Five Cent Elegy

His absence tints the glasses we must wear,

How can a world exist without him there?

Who will charm with a twinkle of the eye,

Cause chuckles with a quiet sly reply,

Who will daily take our names to the throne,

And rumble through the hymns all quite well known?

The farmer who spent forty years in school,

with dedication and patience his rule,

The grandpa who would fly us in the air,

whose steadiness we trust without a care,

The loving man who daily dried each plate,

and catered to the whims of his dear mate,

Is in the presence of his Lord and King,

Bowing his knees, raising his voice to sing.

Death may have darkened the hue of our days,

but God is good, wonderful are his ways.

For those who are His, promises are true,

A home, a life, a righteousness anew.

Oops

Since we're living towards the outside of the city for a while, there are a few options for getting home.  The other night after a delightful evening of friends and ballet, Whitney and I decided to try taking the schnellbahn to our borrowed apartment.  All went according to plan as we boarded the train and disembarked at the appropriate station.  For the last leg of the journey we decided to walk the short distance to our end stop instead of wait twelve minutes under a sketchy underpass for the strassenbahn.  We confidently set off, chatting about school, chapel and whatever else occupies an evening conversation.  After walking for a good ten to fifteen minutes we happen upon a strassenbahn station.  Slightly confused we checked the schedule and found that we had blithely traipsed in the opposite direction of our destination.  In our oblivion we had even passed two or three stops without noticing!  So we crossed the tracks to the other side and laughed our way home as we passed the exact shops and restaurants we had just walked by.  In the time it actually took us to get home, we could have checked email, readied for bed and been sound asleep.  C'est la vie.  We'll know better next time.

The bad thing...

...about doing morning devotions on one's bed is that one just wants to melt back into the bed and resume sleeping.  

Packing Again

I find myself again trying to look into the future and judge what I will need for the next three weeks. Whitney and I have offered the use of our apartment to friends who need a place to stay as they're transitioning to a new place. Never fear, we have found refuge at another friend's beautiful apartment.

An Afternoon Snack

What may look to you like a cup full of ranch dressing is in actuality the best yogurt in the world. While I do prefer strawberry, this vanilla beats anything you'll find in the States.

Back In Vienna

It's good be home...especially when greeted by one's roommate at the airport and flowers in one's room.

My Moisi

He wants to come with me!

H & M

A great place to buy clothing basics on both sides of the pond.

Making Pictures

My very amateur darkroom

Birthday at the Beach

My dad got a little carried away with our shelter

The second best part of the beach

The best part of the beach. If you look carefully, maybe you can see the moon reflecting off the waves.

Unique

Birthdays always make me feel special. You get presents and people are super nice to you. I always kind of felt like my birthday was something of my very own, that I didn't have to share...until I took Disney up on their free ticket offer on one's birthday and saw twenty other people with my same birth day. Now instead of feeling like one in a million, I feel like one of a million...a great way to end the day.