Going Back

I never considered Germany to be home in any way, shape or form. Ever. Unless you count the time before I knew we would move to the US for the first time. We’d gone before, but it always seemed like a vacation. Just another destination among the countless other destination we had been to. In…

The People Watcher Revisits Some Principles on Mourning

It is that time leading up to All Saints and All Souls, which brings with it the customary cemetery visit to honor those passed before us. And like most people with enough freedom to do so (and with a desire to avoid crowds), we decide to go a few days in advance. Because while it…

Summertime Sadness

Much as I liked the summer, I always preferred spring. Spring is my birthday and as a kid that meant strawberries as well as warm nights and flowers blooming. Plus the arrival of summer, which either meant going somewhere nice to swim by the sea or moving back to the US. I’d usually find out…

The Po’Boy Chef Attempts a Burger

Well, not entirely, but the branding – quite literally – is on point. I’m not even sure how to begin this. When I first moved to Helsinki there was a particular place I really liked and would go to a lot. I became a fixture there. It was a great place to hang out with…

The People Watcher Observes Another Couple

Poczatek means beginning, and we ended up there because our original choice of cafe was so full, we backed out quicker than we came in. Definitely noted for another day and time, because it looks like a bomb place in a bomb location. For those who don’t know, when I say that I love the…

Splashing in the Water, Singing in the Rain

Well maybe not quite exactly, but water has always exerted a not so secret fascination over me, ever since I was little. Be it moving in the rain or just watching the waves go by. Lakes will do in a pinch, but I prefer bodies of water where there is more movement, so while landlocked…

The People Challenge

For no reason at all this last week was one big perma-rush. Comedy night on Saturday, last night at home before shifting places again on Sunday (love that expression as it embodies a full mindset), night at the airport on Monday, then playing catch up over the next few days, with church services I agreed…

A City in Pictures – Helsinki

When I retired my previous blog just before the pandemic, I did it because I needed a break. From the subject matter as much as myself. It became very political and that wasn’t what I wanted for it. Because it had been intended as a personal account of my life in the places I was…

Snow

I’ve never been a fan of the snow. When I was a kid I tolerated it in that I enjoyed it – more so if it happened to come down just before Christmas and then had the good grace to disappear by the end of January, or at the very latest, the very first week…