Noah decided to play tug of war with her did she accidentally use her paw and scratch him a little.  She even tugged lightly, I mean, Decibel can pull me along, but she didn't topple Noah.

All the dogs were pretty good, even if Samuel wouldn't agree, (he was a little intimidated by all that canine action).  No one got knocked over, no tears; everyone left with the digits and limbs they came with.  

People trekking up to see cows

Cows trekking down to see people

Close encounters... "I like your hat"

Decibel is in the thick of it

Donkey is really good with Noah

 

Even Samuel enjoys the "ride"

After the fun with the farm critters, and a quick dip for the dogs, we put the people to work!

 Decibel is entertained by the little human  - Look Mom, he's almost like one of us... Can we keep him?

The transparent Decibel

Decibel is a smart dog, she shows me that several times a day.  She is observant, understands a lot of words we never taught her on purpose, and she is intuitive.  She likes being helpful, she is attentive, and she even has her protective aspects.

One thing she is not is sneaky.  She hasn't got it in her.
When a thought pops into her head, you can pretty much read it off her face in LARGE BOLD PRINT.

She might see a bone or 'stinky' (it is what we call the hoof trimmings the farrier leaves behind, for obvious reasons.  The dogs like chewing them and since they are free and essentially the same as cow hoof, stinkies are fair game) and try to get it without attracting notice from the other dogs, but her delight far outdoes her sneakiness, and EVERYONE in the immediate vicinity knows that she is up to something.
She is prancing, eyes on target, tail high, ear flopping, with a big grin on her face... yeah, so subtle - NOT!

I can read her when 'she is up to something', when an idea strikes, when she is willing, or unwilling.  Her herding for example:  Decibel is a helpful dog and she delights in having a job to do.  Still, those steers give her trouble at times, requiring her to dance out of the way.  Deep down Decibel is a bit of a chicken.  So when I tell her to bring up the cows, she goes with an air of dutiful honor-bound compulsion.  It is fun to watch especially when the other dogs are goofing off.  For a split second there is temptation, should she chase after Maggie who is hunting (imaginary) squirrels?  After all, Mom is busy with the big cow, and might not notice, and in any event, humans are S-L-O-W.  Then there is compliance.  Mom needs me.  I can herd cows.  I can show her.  I am a good helper Briard.  And she's off pushing cattle.

This is: hoping for a cookie

This is: someone is touching the bowls!

This is: I hope they go to bed soon.  They have to come by here.

This is:  Maggie has something I want.

This is: I really want it, but Maggie is the boss.

This is:  Hi Mom, can we go do something fun?

This is: Mo-om, get off the darn computer, it's nice out!

Naturally she has her barks too.  One just means 'Ralph is in my way'.  Then there is the 'someone at the gate' or the even better 'Daddy is home' bark.  Another is more serious, 'something is WRONG'!
I was cleaning the kitchen floor, an activity that practically spells futility, not to mention begs for an interruption.  I have to blast my music until the floor practically vibrates, since I believe this helps the dirt removal process.  Still, I could hear the 'something wrong' bark over the wet vacuum and the music.  So I shut off the cleaner, and no, the other dogs are not joining.  This is clearly something that only Decibel finds noteworthy.
I check it out.  She "found" the fan Harold had set up in the study.  It is one of those small fans that rotates, which didn't convince Mademoiselle Decibel that it could be harmless.  It moved!
So I got a break from cleaning and let her check it out, until we were both assured that no danger lurked in the study.
One of the funniest things was watching Maggie come in to check things out, and not finding anything worth her while.

Unfortunately Decibel can read me pretty well too, at least when it comes to grooming tasks, for she disappears out the doggie door the second the thought has formed in my head, and before I can move towards the basket with the grooming utensils.