Olla Podrida

Race Recap: Shazam!

2011-10-03T21:34:00.000+01:00

Oh, Friends,

What a beautiful day for the Twin Cities 10-miler! I had two goals for this race:

1. don't stop belivin'
2. don't bonk (kinda my forte)

I've never felt so ready for a race in my life (which really, isn't much since I've only really been running for the past 3, 4 years): for the past two weeks I've been mentally ready, giddy with anticipation, having visions of fall colors, overly optimistic conquering the hills, and willing to pass out high-fives to anyone who asked.

I've been physically ready, too: training with the running group, bounding up hills, logging in miles as though I were--training--, and neither the cold nor flu were pestering me the last few weeks of training. And sweet Jesus, that hill work payed off.

With no pacers and a underwhelming representation of mile markers, I was on my own to gauge my pace. I was shocked when miler marker 2 came and I was at 20:00, for I usually run 11:00 miles, absolutely no faster, no slower. And thus, the shock quickly turned into a premature, yet well-deserved, runner's high that kept me going through the rest of the race.

I saw some well-needed friends at perfectly coordinated cheering spots and imbibed in some BerryBlast! Powerade at just the right time to reverse--yes, reverse--the beginnings of a bonk and prevent it from going any deeper. (Funny thing about bonks is that you realize only after you're out of one that you were in one. Lame.) And so, I cruised to the finish line in 1:40--a personal best, maintaining a 10:03 mile. Sweet marmalade!

Highlights include:

the verdant first 4 miles on the Mississippi River road
a child in a bear suit on the sidelines not quite sure whether to cheer or be a bear
being continuously amazed that I was running a 10:00 pace
Hearing my friends yell, "way to go, Heidi!"
Almost crying out of joy (I managed to hold it in) when hearing the perfectly apropos "Let's Get Ready to Rubmle!" on some loud speakers right on the edge of Summit Ave and the State Capitol
The fake out at the end and still sprinting to the finish (turns out an American flag held up by the ladders of two fire trucks over the race course isn't the actual finish. That finish line is still about 250 yards away) and thus sprinting for a good quarter mile and managing to shave off 20 seconds!
Kid-size containers of chocolate milk at the end of the race

I, for one, am looking forward to the 13.1 miles at the end of the month to ice the running cake of 2011!

Think about it

2011-09-16T13:32:00.000+01:00

"A writer -- and, I believe, generally all persons -- must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art."

---Jorge Luis Borges, writer (1899-1986)

Mornings

2011-09-04T13:49:00.000+01:00

Oh, how I love the early hours of the morning. Especially today, as most of the world is yet to get up and out, the breeze is cool, and the State Fair is yet to attract swaths of people. I love mornings like this because they come with anticipation of what is to come--the day is full of opportunity and I have a mug of coffee in my hand. The peacefulness, contentedness, and anticipation of mornings at home are like cream to my coffee, making life rich and sweet.

I can do anything I want to day--anything!--but for now, I am so content sitting in my sun room, windows open, listening to the waking world outside.

musing

2011-08-28T15:36:00.000+01:00

I got to catch up with a good friend yesterday, sharing stories and such. I became convinced that if you want any relationship to be successful, one only needs 3 things: anecdotes, quotes, and advice. Maybe add a good bike ride together in there every once in a while, but that's it.

Think about it.

finally, more bits and bobs!

2011-08-23T00:05:00.001+01:00

Yes, America, I finally have enough to say to start blogging again, soon. To welcome the new post enjoy a definition of my blog's new name:

Olla Podrida noun -- an incongruous jumble.

Example: "Vanessa's fashion sense is an olla podrida of patterns, colors, and decades that sassy and classy!"

In other news: I love words. I collect them as some would, say, stamps, boyfriends, or books. There's something about tossing in words such as barmecidal, bon ton, fulsome, and, logorrhea, into my vocabulary that makes me happy, much like a mathematics buff would get a kick out of counting cards at a blackjack table or a perpetual thief stealing beer from the liquor store. Yeah, just like that.

I realized, too, that I'm a syllabic conservationist, using rich, quirky words to lessen the amount of syllables I need to utter to get my point across. I'm always looking for ways to spend less energy and thus, why say, "toss your cares out the window and have a good time," when you can save your self a solid syllable and two entire words by spicing it up and declaring "defenestrate your cares and have a good time!"

Just don't defenestrate the baby with the bath water and we'll be okay.

And We're Back

2010-02-27T20:22:00.000Z

It's hard for me to keep ideas of traveling out of my mind: stories of travels past and the potential of travels ahead. I'm addicted to getting more stamps in my passport and using exact change in foreign currency.

One of my great friends asked me this winter, over Christmas cookies, to go with her to Europe for a week to celebrate big--she's graduating from medical school for Pete's sake! And it's actually happening; she and I are in the midst of planning our week-long trip to Paris, France and Geneva, Switzerland from March 27th to April 3rd. Which also means I will be welcoming my 30th year on April 1st in Geneva--not a bad place to celebrate, eh?

I'm looking forward to picking up where my brother and I left of in Paris last September and making new shared stories together with my friend! Yahoo! More travel stories to come!

The end of the road

2009-09-30T16:55:00.000+01:00

My brother and I arrived in Berlin last night, the last stop on my European tour. I've realized I'm not the best of travel writers, frequently not keeping up with the days activities. Sorry about that. Nonetheless, a brief recap:

Munich, Germany:

We stayed at my brother's friend's house who insisted on feeding us Bavarian food every day. Sausage for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yikes! Fun to experience, but, whew! However, I now appreciate spatzel and will have to try making it when I get home
I spent the better half of a day perusing the Deutches Museum, a museum of industrial history. Planes, trains, bridges, locks and keys, motors, printing, computers, my gosh--it just didn't stop and we didn't even see it all!
I ate a lot of pretzels and only near the end, did I realize how good they taste with mustard!
Enjoyed a swim at one of the oldest public schwimmbads in Germany

Berlin, Germany:

Enjoyed some phenomenal sushi two buildings down from my hostel.
Walked to Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenberg Gate, Murdered European Jew memorial (very neat--at least the above-ground part!), and a remaining chunk of the Berlin Wall. Check an online photo tour here
Enjoyed a brief, half-understood, but very enjoyable conversation with an old man on the sidewalk who exclaimed "Ich bin ein Berliner!" after I told him I was from America. He told my brother and I that he was a seaman back in the day. It would have been so cool to hear more of his story!
I've had fun having the "green man" guide me across the streets of East Berlin who is quite a local favorite and a tourist favorite as his silhouette is pasted on many a trinket
Playing Frisbee on the lawn in front of the capital building

No photos, as my camera is up in my room, but I shall certainly post many upon my return home this weekend!

Schermerhorn, Nederlands

2009-09-24T17:54:00.001+01:00

Okay, okay, I really should write about Schermerhorn, Netherlands, after all, it is my homeland of sorts. However, I'm enjoying the hills and slight hint of fall in Heidelberg right now and being here is something to write home about, too.

Nonetheless, I'll write about Heidelberg when I can--I still need to let you know how great Amsterdam had been as well! Now with a cup of NesCafe cappuccino in hand, about my homeland.

So, Schermerhorn is a little village of about 1,500 people in Holland, the northwest part of the Netherlands. My brother and I learned that there once was a Lake Schermerhorn that the Dutch drained 300 or so years ago to use as farmland. Now the area is called Schermer (kind of a county name for us back home), and Schermerhorn is one of a few towns in the area. The Dutch used a handful of windmills to drain the lake into dikes and out to sea and if I remember correctly, it took about 3 years for the lake to be completely drained. Judging by the water I saw pumped at the windmill museum--it was one big lake.

Schermerhorn itself is a pretty lazy town, really consisting of only one main road, a church, two cafes, and dozens of canals. Check out the Google map of Schermerhorn to see what I mean. It sounds like it is a pretty wealthy town, judging by the English video we watched at the windmill museum, because the people in the area became wealthy form shipping various wares and food, including herring--ack!

Nonetheless, here's a photo of one of two ways of getting into town by car. (There are numerous ways to get into town by boat.)

I'm not sure what Schermerhorn residence do for work; they were everywhere in the middle of the day on a weekday.

And packed so tightly into this cafe, that my brother and I decided to leave before we got coffee. We think we might have walked in on some sort of town meeting or funeral luncheon of an old community member. Situations like this make it unfortunate that one doesn't speak the local language.

Ah, and canals. Oh, the canals!

How cool--and handy--to have a canal at the back of your backyard? At the very least, the neighbor kids wouldn't cut through your yard on the way to school and tromp on your rosebushes.

By the end of our time in Amsterdam, I was ready for more land, less water, and more elevation changes. The most elevation gained was climbing the 5 flights of stairs to our hostel every night. My brother and I rode across one of the Netherlands giant dikes and dams which just shows that the whole part of Holland (again, just the upper part of the Netherlands; Southern Netherlands is quite hilly, actually) and then some is naturally below sea level. In fact, Amsterdam used to be wetlands. (Yeppers, that's out the car window.)

The first houses were built on wooden stilts. Many of the old houses in downtown Amsterdam are built on top of tree trunks that were shoved vertically into the mud. Very strange, and it produces some pretty crooked houses.(Back in Amsterdam, anyway.)

And here are some windmill photos from our fantastic time at the windmill museum. It was pretty windy that day so the mill was cranking pretty fast.

I had a brief, yet exciting, video of looking out the third-floor window toward the arms of the windmill, but sadly, it won't load onto blogger. Oh, well.

More about Amsterdam and/or Heidelberg next. Have a good one!

Maastricht, Netherlands

2009-09-22T20:42:00.000+01:00

Hello, from another wonderful, cool evening in Amsterdam. Today my brother and I went to our family's homeland, Schermerhorn, and it was great, especially the windmill museum. Why pay amusement park prices when you can have as much fun on the third story of a windmill for only €4? More on that later, but for now enjoy a sneak preview

Here are a few photos from Maastricht. For some reason I didn't take any pictures of work or my coworkers. Oh, well--a reason to go back again...

What's interesting about Maastricht is that it was first built as a Roman outpost. Here's part of the Roman wall built to protect the original city, with a bonus hot air balloon.

Man, there's so many stories to share, but not enough time to write them all down now while traveling--or as I've realized, time to write them eloquently, too. I'm looking forward to sharing them in person with you!

I'll try to post again about Amsterdam and Schermerhorn soon. Have a good one!

Brussels, Belgium

2009-09-20T12:49:00.001+01:00

I'm a few days behind on writing about where I've been so, I'll be writing about Brussels while sitting in the Amsterdam sunshine.

I'd like to start this post out by commenting on chocolate. Belgium will not allow Cadbury chocolate to import into Belgium for their chocolate is really a chocolate treat, laced with a lot of sugar. Cadbury refuses to label their "chocolate" as a candy treat and therefore is not sold in Belgium. Thus, what we have in Belgium is only the most excellent chocolate as depicted below:

Phenomenal. But, one must eat it in moderation. The photo above was taken at a sweet little park in Brussels that featured a great fountain and gardens.

My brother had a friend, An, in Brussels who was kind enough to take us around Brussels, on foot, for the afternoon. What's handy about being a tourist willing to walk or ride bikes is that it's a great excuse to eat a lot of local food! I've probably walked 20 miles so far on this trip, which is at least 10 pounds not gained.

Nonetheless, I just took these photos while wandering around (my brother is the one who has the picture of the Manneken Pis statue on his camera, so read that website for more quirky information)...

I really enjoyed my time in Brussles, espeically walking around (and oh, how far we walked! and let's be honest, it was really a tour of chocolate stores). I would have loved to spend another day there, but my time was cut short as I had to head to Maastricht, Netherlands to meet up with some coworkers (more on that next!). My favorite was waiting in line for some frites and meat at a one-off frites-mobile down some street. Their fries were fantastic, and you get to choose from among 10+ kinds of sauce you want with them (Brazil, Jamician, curry, garlic, spicy ketkup, et al). A fun-- and quite inexpensive--time.

And a quick note on train stations. The Brussels station was small, but lots to eat and the best coffee thus far on my trip at Sam's cafe. It's super easy to catch a train to anywhere at European stations, with either handy e-ticket stations or at ticket windows. Which really makes traveling by train all the more enjoyable than by plane.(Though I don't sleep much since I feel obligated to take in the countryside and other scenes from my seat.)

Up next: Fun times in Maastricht, Netherlands!

Miscellaneous Fun

2009-09-18T17:43:00.001+01:00

Just a few observations and events to share as I get ready to head out for dinner in Maastricht, Netherlands:

It was strange to experience my first McDonald's McCafe. Drank a cafe au lait with my brother right outside the Paris Nord station while Michael Jackson was playing on the loudspeakers certainly confused my senses
My brother and I met a pantomiming drunk Parisian who was apparently willing to fight my brother for me (little did he know I would have paid him to take my brother). We also came across a nice protest inside the train station, including drums, banners, and firecrackers. No word on what they were protesting and the policie certainly didn't care any more than we did. (nonetheless, the drums were fun to dance to)
Had a phenomenal cafe au lait and Belgium waffle at the Brussels train station this morning (though I prefer my waffles hot, it was still great).
Learned that not every Belgium citizen is personal friends with Kim Clijster (shame!)
At perhaps too much chocolate in Brussels. (I never thought that was possible. I stand corrected)
Also learned that Belgium frites are double fried to create their tasty goodness
Had a lovely dinner in Paris with my brother his friend and his friend's mother, of all people. It was a comedy translating what we could of the menu, throwing caution to the wind, and guessing the rest. I highly recommend this food-ordering method.
I got to meet my coworkers in Maastricht who I've worked with for over a year, but just met face-to-face for the first time. (note: thankfully their humor and generosity are much better and more abundant than the office coffee)

Perhaps I'll have time to write a more in-depth reflection on my life and times whilst in Brussels and Maastricht, but now it is time to play tourist and explore this city that was built by the Romans--can you believe that!?

Have a great weekend!

Paris, France

2009-09-16T13:42:00.003+01:00

Bonjour!

I had a great train ride from London to Paris, maxing out at about 200 mph. My brother met me at the Gare de Paris-Nord train station at about 5:30pm and I have to say, it was great to see him again after not seeing each other for over a year.

We took the subway to the Crimée station (which I pronounce "Creamy") and walked a few blocks to our hostel. It's a pretty busy place, with a coffee shop and full bar on premise. We checked into our two-twin-bed room and went out for a little walk our first night down a quaint little canal into a fascinating park...

The lift bridge and pedestrian bridge right outside the hostel. Perhaps we'll dine al fresco by the canal tonight.

And, looking down the other way from the bridge. Oh, hi, Mark!

This park we kept weaving in and out of was pretty cool. Too bad we didn't find any information about it; I have no idea what the name of the park was or its significance.

We went to a sushi bar for dinner last night (we couldn't find a French restaurant) and then headed to the bakery for some of this:

And this, which we didn't actually buy. I just thought they looked like miniature travel pillows:

The great thing about bakeries here is that it seems the lines to buy things are at least 8 people deep at all hours of the day. Delicious!

So far today, we've done the touristy thing:

Alright, a little more serious:

And the full shot:

It was a cloudy day, but I think that kept a lot of tourists at bay, which made me happy. It was only 4,50€ to take the stairs to the second level, so my brother and I set forth

to enjoy the following views:

They had a variety of cafes and food stands on the two floors we visited, but really, who wants to eat while you're trying to convince your mind and inner-ears that everything is okay? Regardless of the Eiffel Tower's ability to keep hunger at bay, it was a great time hanging out up there (especially after the 400+ stairs we climbed).

After the Eiffel Tower, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe, something I've appreciated since being in the bicycle industry as le Tour de France circles around it a few times on the last leg of the race each year. Today, only a gaggle of cars were racing around it.

And here's the photo that pulls all of the days work together in one picture:

So far, Paris has been pretty pleasant. Tonight I'm hoping for some confit de canard (roast duck!), but really, I'm in Paris and will be happy with anything I'm served. Well, hold off on the escargot and caviar. But really, even an eau claire would suffice.

Au Revior for now!

International Bustling

2009-09-15T12:21:00.000+01:00

Man, almighty, free internet at St Pancreas International.

Just a quick post to say how fun it is to sit and soak up the international happenings at St. Pancreas. Train station announcements in English and French, well-dressed business people, shopping, food, and the excitement of comings and goings (and wishing the best of luck to those running to their trains of catching them.)

I had a minor scare that I blew out my bad knee for good, getting my luggage off the Underground, but oh, so thankfully, it's doing fine now. (Thoughts of having to sit out of the fall Ultimate league flashed before me, before I walked it off and realized all was okay--whew!) Maybe though, I can use it to my advantage to get a quick pass to the front of the line as we wait in line for touring castles and museums.Sure, Europe isn't Disneyland, but I'll still see what I can do...

Thanks and goodbye to my friends on the Highfield Oval. 'Twas indeed a great time hanging out, eating sticky toffee pudding, wandering around the high street, chatting, eating M&S, and playing a sorry game of Mario Kart. I'm looking forward to meeting up with you all again one day soon, preferably over a giant vat of sticky toffee pudding!

A Menagerie of Shots

2009-09-14T11:38:00.003+01:00

Hard to believe I leave for Paris tomorrow. This past week has been great, again, just hanging out in Harpenden with friends and hitting up the ol' stomping grounds. Here's a bit of what I've been doing these past few days...

One of many walks down to the high street.

And of course an official Royal Post bicycle which always make me smile when I see them:

And back from the high street, a few groceries purchased (my gosh, I guess this means I have to admit I bought instant coffee!):

Around the bend on the Oval, I got to spend some time in the Oval Cafe with a few friends whilst it was closed and was able to take a couple of exclusive shots:

Later, I handed out some Fun Dip (classic 80s American candy) to some friends on base. These grown adults went crazy for it and I am now in an exclusive distribution deal with them. Nonetheless, they are good actors while on a sugar high.

Late last week I wandered into Luton, where I spent a lot of Wednesday afternoons back in 2008 at St. Mary's church. The building is 850 years old, something you really just do get back in America, do you.

Nothing like headstones of people who have been dead for a really long time (I prefer these to the crypts one typically walks on in the isles of old churches).

Before I took a few photos at the church, I went to the Arndale Mall across the street from the church for some necessary Primark shopping and a tuna and sweetcorn baguette from Gregg's. I took it all outside to eat on the pedestrian mall, which is a premiere place to people watch. People are always hawking their beliefs or selling various utilities and such to people out shopping. So, after being accosted by a yogi about a free book about spirituality and reincarnation (which I regretfully didn't take--it would've been a fascinating read--as I was too hungry to stop and chat), it only made sense that I was approached by some interns from the Luton News. They wanted my opinion on this week's topic of fasting for the month of September for Ramadan. Thankfully, I didn't get last week's question about one's thoughts on the band Oasis breaking up.

Ah, good times. I'm off on the Eurostar to Paris via the chunnel tomorrow. I'm looking forward to having flavour back in the food I eat again.

Oh, England

2009-09-09T16:25:00.000+01:00

As I'm lounging around watching British television, eating Jamaican Ginger Cake and drinking tea, here's a little recap...

I had a pretty uneventful train ride from Liskeard to Harpenden yesterday. "Uneventful" meaning I didn't get thrown up on, for just as I was eying some seats across the isle from me (one can switch seats on the train as much as one switches lanes on the freeway), an old lady came walking briskly down the isle to the toilets with her hands over her mouth and vomit spewing between her fingers onto the floor. I know, gross. BUT, the person who had the window seat I was eying took one look at the "sick" (as many call it) and immediately went elsewhere for a seat which meant I got the window seat on the ocean-side of the train for the rest of the trip to London. Hooray! So, just remember that sometimes, one person's sick is another person's treasure.

After that, it was smooth sailing into Paddington and then to St. Pancreas (my favorite station--very suave, bustling, and beautiful and where the EuroStar departs from). I got off at the Harpenden station and thanks once again to the house with the giant gum-drop-shaped bush, I knew just which way to go to get to the Highfield Oval on Ambrose Lane. I walked up to my friend Dave and Ulani's house, took my shoes off, hugged Ulani and picked up right where we left off when she and Dave were in the states last year. Well, with another 11-week addition to their family, baby Aliyah.

My friend Christine and I, with whom I did my DTS in 2008, walked down to the high street and went to good ol' Sainsbury's to get some dinner. We made some pasta with mincemeat, bought some Bulmer's for later, and really just relished in the inexpensive joys that Sainsbury's brings us. Bland, but inexpensive.(Taste will come later, in the rest of Europe.)

Today I took the train to St. Albans for their outdoor Wednesday market. I don't know why I like going there so much, but I do. More for the idea of the market than the things I can buy; I guess I really just like the idea of a community market that sells everything to its neighbors. I noticed I was the only person wearing shorts--it was probably around 65--and I got a few astonished looks. I, however, didn't give my astonished looks to those who I thought were overdressed, but instead to all the mums in the coffee shops. What do they and/or their husbands do where they can just sip away on their Italian beverages in coffee shops with their children all morning long?! Then it was revealed to me that mums get 1 year of maternity leave here. Amazing.

The next few days I'll be here in Harpenden, just hanging out being a foreign-resident of sorts, doing the things I did when I lived here in 2008, as kind of a vacation among the vacation. For, the travels I have planned with my brother on the back half of this trip will be non-stop, full of unfamiliar foods and languages, late nights, internet cafes, and bicycles. For now, I'm enjoying hanging low with some good friends and what little remaining Cornish yarg I have left to share.

Gastronomy part I

2009-09-07T18:04:00.003+01:00

Yes, this really will be a month of eating great things. It started with the pasty on Saturday in Looe, beef, potatoes, onions, and such, in a flaky, portable crust, much like a Chipotle burrito for beef stew. It was great until we came across a coffee shop that caught our attention and we tucked them away for later (which is the joy of pasties, so conveniently portable!).

(I'll admit, the first night here I had instant decaf coffee at my friend's house. Funny how many of the English foods that either tasted gross or made my stomach dodgy the first time in 2008, I now actually don't mind or even enjoy now!)

I'll never understand English coffee shops: £1.50 for a small Americano of which its contents is usually questionable (was that instant coffee or wasn't it?). I put up with it though, for it's the idea of getting coffee in England that counts.

Whilst in Looe, Roz took me to a little cheese shop where I was introduced to Cornish Yarg. Yarg! Yarg is a wonderful light cheese that is wrapped in stinging nettle, and since we're right where it's made, it is very inexpensive. It's phenomenal! (Especially since your mouth doesn't go numb from the nettle).

We're heading over to a friend's house tonight for wine and cheese so we had to pick up some Wenslydale with cranberries. It'll be great to indulge since it is usually only available around Christmas time at specialty cheese shops back home. Sweet!

Also in that cheese shop I sampled some (hard) cider and some Cornish Lust, strawberry-cream wine akin to Bailey's Irish Cream. (They promote it as "strawberries, cream, and a little Cornish magic," but I know the Cornish magic is just wine.) I suspect it'd taste great with some dark chocolate regardless of whether an endless chain of scarves comes out of an empty bottle or not.

And then today it was cream tea (though eaten at high tea) for lunch up on the Moors among the sheep and, well, sheep. Shredded cheddar cheese sandwiches with cucumber and tomato, scones, strawberry jam, Cornish cream, tea, and cake. I had forgotten how great shredded cheddar cheese sandwiches are--so simple, yet so satisfying! Needless to say, we didn't even make it to the cake--way too much food.

And I'm pretty sure if I were to ever write a cookbook this photo would grace the cover. I mean, what better photo to invite people to take a look inside?

Paddington Station to Liskeard

2009-09-06T17:08:00.001+01:00

Hey, there! This is the inaugural post for my EU trip and what better a fitting place than Liskeard, Cornwall? Indeed, there really isn't a better place. Here's a quick update of what I've done so far. Ideally, the next post will be about what I've eaten, which will be even than this post better because it includes "lust" and stinging nettle. So fascinating...

At any rate, here's a great fact: both Paddington Bear and I have traveled through Paddington Station. He grabbed marmalade while there, I grabbed Muller Corner Yoghurt. (Visit Paddington Bear's website for more information about his amazing life--did you know he's from Peru!?) I had a great train ride from Paddington to Lisekard, where I met up with my friend Roz, with whom I did my DTS back in 2008. It's been great catching up with her as she's helped ease me back into English culture.

And really, so far, it's been enjoyable reacquainting myself with the English culture. For instance, accepting that people incessantly say "cheers" especially in situations where I would say "thank you" or nothing at all. Or, realizing again just how amazingly low the prices are here: 12p for a liter and a half of sparkling water. 12p! That's about 20 US cents. Amazing prices, I say!

I'm staying at Roz's parents' house somewhere around Liskeard. She and I wandered into Looe yesterday and enjoyed the ocean, Cornish pasties, and coffee. A cute little fishing village much like Kennebunkport, Maine...only older. The tide was out so it wasn't super busy with fishing boats, and let's be honest, it was a little stinky. However, it was still incredibly quaint and fun to window shop in.

We checked out Trego Mills, quite the bizarre place as it looks like an amusement park, but it's really a Home Deopt, IKEA, and, say, JC Penney's rolled into one castle-like building. One is indeed not amused as one tries to find what one needs at Trago. Still great to experience one of the many happenings in Cornish life.

Today we walked with the dogs on the south coast. A great sunny day to meander down the trail, saying "hi" to people, and see sheep and cows further up the hillsides.

It's more Cornish goodness until Tuesday, when I take the train back to London and up to Harpenden. I'm looking forward to sharing more with you soon!

In Flight Entertainment

2009-09-03T14:36:00.002+01:00

My bag is packed and it is well under the 50-pound limit (much to my surprise) and I'm set to enjoy the following from seat 23-A:
* A significant increase in my WorldPerks Miles
* Complementary wine and beer
* Dinner at 11pm
* Over twenty movies on demand including An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong, The Hangover, and Night at the Museum 2
* A seat that reclines 6 inches or less
* Wonky sleep
* A view of the Northern Lights from around New Brunswick, Canada
* Conversations with strangers
* And the reality of knowing that I'll be in England when I set foot on solid ground again
First stop is to spend a few days with my friend Roz and her family in Liskeard, England. The dollar is much stronger than the pound from when I was there in 2008, which rejoice, means more Muller Corner Yoghurt for me.
More from England soon!

The Beat on the Cobblestone Streets

2009-08-24T14:28:00.002+01:00

Howdy, Neighbors,
From 03 September to 03 October, I'll be gallivanting around Europe visiting friends and traveling with my brother. Check back during that time to see if I really do eat my weight in Muller Corner Yoghurt, get by with speaking only Deutsch in Deutschland--or cry because I accidently ordered the tripe-wurst--swim in the North Sea, entertain others as a street performer for a few hours, or get crushed by a pallet of Swiss chocolate (hey, free healthcare--who cares!).

I'll be in touch in the coming weeks. Until then, may your fall be filled with warm sweaters, apple crisp, good friends, and possibly a few days at your local state fair!

heidischermerhorn.com

2008-09-24T02:04:00.002+01:00

That's where the blogging's at. It's one giant, virtual scrapbook, in my mind, and slowly coming together. Yet it is so much more crafty than blogspot (and I get credit for updating it in my web design class)

Check it!

:o)

Bicycles in Tanzania

2008-08-01T15:07:00.004+01:00

How could I forget to post about the bicycles!?

For it is by far one of the coolest things I got to do in Tanzania!

A few of my friends at my old job emptied their pockets, drawers, and couches for loose change, scrounging together enough money for me to buy 4 bicycles to donate whilst in Tanzania.

Riding a bicycle is by far the most popular mode of transportation in Tanzania, even though they are incredibly expensive for local people. Which is why second-hand markets are very popular and why the locals use what they have until it disintegrates or is tattered beyond recognition. All things considered, bicycles are by far the best way to go: easy to maintain, long-lasting, convenient, non-polluting, and, let's be honest, life-giving for a lot of people. Bicycles allow people to have an income, reliable transportation, and independence.

I decided that donating bicycles to the friends I made in Tanzania would be a practical way to help improve their lives and help them improve the lives of others. For 2 of the bicycles will be used for medical teams traveling in the desert to local bomas (Maasai neighborhoods) that are far from paved roads or even drivable dirt roads. The other 2 will be dolled out as needed, to families or individuals that can benefit from a bicycle. Pretty cool, huh? And such an easy way to help out our friends in Africa!George was my friend who bought the bicycles for me, since he's African and would get the best price.
The bicycles had everything--locking kickstands, pumps, generator lights, and rear racks!
The generators even lit up red rear lights too!
Some of my friends prepping the bicycles.
Phoenix bicycles, made in China, are THE bicycle to have in Tanzania. Now there are 4 more on the roads!

55423

2008-07-03T15:29:00.007+01:00

I've been home for just over a week, and in a way, I feel like I've never left. Sure, the Minnesotan accent is very thick in some of my friends' voices, and I had forgotten just how sugary the coffee coolers are at Caribou Coffee, but all things considered, being here feels pretty good. Remind me that I like it here when it is -40 F and icy--I'll need the encouragement.

Being on my home turf is no better place to post the best-of-the-best photos from my adventures (coincidentally, not taken by me, but my friends) . After those posts are up, we'll talk about where this blog will go from there, but for now, enjoy some wackiness!
Just enjoying one of the dozens of cups of tea with goat milk in the hallway of a Maasai family's home. Mmm! Alecks and I had a few good laughs about being the ones sitting in the hallway--no one better for the task. Clearly.
Eating goat was the most interactive dinner preparations I have ever experienced. That's my friend Micah holding up pretty much the only part of the goat the Maasai don't eat--or do they?
Eating No. 4 of 7 goats...the only time we had it with rice. That did nothing to make me like it, so thankfully I was sitting next to Elphas and Andy, who let me put it all on their plates.

And this is a lovely shot of Mt. Kilimanjaro on our zippy Embraer 170 from Arusha to Nairobi. I'd say it is hotter in Minnesota than it is in Tanzania now. Yikes!

More later, enjoy!

Glasgow, Scotland (Hold the Haggis, Please)

2008-06-25T09:42:00.007+01:00

I have been enjoying an extra week between Discipleship Training School ending and my flight back home. Among other things, this extra time has meant more Muller Corners yogurt and more tuna salad baguettes from Gregg's. It has also meant that I've been able to travel, to Scotland no less!

Two words: National Express, the inter-Kingdom coach company that travels everywhere, at all times, for relatively cheap. (Never mind that the trip will be 8 or more hours--that's part of the adventure. And, after riding through the Serengeti for 10 hours, everything else is a breeze.)

After a brief search on the internets, I found the Devoncove Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland, the most inexpensive hotel in the United Kingdom at £45.00 a night, on Sauchiehall Street no less! Sauchiehall! I just like saying Sauchiehall. At any rate, Glasgow is the third largest city in the U.K. so there was a lot to see and do, despite only being in town for about 48 hours.

This is a part of the city center, at the intersection of Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Street. About a dozen blocks were pedestrian traffic only, which was very conducive to wandering.
The M8 underpass. In the distance you'll see hills and windmills. I really like that no matter how large the city is, you're not too far away from farmland in the U.K..
Charing Roundabout, which is just above the M8 underpass. It's a busy, exciting place, connecting the city center and the neighborhood where my hotel was.
The castle--or church--is Glasgow University right beyond Kelvingrove Park and some fantastic bowling greens. I'll come back to the U.K. if only to play a few rounds of bowling!

Yes, Kelvingrove Park was just down the street from the Devoncove Hotel, so I spent the afternoon wandering around it. There were some massive mansions on Park Terrace, on the hill of Kelvingrove Park, but all of them were under construction so I just kept walking without taking a photo.

This is River Kelvin (that undoubtedly runs to River Clyde) that winds through the park. Cool little stream.Sauchiehall Street.

The view from my hotel room, which is pretty cool. There is a revival of old buildings in Glasgow. A lot of old, really old, buildings are being restored and developed in to some awesome flats and offices.

By chance I found my way to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, a pretty decent place to wander around for free (although I donated a 1-pound coin and two U.S. quarters). They had a cool photography exhibit of Harry Benson and some Maasai artifacts in a gallery focusing on tradition and technology. It was odd to see Maasai stuff in a museum when I've seen it first-hand.

At any rate, I found this sign quite humorous:

Ah, good times. I hope this summer brings road trips to your itinerary as well! See you soon!

Chapatis

2008-06-18T20:57:00.005+01:00

Whilst in Tanzania, my whole team became fans of chapatis, the Tanzanian version of the dinner roll or tortilla. Chapatis are essential to the African diet and are best served with beans (spicy kidney beans). Some people enjoy their chapatis with plum or strawberry jam. Marmite, Nutella, cinnamon-sugar, really, the variations are endless. And because of this, I need to share the recipe with you, African style.

Ingredients
Wheat Flour
Salt
Sugar
Warm Water
Cooking Oil

Directions
Mix wheat flour with salt and sugar. Add small amounts of warm water, continually mixing with your hands until it becomes a soft dough. Knead until smooth, adding flour if needed. Mix in oil until moist. Let sit for some minutes.

Cut dough into small pieces and roll on a floured surface into circles. When finished rolling, warm a frying pan with some cooking oil and when it is warm, start cooking!

My friend Ann, from Kenya, gave me this recipe. She was a little shy giving it to me, admitting she's never had to think about writing the recipe down; she just knows it! Thus, amongst other reasons, she doesn't know any of the measurements. But don't let that stop you from having a fun afternoon experimenting in the kitchen. I suggest starting off with 2 cups of flour, a tsp of salt, 1/4 cup of sugar, and say, 3 tbs of vegetable oil in the dough. Then just fry them like a grilled cheese sandwich, until they're a little toasty on each side.

African deliciousness.

Tanzania II

2008-06-14T13:28:00.005+01:00

Just an observation before we get on with the photos. Because we were so close to the equator in Tanzania, the sun was up by around 7:30am and tucked behind the mountains by 7:30pm. In England, though, it's a party. The sun is up at 4am and the sky doesn't get dark until a little after 10pm. This amazing sunlight is perfect for weekend barbecues and ensuring that you never sleep in in the morning.

At any rate, here we are, more photos:
Yes, everyone loves Fanta in Tanzania. 350ml for about $0.25, it'd be your favorite beverage too.
Speaking of food, let's move on. This is Cultural Night at the Arusha base (and me with my friends Christine and Louise) at which every "tribe" brought food that represented their nation. The white people tribe brought mashed potatoes.
Again, everyone enjoys Fanta.
More Fanta, but that's not the main point. if you look closely, you'll notice some odd tan lines on my face and shoulder. I enjoyed a 4-hour dirt-road safari and came out of the car looking almost African from all the dust.

Back at the base, some of my friends peeling dozens of garlic cloves for dinner. Preparing lunch and dinner is an all-day affair in Tanzania. No cans or preservatives in sight.
In fact, this is our food for a 4-day trip to Anga Karat. Those are oranges and tomatoes in the front right in front of the best-tasting pineapple in the world.
Cooking takes all day, in part, because at the base, they have to cook for 200+ people. Tuesdays and Fridays were chipati day and things got crackin' at 1pm for dinner at 6pm.
We're knee-deep in making 400 chapatis, but love to eat them so much, we're all happy to help.

It's Kili Time!

2008-06-12T17:01:00.004+01:00

Hi, Everyone!

I'm back in England after an exotic stint in Tanzania, and in the next few days, will be giving you a photo tour of our time there. Let's begin with nature!
Two cool desert birds in Anga-Karat. It took me about 20 minutes to get a decent photo of these guys, so enjoy!
Sunset in the desert of Anga-Karat. Soon after this, there would be nothing to look at but the expansive southern sky.

It's Mt. Kilimanjaro from our return flight! It's about a 4-day round trip to climb it, but it looks worth it and many other people concur--it's one of the main tourist attractions in Tanzania.
The toucan that visited our base the day we were leaving for home, which looked almost prehistoric! It was about 2-feet long and very, very noisy. Not the most pleasant thing to encounter, but still very cool.
This is Mt. Meru, just outside our base gates. The bases water supply comes from about a third of the way up the mountain, but that certainly doesn't mean it is mountain fresh spring water, for it was infested with many water-borne pathogens. Thus, I think I drank about 30 1.5L bottles of water while in Tanzania.

Our first giraffe friends. "Twiggas" in Swahili. Definitely the most beautiful animals in Tanzania!

I'll have many more photos to follow, so keep checking back for more! Enjoy!

Panda Fashion

2008-06-04T11:42:00.002+01:00

Hello Again!

I've spent close to 6 weeks in Tanzania and I'm excited to share with you a few highlights as my time here draws to a close. Okay, so there's one or two low lights as well, but all things considered, they're really not that bad.

"Panda Fashion" is hands-down, my favorite beverage down here in Tanzania. Fanta Passion Fruit that is. I will miss it and half-jokingly considered a Panda Fashion import business once I am back home.
I cordially had to accept, drink, and compliment 2 cups of fresh goat's milk in one day. Let's just say I'm very, very glad I had a cold and couldn't taste everything normally. Unfortunately colds don't do anything for strange textures in your mouth.
I've taken part in eating 7 goats whilst here. I "prefer" (I don't like goat at all) the boiled and then roasted cooking method.
I've had the opportunity on several occasions, to dance, sing, and jump with Maasai people. It is a privilege to say that I have jumped with some of the finest Maasai dancers around.
After weeks in Africa, I finally discovered my first--and only--herd of elephants on a rip-roaring safari. Elephants are cool. Giraffes are beautiful. Wildebeest look like Swiss Miss Cocoa girls.
After weeks if Africa, I was finally told that baboons are the nastiest animals in the Serengeti and you can face heavy fines for approaching them. This after my teammate excitedly walked up to them to take photos only to run away frightened as the started chasing her with evil eyes.
Traveling 10 hours to Loliondo through Crater National Park and the Serengeti.
Buying trinkets at the Maasai market in a small village in the Loliondo area.
Buying 2 chapatis and a Fanta Passion for only 800 shilling (75 cents)
Befriending Mark and Andrew, 2 cool--and tall--Maasai guys who helped us with our outreach in Loliondo.
Giving Mark my birthday because he doesn't know what day of the year, or which year for that matter, that he was born.
Receiving 3 necklaces from 3 different Maasai women as gestures of friendship.
Eating freshly roasted peanuts
Talking with friends from all over Africa about how they became Christians and connected with YWAM.
Talking about the Bible in English and having my words translated to Swahili and Maasai

That's all from Tanzania! Have a good day, and next time you hear from me, I'll be back in England.

Tanzania!

2008-05-10T16:53:00.004+01:00

Habari, Everyone!

I've been in Tanzania for a week and a half now and despite getting tired of rice, beans, cabbage, and Ugali, I am yet to wear myself out on the world-famous African hospitality. My team has been welcomed by so many people, and as a result to date, have eaten 12 pineapple, 15 mangos, 4 avacado, 2 chickens, 1 goat, and countless jipati. Of course we've already drank our weight in Tanzanian tea, best served over milk and sugar. Note that if you live within a 50-mile radius of Minneapolis, I'd be happy to serve you Tanzanian tea at any time upon my return.

We've meet wonderful people, both on the YWAM base and out in the village and town. We just got back from the high desert, where unfotunately we had to wake up to the sun rising by Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru every morning, suffer through the desert sunset and painstakingly stare at the southern sky every night. This is a burden that someone had to bear and we were happy to do it.

We were in the desert talking to some of the local Maasai people who live in Bomas, little self-sustained villages of about 50 to 200 people. Every morning for three days we'd set out on foot and walk to a Boma to talk about Jesus, play with the children--a lot, practice some basic healthcare, and just hang out. It was tiring, dusty, frustrating, and hot, but so amazing, and so rewarding, that it was worth it being tired, dusty, frustrated, and hot.

There is an English school running on the base right now, so everyone in the school--from a 60-year-old man to a 20-year-0ld woman--is eager to talk to us in English. Of course we want to speak Swahili so there's a lot of give-and-take as we stop to ask how to say things in the others' languages.

So far we've seen 1 pack of zebras (hooray!) and 2 packs of gazelles (amazing!), 1 nest of Killer African Bees, and 4 mosquitos (which have subsequently bit me) and in a few weeks, we're heading out into Giraffe, Lion, and Elephant country.

I have many stories to share already and hopefully I can post one or two while I'm still in Tanzania. If not, just look forward to a few good stories for when we meet again over Tanzanian tea.

Enjoy your weekend!

Bluebells and Such

2008-04-28T10:54:00.005+01:00

A glance at the Italian Gardens in Stanley Park, Blackpool.
"Duck Bridge" in Stanley Park. Hold onto your children, ice cream, and dogs, they're not shy!
Spring starting to bud in Blackpool.
Spring in full bloom in Harpenden.
The woods on the Oval and the carpet of Bluebells.
Docked boats in Molden.
A beautiful English house in Chelmsford.
A beautiful walking trail in Chelmsford.
One of thousands of community gardens in England.

A little pond home to a duck family in Chelmsford.
Bluebells in Gallywood (near Chelmsford)
A view of Molden from the docks.
The awesome black house on the way to the docks in Molden.

More Outreach Photos

2008-04-27T20:54:00.007+01:00

Some great times were had these past few weeks and here a few more photos to prove it.At the top of Blackpool Tower on the "walk of faith," which was a little disappointing because it was only about a 5-foot square of thick, scratched up Plexiglas, but it was still a trip if you thought about just how high you really were.
Bowling Greens! Oh, how fun it is to watch people bowl. It is a fun sport and I'll definitely have to play before I leave.
Our shopping at Tesco, which is even more massive that Wal-Mart. Feel free to click on the photo and take a look at how different the English nutrition facts are from American nutrition facts.
This was my meal at the carvery (a buffet at which one only goes up once) at the Squirrel Pub. Yes, the Squirrel Sub. At any rate, you'll see 2 Yorkshire puddings, cranberry sauce, carrots, peas, onions, gravy, and turkey somewhere on that plate. All for only £3.50!

Here's most of our team posing with Tea Tree Oil impregnated toothpicks. Spicy and refreshing!
Did I mention that my friend Ester and I tried black pudding? Ester finished hers; I couldn't even eat what I took. Apparently there is white pudding being served out there somewhere.
That is North Pier in Blackpool on the Irish Sea. Strangest carnival I've ever been to, although the chips and curry were splendid.
Ah, the Salt & Light Cafe. That's my bedroom right about "Light." A great place in Blackpool and in my heart! The local sandwich is called a barm, but pronounced "bomb." It is pretty much just a sandwich served on giant hamburger bun. I need to give a word of caution: never mistake yellow horseradish sauce for yellow mustard.
The English are serious about letting you know if the loo you want to use is, er, occupied or not.

If you're eager for spring to come, I'll be posting a lot of nature, architecture, bits and bobs photos next so make room on your desktop and screen savers for some excellent English garden photos.

Whirlwind Tour of the UK

2008-04-26T17:20:00.005+01:00

Whew! We're all catching our breath as we're unpacking and enjoying our 3 days on the Oval before taking off for Tanzania on Tuesday. I'm so excited to get my Yellow Fever jab right before I leave, but such is life.

The days have been moving so fast that I can't believe it is the end of...April! I'll be home in 2 months and 1 day, which is so hard to believe. I'm really looking forward to coming home, sharing the stories that go along with these photos and more:
Cats are everywhere in England. Some friendly, some not so friendly, but all are curious.
Wow. I tried so hard to eat black pudding, but I just wasn't able to get it past my teeth. Agh!
Whoo-hoo, I took the lift and climbed a few stairs to make it to the top of the Blackpool Tower. Very fun!
Most people on my outreach team have become obsessed with Muller yogurt. The Americans and German take note of the umlauts and say "mew-lur," whereas the English ignore them and say "miller." On a related note, the Americans also say "Zee-brah" while the English say "Zeh-brah."

Our host family in Blackpool, Jules and Maria--good times!This was a hilarious living rendition of the resurrection in the back of a small church in Malden, England. I have to say, it was quite the find and I'm glad I could take a picture of it.
Malden is famous for the tide and the mud flat races on Boxing Day. The day we were there the tide was in and it was gorgeous!
Allyson, Brittani, and I having our hand at making an elegant dinner atmosphere for our team in Chelmsford. There are cats on my apron.
My friend Roz and I were having fun hamming it up for the camera while out on one of our MANY prayer walks in Chelmsford.
And this here is the results of the MANY prayer walks we did in Chelmsford.

Oh, there is so much more. Check back soon for more photos and details of our England outreach, which was fantastic, by the way!

10 Hours

2008-04-09T08:29:00.003+01:00

Yes, tomorrow our group is leaving for Blackpool, a trip that typically takes 3 hours by car. But, since we're taking the National Express motorcoach, we've got a 10-hour trip tomorrow with two layovers in London and Dorset (or some other out-of-the-way town).

In sum, it is going to be great. 10 hours of reading newspapers, old magazines, listening to music, munching on crisps and snacks, talking to friends and strangers, and napping all to my heart's content. We'll be spending time with the Reoboth Christian Center in Blackpool and it sounds like we'll be doing everything under the sun, including web design and serving coffee at their cafe. Rockin'!

In other news, I have plenty of people to thank for helping me reach my fundraising goal for the bicycle for TZ! Stay tuned for more information about that as it develops!

Enjoy your day!

Chelmsford, England

2008-04-07T13:04:00.003+01:00

Wow, what a trip these past few days have been! I've been in Chelmsford, Essex working with Meadgate Church on our first leg of our outreach and it has been a blast. Here are a few highlights:

Last week we were involved with the holiday kid's club where about 30 kids came for Bible stories, games, snacks and of course our now-famous DTS acting troupe. It was exhausting, but oh, so fun to get to know some great kids!
We planned, organized, and led a kid's club for 11 to 13 year olds, featuring Silly Olympics. The best part was getting the kids to spray whipping cream on some of our leaders' faces and trying to toss What's-Its (Cheetos) onto their faces. I believe the Brazilian team won by just a few What's-Its
Driking 16 cups of tea with my host family over 8 days and enjoying our conversations about the U.S., the U.K., politics, the NHS, education, Christianity, theology...
Driving around the countryside with my host family, seeing a rat scurrying down the road and then driving through a 20-foot long, 1-foot deep ford. Good times!
Eating Indian food by candelight and a dozen roses with DTS students and church leaders. It's fun to turn passing jokes and comments into reality!
Having coffee with some older folks and talking about their childhood memories of WWII (turns out Chelmsford was bombed frequently because there were factories the Germans wanted to destroy)
Hanging out at the pub with the youth group and discovering that they--the English-- have 8 different sauces in packets (french mustard, english mustard, ketchup, barbeque sauce, brown sauce, salad cream, tartar sauce, and vinegar) compared to our, uh, ketchup and mustard packets
Reading English newspapers and enjoying the quirkiness of British journalism
Stopping into Starbuks and getting a strange, errie sense of just how globalized our world has become (on a similar note, they did accept my gift card from the U.S. and I got to enjoy some filted coffee for once)

We're here for just a few more days and the we're on our way to Blackpool, apparently the Wisconsin Dells or Branson, MO of northern England. I'm expecting more of the great things that we've already experienced so stay tuned for more highlights!

Cheers!

Wrapping Up

2008-03-27T15:58:00.008Z

It is hard to believe that we're heading off on outreach this Saturday. First up to bat is spending 10 days at a holiday camp (think spring break vacation bible school) in Chelmsford, Essex. There's talk about going to Liverpool, Whales or Blackpool after that before we head off on Kenya Airways to Tanzania. Thus, since our time on the Oval is coming to an end, here's a melange of photos to help you get a feeling for what life has been like here.

Mary, Roz, me, Christine, and Ester getting ready for a night on the high street, featuring sweet and sour chicken and shrimp crackers.
Roz's parents came up from Cornwall and made us--from scratch--authentic Cornish pasties and chips. They, my friends, were fantastic, and the origins behind pasties are ingenious!
My friend Allyson and I wandered into the forest (off-leash dog park) behind the buildings here and found the old orphanage cemetery. This is my favorite grave (and photo) from our time there.
We searched high and low in the forest to find the key to Narnia and Hogwarts--without our GPS units--and unfortunately came up empty handed.
And of course, here's Henry again, this time not shy, but very proud of his accomplishments.
And another street sign showing that their ideal dog isn't a Labrador, but a terrier. And we all know that even terriers produce steaming poo.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T08:59:00.006Z

We had a 4:30 wake-up call this morning to bundle up and head out to the farm fields past the hospital and school down our lane to watch the sun rise. It was absolutely fantastic, even though the clouds weren't amazing, because it was a fitting and memorable way to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead (of night) and returning again as the light of the world (day light). Yeay!

This is approximately at 5:07am on our way out to the lane.

Pretty awesome, eh? This is the Oval during the sunrise at about 5:09am. This was the most impressive part of the sky.
I have this fancy camera that my brother gave me and sometimes I just can't be bothered to figure out how to adjust the settings. Thus this picture and the one below are a little wonky, albeit pretty cool.

A house off in the distance as we walked to the field.
The outer limits of Harpenden at about 5:15am. Turns out a fox trotted across this field moments after I took the picture and once again, despite smelling the fox (smell: skunk), I am yet to see one. A great English farm house just outside Harpenden proper.
Some Frost action on our way back from hanging out in the field. (I just realized I didn't take any photos of us in the field).

We finished our morning with Caribou Coffee (thanks to my friends from back home for sending it!) and typical English bacon sandwiches, which actually are thin cuts of ham fried up. Quite fantastic and quite Easterly!

And now you'll notice the weather has changed once again from yesterday for the snow is actually sticking to the ground right now.
It's wicked awesome to see British, Brazilian, and Egyptian friends tromping around in the snow and throwing snowballs during such a bizarre Easter storm. Snow brings so many people together.

Out Like a Lion

2008-03-22T15:23:00.004Z

As I write this the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky. However, that's the fun of English weather, for we're in the midst of a lovely Easter storm of snow, hail, sleet, rain, one confirmed report of a bolt of lightening, and sunshine. This is by far one of the silliest days of weather that I've experienced.

Even though the English are obsessed about the weather, it's a little different than what I'm used to. Back home, obsessions culminate with owning a weather radio, constantly refreshing the NORAD radar on your computer screen at work, tuning into KARE 11 unable to bear the news until the weather comes on (and in some cases unable to bear the weather report until the regularly scheduled program returns to the air), buying weather calendars and comparing the averages with the daily highs and lows, planning your drive home around when the snow is expected to hit, and sitting on your front steps as a severe thunderstorm looms out west.

The obsession with weather here culminates in conversation. When people talk about the weather here, it's as though they're talking about their good, old friend Weather and when it's nasty outside and Weather isn't doing well, well, neither are they. Weather seems to dictate people's attitudes much more here than back home.

Here are a few shots of the action:

On days like today, there's nothing better to do than to sit around drinking coffee and doing some crafts. Here's an embroidery project I stitched up on an old, accidentally felted sweater I found that fits like a, er, sweater.

Spring is in the air

2008-03-15T14:28:00.004Z

I'm really lucky to be here, to experience an English springtime, for it has been perpetually spring since January 5th, when I arrived here:
"Gumdrop Bush House" a house along my path to High Street at the corner of Ambrose Lane and Hollybush Lane. Since the streets are so twisty here, Gumdrop Bush House helped prevent me from getting lost in the early days of not knowing which way was what around here. Perpetually green.
A flat on the Oval with some creative gardening techniques (daffodils in old red wellies).
A lovely window box down Tennyson Road that I've been admiring for weeks!
Yet another flowering tree doing what it knows best.

Some lovely non-flowering plants at eye level down the hill from their owner's house.And of course, what would spring time be without pansies? There are right outside the St. Albans police station--excellent gardening, bobbies!

And, spring wouldn't be spring without the migration of birds. I've seen green woodpeckers, blue tits, European robins and dozens of other birds I don't recognize! It's been great seeing new things right along side old, familiar things.

Happy spring, everyone!

All Work & No Play

2008-03-07T08:33:00.004Z

Most days we spend 2 hours each afternoon doing work around the base. Some people clean the classroom, some people help out in the bed & breakfast, some people cook dinner and some people get to have fun:

This week we've been hauling out old, musty, moldy, rat-eaten furniture to destroy and put in the "skip." We each take all our pent-up frustrations and anger and smash each piece to our liking. It really is a creative process.
Clearly, smashing furniture is very therapeutic, judging by the quality and quantity of the items in the skip.
And of course, we had to take the obligatory Furniture Destructor trading card photos.

And just in case we start a band together, we've taken a few (accidental) album cover shots
In all seriousness, the best part is that we've found over 2 pounds in the cushions and have spent it all on taffy and chocolate in the gift shop, as any rational adult would do.

Signs

2008-03-05T08:34:00.004Z

I've been enjoying the variety of street signs that appear throughout Harpenden and had a chance to take a picture of a few this morning. They're funny both because back in America, we probably wouldn't bother to post a sign or write something just a little differently to raise awareness of, well, whatever it is drivers need to be aware of:

A Nation Obsessed With Sweet Corn

2008-03-01T16:44:00.006Z

When I first arrived here and had a tuna fish and corn sandwich for the first time, I thought "oh that's a creative idea," but it turns out there is no creativity in that. It is just what the English people do. They put corn on and in everything and insist on calling it sweet corn instead of corn. Farm friends, isn't all corn that humans eat technically sweet? English friends, feel free to shorten it to just "corn." Also, feel free to move on from canned corn. I never thought I'd say this, but there's a whole world of corn out there waiting to be eaten.

I've seen sweet corn available as a pizza topping, a can of Green Giant sweet corn littering the streets, eaten sweet corn in tuna hot dish, enjoyed it in cold pasta salads, and now have enjoyed it at a fast food restaurant. Perhaps the U.S. and the U.K. really are two peas in a pod. ;o)

Exhibit A: sweet corn as an optional veg at Subway to make your sandwich your way.

Exhibit B: a British recipe for American Corn Chowder, featuring sweet corn.
Ingredients
* 100 g streaky bacon, diced
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 stick celery, sliced
* 1 green pepper, diced
* 2 medium potatoes, cubed
* ½ tsp paprika
* 1 stock cube made up to 600ml with boiling water
* 1 bay leaf
* 450 ml semi skimmed milk
* 2 tbsp cornflour
* 225 g sweetcorn kernels
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Method

Cook the diced pieces of bacon in a large saucepan over a medium heat until the fat runs.
Add the onion, celery and green pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes until all the vegetables have softened.
Add the cubed potatoes and paprika, stir well then pour in the stock.
Add the bay leaf and then slowly bring to a gentle simmer.
Cover and cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender, then add the milk mixed with the cornflour.
Add the sweetcorn and then simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the soup thickens.
Season and sprinkle with chopped, fresh parsley to serve.

Speaking of vegetables, it is definitely spring time here and I have a feeling a lot of English farmers and gardeners are getting inspired to do some planting with some great trees and bulbs like these to encourage them.

People II

2008-02-25T20:29:00.005Z

Alright, more pictures from London, all about people, both friends and strangers alike.
This was a crazy all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant that served their food in aluminum bread pans. Busy. Fun. Very aromatic.
Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery building. Neat!
The first photo I took coming out of the tube after running up the stairs holding hands with Brittani. There's Alecks, my friend, looking off into the distance.
First photo I took at St. Pancras/Kings Cross. Again, there's Aleck's head in the picture. Massive. The train station that is, not Aleck's head.
The crowds in Camden were really eclectic, from clothing styles to nationalities. Very diverse.
Brittani and me at the nameless museum just overwhelmed by everything.
Allyson and me at the nameless museum a little less overwhelmed and a little more excited.
Hey there. Let's act casual for the camera as we wait for the train. My friends are excellent, highly trained actors.
Of course, no big city would be a big city with out the requisite street performers. There was probably a dozen people just like this along the Thames. It was very touristy, but it was still fun.

Here's Suzanna, Allyson, and Brittani sitting motionless in silence after a long morning of walking and a great lunch.

Well there you have it, my photo diary of London. Hopefully I'll squeeze in one or two more adventures of other English towns before my time is done here. Have a good one!

St. Pancras

2008-02-24T17:41:00.005Z

To kick off the posts about people in London, I wanted to impress upon you how unbelievably busy London is by showing you a 30-second video of the St. Pancras/Kings Cross station. Have a look:

That monkey noise in the background? That's actually a screaming kid trying to walk while strapped in his stroller and thus making life for his parents quite miserable. More later this week!

DTS Day Out

2008-02-23T18:49:00.007Z

Hello Again! 5 of my friends and I just spent the day in London and I wanted to share a bit of our experience with you. Here's the first post about places. My next post will be about people.
I absolutely loved this teeny building, smooshed between two huge ones.
This is a shot of the parliament building, which is very beautiful. Even their security measures (fences, car stops, security huts, etc) are pretty!
Ah, Big Ben! We hung around on a bridge over the Thames to hear it chime at 12pm. There were about 5 dozen people taking pictures and/or filming it while we were watching. Sometimes it is fun to be one of the tourists!
This is the Parliament building from the middle of the Thames, where we welcomed 12 noon with Big Ben.
One of many boat docks on the Thames. This one was at the parliament building, which I thought was funny and wise to make sure the boat dock was super-secure as well.
Looking the other way on that same bridge is the London Eye. Even though tickets are £15, it was very busy and crowded.
Looking down the river from the London Eye, just some new buildings among really old ones...and a double-decker bus.
Some snazzy architecture at the St. Pancras/Kings Cross Station. We love to joke about St. Pancras, because people pronounce it "pancreas," which we joke that he's the patron saint of endocrine secretions. We've discovered there's a patron saint for just about everything (from jobs to hobbies to cities, etc) so it seems to make sense.
Moving on, after lunch we took the underground to Camden and wandered around for the afternoon. This picture is of the remains of a huge fire that people are still talking about, especially the vendors we talked to who say it has really affected business.
If you read the article on the above link you'll notice the words "Camden Lock" on the train bridge in one of the photos. Here they are, the locks. Very cool area. Yes, that's a Holiday Inn on the left and the building in front of it is a Starbucks.

Wellies come in some pretty cool prints and patterns here. I love the red ones with white and black terriers, personally.
Lastly, this is a pretty cool skate park right on the promenade of the Thames. It seemed to be pretty out of place because the area around it is very family- and tourist-friendly. But that's what made it cool.

Orange Squash

2008-02-22T13:42:00.006Z

I wanted to let you know about two of my most-favourite British foods thus far: Shreddies and Squash. They are fantastic and here's why:

Shreddies

Provide just a hint of sweetness, lots of crunch, and plenty of fiber
Great for introducing the world to puppy chow
Very affordable at 2 for 4 pounds at Sainsburys this week

Orange Squash

I'm fascinated by the dilution process. Simply combine 1:4 parts squash-to-water in your favourite glass and you've got a great thirst quencher
It's the adult version of Kool-Aide, actually providing 10% fruit juice
I just discovered it is available in the US

In fact, it seems there are a few online stores in the US offering many of the sweet and savory foods that I've come to love and hate while I'm over here. Feel free to splurge and enjoy some squash, or any of the other products in their fine selection. I suggest some of Mr. Kippling's cakes, milk chocolate digestives and oat cakes to name a few.

London Fashion Week

2008-02-12T16:24:00.000Z

We here at the Oval, specifically room 106, held our version of Fashion Week today, sporting the Spring 2008 look from the Oval Boutique. Hints from the runway indicate that fashion trends for this year include the female matador look, the 60s mod look, and the Rip Taylor bingo hall look. Enjoy!

(roommates Christine, Heidi, and Ester getting creative with free clothes and accessories from the boutique.)

Call on Me

2008-02-11T08:25:00.001Z

Just a quick post from the phone booth outside of The Boot in St. Albans.

The View

2008-02-08T08:08:00.000Z

Here are the follow up pictures from my last post that show the back end of the Oval looking east:
(This is a little garden to the east of the chapel, a great place to read books, watch people walk their dogs, and listen to the trains.)
(The view from the garden looking east. A lot of dog walkers walk across the field here by the fence on the right and over to the forest on the left. English dogs are just like English people--quite and not very friendly at first.)
(This picture might make you look for some sheep on the hillside, but there aren't any. It's a great view, isn't it? The commuter train runs right in that dip between the two hills. The train comes from London/St. Pancras to St. Albans to Harpenden to Luton and beyond.)
(There are a lot of odd things left over from the orphanage like this fence that has had a bush grow up and around it.)

YWAM Harpenden in February

2008-02-06T21:43:00.000Z

It was 50F and sunny yesterday afternoon...in February. It was so great outside, I decided to take some pictures of some of the buildings on "the Oval" so you can get an idea of where I am every day.(The Factory from the rear, which used to be a bakery and letterpress for the orphanage. Now it houses a cafe (only used for conferences) and was a rockin' place to play hide-and-seek in the dark. Wow.)
(The Factory from the front. Currently people from BBC are building a TV set inside and are getting ready to film some sort of a 1-man show. No word on when auditions are.)
(The cool thing about the Oval is the back road on each side of the Oval. This is right outside our building, #9, looking east toward the factory. The small building on the right is probably an old power plant for the orphanage.)
(And a look inside the old power plant for the orphanage.)
(Each residential building on the Oval looks really similar from the front, but they're pretty different from the rear. Here's a shot of #7 from the back.)

(And a picture of the Oval's chapel, built by the orphanage. Unfortunately, the inside isn't very inspiring or even nice to look at, so enjoy the outside.)

Next up, the view to the east from the Oval--classic English countryside and rolling hills.

St. Albans Park

2008-02-02T21:32:00.001Z

There's a cool park in St. Albans that looks a lot like a cover on of one of my alphabet books from Kindergarten--both so cool and interesting that I want to explore them. Thankfully, I can check this park out. To get there you have to walk down a cobblestone street and past Ye Olde Fighting Cocks , an 11th-century white-brick and dark-brown-wood building to get to this path that at all times has either a creek or a pond on both sides and ducks and people walking up and down it. It is a great place because it is so busy and peaceful and just beyond the mainstreet (high street) of St. Albans. (Entering the park with about 250 resident birds swimming, sleeping and eating handouts from humans)
(A glimpse at the pond on the other side of the sidewalk which goes for quite a bit further around the bend. I think of it as the Lake Harriet of Hetfordshire county because it is so busy.)

(This no-name duck and its friends had bright red eyes. Quite cute.)
(ah! Can you believe this no-name bird-duck-turkey and its pals are about the size of Canadian Geese? They acted like them too, wandering the sidewalk in packs and looking to people for food. Not cute. At all.)

Elevenses (tea time)

2008-01-28T15:41:00.000Z

We here at YWAM are fanatical about tea breaks. In fact some of us now know the precise ratio of tea-to-sugar-to-milk while others are developing strong bonds with certain bicycle, Disney, Egypt, and green-colored mugs. Others still, have realized that they are biscuit dunkers, not biscuit nibblers.

Even though we're each learning something different during tea time, we've all learned together, through trial and error, to let our beverage of choice cool before sipping by suffering the mouth-burning consequences.

Doritos

2008-01-25T17:03:00.000Z

Ah, it is Friday, which means it is time for some fun.

I've taken a picture of our kitchen and highlighted a few familiar products with not-so-familiar British-English names. And just to fill the picture out, I highlighted a couple other familiar products to illustrate the fact that the English are indeed quite similar to Americans.

Henry

2008-01-21T16:16:00.001Z

This is Henry, our hoover. I am not making this up, that is really his name and he really does have a face. As you can see, he's a little shy, so I often have to yank him around corners, through doors and over his own cord, but all in all, he is an excellent vacuum. Hopefully you'll see more of Henry in the coming days. (Henry the camera-shy hoover. Hey little guy!)

St. Albans Cathedral Photos

2008-01-18T17:21:00.000Z

Here are the pictures that correspond with my thoughts on heidischermerhorn.com about the St. Albans Cathedral that my group visited last Saturday:
This is the back of the church (this is the second time I've uploaded pictures in reverse order; sorry!) which is a smaller chapel-like area. In all I think there were at least half a dozen smaller chapels there. This is the prayer room (a lot of candles are found in Catholic churches! Here you could donate money to light one if you wanted) where a service was being held just to the right of the candles.
As we walked through the church, we were stepping on the past--this grave is from 1715!)
The nave (main area of the church) is the longest in England. Notice the painting on the left-hand column--that's from the 13th century!
Just a shot of the outside. It was pretty chilly, maybe 40 degrees, but sunny and not a drop of rain!
A few friends walking through the graveyard. The church is just to our left.

Really old stuff! I think these might be the bricks used to build part of the church from the old Roman colony ruins of the area.
And another sunny shot of the beautiful exterior

Magpies

2008-01-18T08:43:00.000Z

Here's a picture of one of the magpies that visit The Oval. Turns our they don't travel very far from their birthplaces, so chances are I've been seeing the same one or two these past couple of weeks. They in the crow family and I think of them as the kinder, gentler sibling to crows, probably because of the crow invasions I experienced every winter at Iowa State They get in trouble like Blue Jays, by eating other birds' eggs, but don't seem to be as aggressive. In sum, they're fantastic! (Sir Henry Magpie tromping around on the soggy ground)

Good things happen over coffee

2008-01-16T08:00:00.000Z

In the week and a half that I've been in Harpenden, I've tried 7 different coffee blends and just haven't found that one special blend that I can say "now that's a good cup of coffee."

Now on one hand, I'm content with English coffee, after all, it is a big part of my English experience and it is pretty fun to order when I'm out. (Every restaurant gives you a biscuit with your coffee--very touching). But, on the other hand, for the mornings that I make coffee at home, I think "wouldn't it be great to have a slice of home while I consider England my home for the next 3 months?"

Therefore, if you feel led, feel free to mail some American-packed coffee beans my way. A vanilla-hazelnut specialty blend, cheap grocery-store brand morning blend, leftovers from your pantry, Maxwell House, whatever!

(coffee this morning: sure I can stomach it, but why stomach coffee when there's good coffee to enjoy?)

In return, I'll mail you back or hand deliver upon my return some coffee-related English snacks or accessories for you.

You can mail coffee, and general correspondence for that matter, to me at the following address:

Heidi Schermerhorn
2008 January DTS
Highfield Oval
Ambrose Lane
Harpenden
Herts
AL5 4BX
England

English Squirrels

2008-01-14T08:41:00.000Z

The weather is really finicky here, so Saturday morning I took my coffee outside to determine how many layers I should wear and there in the leaves it was: my first English squirrel.

Odd how now that I've seen one, I've seen about a dozen more. Ironically, it turns out two people on our base have permits to carry guns to hunt squirrels and pigeons. You either love them or hate them I guess.

In other news, for some reason www.heidischermerhorn.com has gone haywire. I'm looking into it and hopefully will have it up and running again soon. I suppose this is a good time to explain my plans that if both websites are working from here on out, this (blogger.com) site will be for photos that go along with my updates on heidischermerhorn.com (it is much faster to upload pictures to blogger than doing it by hand on heidischermerhorn.com) and other miscellaneous commentary, while heidischermerhorn.com will be where I post things that are a little more in depth about why I'm here, what I've been learning, and things like that.

I have plenty of updates to pass along so stay tuned for my essay on St. Albans Cathedral, Ye Old Fighting Cock, and park-dwelling English ducks and birds.

No One's Gnome

2008-01-11T08:00:00.001Z

Take a look at the picture of "the oval," central campus, and you'll notice the first gnome that I've seen on this trip by the trunk of the tree in the foreground. I was initially very surprised that a gnome would be out in the morning, but with all the rain and constantly damp ground, I can now see why they'd want to be outside in the day this time of year: perfect harvesting weather and in general, a great view of the whole base that they're responsible for.
Even thought it is winter here, it does not mean things aren't growing or are in a semi-permafrost by Minnesota standards. No, sir! The majority of plants are already budding or pushing through the dirt. There are plenty of pansies and violas growing and plenty of greenery, keeping green.

English Coffee

2008-01-10T07:54:00.001Z

Making coffee in the morning means making coffee...for me and only me. Everyone else demands tea in the morning. Oh well, it is a burden I gladly bear, if only to make strange-tasting coffee. I can't tell if it is the coffee that tastes a little off or if it is the "partially-skimmed" milk that is as thick as paint that I add. Either way, here's a little tour of making coffee in the morning. Eventually I'll get some pictures on here of each of us enjoying our warm beverage of choice.

Harpenden, England

2008-01-08T17:43:00.000Z

Hi, Everyone!

Here are a few photos from the first hours of being in England. Enjoy!
On our way to downtown Harpenden. The walk is pretty nice, kinda like the weather. Nice.

We're at the grocery store now. Holy biscuits, look at them all!!
Pints! Of Milk!
Two Americans overwhelmed by the produce selection. A Brit proudly showing off the produce selection.
The Queen hanging out with George and friends.

A few parties for the road

2008-01-03T15:22:00.000Z

My friend Brynn hosted a going away party for me last Saturday. It was fantastic because I played Nintendo Wii for the first time and it rocked so much, I was sore for 3 days afterward. Saturday night was an all-round good time with great cheese and great friends!
And last night I hung out with my friends from work one last time. I'll miss the seasonal decorations, and my coworkers a little more. ;o)

The packing commences

2007-12-26T21:28:00.000Z

Not that I'm brining everything in this picture with me, but it gives you an idea of the herculean task at hand: pack for my trip and clean this room in a week and half!
I did some shopping today and am pretty impressed with myself. I think I have a drug, bandage or paste to aide, heal or primp anything that comes my way in the next 7 months.

The Pig of Wiggly

2007-12-11T16:23:00.000Z

Greetings from eastern Wisconsin, where a highly abnormal statistic of 3 in 10 people in public areas are wearing either Badgers or Packers clothing or accessories. This statistic increases slightly to 4 in 10 people wearing Badgers or Packers clothing or accessories in private residences.

Although we need to gather more data, early research results indicate 10 in 10 people have a week's worth of Badgers or Packers clothing in their wardrobe, thus supporting the term "Packer Nation."

In my other area of research, regional vernacular, I have come to discover that stop lights are referred to as "stop and go lights," which is indeed accurate, but quite unnecessary. Not for lack of stop and go lights. Rather, because they already have Piggly Wiggly grocery stores here, there's really no more need to go out of the way to make visiting Minnesotans feel like they're outnumbered by snowmobiles 11 to 1 in the tri-county area.

Oh, The Sketch Book

2007-11-18T18:13:00.000Z

I was day dreaming for a few minutes in church this morning and started paging through the sketch book I've been writing notes in since the middle of college. I came across this poem or song (which, I do not know--probably a song). Records indicate that it was composed sometime between 1.11.01 and 1.21.01, during college at Iowa State. Enjoy.

Kool-aide

Koool-aide
You make me unthirsty and
make my lips red
when
I am so
thirsty
you satisfy me
I like
all your
flavors
especially
that blue colored one.

Kool-aide.

Another Fall Season

2007-11-10T14:21:00.001Z

Ah, another great season of fall Ultimate has come and gone.

First of all I can't tell you how much I love to play Ultimate, but secondly I can tell you how impressed I am with our level of play this year.

We started out seeded pretty high in the C bracket, but come playoff time, we were re-seeded into the B bracket and ended up taking 7th (out of 8th) place. Sounds lame, but we lost to the first seed in the B bracket playoffs by only 1 point in sudden death--which rocked. Take that first seeds!

No indoor Ultimate for me this winter, but I'm super excited to get in as much summer Ultimate as I can in 2008!

13.1 miles

2007-10-24T00:49:00.000+01:00

Shazam!

This Sunday I ran in the beautiful Des Moines half-marathon and I couldn't have asked for more fun. I take that back, if there were kittens racing with me it would have been perfect. Regardless, I had a great time with beautiful weather, great co-racers, friendly volunteers and sweet friends in Iowa.

I roughly guessed I'd finish in 2:30 (keep in mind that my training for this race was running 8 miles two weeks before race day) and went over by only 7 minutes. Frankly, I know I would have met my goal, but...I chatted with too many people, wasting too much energy talking and walking to enjoy the conversations instead of jogging to keep on pace. I have no regrets for these choices that I've made. Learning about Patriot's Day from Boston Man is worth the extra 7 minutes alone. I am eternally grateful for his knowledge about General George Washington and his ability to keep the British at bay.

I used the half-marathon as an excuse to visit my Iowa-dwelling friends again, and really Iowa too. That made it worth the race: seeing my friends, driving around in an old Plymouth, talking about cows, drinking coffee, and having great conversations. And, even though Rebbeca, my friends' 2.5-month old, wasn't much for conversing, she still left me smiling.

At any rate, drop me a line if you want to join me on the race course in your running shoes...good times for sure.

Little Oak Tree

2007-10-17T01:17:00.000+01:00

I've been meaning to snap a picture of Little Oak Tree for months now and finally had my camera in my car to take this picture of Little Oak Tree, my favorite tree around.

I first noticed Little Oak Tree last fall when all the other trees had lost their leaves and this one was still fully leaved a beautiful red-brown. One of my favorite things to do outside is looking at trees with a stormy or cloudy sky behind them; take my word that Little Oak Tree is just beautiful in this gloomy weather we're having. I just named Little Oak Tree on a walk with Baxter dog tonight. It was the first time I've walked up to it; I said "hi," Baxter left his mark, and I realized Little Oak Tree is really two trees acting as one, which makes it all the more beautiful.

God Chooses Unlikely People for His Purposes

2007-10-06T14:34:00.001+01:00

Ah, another year of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) has started and as usual, I'm amazed at how useful, powerful and in-depth it is.

We're studying Matthew this year, which means I get to revisit a lot of stories and verses that I've read growing up and look at them through a completely different lens than the felt board* from Sunday school.

This is why I like BSF:

We studied the first 17 verses--16 verses of listing out Christ's lineage to Abraham and David--and picked out 5 women (prostitutes, foreigners, schemers, etc) that were in the lineage and discussed why we thought Matthew included them. In the lecture, it was pointed out that God included them to show that he came from simple and broken ancestors and highlight the grace of God. Since he had sinners for ancestors, he'll have sinners as his descendants (that's us!), the whole point of Jesus' coming, to erase the sin from his family, his spiritual family.

God doesn't just see us for who we are, but for who we can become; he takes our failures and uses them for his glory. God chooses unlikely people for his purposes.

*felt board: an old, 2-dimensional educational device to visually depict various bible stories to help children understand a little better with a piece of felt as a background and various people and props cut out of smaller pieces of felt.

In rare cases, felt boards were left alone after story time. from 1984-1990, 95% of Sunday school classroom teachers reported children playing with the felt board and cringing as children depicted their lack of understanding of gravity as clouds were placed on the ground, sheep floated in the sky, shepherds gravitated just above ground and rocks were placed precariously on both people and animal heads.

Around Town

2007-09-29T17:16:00.002+01:00

I got a new bicycle last week and took Friday off from work to ride my bike and to take pictures of Minneapolis. I had so much fun riding, I only stopped twice for pictures, but the pictures I did take definitely show how awesome of a fall day it was. The first one is of the pedestrian bridge crossing over Minnehaha Creek just west of Lyndale Ave at about 9 am. It was just me and a few squirrels down there for a while. The second one is at lake Harriet looking towards uptown and downtown Minneapolis. The Twin Cities Marathon is next weekend and there were a lot of people getting in their last training run before the race at the lake.

Even though I don't have a picture of it, I rode the whole Midtown Greenway Trail to the Mississippi for the firs time. I highly recommended riding it! http://www.midtowngreenway.org/

Gravity

2007-09-20T01:10:00.000+01:00

I was watching PBS the other day--one of those fun science shows with hip music, awesome graphics, and a cool narrator--and one of their topics was "Don't Hate Gravity," which the title alone glued me to the show. Up until then I had never thought about hating gravity before, nevertheless any other law of physics. I don't, just so we're clear, but it did make me think about something that I've never considered before.

Anyway, their point, and now mine, is that if it weren't for gravity, we wouldn't really just hover a few inches off the ground or be able to fly from one city to another. No. Instead, because of the centrifugal force of the earth and lack of gravity, we'd fly right off, through the clouds, through the atmosphere, into outer space and towards the object in our universe with the least mass. Sad thing is, no one knows what that object is with the least amount of mass, probably a black hole or something.

Thank you gravity, for making our lives a little more substantial than flying through space for 27 boring years.

Cucumbers

2007-09-15T15:09:00.001+01:00

Every once in a while my "foods-that-I-just-don't- like-but-wish-I-did" list changes and shifts, sometimes getting longer, sometimes getting shorter.
It's usually not easy to scratch something off the list; it took me about 3 years of eating BLTs--not my usual BLs--to finally like fresh tomatoes, and I'm still unwilling to nibble sushi with raw fish on it. However, today it is with great pleasure that I tell you that I have removed cucumbers from this list by having eaten 8 cucumbers this summer with this classic recipe: Refrigerator Pickles.

Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
2 thinly sliced cucumbers
1 or 1/2 thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons celery seed

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Instructions
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well so the salt and celery seeds are well blended with the cucumbers. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Combine sugar and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl; mix until most, if not all, of the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the cucumbers and mix well. Eat immediately or let it sit for a few minutes, hours or days--either way they're delicious!

Thank you Refrigerator Pickles!

Art: who knew it was so neat!?

2007-09-08T15:11:00.000+01:00

I'm sure someone along the way has told me how fun art can be, but I didn't listen. No, I just didn't think I'd enjoy it so I let their words of recommendation swirl over me like a Monet painting. I have to admit, however, that I had a blast at the Pablo Picasso exhibit at the Walker with my I-know-a-lot-more-about-art-than-Heidi-friend, Greta. That's not saying much, so that's why I added "a-lot-more" to that prefix.

I think that is what I needed to get me out to see some art, a friend who knows art, but has a great sense of humor, too. If Greta ever got frustrated with my infantile art mind, she never let on. In fact, she encouraged it, which made me admit--out loud--that I was having much more fun that I had imagined. Sure, the crowd was stuffy (it was about 90 degrees in there ;o) ), but it's easy to overlook that when there's so much great art around.

What really made me laugh was trying to guess the titles of the paintings and then trying to ascertain the title in the paintings--something that shouldn't be done alone!

But, it wasn't all fun and games. After Greta explained how the exhibit was set up, by the end of it, I felt artsy too! The Walker had displayed a Picasso piece and dozens of other pieces done by artists who were inspired by that particular Picasso. It was so, dare I say, cool to analyze the paintings and find the impact Picasso had on the artists. Sometimes it was pretty obvious, other times, not so, but that is what made it so much fun!

Good times are available at the Walker every Thursday night for free, thanks to Target. Thank you Target!

;o)

10k on Labor Day

2007-09-04T23:09:00.000+01:00

My friend Melanie and I ran in a 10k race yesterday--my first time running 6 miles in one day. We had a well-cushioned lead on the back fourth of the runners. ;o) In fact, since I didn't have a camera with me, I took it upon myself to recreate part of the race in Illustrator, and if you take a look at the picture, you'll notice there aren't many people around us. Unfortunately, you will also notice a flattened squirrel on the road. All in all it was a good time, despite my inability to understand how to pace myself. Thus, I am a few steps behind Melanie in this picture with a more distressed look on my face. ;o)

At any rate, I think it is great that people sign up for things like this knowing full well they aren't contending for first place. They allow people to push themselves a little further than they would by themselves. If only we'd wear race numbers every day.

Muhahaha!

2007-09-01T16:17:00.001+01:00

Not much time to post anything right now. I'm working on keeping it real so I'm sure you understand!!

:o)
Heidi