Harbinger of fall.

"The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light,
And to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a light dawned." (Matthew)

Hubby took this picture from the bedroom window this morning. It is one thing I've always loved about my Russian ... he loves the coming and going of the sun as much as I do. Now as I type, the sun shines bright on the green fields; the orange sunrise lasts but a fleeting moment as the sun sails fast across the sky!

I hope your Sunday is lovely.

Last night was pizza night! Do you know what that means in my ex-pat world? It means we eat in the living room (!). The first night we did this was a few years ago. Hubby was out at an office dinner and I thought, as the rain pounded on the skylight and I was left home with my four little sweethearts, "I wish we had Pizza Hut". I know... Pizza Hut is nothing more than an Italian Mc Donalds... but absence makes the heart grow fonder and Pizza Hut loomed.



It occurred to me that there is one restaurant in this town that makes take-out pizza. It's true that we need five to feed us and that the bill comes to sixty dollars (it isn't really Pizza Hut after all), but I decided to take the plunge. We ordered and then picked them up (no delivery to crown the event truly American, but we deal).

I cannot fully describe the feeling of running out in the rain with all those pizzas piled high. Liberating is the word that comes to mind. We stretched out a tablecloth in the living room and sat on the floor, unheard of in these parts. We poured Coke, and turned on War Games. Remember that? It's still a family favorite!

And then I sit contentedly, observing my little half-European-offspring-turned-American, on a rainy night and enjoy the moment. Ah.

Heaven.

This doorframe is so much like people. Once you chip away at the exterior facade the interior is so much different than you might have initially thought. Personally, I like the right side of this picture so much better; in the people I love the best, this is all I want to see.

Die Blätter fallen, fallen wie von weit,
als welkten in den Himmeln ferne Gärten;
sie fallen mit verneinender Gebärde.

Und in den Nächten fällt die schwere Erde
aus allen Sternen in die Einsamkeit.

Wir alle fallen. Diese Hand da fällt.
Und sieh dir andre an: es ist in allen.

Und doch ist Einer, welcher dieses Fallen
unendlich sanft in seinen Händen hält.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke




The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,
as if orchards were dying high in space.
Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no."

And tonight the heavy earth is falling
away from all the other stars in the loneliness

We're all falling. This hand here is falling.
And look at the other one. . . . It's in them all.

And yet there is Someone, whose hands
infinitely calm, hold up all this falling.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Robert Bly)

When I first moved here, American foods were virtually non-existent. With time, one by one, my grocery store began to carry a few life support items, to the annoyance of the general population but to the elation of one bi-cultural shopper.

The first life raft? Cheddar cheese! I'll never forget the day the lady in the milk section pulled me aside... "I got this in just for you... but people are in a stir over it! They say we have enough good cheese in Switzerland without importing gross cheese like this. But I'm going to keep it in stock for you!"

We ate so much of it my kids don't like it anymore. But not to fear, the next item was even better... oreos. Oh! Just saying the word evokes a deep feeling of reverence. The Russian often comes home with four or five boxes for me (they're as expensive as gold!), and we eat them dunked in milk (the kids would tell you that I do most of the eating. hmmm).

And then there was the day that rice crispies appeared on the shelves. But alas...no marshmallows. My friends, I have waited for seventeen years to see marshmallows in the stores. I have brought them back smashed in my suitcase from the US, I have ordered them online for ten dollars a bag, I have begged family and friends to ship them to me, but this summer... oh this summer! I walked into my grocery store only to behold a gigantic pile of marshmallows on display. I nearly cried. Really!



And today... we are having rice crispie treats just like they used to make 'em for potluck dinners and birthday parties; they'd always be placed alongside the jell-o moulds and marshmallow salad (who ever named that a salad, anyway?).



If any of my European friends want the recipe for this, do let me know! You can get everything you need at Migros. yay!

For my birthday this year I received an envelope in the mail with books and seeds... books and seeds! I thought to myself, "They will die, Allison, because you can't keep anything alive!"

Well I planted them one afternoon and moved them up to my balcony where I could keep a close eye on them. I've been watering and talking to them for nearly three months. Ignorantly, I used the whole packet of lobelia for this one plant, so it is a full and thriving specimen (!), but what thrills me most is that they actually survived. And better yet, they have blossomed!



The wisdom of a distant friend blooms in my own intimate world, and I can't help but think that there never was a better gift...