A wisdom glimpse

Found this off of Andrew Zuckerman's website:

www.wisdombook.org/

Very thought provoking; I hope my life can become and reflect the fullness of wisdom and action as these folks.

Diggin' Day, May 19, '09

While we can do may things in Germany that we can do in the States...what is the one Absolute activity that we CANNOT do?

If you answered DIG for ROMAN RUINS, than you are correct!

On May 19th, Stryker-Ann's class took a trip to Augusta Raurica, a large Roman settlement and city dating from 50 year Before Christ, and just over the Rhine from Germany into Switzerland. Here is the website, most in English if you click on subjects: www.augustaraurica.ch/e/menu/index.php

The kids did actual real digging. It was not for play and just for educational purposes. The man running the program said that although school groups and families dig slow the findings are real. A professional group would have dug in three days the same amount that the school groups dig in two weeks. All finds become property of the Swiss government.

SAM found a nail!

How cool to find a 2,000 year old nail!

"So is this a rock or something else, like a piece of pottery?", Paul and Frau Schwartz ask the head archeologist at the site.

More finds....

And then learning how to map a site....

Next the class learns how to classify items from a dig and just how difficult it is to but together all of the pieces of a find.

Back to the dig site and the sun!

A boy in the class found something of import...a button or a toggle from a piece of clothing. This piece might make it to the museum. It was tagged with his name as the finder!

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Hottest day of the Year, so Far

So what does one do the first hot day of the summer and it being the first real day of spring vacation? Beat the 91 degree heat by hopping in the pool.

We went to visit a new pool for us, in Steinen and found it smaller in a good way. We had heard that the pool we normally visit in Lörrach had a line out the gate to get in, so we made the right decision.

I really like the idea of the grass and trees around the pool. AND they do not have a problem with grass in the pool. You must step through a large foot bath (it is between the shrubbery wall)

The pool is surrounded by shrubbery to seperated the grass area from the pol and to act as a fence.

This pool has been divided into a non-swimmer half and a deeper lane swimming part. You can see the red wall that people are sitting on or children are jumping off of. This is the first time I ave seen this and it seems like a great idea.

Our bathing beauties!

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Schluchseelauf May 9, 2009

The location of our 18K occurred about an hour north of us in the Black Forest. Good thing the surrounds are beautiful and flat and that I had a great walking buddy or it would have been an extremely long afternoon around the Schluchsee. However, I knew it was going to turn out to be a good day as we left Rümmingen with plenty of time. Time enough that we stopped at a Floemarkt for about thirty minutes; which was long enough for me to pick up a small wooden hand crank coffee grinder with Schwarzwald written on it plus the fifty or so years' worth of grease to add to its "antique" value. I also picked up a cold-war era gas mask for 5 euro's...don't ask, it was for Paul. And he was thrilled!

Group warm-ups 15 minutes before start time at 2 pm

Another walking buddy of our group, red shirt and back pack.

And we are off!

A look across the lake to where we will be in about an hour.

My walking buddy Susi. We made it to the end of the See. Now we need to turn the corner and head up the far side.

Walking the end of the See.

The American flag caught my eye from across the lake! and upon looking closer I saw drums, so I thought there must be fifes there as well. And sure enough after we turned the corner to walk up the far side of the See we heard the fifes and drums playing. I even knew the tunes and it help me walk alittle faster, as they were playing a quicker march tempo.

We made it to the other end of the Schluchsee, now for a break of bananas and Iso drink.

This is at the other end of the See...

and the view behind me...breathing taking. We have 10K more to walk.

At Aha, we are almost there..about 5K left..we are getting leg tired.

The last break at Aha, before the final push....

we could have taken a sail boat around the See, but we walked....

...and finished in THREE hours! Yahoo for us!

I must add that during the last 5K my thoughts were on a verse..."I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!" and I kept walking...So thanks Jesus!

Magnitude 4.5 - FRANCE-GERMANY BORDER REGION

The shake happened at 3.39 this morning. Paul and I both woke up but were really nonplussed by the whole event. I guess if it had lasted longer we would have gotten the children up and taken the appropriate action. But as it was, it reminded us of the furnace in our old house on Micheals Road. So we rolled over.

I have friends who did not take it so relaxed, it really bothered then.

check out this link and get all of the map facts, shake facts and where facts from the US gov, no less:
earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/events/us/2009ggaf/us/index.html

wellkommen...the first week of first our exchange student

WE are so happy to have had our first exchange student this past week. It has been a great experience and we are looking forward to welcoming her back to our house for part two of her exchange. Our guest is from France and is actually in the neighborhood, considering it is a mere twenty minutes from our home to her home, a hop across the Rhine.

So what does an exchange student do with us? Firstly she attends school with Vaden to practice her German, which is the real reason why she is here (LOL, since in our home she gets English) then:

A quick tour of a village while waiting for us to finish a dentist visit. Dentist offices can be of cultural interest too ya know.

Help fix younger sister's hair.

Attend the May Pole day in the village.

Take a swing on the zipline.

Spend time in the tree house playing Uno and winning several times!

Take a ride on an 1904 steam engine up the Kandertal Valley.

Get a group picture taken in front of a train car named after our favorite cheese!

Enjoy the pretty scenery and take photos.

While at the end of the line in Kandern, enjoy some old time jazz...

Then stop for ICE CREAM!

A fantastic time was had by all the MayDay week with our student and we are waiting for her return and wishing her good luck and blessings on her end year exams this week!