In the Garden

I knew that I would like getting to know Hanna when I saw her, dancing without inhibition in torn jeans in our "Mommy and Me" ballet class we do with our daughters. After I visited her house and saw her giant harp sitting in the living room, I knew that I wanted to be friends forever.

Hanna grew up in Muelheim - actually, her grandfather was a director at the institute where Chris now works - and her parents still live in the house where she grew up.  As a young teenager, she organized an extended visit to Los Angeles, staying for six weeks with a family there and improving her English. Now, she helps run a language institute with her family and she speaks a handful of languages fluently. Hanna grew up without a television and calls her parents by their first names.

In English, the area behind a house is referred to as a backyard: there's no promises about the concrete to soil ratio. In German, that same area is always called a garden. Of course, people are not required to weed or seek relaxation there, but something in the word choice must influence the way that space is seen, even on a subconscious level. When Hanna invited me over to her parents' garden, I was excited both to see a German Garden and to meet her parents. You always understand so much more about a person when you meet her parents.

I should not have been surprised when, upon my arrival, Hanna's mother began unhanging the framed artwork filling her walls, introducing herself to me by explaining, "I went through a phase of painting my dreams..." The whole family offers great character studies for your next novel.

On my most recent visit to the garden, I brought my camera. Daisy and Thea romped over the stream, through the trees, and took turns on the tree swing. I hope for as many more visits as our short months here allow! Here are some scenes from "the garden:"

Preferred dishes of the family, made in Bavaria

Sit, stay a while, reflect...

Fun surprises dot the garden

Daisy and I were invited to stay for a delicious lunch.
Isn't the scene idyllic?

To make my infatuation with Hanna's family even more clear, I should also mention that, before I left the garden that day, I was invited to a poetry reading in English at their house the following night. I went, and it was as beautiful and meaningful as I expected it to be...as most things are, if you expect them to be.