Munichmaedchen

On Another Mission

Santa Cruz Mission
Originally uploaded by Munichmaedchen.

We had so much fun in Carmel yesterday that we decided to spend another beautiful sunny day visiting a mission in our neighborhood: Santa Cruz, the Holy Cross. The buildings and the little garden are at the original location but a remodeled version of the original. Although a little bit far off the historic El Camino Royal, it is a beautiful place to discover. Admission to the chapel, the garden, the museum and the souvenir shop is for free.

Mission-Style

We were daytripping mission-style today. I already wrote about my goal to visit all missions in California along El Camino Real. Today, Clay and I added San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo which is beautifully kept in its historic setting. I can only recommend to stop by when visiting the white beaches of Carmel. When I entered the mission, I immediately recognized the scent of floor-wax and despair which I know so well from my childhood. I could smell "Catholic School" in the hallways. It hit me immediately. Clay laughed and did not believe me but when checking the brochure in his hand, he learned to his astonishment that I was right. There was indeed a school operating in this mission. It is lovely there and I am sure the school is superb despite the Catholic school scent.

I could not resist to buy myself a necklace with a Celtic cross. My pagan ancestry melted with my Catholic upbringing and my strong awareness of a universal higher power. Why haven't I thought about it earlier? A Celtic cross fits my neck just marvelous.

Statement of the Week

I see little difference between Blagojevich trying to sell a Senate seat and the Kennedy family trying to buy one.

(Heard while eavesdropping)

I am Going Where The Water Tastes Like Wine

I am Going where the water tastes like wine
Originally uploaded by Munichmaedchen.

Sunset Beach on a chilly but sunny Christmas Day.

Lucky You Obama Watch Dogs

I understand that the Secret Service staff welcomes the fact that they now have to watch a President Elect at a beautiful place such as Hawaii. In the news, I saw reporters and Secret Service today chilling at the beach in shorts and shirts instead of wearing suits and ties.

This is truly a Christmas treat for them. Enjoy your job y'all for the next four years while you can as you never know where you're going to end up watching the President Elect of the next term in 2012 - it might be Hawaii again but it could also be freezing Alaska or another ranch in Texas or Arkansas.

Christmas 2008 - Highlights

Wrapped secrets waiting to go under the tree... in the yellow parcel from Germany I found a German calendar showing my sister as skiing Ms. January right at the skilift where I used to live next door. This was my front porch view - beautiful present and memory, thank you! This is where my kids learned skiing when they were 2 years old. There was something for everybody including Travis, the new kid around. Tired but happy after the crowd was fed in your temporarily under construction kitchen. The menu: BBQ-ed Tri Tip a la Clay, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and mixed green goddess salad a la Silvia and red velvet cake with cheesecake icing for dessert for those who still wanted - I couldn't. Those who believe in Santa should wear red shoes on Christmas ...and if the Queen of Hearts is late for tea, Clay can fill in. His tea pot set was right on top of baby's favorite gift list. Grandma's pony who wags tale and head and shouts eehaa when pinched in the ears was a hit Adriana is either going to be a horselady or a biker girl. The push-trike paid with Euros from step grandma Erna works perfect although Max and the giant red dog don't fit in the seat behind Addi. That's what a waggon would be for. My favorite moment of the day was not when I unwrapped Clay's present for me, a wonderful new iPod for my car including gadgets to listen to audio books during my 37 mile commute of hell to and from work. My favorite moment was when everybody was gone and Clay and I went on a Christmas light sightseeing tour across Gilroy in our truck with Christmas songs in the radio to sing along. I know I say this every year but this was one of my best Christmas eves ever.

My Wild Winter Nights

I blogged about it already in earlier years. As a child of the Allgaeu, Wotan and his warriors and the wild Santas and evil Barbaras belong to my December nights just like the Advent, Christmas, and baby Jesus. I come from a highly Pagan influenced, conservative Catholic area, the most southern spot of Germany. We believe that good and evil go hand in hand. We have the holy days in December such as St. Nicolas on Dec. 6th, Christ's birth night Dec. 24, Christmas day on Dec. 25 of course, Stephen's Day on December 26th, January 6th, the arrival of the three wise Kings at Bethlehem, and finally Maria Lichtmess on Feb. 2, Groundhog Day in the US I believe, when we take the candles to the church for the blessing and get rid of the Christmas tree. The evil days are the Wild December Nights in between also called the rough nights or in German Rauhnaechte. These are the nights we have to fear. This is when Wotan and his warriors ride across the sky during the winter storms to collect souls of those who dare to go outside. This is when the young bachelors go out on Dec. 5th and 6th, dressed with antlers and fur like Celtic shamans to fight the evil spirits. To make sure that they only fight the evil spirits, the good kids have to be kept off the street (which of course turned into the opposite - nothing is more fun than getting chased by the wild Santas as a kid). My son used to be one of the wild Santas and he volunteered me to provide hot tea for them every night - alcohol is not allowed during the run. The Barbaras are bachelorettes dressed in moss masks and witch costumes. They go after men who dare to go out on Dec. 4th and whip them with their brooms (again, the opposite takes place and all the men are out on the street wanting to get whipped by the Barbaras). Women are treated friendly by the Barbaras and a whip of their broom makes them frugal. The wild witches are called Barbaras as Dec. 4th is the day designated to the holy Barbara. Just one proof how deeply pagan customs and Catholicism is interwoven in my home area. Another custom on Dec. 4th is to cut cherry or apple tree branches and put them in water. They usually start to blossom until Dec. 24 - a sign of hope and light in all the dark and cold - just like the birth of God's son. On New Year's Day we visit neighbors and sweep their doors with the broom provided to sweep away the evil for the new year. You can't sweep your own door, unfortunately. Other people have to do that for you - in other words you have to be social in order to get your doorstep swept. You can't be an outsider and I am sure the Catholic church loved that custom to keep their sheep together rather than losing them to the Lutherans or other believes. Again, just my own opinion. There are zillions of stories usually told by the grandparents to the kids during quiet Advent nights about how evil spirits jumped into somebody's back when standing on a crossing at midnight. We loved listening to these stories just like US kids love Halloween. Designating a distinctive time to the evil made it more controllable for our ancestors. If you know when evil strikes, it is easier to resist it. Just my opinion. Quit frankly, I miss all that although I like to have my Christmas tree up early December instead of waiting until Dec. 24 like the Germans do. I like the hustling and bustling holiday time here with shopping, parades, and light decor, but I still miss my hometown's customs as well. There are two sides fighting in my soul of where I want to spend the holidays. This year, California won - the only concession: my grand-daughter gets to open her presents on Christmas Eve because the Christkind brings them. After all the discussion we went through however, I do suspect Clay playing Santa and putting something out for the next morning for Adriana to live the American version.

Happy Christmas Y'all!

Sacrificed
Originally uploaded by Munichmaedchen.

Antler
Originally uploaded by Munichmaedchen.

Christmas in the Park
Originally uploaded by Munichmaedchen.