Bonfeld

This is the schoolhouse in Bonfeld. It's a very quiet little village that has a lot of farmers. Tasha and Leo love the fields behind our home. The mice in the fields DON'T love Tasha and Leo.
For me, going from Chicago to Bonfeld was probably a bigger shock than going from the US to Germany. Bonfeld: population 1632. Did I mention it is very quiet here?

Living in a rural town in Germany is different from in the US. A typical drive in the country in this region means: a few kilometers of beautiful forest, and then on through a village and back to the country road for another couple of minutes and on through the next village. You rarely find yourself in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes this is great, sometimes not so much. Germany has 82,000,000 people living in a land the size of Montana. Dense population means little space. For this reason, most things - from cars to houses and yards, to laws - are created with compact size and efficiency in mind.

Family Photo

Here is a shot of Victoria, Tasha and Leo, Simone, and myself. We had just finished a walk in the woods and were back at the car. There was an older man nearby going crazy on some lumber. He was chopping away and chatting to himself a bit. He was moving chopped logs from one seemingly meaningless spot to a new one. We asked him, interrupting him I might add (but he was only put off for a minute) if he wouldn't mind taking a picture for us. He said he'd be happy to. He was nice. He informed us he had been a photographer for forty years.

Notice how the shot is off-center, out of focus and a bit far away. We also had to help him with the camera button to snap the shot. Stinking technology.

Wild Boars

This past Sunday I was hiking with Tasha and Leo in the forest. We regularly spot deer, birds of prey, and an occasional fox or two. But on this fine afternoon, just before sunset, we came across a wild boar. It was no longer alive mind you, but a wild boar nonetheless. It appears a local hunter had done the deed.
It was pretty big.
Speaking of - it's time to take Tasha and Leo on another hike. Perhaps we'll spot something new this evening. I do hope it's still alive though.

American Football

I checked out the local American football team last month and went to tryouts. I was put into the starting Quarterback role. Damn skippy!
I am the only American on the team. I am also the oldest player - older than the coach. It only took the first hard hit to understand why.
Just look at this picture. If I were you I'd be scared of me. I might be a pirate, I might have eaten a scotch bonnet pepper. It might be both. You decide.

Baby of a Blog

Testing one two three...
OK, seems the PA is working fine.
Here you will find, dear family and friends and others simply perusing (stop it, that hurts), one way of keeping in touch with me, Simone, Victoria, Tasha and Leo. I will do my best to post often on the mighty adventures of Familie Blankenberger as we make our way through life in Europe.