A.M. Offenwanger's Blog, page 16
June 30, 2020
Straw Berries
I was probably in my teens, visiting relatives in the Lake Contance region, the fruit basket of Germany, close to the Swiss border. We were going for a walk, and came by a large strawberry field. All along the ground beneath the plants was spread a thick layer of straw.
And all of a sudden the penny dropped: strawberries!
I was already familiar with the English word, which I had learned in school. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, “[t]here is no corresponding compound in other German...
June 25, 2020
Yesterday’s #WordlessWednesday: St. John’s Berry
Red Currants: Johannisbeeren, St. John’s Berries. Because they’re ripe right around St. John’s Day, June 24. Happy Saint Jean Baptiste!
June 22, 2020
There Is Not Just One Way
Last week, I was watching the online graduation ceremony of one of the Offspring. The university did a lovely job, complete with cheesy “photo op” with the university president (he paused for a minute, smiling at the camera, with an empty space beside him so the graduates could stand in front of the screen and take a selfie).
One of the things that stuck with me was the speech of one of the valedictorians. He talked about how weird it was to address his talk to a camera rather than an auditorium...
June 18, 2020
#ThrowbackThursday on EC: “Beast”
Just had a nice surprise: Kate at Enchanted Conversation reposted my fairy tale flash fiction piece “Beast” for Throwback Thursday, with a very kind & encouraging preamble. You’ll probably remember the story from last March, but in case you don’t, go over here to read it (again).
Life, the Universe, and Throwback Thursday! Go check it out.
Throwback Thursday on EC: “Beast”
Just had a nice surprise: Kate at Enchanted Conversation reposted my fairy tale flash fiction piece “Beast” for Throwback Thursday, with a very kind & encouraging preamble. You’ll probably remember the story from last March, but in case you don’t, go over here to read it (again).
Life, the Universe, and Throwback Thursday! Go check it out.
June 17, 2020
June 11, 2020
#ThrowbackThursday: The Power of Music
I was looking at my old blog, amo1967.blogspot.com, and this post from Sept. 12, 2014, caught my interest. I clicked on the embedded Youtube video, and once again, the music lifted my spirits. It struck me how little has changed – replace “our province” in the first paragraph with “our world”, and this could have been written today. So I thought I’d share it with you.
I was feeling kind of down this morning, for a number of reasons. It’s morning, it got cloudy, the political situation in our pro...
A Repost: The Power of Music
I was looking at my old blog, amo1967.blogspot.com, and this post from Sept. 12, 2014, caught my interest. I clicked on the embedded Youtube video, and once again, the music lifted my spirits. It struck me how little has changed – replace “our province” in the first paragraph with “our world”, and this could have been written today. So I thought I’d share it with you.
I was feeling kind of down this morning, for a number of reasons. It’s morning, it got cloudy, the political situation in our pro...
June 10, 2020
June 8, 2020
It’s Been a While
It’s been a while, hasn’t it. More than three months, to be precise. Steve and My Man and I went to Europe at the end of February for another family-event-with-stopover-in-London-on-the-way. While we were there, Covid-19 started ramping up, which did spoil the fun a bit, so when we came home in early March, we hunkered down with the family and pretty much stayed put.
I’ve been spending a lot of time ever since making things. Getting my hands into clay and garden dirt and bread dough (not all ...
