Travels

                                                  Lassen Sie die Saison beginnen!

I have Germany on my mind these days.  September starts the holiday season for us.  Local Oktoberfests reminds us of living and visiting and all the fun we had there.  To be honest there is no other place in the world that I would rather be for the holidays.  The delicious food (the food is always good no matter what time of year) the decorations, the atmosphere and of course the shopping.

The first Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas market) I went to was in Trier, Germany.  Our women's club in England had advertised a trip over and even though I had never been to one I knew I loved Germany and I loved shopping so it was a no brainer for me.  What I discovered was stunning.  Everything was decorated, the food was even better at Christmas than any other time and all the little shops held tiny treasures that I had never seen before.  Most were handmade by locals.  Lace, dolls, wooden toys, candles anything you could imagine.  But it was more than that, it was the feeling of community.  A celebration that everyone was in on.  I think we miss that in America these days.  We are so concerned with not hurting anyone's feelings or upsetting someone that we hide that celebration.  Whether you are a follower of Christ or not it's an exciting time of year.  This year my goal is to bring that back to our family.  Not worry about if I have the "it" toy.  To enjoy the season.  Bake food and candies,decorate,sing songs, watch movies, even go caroling.  I want the memories to be special.  I bet if you ask them today they couldn't tell you what that one gift they just had to have last year even was.