Before and after

Days before Thanksgiving the freezers are filled with 'birds'. From between 4 kg to more then 12 kg specimens. A better way (for the food connoisseur) is to reserve a freshly killed former 'happy' free range bird at the organic food market.

Thankfully - we could eat a lovingly prepared meal with the family and can report that happy birds make happy eating.

Thankful we were again, when we saw during the next day's walk the remnants of somebody else's Thanksgiving meal. (Ronald McDonald in person you can meet if you click on the title of this post)

Sea side weekend

The last weeks were hectic and to come away and just enjoy being together and close to nature we drove up to the coast of Maine. There we could take long walks along the shore and taking deep breaths to fill our lungs with the salty air. The breaking waves giving us a 'sense of eternity'.....

It is low season, the beach is empty and the lonely seagull watching us is thinking:

"What are you doing here?"

Fall foliage

Every Fall the beauty of the change of colors from green to all shades of red and yellow is surprising us. In New England we are lucky with the right mixture of many deciduous trees and bushes, strong sunlight and often a clear blue sky.

Nobody can resist to look up with admiration!

How strange that these leaves, when on the ground

are perceived as 'ugly' and have to be remove with gusto (and high decibels).

From quiet contemplation we flee and with us the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits......

PS. If you click on the title it links you to more info on the Fall foliage in the US.

Inside and outside of the Museum of Science

The most popular museum for children in the Boston area is the Museum of Science. Contrary to other museums where the rule is 'Don't touch', here the visitors are invited to touch and push buttons and interact with different exhibitions. Many different things can be discovered and are explained by educational texts or patient volunteers. The excitement is high and the noise level of happy voices is even higher.

From the large Cafeteria windows the view is calming. Heavy rain clouds are hiding the top floors of Hancock and Prudential towers. From Boston's Back bay to the left to Cambridge to the right spans the Longfellow Bridge over the Charles river. With barely a ripple on the water surface it is a picture of calm and quietness. Perfect 'museum weather'!

Remembrance Day

More then 20 Million soldiers died in World War I and if you ask anybody in Germany or France they have lost one or more family members in this war.

On the Boston College campus at their Veterans Memorial site the Taps was played in remembrance of the American Veterans from all wars fought since. They played the "Echo Taps" with two buglers (not a part of Army tradition) - very movingly.

Daylight Saving Time

First in Europe last weekend and now in the US, the one hour 'fall back' gave me twice 25 hours to the day.

How amazing that all worked out with departure and arrival time of the plane despite the time change. Thinking about all the logistics, it is a wonderful example of the cooperation between humans. It should give us hope in our world filled with conflicts and crises. If there is good will and positive attitude of everybody, we can not only change the time of day but change the world for the better.

Scary - all year round

Impossible to avoid the large posters all along the hallways of the Metro. Seldom witty, they are colorful and sometimes pretty images can grab attention.

The dark 'halloweenish' publications were something different and we stopped to decipher the words forming these ghosts:

VIOLENCE, SOLITUDE, SUICIDE, HUMILIATIONS, DISCRIMINATION.....

It was the ad of a help line for troubled children and young adults!

Can that be possible in "Paris, the city of love"? - Sad fact is, that this service gets about 14.000 calls per year and 60 % of them are girls 18 years old.

Then we look at these posters and wonder about the mechanism of advertisement firms.

(for more info in French: double click on the title)

The Musee d'Orsay (2)

A pleasant way to spend time at a museum - admit it - is to sit down and have some lunch.

The cafeteria on the fifth floor is now the 'Cafe Campana' which was designed by the Brazilian designers........ Frederico and Umberto Campana.

How nice to find the 'old' restaurant still at the same place on the first floor and there are no obvious changes.

The new Musee d'Orsay (1)

A week delayed because of a strike by the guards, the museum is now open as usual after two years of renovation of the famous upper floor. Very curious to see this written and talked about renovated fifth floor with its boldly painted walls, we rushed up and WAOU (as they say with a French accent):

A new experience to see this famous collection of Impressionist paintings and we could not get enough of wandering around. Many well known master pieces want to be rediscovered.

The important role of a good guide becomes evident when you observe these visitors hit by a severe case of museum fatigue.


Renoir, Manet, Monet, who cares when you see this soft round settee.