4 Years After Thailand

If Facebook memories and my blog posts from 2019 are to be believed, 4 years ago today I returned from my semester abroad in Thailand.

It feels so much more recent than that. And also so much longer ago.

Reading my post from 4 years ago, I can’t tell if I realized exactly how much I wanted to come home. It had been a…long 5 months. Long in ways that I’ve spent years processing. The isolation, the exhaustion, the constant uncertainty took a toll. I lived in a state of perpetual stress and uncertainty. And there is my post from that last day in the country, blathering on about Mary Poppins.

But I don’t think I could process much further than that. I could only cling to the hope that the next year would be better.

And the next year brought 2020.

Thank goodness for counseling.

“Slice of Life”

One of my co-workers recently referred to Fernweh’s Call as my “slice of life blog” and I have decided that sounds way better than “my random place for dumping book updates, funny stories, and movie reviews.”

So, thank you all, for subscribing to my slice of life blog.

“In Flanders Fields”

A reminder of how this tradition came about.

Fernweh's Call

Apparently red poppies became the symbol for Memorial Day because of this 1915 poem. I share today with many thanks to the men and women who have served and sacrificed their lives in protection of our country.

BYJOHN MCCRAE

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

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Bush Trimming

How I expected my housemates to respond to me with a chainsaw:

“Oh no! Amy has a chainsaw! Hopefully our bushes will grow back by the time we have to resign our lease!”

How They Actually Responded:

“Nice! Next time we should really trim the top of the bushes.”

Me: “I did though…”

Midwest Lakes

I made the most hilarious discovery on my most recent trip to Minnesota: technically speaking, Wisconsin has more lakes.

Also this meme:

Edit: It is funny because it is not helpful.

A First Cousin Once Removed

Me: “Trip was good. Glad to be back. I met my first cousin once removed.”

DJ: “Who?”

Me: “My first cousin once removed. My cousin’s son.”

DJ: “Is there some reason he is special…?”

Me: “…he’s a fat, adorable baby?”

DJ: “Oh. Well. I guess that makes it fine.”

You bet it does. Take that, family-who-reads-this-blog. Next to immediate family, I got to be the first one on my side of the family to meet Marcella’s baby ❤ If you want a picture, text me and I will send you one.

Sourdough Bread

Though I often use the names interchangeably, the upside of being wheat free (instead of gluten free) is that there are certain breads I can eat. Rye bread, for example, or sourdough don’t give me a stomach ache.

Happy, happy day I just learned one of my co-worker’s wives makes homemade sourdough bread and will sell it. I ordered sourdough pizza crust and a loaf of sandwich bread just to give it a try. I’m never going back; I’ve officially got a supplier for all my carb needs. I’m in heaven.

~ Sun ~

After successfully avoiding sunburn in the Bahamas, I am forced to report that I am leaving Minnesota with a sunburn.

Which just goes to show. You can never be too vigilant when your coloring is charitably called porcelain.

Book Update

Well, despite posting nearly a week ago about all the books I hoped to finish, I have not managed to read anything this trip.

I have managed to acquire 15 new books.

So you know, I have that going for me.

The Search for Bean Plants

10,000 steps, 5 garden centers, and many hours later…Sara and I have learned that the type of bean plants she wants usually don’t come as starts. They only come as seeds.

This was a very exhausting lesson.

Sara now wants to plant the other starts she purchased. Meanwhile, I have decided I am too lazy to be a gardener.