Fasching!!

What in the WORLD is going on around here? Everybody has confetti in their hair, the kids are dressed up as if for a halloween party and it sounds like a drum-corps competition is going on in every small town...

Welcome to Fasching.

From the beginning of January through Ash Wednesday (and a little beyond) the local towns and villages in Southern Germany, in fact, in most of Germany, celebrate the end of Winter with a combination party/carnival/masquerade. It is similar to the Mardi Gras or Carnival of New Orleans and Central and South America, but with a few regional differences thrown in. The music is LOUD. Brass bands, with a solid drum line, are the main form or noise. They are called "Guggemusick" groups, 'gugge' being the word for the sound of a paper (or plastic) bag being popped open and shut (a loud annoying noise) so the bands are basically just groups designed to make a lot of noise. Now, don't get me wrong, these groups are actually pretty good. They would put many a 'pro' drum line to shame back in the states, and the costumes are way over the top. I really wish I could have caught some audio, so you could experience what we did, but let's just say "you had to be there".

On the down-side of Fasching, it may have had some significance at one time, but I have not found out much except that it has it's roots in Roman Catholicism, with a lot of local traditions thrown in (ok, yes, it's syncretic...). The pagan festivals of 'chasing away the Winter' and old fertility rites were merged into the the time between Epiphany and Easter, and so you have Fasching. In some towns, the festivities get a bit out of control (with so many people wearing masks, it can become a matter of "anything goes") but in our little corner of Germany, the season seems to be more of a "let's get together and have a party" event. The food, I must say, is excellent. I am sure that the locals make a good bit of extra change during this time, with the extra people in town and the additional revenue from the food and drink. One interesting note: stupid drunk guys are stupid drunk guys no matter where you are. There are always people who take the idea of "party" too far and get themselves into a pickle (literally), and I am not sure that they were up for work the next day...

On the other side of the coin, the majority of people seemed to be having fun playing or listening to the music, dressing up in outrageous costumes, doing traditional dances and generally just having a wonderful time. Each town has one or two clubs or 'cliques' that the adults may join. Our own village, Rümmingen, has it's little cliques called the Dorfhexen (literally, the "village witches"...and no, they are not into Wicca, or majick, or any of that other junk...think more along the lines of "Hansel and Gretel" meets Morris Dancing, ok? They are the group in the red kerchiefs, yellow tops, and green dresses in the pics below). I'll just have to let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

God's little weather test area

Oh look, it's raining, no, wait, it's snowing...no...rain...no, sleeting. Wait five more minutes, it will change.
I am amazed at the weather here. We literally had one day last week when we had snow, rain, bright sunshine, sleet and a little hail all within the space of less than an hour. It's like our Creator was trying out some new combinations just to see how we would react. From our vantage point, up on the side of the hill in Rümmingen, we can see the weather coming up the valley from France and Switzerland. It may be pouring rain, but you can see the sun coming right behind it. Yesterday, I took a walk with my son...he needed to get out (kind of like a puppy needs to be taken out for a run around the park, ya know?) and I wanted some fresh air. Well, the air was certainly fresh when we started out...blue skys with some clouds flying through...but once we reached the bottom of the hill and were heading up the sidewalk it had started to rain. Not just a little 'drip-drop' here or there, but driving, in-your-face, I'm-going-to-soak-you rain. Granted, we were prepared for the weather, I had on my foul-weather pants (thank you, Pop!) and my two-layer coat, PV V2.0 was in his snow-bibs (for outside messing about) and his hooded parka. We stayed dry, except for our faces. But through the rain, I could look up the road to Binzen and see sun shining and bluer skies following. A few more minutes of trudging (yes, trudging, you know: "To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on"*...ok, so we have a lot more going for us than Chaucer, but the quote is great!) anyhoo, more trudging and, behold, the rain stops, it actually warms up, we can unzip our parkas and are feeling quite warm by the time we return up the hill to Casa Vosteen. Through the whole trek, my son did not complain, did not whine, did not fuss about "I'm getting wet, can I go home?"
I am seeing that our walk with the Father is pretty much the same. We start out our journey in pretty good weather, then the rains come, the storms rage, and we may be tempted to turn back. But if we "soldier on", keeping our eyes on Him we will come through that valley and see the sun shining ahead. The great thing about this is, Jesus does not change like the weather. He never altered His path, once He started down it....and when I think about what my life would have been like if He had said "gee, this is just too hard, I think I'll change my path"...well, let's just say that I'm pretty darn happy to be where I am and doing what I am doing and when it gets difficult, I'll keep on keeping on...
oh, look, it's a beeeeeeeutiful day (now).

*Geoffrey Chaucer, from "A Knight's Tale" 2001 Colubia Pictures

A few pics

So now we know where Herbie spends his Winters... in Liel!!



You know what they say...making a fire warms you twice...


It's been sunny some afternoons...here's one of our rays of sunshine after her first day of Gymnasium