Change of Plans

** Create a plan, then make a dent. **

I didn’t remember the feel of autumn in America.  It’s been years since I’ve been here for Halloween or tasted candy corn.  Autumn frost, carving pumpkins, fake bats and ghosts dangling from trees – all of these things that have been a huge part of my American life have been absent for several years.  They’re not a part of our German world at all.

But they’ll be a part of this autumn.

Our neighbor here in the US needs help.  We feel this great need in our hearts to change our plans of returning to Germany this month like we had planned.  We need to help.  That’s the beauty of Martin being a student (he’ll be doing online classes) while I build my shop.  We’re flexible.  We’re lucky.

Our Berlin apartment is being taken care of.  (It is soooo weird to video chat with family and see them sitting in our apartment!  Martin says I am always trying to peek over the other person’s virtual shoulder to see how the kitchen is being taken care of.  I think he’s right!  And just so you know – you can’t do that when the internet is 2-dimensional.)

I know we are very, very lucky to have this flexibility.  There’s nothing I’d rather do than help this friend – this HERO of ours – in my home state.

So I’ll be sure to keep you posted on travel plans.  In the meantime – guess what I bought for the first time in years and years?

A quick question:  if you were spending autumn where you are now, after being away for years and years, how would you celebrate the season?  What would you do to embrace where you are?

(Second image compliments of Flickr)