Edith Parzefall's Blog

Back in snowy Nürnberg

Today I brought JJ back home! It snowed when we touched down in Frankfurt and took a train through a completely white landscape to Nürnberg–only for the first hour or so we couldn’t really see it since the sun didn’t really come up until eight o’clock. Just the weather I had ordered for our return (thanks Marcus!) and tomorrow the sun should come out as well and all would be perfect. After hauling our suitcases through the snow and slush and dropping them off at my apartment, we went for a little walk through goodold Nürnberg. Here are some pictures.

Shortly after we returned with wet and cold feet, my neighbor knocked at the door and handed me a package without sender address and found eight copies of a book on Heinz Küpper’s works to which I contributed an article.

And my short story Management Training is now available in print from scars.tv.

A Magical Slide

In German, the transition from the old to the new year is called a ‘Rutsch’ meaning a slide. Just before the new year, people wish each other ‘Guten Rutsch’, a good slide.

Well, we had a most magical slide. At a quarter to twelve, our little party of seven hiked up the hill in O’Conner, a suburb of Canberra, to a playground in a park at the top.

Eucalyptus trees formed black clouds in the sky illuminated by a full moon. Below, the lights of Canberra sparkled in all colors, forming a blinking ground line for the fireworks to come. A tall but dead tree trunk right in front of us lent the view an eerie atmosphere. It’s three remaining branches reached into the starry sky almost touching the Southern Cross.

At midnight, the fireworks launched into the sky, exactly below the landmark constellation. A few rogue clouds pushed in front of the moon as if to dim the backlight and give full glory to the centerstage.

A perfect start to a new year. I wish I’d brought my camera and captured these images, but then it might just have distracted me too much. Instead the images and atmosphere are burned into my memory.

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve party is approaching and I’ll soon have to put my laptop away. We’ll go over to a friend’s place for drinks and snacks to welcome 2010. Of course, we’ll have to watch Dinner for One on youtube or wherever we might find it. It’s simply a must.

And just in time, I’ve finished the first draft of Autobahn Proven at 51,000 words. Yahoo! There’s still plenty of work to do but that’s something to look forward to in 2010.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

A Hunstman on my Doorstep

Yesterday evening, a huntsman spider sat between the front and screen door. Naturally I jerked back and called my knight in shining armor for all things crawly-creepy. JJ chased her away–gently. She hid behind a rock, hoping those ugly giants wouldn’t come to kill her.

I did feel bad. Maybe she just dropped by to say hello, patiently waiting outside when she could easily have slipped in under the door. After devoting a whole screenplay to my fear of spiders and to the non-poisonous but huge huntsmen, I still couldn’t just step over her and leave her on the threshold to my place. I sleep there, therefore eight-legged things have to stay away. She did, but I kept looking for her inside, wondering: Is she mad at me?

Am I starting to sound like Poe? No, really, I’m fine. Coping very well. Really…

Autobahn Proven has grown beyond the first 10,000 words and I’m enjoying it. No spiders in this one. Yet?

Julie & Julia

Found some time to listen to an amazing audiobook: Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. It’s been made into a movie, too, and I want to see that as well. It’s about French Cooking and it’s absolutely hilarious. Thanks Moni!

Oh, and the original blog the book is based on is still online.

Down Under

Yep, I’m upside down once again. A little more than a week since I arrived and only now found the time to post something. I got to sit on Santa’s lap and e gave me chocolate. I watched an amateur cricket game and saw a Santa piñata getting smashed to pieces. The lollies were shattered as well… For my birthday we drove down to Batemans Bay on the coast. The tide was in, so the pelicans sat on street lamps instead of waddling on the beach:

During a walk in the rain forest we saw an echidna in the wild for the first time ever. They are egg-laying mammals just like the platypus and look like hedgehogs with a beak. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a good shot. It was too dark in the woods for my little camera, but here’s my best attempt:

Back home

Whoosh and I’m back. Feels like hardly any time passed even though I was very very busy . Arrived in Nürnberg yesterday around noon and once again defeated jetlag in just a day. My home town greeted me with sunshine, just like Seattle saw me off with a sunny and warm day.

I’ve even caught up with my mail and made my tax declaration today. I’m so proud of myself…

Over the next days I want to set up my new gallery and upload a ‘best of’ selection of my pictures. Maybe tonight I’ll torture a friend by giving him a preview of the photos.

Sleepless in Seattle

I’ve been in Seattle for a few days now and didn’t really catch much sleep. The weather has been mostly sunny and fairly warm. I guess I’m no longer a rainmaker. The trees are beautifully colored with more red than in Montreal, but they are over the peek here too. I carved my first pumpkin ever and it even looked pretty cool:

Also got to go trick or treating and visited my old stomping grounds in Tacoma. Here’s the Puget Sound with Mount Rainier just before sunset and Tacoma at night from Vashon Island:

And here’s Seattle at night with the most beautiful tower in the world, the Space Needle:

Quebec City

Went on another bus tour yesterday, to Quebec City up north. Very cute town with many old buildings and little shops. Reminded me a little of Rothenburg, even though it looks very different. Same concept though. Well preserved old town part with a city wall–the only one still existing on this continent north of the Mexican border. It was freezing cold though, mostly due to a fierce wind. Here are some pictures:

On the way we also went to see the Montmorency waterfall. It’s actually higher than the Niagara Falls but much narrower. In the peak of winter this waterfall is frozen… Yes, completely frozen. Up in Quebec City, the temperature drops to -40°C. Time to move on! Tomorrow, I’ll fly out to much milder Seattle.