A Country Morning

The sun was shining this morning, so I walked to the mailbox and took photos along the way.  No matter how many thunderstorms or rainy days we seem to be having, I always notice:  every day we get a little bit of sun.  We could go whole weeks in Berlin without a moment of sunshine.  Some mornings I wanted to scratch and scratch at the clouds until I could see the sun.

I’ve heard people here complaining about all of the rain and lack of sun the last few days.  Really?  I just smile at them, trying to remember if I put moisturizer + sunscreen on this morning.

It’s weird to find myself settling so comfortably into life in the Rocky Mountains again.  I don’t feel like I have been knocked down with overwhelming culture shock like I was the first time Martin and I came back to the US.  Rather, my thoughts seem more like, “Oh yeah… I remember that.”  Or “Why is it again that everybody does that here?”

One thing I would change about where we are is cell phones.  People should not be driving with them.  Because every time someone is swerving all around the interstate and highway or driving really weird, they are on the phone.  Pilots will tell you that flying somewhere is always safer than driving.  Why?  A huge reason is because of other people.  You have the sky to yourself.

Of course, I also don’t have a cell phone.

I managed to jump into the driver’s seat of the car without troubles after months and months of not driving.  A couple miles of gravel roads certainly warmed me up before I pulled onto the highway to head to the grocery store.

I forgot to buy vanilla.  I was standing right next to it while watching a group of 10-12 year-old Scouts prepare for their camping trip.  They were going down the list, sending one boy for a bag of marshmallows, two boys for three potatoes, another boy for aluminum foil.  It was all very exciting.  I wanted to follow the marshmallow boy.

S’mores are such an American thing.  marshmallows+chocolate+graham crackers+campfire = perfect summer!

I had to teach some German friends how to make s’mores last summer.  I was at a loss for words.  It’s one of those things you just assume everyone knows – like it’s in your blood.  But as far as I know now, it is North American blood that runs thick with ooey-gooey campfire-ness.  I never knew that until we started jumping over the pond and actually living in two different worlds.

I seem to be learning this a lot.

One Scout got distracted from his mission.  He was the carrots boy.  An elderly man was trying to find sunflower seeds.  So off that little boy went to help the man.  I thought, “YES!  That is exactly why I love this country!  Go little Scout, go!”

Now before you say, “Yo, Katie!  People help each other in Germany,” hold on a second.  I know that.  But I do not always catch it.  I love the US because I can catch all those good things.  I understand every word.  The gestures people have here are the same that I have – same smile, arm movement, little nods.  I love being back home because I understand those things.

And I don’t always understand that in Germany.  For instance, my friendly “hallos!” were NOT SO FRIENDLY in the perspective of the elderly woman in my building because I should have been saying, “Guten Tag.”  Oopsie.

Then again, there is no challenge in daily life in the US for people like me who grew up here.  I can go to the post office and say, “One stamp please!”  In Germany, I have to look up the word for stamp before I leave the house.  Then I have to repeat it to myself over and over so I don’t forget.

It’s the little things.  The more I notice them, the more I realize how beautiful life is.  You really just have to appreciate the bits where you are.  And I find that no matter where I am, there are always so many beautiful bits.

So in a couple of weeks when I drive back to “the big city”, I will need to get vanilla.  In the meantime, I’m exploring almond extract and stamping everything in the house with the new Gadanke stamp that was waiting for me in the mailbox this morning.

What about in your world?  What are a few of the moments of beauty you are discovering?