Spring has Sprung, German Men's Choir and White Asparagus

Moving around a lot as a military family means that we get to experience various "seasons" of the year and of course seasons of life. A lot of military families say that living overseas allows you to strengthen family bonds, because, well, you really have to rely on each other especially when you are in a country that does not speak English as the first language. Zev and I have enjoyed running together during the week and exploring our beautiful surroundings on the weekends. It is Spring-time in Europe; "Fruhling", and for those of you that have visited or lived in Europe during the Spring, you will be able to relate to the things I describe in this post. It is truly amazing and beautiful to see life literally "spring" all around us- new flowers blooming; people wearing a lot brighter colors now than in the Winter (Zev was the first to point this out- the first warm day we had all of a sudden the Germans were wearing white pants, white shoes- and it was only 12 degrees Celcius outside!! Funny). We found out that the tree in our backyard is actually an apple tree and apparently yields an abundant load of apples (which is good because I have been "sneaking" apples into Zev's lunch box- I cut them up and he eats them with a little peanut butter at work- at least I have him eating an apple once a day, right!!?) Spring-time also means lots of festivals in Europe. Today is May Day which is a public holiday (except for my poor husband who has to follow American holidays!) But there are lots of "Maibaums" or May Poles all across the little towns. I'm not sure if they do a May Pole dance here, but if I see one, I will take pictures and post them on this blog!! We have also noticed that Germans really love their "seasonal" dishes- for example venison in the Fall, and now in the Spring, every restaurant and cafe is serving "Weiss Spargel" or White Asparagus. I have been blessed with a gourmet chef for a husband, so Zev cooked me up, what I believe is restaurant quality, White Asparagus this week. He wrapped them in Spanish Prosciutto and drizzled home-made Hollandaise Sauce over the final dish- am I lucky or what? Our next door neighbors (and our wonderful landlords- yes the Lord has blessed us with INCREDIBLE neighbors at every place we have been stationed at- very grateful) invited us to attend a German Men's Choir Concert last Sunday. Our neighbor has sung in this local choir for the past 40 years, and his father sang in the choir before he did. It was really neat to be a part of this, and then to hang out with our neighbors and their friends in the "local"- which is 2 minutes up the road from us. It is a soccer club that also has a German Restaurant in it. I has Maultaschen- a local Swabish speciality that my other neighbor, Magda (who is in her 80s) wants to teach me to make. She makes hers from scratch and it takes her about 3 hours to make. But they taste wonderful- think spinach and meat filled giant raviolis. Zev ordered the German equivalent of "bangers and mash"- Wurstchen und Kartoffeln. All good. We hope you enjoy this little insight into life in Germany. We love our friends and family and miss you all very much. Take care and keep in touch! Fi xoxo