Die Sonne scheint

The final box, finally, was located. At my own post office, no less. Thanks, Nadia, for all your help! I had almost let go of the idea of ever getting these clothes back, and without many exceptions, that seemed OK. But then they got here! And so I take it back. I am excited to see them. Plus, "the sun shines" today, and I went for a bike ride down by the Rhein. Parts of the street are old and cobbled (so, not the most comfortable ride) but quite pretty, anyway. It felt incredibly good to be outside. Not because it was warm, per se; I'd forgotten a scarf, but then I decided that rather than have it be uncomfortable, it would just BE. That worked OK.

everyone is happy that the sun is out

There was a little sign explaining that this structure is for wild bees. It was pretty neat looking. tennis court, snow, shadows on snow (sky in background should be blue, I think my camera is slowly winding its way towards death--not too quickly, I hope)

camo-tree

close-up for confirmation

the camo tree makes its own little mines

I'll be putting more pictures from the ride up on flickr. Speaking of pictures, I got to find out a little family history as a result of the honoring at the Capitol in Washington of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, of which my grandmother Adie was one. Turns out there's an excellent web archive, thanks to the Texas Woman's University Library, with hundreds of pictures of the WASPs hanging around planes, or on the beach, or doing other things. Here's my grandmother, Lewise Coleman (not Adie, yet):

and here she is (striped shirt) with some friends

Caption from the website: Houston Municipal Airport, Houston, Texas. Mary Darling (43-W-2), Lewise Coleman (43-W-2), Carol Fillmore (43-W-2), and Hedy Lemar in front of a Cessna Bobcat.

Yea, WASPs. Unlike my mom's mom, the famous Milly, "Grandma A" died when I was 14, and I barely got to know her. So, seeing these photos is pretty great. Here's the link to the website, if anyone wants to poke around some more.