tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409054858638440812024-03-14T04:11:51.786-07:00Na, MannMarcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-71998667623753867312012-12-24T11:19:00.002-08:002012-12-24T11:19:55.861-08:00Christmas Gifts - The Airplane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My first Christmas in Canada was a special one for sure but there's really only one thing that sticks in my mind from that day and it wasn't exactly the best memory.<br />
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I was 3 years old for our first Christmas in Canada and my parents got me a great gift... A battery powered airlplane. It didn't fly but it rolled along the ground and had flashing lights. All in all a pretty cool gift for a 3 year old. I didn't waste any time and started playing with it right away which thrilled my parents because I was staying out of trouble. So I "flew" my plane around the apartment and decided the hanger was the kitchen. <br />
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Now the next events weren't quite as clear, and that's the story I'm sticking to, but somehow the blender cord, from the blender that was also a Christmas present, ended up wrapped around the plane and I then proceded to turn the plane on. As my toy plane taxied down the kitchen floor runway it slowly pulled the blender cord taught and ever so slowly dragged the blender along the counter until it crashed to the floor. My parents weren't too thrilled <br />
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Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-63183728515293152472012-12-15T20:10:00.000-08:002012-12-15T20:10:02.625-08:00RäuchermännchenRäuchermännchen or smoking men were the creation of miners in the Ore mountains of Germany. <br />
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The ore mountain mines have had their ups and downs ever since the 12th century when the first silver mines were opened. Over the centuries tin, cobalt, uranium and other ores were found within these mountains and with each new discovery more people would flow into the region. However, populations increased and decreased in the area based on factors ranging from political instabilites, trade policies, lapses in finding more deposits and wars.<br />
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It was during these decreases in production when money became tight that people in the area started <br />
looking for other ways to generate income. The miners turned to the forests in the area and the excess <br />
wood that they had at their disposal. From this resource they started making wooden goods and toys; a lot of which were Christmas themed. <br />
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Räuchermännchen were one of these products. First seen around 1830 they were usually human figures representing the miners themselves or other trades within the area. Hunters, fishers, bakers etc... The toy makers would also sneak in political statements into these figures from time to time if they were displeased with the way the buracracy was ruling.<br />
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They are made of 2 pieces and hollowed out. A cone of incense is placed on the bottom and then the <br />
second part, usually the upper body of the figurine is placed on top. The incense is lit and a hole <br />
representing the mouth allows the smoke to come out. They now have a greater variety of smokers from houses, cannons, animals and various character themes.<br />
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Growing up we had one that was a soldier or king, it was one of those simple things that didn't really stand out when I was younger. I think my parents had it since I was born or even before that and as the years went on it became a regular christmas decoration that was placed on the table with our advent wreath. It's like an old t-shirt, nothing special, but it's been there through the good times and bad and becomes such a part of your experiences that it's doesn't feel right when it's not there. Not something dramatic, just a subtle feeling that it is expected to be there. I've kept a quite a few things like this throughout my life that represent or have a very strong bond to a specific time or experience in my life. To compound this the incense adds another dimension to the memories and it provides another sweet aromatic link to the past.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-17595788429378226242012-12-11T19:43:00.001-08:002012-12-11T19:43:44.122-08:00Glühwein <div style="text-align: center;">
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Glühwein - or mulled wine dates back to ancient roman times but the tradition of drinking it around Christmas time dates back to the 14th century Germany and was drank primarily around the Winter Solstice and during the Advent Season. The more I research these great Christmas traditions the more I realize that this era was quite a renaissance time in Germany for Christmas traditions. <br />
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It is a heated spiced wine, spiced with cinnamon sticks, star aniseed, cloves, sugar and citus which has become a staple in every Christmas market in and outside of Germany.<br />
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Germany alone consumed over 50 million litres of it last year with Nürnberger Glühwein being the most popular brand out there. <br />
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This drink was something I only discovered recently during one of my trips to a german deli about an hours' drive away. Not being a drinker or a fan of the taste of alcohol I was weary about trying it in the store. They were offering free samples and the aroma of the sweet wine permeated through my nasal passages. It's alchol free (or close to it - .05% or less) so I thought I'd give it a shot. Taking my first sip the fruity liquid warmed my throat all the way down to my stomach. I nursed the remainder enjoying every drop. It's somewhat sweet but not a hot chocolate sweet. More a tangy, fruity sweet. <br />
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Think of a warmed up sangria.<br />
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Needless to say I bought a few bottles and a couple of them became nice gifts to family and friends during the holiday season.<br />
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On a cold day this warm wine goes down really nice and is a wonderful comfort drink.<br />
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Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-80443300044133027892012-12-07T19:31:00.004-08:002012-12-07T19:31:57.662-08:00Christmas Markets - Part 2One of my dreams is to get the chance to visit the Christmas markets in Germany. Until them I've got youtube and the internet to be able to bring them to me.<br />
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There's one that I've found that I thought was really well done:<br />
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I love the song, <a href="http://badgerland.bandcamp.com/track/christmas-time" target="_blank">Christmas Time</a> by Will Heikoop & Maya Filipič used in this video. A search for a downloadable version brought me to the <a href="http://badgerland.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">badgerland site</a>. It's a neat site that allows musicians to get their songs out there. Some are really neat and others aren't to my tastes but it's a fun to listen to all the original songs and the individual interpretations of some of the mainstream songs.<br />
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I got quite a kick out of this one: <a href="http://badgerland.bandcamp.com/track/kristis-surf-christmas" target="_blank">Kristi's Surf Christmas</a><br />
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Enjoy<br />
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Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-12642896864126842642012-12-07T19:07:00.000-08:002012-12-07T19:07:03.222-08:00The Christmas TreeThe Christmas Tree always had a special place in my heart. Each year my father pulled out the artificial tree and methodically strung the lights on the tree, carefully placed the ornaments on the tree and then with a keen eye hung the tinsel artistically on the tree.<br />
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It's a tradition that I've gladly taken over and I enjoy almost all parts of it. I've even made stringing the lights into a pleasant Christmas experience by putting in the Michael Buble Christmas CD and get the kids involved a bit. I don't know how long I'll have them excited about putting up lights, since they're quite young. I'm hoping to get one of those pre-lit trees by the time they lose their naivite and this will speed up the process so they can get to what they really want to do... Hang the decorations.<br />
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The lights went much better and faster on the tree than they did on the roof. Once that was done it was onto the ornaments. I passed this part over to the kids who where getting more and more antsy about helping out more. With the help of their mom they started placing the orbs and other ornaments on the tree. <br />
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We have ornaments that we've been gathering over the years during our travels around town, on our trips and that have special meaning for us. Some of the ornaments we have...the first ornament my wife and I bought together when we were dating... ornaments from our trips to costa rica, bahamas, quebec city... an ornament that I got in Newfoundland when I went to go spread my fathers ashes in the Atlantic... and "my first christmas" ornaments for both my daughters. There are many more and we're either going to have to get a bigger tree or start rotating the ornaments each year.<br />
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So the kids eagerly decorate the tree but my little one hasn't quite gotten the idea of symmetry yet and before we knew it we had a ton of similar ornaments all gathered around the bottom of the tree. At least she had fun.<br />
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Finally, after all ornaments are placed and the fiberoptic angel is at the top of the tree on go the lights.<br />
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We sit back and enjoy the sparkle and wonderment in their eyes.<br />
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It's not a designer tree or one that has a specific theme but it is one that we love and has a lot of special meaningMarcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-19406262505494711282012-12-07T18:40:00.000-08:002012-12-07T18:40:14.593-08:00Christmas LightsThis was the first year that I tried putting up Christmas lights on our house. To be fair, I did a half-hearted attempt to wrap some lights around the porch the last few years but this is the first time I actually bared the elements to put lights up along the eaves troughs.<br />
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To be honest my wife has been asking me to put lights up each year but I never felt up to the task. Probably had to do with the image of Clark Griswold climbing up on the roof, staple gun in hand wiring up thousands of lights. Then the lights not coming on and having to check each bulb to see which one wasn't working. My adventure wasn't quite as challenging but it did have it's hiccups.<br />
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<strong>Step 1:</strong> Getting all the lights... The thought of decking the halls has been on my mind since I was about 16 and I would drive by houses that could be seen from outerspace and my friends and I would be in awe and say... That's what I'm going to do when I have a house. In any case, the last few years I've been buying a few lights here and there after christmas when they're on sale. Mistake #1, which I'll explain later. Down to the basement I go to grab the supplies and outside I go, <br />
<br /><strong>Step 2:</strong> Prepping the lights... Taking the brand new lights out of the boxes I proceed to untangle them and get them ready to go up on the eaves. Not testing them out. Mistake #2 (but a minor one I have to admit) and determining which way to plug them in, Mistake #3.<br />
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<strong>Step 3:</strong> Stringing the lights... Up the 6 foot ladder (mistake #4) I go. My house is a newer one in a subdivision where the main floor ceilings are typically 9 feet or more. Luckily I'm somewhat tall and can reach the eaves of my house fairly easily. Just have to stretch a bit by the garage but, all the while, in my mind I'm wondering how and if I'll be able to reach the eaves where the roof peaks by the front door. I'm sure it will be fine :) . <br />
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Stringing on the lights along the garage has been very easy and quick but then I realize... I think I want to get rid of some of the slack within the lights so I thought... Eh... 10 more minutes of work, no problem. This way if I need extra length I don't have to do things again later. It's a bit of a challenge taking out the clips that attach the lights to the eaves but not too bad. <br />
<br />Onto the peak of the house by the entrance. Moving the ladder onto the porch I find out that I can reach the right and left sides of the peak but at the centre I fall a bit short. I have to get the ladder closer but unfortunately the 2 stairs to the porch are there. I have to find something to place the ladder on. Yes, I know what you're thinking, bad idea. down to the basement I go. I search around for anything that is big enough and stable enough... block of wood, nope, old toobox... Not wide enough... I end up picking up a box of big university text books. They seem stable enough let's put them to good use. Went outside and was able to put a bunch of them together to create a fairly stable base but my 6 year old daughter wasn't that convinced and told me to be careful.<br />Tested it out a bit, and carefully made my way to the top. Strung a nice set of stars along the peak eaves and not a wobble on the ladder. Off to the last string.<br />
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<strong>Step 4:</strong> kind of: Starting over<br />As I was about to hook in the last 10 feet of lights I just realized... the plugs need to be on the other side. I don't know if the clean air got to me, or what, but I actually did think about this before I started the process and my brain was completely reversed. So down come the lights. By this point my neighbour who had been out running errands stops by and sees me stretching on my short ladder and offers his 8 foot ladder. Bless him. This speads up the process dramatically and I manage to set up the stars in the middle a lot better and more efficiently. Thank goodness.<br />
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<strong>Step 5:</strong> lighting it.<br />After some death defying acrobatics and about an hour longer than it should have taken the lights have been strung and the moment of truth arrives. I go to plug in the lights and flip the switch in the house that turns on the lights... Nothing. I plug the cord into the second plug and once again flip the switch... Nothing... After switching back and forth a few times and getting the same results I step back. Then it hits me... There's a light socket on the ceiling of the porch. So running the lights back over to that socket, plug it in and voila. We have chrismas lights... Sort of.<br />
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Turns out the feature that is a bit of the highlight, the stars in the middle of the porch peak, half of them are not working. Luckily I still have the 8 foot ladder and take down the middle section. I take the lights inside because my hands getting a bit numb at this point and try and find the burnt bulb. I plug in the lights and guess what, they're all working now. I shake it around to see if I can make the lights go out again but they're staying on. Back outside I go. At this point I've gotten quite quick at hooking the lights in and it's now no problem stringing the centre lights up. I plug the stars in to make sure they are still working as I'm hanging them up. 10 minutes and they're up and working. A few hours later, it's dark and we decide to turn on the lights... Sure enough, the stars are out again. Rather than going through this again I decided to just go and buy something new the next day. <br />
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I ended up finding the exact same stars and headed back home. I tested them first and then up they went. Success!!!! Kind of<br />
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All the lights are now on but one or two of the strands bought at the end of the season at half price last year, surprisingly, don't have the same colour led lights. Some of the lights are an odd yellow colour and not like the white light of the others. It looks a bit off but I'm willing to live with it this year.<br />
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So what should have been about an easy one hour job turned into a multi day event. Although I now feel justified in having procrastinated putting up lights over the last few years I do like the satisfaction of having completed this and I did learn some key points in the set up process that I'll apply next year (assuming I want to). Namely... Buy a tall ladder, test the lights beforehand, think about where things get plugged in.<br />
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Next up... The Christmas TreeMarcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-30228500599496646112012-12-01T16:01:00.001-08:002012-12-01T16:01:23.362-08:00I'm Back...It's been a busy 2 years since I last posted so I thought I'd start writing where I left off... With more Christmas traditions. Then, I hope to include some more stories about my dad and his adventures around the world after the Christmas season.<br />
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Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-35973437567743520672010-12-25T16:34:00.000-08:002011-01-06T18:45:56.918-08:00Countdown to ChristmasMarcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-83261368908880334072010-12-19T19:01:00.000-08:002010-12-19T19:01:55.013-08:00Christmas Traditions - Weihnachtsteller - Christmas Plate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoER7l-LJuspqsPGoWziTKJhTH2Fkd30hQeEsXekxo4VMfQ5e-8uBqMTzHBbkR9xNwQVJ93IQy54ZUJSzT5z2-viNY7dtP0CB01hdGf0cgFPSsvkA-RWOJoeGAHv5unsuiXKbtc0mnEO7o/s1600/Weihnachtsteller+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoER7l-LJuspqsPGoWziTKJhTH2Fkd30hQeEsXekxo4VMfQ5e-8uBqMTzHBbkR9xNwQVJ93IQy54ZUJSzT5z2-viNY7dtP0CB01hdGf0cgFPSsvkA-RWOJoeGAHv5unsuiXKbtc0mnEO7o/s1600/Weihnachtsteller+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The Christmas Plate - As a kid it was impossible not to love this. How could you not... Each plate had a fun festive design (snowmen, santa, Christmas scene) on it which was made of cardboard, aluminum or ceramic and it could be a nice keepsake afterwards as well.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5Ha4EHXT6Of8F6zsKQ2RL_OrhJ7fDZtqV5WNSeYvX79u6Gz3NvTU6IZhup6xYDp0ppy4jGhP1PoVmp-pr1AZCMLmkUubY75d-1dnMHwX-gxabW07XCO9bDngonjr5nnEMG-0Msz-vRkF/s1600/plate1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5Ha4EHXT6Of8F6zsKQ2RL_OrhJ7fDZtqV5WNSeYvX79u6Gz3NvTU6IZhup6xYDp0ppy4jGhP1PoVmp-pr1AZCMLmkUubY75d-1dnMHwX-gxabW07XCO9bDngonjr5nnEMG-0Msz-vRkF/s1600/plate1.jpg" width="100" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJru94g-5vgykztHmyYY0U9MN_19sOjCxDpy84OCf0yoFIoWl_9p5pNOELdZlRBFMCA4xptbgFptCItK1epB_aH0x-ZsEILhMn43fldpcq5E6kngII1FyVeUEwr4pJIwGsIRREyIWv9gq3/s1600/plate+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJru94g-5vgykztHmyYY0U9MN_19sOjCxDpy84OCf0yoFIoWl_9p5pNOELdZlRBFMCA4xptbgFptCItK1epB_aH0x-ZsEILhMn43fldpcq5E6kngII1FyVeUEwr4pJIwGsIRREyIWv9gq3/s320/plate+3.jpg" width="160" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0wVhJIe1HrerhATvV4-cgko-dRQGP354-XD4_g3Vn-lr_ORytzhOdmQVfNOkGVeuUmZwhGeK_ywASgHRPpBGVy0MTvUBSCvNvUJBeE7SRpLOKPpQSw1ZZT45KPFkH6Mk2HmptaH_KRAV/s1600/plate+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0wVhJIe1HrerhATvV4-cgko-dRQGP354-XD4_g3Vn-lr_ORytzhOdmQVfNOkGVeuUmZwhGeK_ywASgHRPpBGVy0MTvUBSCvNvUJBeE7SRpLOKPpQSw1ZZT45KPFkH6Mk2HmptaH_KRAV/s1600/plate+2.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
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Of course the plate was of little consideration by the kids since it was usually burried under the treats which usually consisted of the obligatory Christmas Santa but also had...<br />
<ol><li>A Niederegger marzipan loaf</li>
<li>Christmas cookies - a wide assortment of shapes and styles - star, round, christmas tree shaped shortbread, Pfeffernüsse, marzipan, lebkuchen and the list goes on</li>
<li>Dominoes - a cube with 3 layers (gingerbread, Jam and Marzipan) covered in chocolate</li>
<li>Jellies in the shape of circles and stars</li>
<li>Marzipan pig (it represented good luck)</li>
<li>Gold chocolate coins</li>
<li>Marzipan balls</li>
<li>These cool little chocolates in the shape of christmas packages wrapped </li>
</ol>But as my dad said along with the treats you had to get healthy things as well<br />
<ol><li>Walnuts & Hazelnuts</li>
<li>An Apple</li>
<li>Clementines</li>
</ol>My dad had so much fun putting these together for each of the kids on Christmas Eve. As you can see from the list you can really go overboard<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIX758hbzZTGyQdjHrpCWSKImQTA2ei7cLstMKqjI21rvS_Q0Klfj6t1231k6HesDmvzErlFK8ReoTGOYWHn_-tb06N9cph0mR_nQckCmcTGJ4j8Foo841VgVc5fgdi0nPVY8BFy0N5r35/s1600/weihnachtsteller+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIX758hbzZTGyQdjHrpCWSKImQTA2ei7cLstMKqjI21rvS_Q0Klfj6t1231k6HesDmvzErlFK8ReoTGOYWHn_-tb06N9cph0mR_nQckCmcTGJ4j8Foo841VgVc5fgdi0nPVY8BFy0N5r35/s320/weihnachtsteller+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And no, this wasn't something I got, but you have to give the guy who put this together credit. Like all Christmas traditions these days it seems quite commercial, it was for the kids and could be quite simple and made completely with home made cookies and treats.<br />
The hardest thing about this tradition was that they'd give us these before our Christmas Eve dinner and we couldn't eat anything from the plate until after we finished our meal. But boy did the "goodies" taste good after having to wait.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-29846962335664985412010-12-19T09:04:00.000-08:002010-12-19T09:04:35.860-08:00Christmas Traditions - Christmas Pyramid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYnznTa0jQwhsphijTAOoYPbUmIh6ST8J-FiqKUHCXpCgVq-ZDTdhEmUL3ydujkLn85OTXcvakO9CahN7JIuelkPrrdP7Dx2KKWfC5FMyZfCzp73Rv43ys7Nd3pHLQ_OqKObNTaIEe6cX/s1600/simple+2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYnznTa0jQwhsphijTAOoYPbUmIh6ST8J-FiqKUHCXpCgVq-ZDTdhEmUL3ydujkLn85OTXcvakO9CahN7JIuelkPrrdP7Dx2KKWfC5FMyZfCzp73Rv43ys7Nd3pHLQ_OqKObNTaIEe6cX/s1600/simple+2.gif" /></a></div><br />
The Christmas Pyramid was one of the other things that never really caught on in North America as much as it did in Germany. Although there are some parts of the U.S. where they are quite popular. A neat little bit of science that added another dimension to the Christmas decorations in the house. If anyone remembers Christmas Vacation, this is what kept being knocked over and Clark kept trying to rebuild. Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of it. But I had to get a shot of Eddie in here.<br />
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They say it was the predecessor to the Christmas tree. A kind of Carousel with 4 - 8 sides and anywhere from one to six or more tiers it has a propellor at the top. Each tier has a specific type of scene portrayed usually involving Christian motifs.<br />
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<tr><TD><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj051LHTpclX8SlASXYki2UrPkd6FLxJO6Y1VPnlYdOax1Vja7UEZ1ujUv7Ept_c63JE-w8aaQ-nQ62-jJBVhwwlpdKwet28zMtGQhX1YDlQxPANDfH5Ji8CB0WoBy0uPR-ZAwtdAhA4Fp0/s1600/pyramid+4.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj051LHTpclX8SlASXYki2UrPkd6FLxJO6Y1VPnlYdOax1Vja7UEZ1ujUv7Ept_c63JE-w8aaQ-nQ62-jJBVhwwlpdKwet28zMtGQhX1YDlQxPANDfH5Ji8CB0WoBy0uPR-ZAwtdAhA4Fp0/s1600/pyramid+4.gif" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTczXGt5AOrJ0dZSxRO4H5y880oo1cuYVXHlspcqiY2XTQFcU0O3ww48A4Rvty2rFK4KLTND8ItDcaUnPvE6NHF8fi_G04fn_3Ea2mwDk2BLdcIhOD7G1rc36haHvw37R_Ccq4k16_pgly/s1600/simple.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTczXGt5AOrJ0dZSxRO4H5y880oo1cuYVXHlspcqiY2XTQFcU0O3ww48A4Rvty2rFK4KLTND8ItDcaUnPvE6NHF8fi_G04fn_3Ea2mwDk2BLdcIhOD7G1rc36haHvw37R_Ccq4k16_pgly/s1600/simple.gif" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hmFKlOfc9TFITy0Mh45si949aZmC7OFKsyg-g5GPJ6KWICSfBULCPvsJu3jN1qedMpY5bw-SbdMoc95KEwxid4OauGbqixQGMtyTE8JrddHfrbg5BkfeBMkxCvmrJP3pcMH0BCvgShkt/s1600/pyramid+5.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hmFKlOfc9TFITy0Mh45si949aZmC7OFKsyg-g5GPJ6KWICSfBULCPvsJu3jN1qedMpY5bw-SbdMoc95KEwxid4OauGbqixQGMtyTE8JrddHfrbg5BkfeBMkxCvmrJP3pcMH0BCvgShkt/s320/pyramid+5.gif" width="124" /></a></td></tr>
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The neat thing is that they have candles at the bottom and the heat from them turns the blades of the fan at the top. This then moves all the levels of the carousel. A really cool bit of technology.<br />
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In some of the Christmas Markets they build them to over 45 feet. These Weihnachtspyramide are from Dresden and Aachen<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPbNqK9qLCqFRkASBZrFXIeK5Wa5HEIvWHN_naFTT7B43k8X6n9-soKtcLscPF39XP5AAPUxOwkNXyima1cv3HsK5SM51AY9IT1YC4jBEIhFC4oOWmTMcVoYOOOh0CFtq4Sngt9wrcoRC/s1600/dresden+tower+2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPbNqK9qLCqFRkASBZrFXIeK5Wa5HEIvWHN_naFTT7B43k8X6n9-soKtcLscPF39XP5AAPUxOwkNXyima1cv3HsK5SM51AY9IT1YC4jBEIhFC4oOWmTMcVoYOOOh0CFtq4Sngt9wrcoRC/s1600/dresden+tower+2.gif" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7l1xdu8ngCduwDCIIgbVB-TUCgPlk7nsYX7Jj5i6tURlbY8fIsc7HJ3RwgiYrzyTxAW4shHWeQU9wbopUqI9w_DfUuU3TzCslAHuKsvvgN3FbZTvZpPSiU2QU7R8b6n9SdpYh6kZgW1RA/s1600/first+one.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7l1xdu8ngCduwDCIIgbVB-TUCgPlk7nsYX7Jj5i6tURlbY8fIsc7HJ3RwgiYrzyTxAW4shHWeQU9wbopUqI9w_DfUuU3TzCslAHuKsvvgN3FbZTvZpPSiU2QU7R8b6n9SdpYh6kZgW1RA/s320/first+one.gif" width="167" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-83563176544884505912010-12-18T19:44:00.000-08:002010-12-18T19:44:03.098-08:00Christmas Traditions - Stollen & Fruit Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Rly2ldKzPI_qQZzMaa8OTLSLXVe8h6krjiEpDV0n9YHE5Bsy-osO2CTvtLFgtrrTEiz_-k511WT3FFrwDPyfGpRQoZYNb5Afj7tNPmkMnQ_NmIllKCl00u2doonKZazlEw13hGFhJ_C0/s1600/fruitcake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Rly2ldKzPI_qQZzMaa8OTLSLXVe8h6krjiEpDV0n9YHE5Bsy-osO2CTvtLFgtrrTEiz_-k511WT3FFrwDPyfGpRQoZYNb5Afj7tNPmkMnQ_NmIllKCl00u2doonKZazlEw13hGFhJ_C0/s1600/fruitcake.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The fruitcake... The brunt of endless jokes at Christmas time. Some say it's heavy, not sweet and that there is only one in existance, circling the earth, being regifted from one person to the next. As I am not a fan of this Christmas cake I would tend to agree with the above statements. I am however a fan of it's sister... The German Stollen.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9q_iBS8Mgnn2UCX4e0LV7rx1TWDaU_W3B9AVFqx7Kk0KHIHL8dI3Fkh3DgRCmgyVbSJUvlXgemTx_odsAPbHYI459H82QiLa6kLFcfsPyxQouGGZeFhGVT3EsFOO2Fl6evEFHbkzVuFJ/s1600/stollen.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9q_iBS8Mgnn2UCX4e0LV7rx1TWDaU_W3B9AVFqx7Kk0KHIHL8dI3Fkh3DgRCmgyVbSJUvlXgemTx_odsAPbHYI459H82QiLa6kLFcfsPyxQouGGZeFhGVT3EsFOO2Fl6evEFHbkzVuFJ/s320/stollen.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Dating back to the early 1400's the first Stollen was made in Dresden. During the time of Advent, Catholics were not allowed to use butter and milk in their baking so it was rather tasteless and heavy. Forty-years, several petitions and 6 popes later the bakers Guild of Dresden was given permission to use butter and milk in their Stollen but only for the Prince-Elector his family and household. Others could do so but would have to pay a fine which would go to building of a Minster (Church) in another city (Freiburg - quite a distance away)<br />
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It is now baked throughout Germany and the world and goes by many different names in German: Stollen, Dresden Stollen, Strutzel, Striezel, Stutenbrot, or Christstollen. The traditional German Christmas cake, is a colorful collection of nuts, raisins, currants, candied orange and lemon peel, traditional spices of Christmas such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, mace or cloves, brandy or rum and lots of butter. Personally, it has to have Marzipan in it as well. It's that little extra sweetness that does it for me<br />
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</div>However, just like "bubbly" can only be called "Champagne" if made in Champagne, only in Dresden can you get the official Dresden Stollen. Only 150 bakers make this "brand" which carries an official seal. <br />
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The shape of the cake was originally meant to represent the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes but now it can carry many different shapes and sizes. Although not as dense as fruitcake they have made one weighing over 4200 pounds<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUnJg5gWYrb6enoVaWrxgaO2ikNj4GSfiQsA3zCxq4C2nWRcnbn-cQJbmE6aoOxkai4Uw8eLClliLQzhVxQlqEX4Bx3om71dWrc104OLLyXa-haNPre0VYcG2EXINM7rcAz2vbqw1-LYg/s1600/stollen+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUnJg5gWYrb6enoVaWrxgaO2ikNj4GSfiQsA3zCxq4C2nWRcnbn-cQJbmE6aoOxkai4Uw8eLClliLQzhVxQlqEX4Bx3om71dWrc104OLLyXa-haNPre0VYcG2EXINM7rcAz2vbqw1-LYg/s1600/stollen+1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This was made in the city of Dresden for, get this, "Stollenfest". A festival for cake...<br />
I am so there.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3dBvHmyivwny-xtBz-IWAB9GsSvCcggtDPt2racQCqar2capGUGXpqWsjBlnMY_xCL2cPjsF-vu35rBSHLpWImddxiso01UrvpACAke2cvXUUwk_-v8XvZ_QBhP0L6eNOQ0Ko88H6np-J/s1600/stollenfest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3dBvHmyivwny-xtBz-IWAB9GsSvCcggtDPt2racQCqar2capGUGXpqWsjBlnMY_xCL2cPjsF-vu35rBSHLpWImddxiso01UrvpACAke2cvXUUwk_-v8XvZ_QBhP0L6eNOQ0Ko88H6np-J/s320/stollenfest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-14851730020305926322010-12-18T18:27:00.000-08:002010-12-18T18:27:18.764-08:00Christmas Traditions - Gingerbread House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2H2cXpk-O590zdLQvVupAUULtCOV2LMH8Ik54nfr-u7tE6CuISRZMGkBSUGgH4AwE_sr5X2CnxW0vncNjftVfrUdxNU9aW8Qyw25Di7_ZuIXrsk9YK8gPO3YDrnjgAgf4PK8LHc_aVMq/s1600/ginger+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2H2cXpk-O590zdLQvVupAUULtCOV2LMH8Ik54nfr-u7tE6CuISRZMGkBSUGgH4AwE_sr5X2CnxW0vncNjftVfrUdxNU9aW8Qyw25Di7_ZuIXrsk9YK8gPO3YDrnjgAgf4PK8LHc_aVMq/s320/ginger+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Ah, gingerbread houses. Where would they be without Hanzel and Gretel? <br />
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Gingerbread was brought to Europe about 1000 years ago and was baked for religious ceremonies. Since Germany was the centre of the spice trade, ginger was in abundance. Due to this abundance the bakers were very creative baking gingerbread using molds of animals, fish, and bible scenes wieghing over 100 pounds.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d1FSbNFBRtRtOxQkKcwFjSo3jlEPUkMjNc6nb24k99rS4gSHqDV0E_8YTVsKu9jXoOeA7yaYFaexZ-_fEedEnRugmiVQd4nDS5R2EfONSjBu8N5EycU3pnMFUl1T2RBqqFNvE6yR70q8/s1600/ginger+nativity.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d1FSbNFBRtRtOxQkKcwFjSo3jlEPUkMjNc6nb24k99rS4gSHqDV0E_8YTVsKu9jXoOeA7yaYFaexZ-_fEedEnRugmiVQd4nDS5R2EfONSjBu8N5EycU3pnMFUl1T2RBqqFNvE6yR70q8/s1600/ginger+nativity.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
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Although no one knows when the first gingerbread house was made, odds are Nuremberg and it's Christmas Markets dating back to 1614 were probably where it was sold to the general public. In fact there was a Guild of master bakers called the Lebkuchlers that had exclusive rights to baking gingerbread in that city.<br />
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It probably wasn't until the brothers Grimm brought the tale of Hanzel and Gretel to the general populace of Europe and North America in the 1800's that the houses really caught on (went viral so to speak). <br />
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Now you can get completely insane creations<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00maH63DvOcuMnEWNJ3hYDXH5FyTVxZAafLqLtNHnNsNgdjiKTd7vFtvHgy4IeRFF1hyphenhyphenf3nc13gZkaIdy5dJYhTgqcxz_nXLmwnxg-KaK4iQTQlNG5l5X1NoR49GBl_EiNsA6UUqkL92B/s1600/ginger+bridge+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00maH63DvOcuMnEWNJ3hYDXH5FyTVxZAafLqLtNHnNsNgdjiKTd7vFtvHgy4IeRFF1hyphenhyphenf3nc13gZkaIdy5dJYhTgqcxz_nXLmwnxg-KaK4iQTQlNG5l5X1NoR49GBl_EiNsA6UUqkL92B/s320/ginger+bridge+1.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
</td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-v9geiN-GPx-Fwf1YPDQNYQvf7SuQ5Wm95PHC_2Zl8cyIzTzP1Qy-Gt4GVXk4NnIVmmTsFBEabQz2TLC7YrABTIR77qUmuVc_40s7hefx0EHg7hwGneR2p-4epUq9YfFueQpfOrgKhvt/s1600/ginger+russia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-v9geiN-GPx-Fwf1YPDQNYQvf7SuQ5Wm95PHC_2Zl8cyIzTzP1Qy-Gt4GVXk4NnIVmmTsFBEabQz2TLC7YrABTIR77qUmuVc_40s7hefx0EHg7hwGneR2p-4epUq9YfFueQpfOrgKhvt/s320/ginger+russia.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
</table></div><br />
Our family cheated a bit with our gingerbread houses. My dad actually made ours out of cardboard. Decorated it with all the goodies... Marshmallows, gumdrops, icing etc... And then applied a very liberal layer of a shellac or something like that. At the end of the Christmas season we'd pack it away and pull it out the next year. I think one house lasted us on average 5 years or so, looked pretty good and it was as solid as a rock. Even the marshmallows.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-2326242522246676002010-12-18T16:22:00.000-08:002010-12-18T18:30:38.628-08:00Christmas Traditions - Weihnachtsmärkte<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSO0veJjmDUjec6OfmTLC6J-jd1xLOWcjx-a6g1qIWK3GqJ0Pfx5FNaS8AFhFgs2mu2RpgX7HfqWH8PKQOvd2BbdllpFEEpDrrapr2kYvqrwU1Tb87qL8SCEpomcrGbAdeI6C_20ukuJNi/s1600/market+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSO0veJjmDUjec6OfmTLC6J-jd1xLOWcjx-a6g1qIWK3GqJ0Pfx5FNaS8AFhFgs2mu2RpgX7HfqWH8PKQOvd2BbdllpFEEpDrrapr2kYvqrwU1Tb87qL8SCEpomcrGbAdeI6C_20ukuJNi/s1600/market+2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Liepzig Market</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Something that I haven't yet experienced are the Christmas Markets in Germany. From my understanding, they pop up in nearly every city and town in Germany at the beginning of the Advent season in the town squares. Lights, music and the traditional food in the area are served up. Oh... and did I mention the drinks. Beer, this is Germany we're talking about after all, but also apple cider and a wonderful hot mulled wine called Glühwein.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGS97vdHcNynetc1J3ns-W-UMToYU1KiHAF0gas6748so0iFEg39Y-s9gS8k-hLTwCpxhU9Rb1nTg-MwvtXOLPea4L4phqDuG1mmZbFbl8EfavJpIP7nFmAMObrx-7gHNNvp4gL17CEe6/s1600/market+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGS97vdHcNynetc1J3ns-W-UMToYU1KiHAF0gas6748so0iFEg39Y-s9gS8k-hLTwCpxhU9Rb1nTg-MwvtXOLPea4L4phqDuG1mmZbFbl8EfavJpIP7nFmAMObrx-7gHNNvp4gL17CEe6/s320/market+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lübeck Market</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>They date back to the 14th century and you can buy baked goods, decorations, candles, toys and everything else Christmas related and yes, just like American malls, it gets incredibly busy.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGKMt5MImG96UtHiqXZsCk9_zzKQEXq0VVee01G_48Ews5x5l0eqybLU-Rk31oE-klEbLHdnjl_vthptp3zpF67h4OTrLg1rpdYS2cNpFUO5_dXSLlRxDxOV6Gq5gx8soaoZ3yuJ2VUPe/s1600/market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGKMt5MImG96UtHiqXZsCk9_zzKQEXq0VVee01G_48Ews5x5l0eqybLU-Rk31oE-klEbLHdnjl_vthptp3zpF67h4OTrLg1rpdYS2cNpFUO5_dXSLlRxDxOV6Gq5gx8soaoZ3yuJ2VUPe/s320/market.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt is one of the older ones and has been going for almost 400 years. </div><div style="text-align: left;">As much as I don't like crowds this must be an amazing enviornment to be in.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0A9R5eNt2w8xfjKW8KOHfNT5SJaPBp5m1_zug2p1mOHtAXgxv9ZyHVwMsd63rxlU8OAP4oe0RhU5ImLdnm7HKo5jjc043JYzVz0LtcnhCWz9HsaQ9UeYZgZd8qABgWXfA3L28_NdY7KH1/s1600/market+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0A9R5eNt2w8xfjKW8KOHfNT5SJaPBp5m1_zug2p1mOHtAXgxv9ZyHVwMsd63rxlU8OAP4oe0RhU5ImLdnm7HKo5jjc043JYzVz0LtcnhCWz9HsaQ9UeYZgZd8qABgWXfA3L28_NdY7KH1/s1600/market+6.jpg" /></a></div></div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-600703779731295732010-12-18T13:33:00.000-08:002010-12-19T08:20:44.363-08:00Christmas Traditions - St. Nikolaus's Boot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5m3rx9mkBcaIRC4MHKmTn5ORyMopcRgQGHWmCbWUGhrvDRELExmsa8WdM2ZQMblA_BgC5aaxPfojOt7LX3Eio0J6DAEbZeDcngOSuyZJX8O_QV2ovli1Cq7JL21LTzju2tqgS54GH8Ru/s1600/boot+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5m3rx9mkBcaIRC4MHKmTn5ORyMopcRgQGHWmCbWUGhrvDRELExmsa8WdM2ZQMblA_BgC5aaxPfojOt7LX3Eio0J6DAEbZeDcngOSuyZJX8O_QV2ovli1Cq7JL21LTzju2tqgS54GH8Ru/s320/boot+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Although North America has adopted a lot of European Christmas traditions (Christmas tree, Advent Calendar etc...) one that didn't catch on was St. Nikolaus's boot. This is a tradition that lots of European countries have (in the Netherlands I think they use clogs).<br />
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On the evening of December 5th, St. Nikolaus came to your house and put something in your boot. If you were good it was a small treat. If you were bad it was a lump of coal or a switch to punish the kids. Yikes. I always got a treat :) . <br />
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My parents took it a step further... They had St. Nikolaus come every day between the 6th and the 23rd. I think it was their attempt to keep me in line for the weeks leading up to Christmas. But if I was bad, very seldom I might add, they wouldn't put anything in the boot. I'm glad they didn't go the switch route.<br />
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Sometimes my enthusiasm to see what St. Nikolaus got the better of me. To this day I remember the night when I was around 4 years old and I didn't go to sleep right away. I heard something at the door and when the coast was clear I peeked out. When I checked, there was something in the boot. My parents weren't too pleased about the initiative I showed. I didn't sneak a peek after that incident.<br />
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This was a really fun tradition and I still have the boot (above) that I used, more than 35 years ago, that my 4 year old uses today.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-65835025307705549092010-12-18T12:38:00.000-08:002010-12-18T12:38:51.926-08:00Christmas Traditions - Advent Wreath<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpKNpP0lL4ykKFE47UPQHQCwPjhBTYlE8Sgj_d2uaVM-LLIAyFOWMNFZWoHwQtO_Mz9dsH6edKaxNLPQXw44963FUxvtmCjHbH6kSkuVIJxF7_22gtt4dGrFfKscTRLLrhQ66r6irf19k/s1600/adventcandles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpKNpP0lL4ykKFE47UPQHQCwPjhBTYlE8Sgj_d2uaVM-LLIAyFOWMNFZWoHwQtO_Mz9dsH6edKaxNLPQXw44963FUxvtmCjHbH6kSkuVIJxF7_22gtt4dGrFfKscTRLLrhQ66r6irf19k/s320/adventcandles.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
An Advent Wreath with candles was another sign that the Christmas season was here. It would be placed out on our living room table 4 Sundays before Christmas. We would light the first one on that Sunday night, two the next Sunday, three the next and all four on the Sunday before Christmas. On Christmas eve we would light all four and place a big candle in the centre and light that one too.<br />
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I loved the smell of those candles. The TV went off, Christmas music came on and we just relaxed and enjoyed the time together. The candles had such a warm glow and created such a cozy atmosphere.<br />
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This is a wonderful tradition that I'm carrying forward with my family.<br />
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The Advent wreath has some very powerful symbolism which was something I didn't realize growing up. The 4 candles can represent many things. Literally, it represents the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas. Metaphorically, each candle can also represent 1000 years of the 4000 years that passed between the time Adam and Eve and the birth of Christ. <br />
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The candles also remind us to remember those that we love and are with us today and those that have passed on. The candles also have a more formal reminder...<br />
The first candle recalls the Patriarchs; the second recalls the Prophets; the third recalls St. John the Baptist and the final candle recalls Our Lady. The progressive lighting of the candles also symbolizes the growing expectation and hope of Christ coming into the world and the anticipation of his second coming.<br />
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We usually used red candles but the symbolism can be carried further by using 3 vilot and one rose coloured one (used on the 3rd week). This represents the colours used by the priests during the mass for that week. Cool.<br />
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The circular wreath itself represents eternity and the greenery is symbolizes hope and renewal.<br />
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It's such a small thing but it is such a powerful reminder of why we celebrate the Christmas season.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-34595392338313383232010-12-18T11:18:00.000-08:002010-12-18T11:18:53.220-08:00Christmas Traditions - Advent Calendar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVnT9QwtASH7xjYcmAy2-iyrlpMeRdpq4HpN0wZn3k0RF8QmcMA85lBIIVCM7xTHsW9Yfhxz2YKhYt1KgLKjamBpGYvDxKjLLlX35QyZ3nKfTUpQdK3SF3A0rZE44g4h1d64sKk_UywtN/s1600/advent+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVnT9QwtASH7xjYcmAy2-iyrlpMeRdpq4HpN0wZn3k0RF8QmcMA85lBIIVCM7xTHsW9Yfhxz2YKhYt1KgLKjamBpGYvDxKjLLlX35QyZ3nKfTUpQdK3SF3A0rZE44g4h1d64sKk_UywtN/s320/advent+market.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I loved advent calendars. They were the first signs that Christmas was getting close. Aside from the Christmas decorations going up in the stores right after Halloween.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For some reason, the ones with the glitter made it a little more special. They all have 24 windows/doors and the first few that were given to had a cute picture of a toy or Christmas theme when you opened the door. I didn't get ones that had chocolate behind each door until I was older. I think I prefer the ones with the pictures now, although I've actually order one with Marzipan treats inside from my hometown in Lübeck, Germany. Although, It had a market scene like the calendar above.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now everyone seems to make one. Lindt, Nestle; Even playmobile and Lego have them now. The marketing machine at full power.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I bought one for my eldest (4 years old) and it helps her learn the days and, best of all, keeps her from asking every day if it's Christmas yet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the nicest things about the calendar scenes is that you could emmerse yourself in the scene and image what a wonderful time everyone is having there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-23227779701418191472010-11-19T18:32:00.000-08:002010-11-19T18:32:09.378-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7GV9_JMtb4JeNcE4OGT3tQXzYIF4F75Qajd148tUj57cpROSnlOQ1H_aFMto0Snj_-0Og_gczxpuB0VzCIVDKy1cqqu-KtrFPhPuxiBJ9DCT2Q5vFv5yrAbu8OpF6aeSx9Z0U2o83hZ6/s1600/diplomat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7GV9_JMtb4JeNcE4OGT3tQXzYIF4F75Qajd148tUj57cpROSnlOQ1H_aFMto0Snj_-0Og_gczxpuB0VzCIVDKy1cqqu-KtrFPhPuxiBJ9DCT2Q5vFv5yrAbu8OpF6aeSx9Z0U2o83hZ6/s320/diplomat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>My dad loved big cars. Thunderbird, Buick Riviera, Mercury Cougar. <br />
He owned a couple of these monsters and we also had a plymouth caravelle (diplomat). I loved looking through the little back window and sticking my head out either of the windows. Remember... No seatbelts.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-24303845504922539682010-11-16T17:39:00.000-08:002010-11-16T17:39:45.628-08:00Elevators<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgM9TFZcL09fdECeBolgAIH291Ikde9xDWnL07xApI39-X5bU7U5NrvFsjzaJdxHj6A1PLZm2-GpBOBA7hOnA5HwLcViyvL7iWpWQPMWpDkyO0NpgHjPR_mxnVe4Z7k6ZTMovz4a9kJaL/s1600/elevator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgM9TFZcL09fdECeBolgAIH291Ikde9xDWnL07xApI39-X5bU7U5NrvFsjzaJdxHj6A1PLZm2-GpBOBA7hOnA5HwLcViyvL7iWpWQPMWpDkyO0NpgHjPR_mxnVe4Z7k6ZTMovz4a9kJaL/s320/elevator.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>My father worked as a building superindendent for a few years and owned a cleaning company for several more. Due to these jobs he spent an lot of time in them, using them, moving heavy equipment in them, understanding how they work and with all that time in them... getting stuck as well. It's this experience that he passed along to me. I remember him telling me that whenever he got stuck in an elevator he would pry the doors open and climb out to the closest floor. <br />
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It's due to this advice that I've been able to not have to wait for building security to open the elevator doors for me. I've been stuck 3 times so far and each time I've been able to open the doors and get out. Twice I was alone and the third time I asked the group if it was OK to do so. For some reason they didn't seem to mind. The trickiest part is to get a good grip on the door which can sometimes be difficult, especially with those shiny stainless steel doors. Pressing hard enough while pulling the door open with your fingertips just enough to slip your fingers into the opening and from there you can pull the door open.<br />
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Thanks for the advice dadMarcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-70330509201592838412010-11-09T19:55:00.000-08:002010-11-09T19:57:03.544-08:00It's not KFC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjIxEegMoyfpZegRMjadTc-_tI91Rh49WfwUjApyUk_AQYEi8A-DYx4vTNRqXRA2spjD1U8LRyjNTGd7QBdKrn6HR3FTCMr6veCij1PAgMYrEO1BGHVIu0gByK0gnZa1O9yAYzfYgqaou/s1600/kfc+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjIxEegMoyfpZegRMjadTc-_tI91Rh49WfwUjApyUk_AQYEi8A-DYx4vTNRqXRA2spjD1U8LRyjNTGd7QBdKrn6HR3FTCMr6veCij1PAgMYrEO1BGHVIu0gByK0gnZa1O9yAYzfYgqaou/s320/kfc+3.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />
Had the double down a couple of days ago. Not bad. Great chicken breast but a bit salty for my taste and not sure I'd pay $8 for it again. Besides... Nothing beats the original recipe and format. <br />
<br />
Also... We're talking Kentucky Fried Chicken, not KFC. Taking the direct reference to fried in the title doesn't make it healthy. Loved the 3 piece meal which used to be accompanied by the standard fries. They got rid of these and replaced them with ones that had a weird crispy batter around it. I didn't think they could make fries less healthy but I guess it holds the grease better. Then I always had the nuclear green coleslaw with it and even though I love it, you can't convince me that that is a naturally occuring colour. There was also the garlic bread. I always enjoyed this part of it. Simple and good. It's something I really miss that I wish they would bring back.<br />
<br />
It was really all part of the packaging. From the red/orange, white and black colours on the box to the lemon scented wet wipes they included with the cutlery, pack which also had a fork, knife, spoon, salt, pepper and napkin. Now you're lucky to get a fork and the wet wipe. I'm sure it gives shareholders an extra $0.01/dividend by taking all those things out of the pack.<br />
<br />
One of the reasons I think this is etched so deep into my memory is because it was part of a family tradition. On sunny Sundays we used to go and pick up a bucket from the KFC on the corner, which is still there, and go to the park to have a picnic. It was a time where we would invite relatives along to enjoy the day and soak up the sun.<br />
<br />
It's strange how something like Kentucky Fried Chicken can be associated with a family tradition but I'm sure this is something that most companies would kill to achieve<br />
<br />
Here's a piggy bank my grandfather had that I found a picture of on ebay. I always thought it was neat. Looking at a sanpshot of it now though, it looks kinda creepy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrpIK4mD_mI1t-Xkbsd6micimVhQklTIYAbEeSSXQXeonGtDvTvsNN0BHnCu3iEOytFRThzxTjjRAXHUDcxutMG-mOHIrCYqb0oZZONDtYjX4aWD-Y7pYmB4iZ91lwh-7sn_9fa_3N9Ov9/s1600/piggy+bank1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrpIK4mD_mI1t-Xkbsd6micimVhQklTIYAbEeSSXQXeonGtDvTvsNN0BHnCu3iEOytFRThzxTjjRAXHUDcxutMG-mOHIrCYqb0oZZONDtYjX4aWD-Y7pYmB4iZ91lwh-7sn_9fa_3N9Ov9/s320/piggy+bank1.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-48618667632535336622010-11-04T19:50:00.000-07:002010-11-04T19:50:45.549-07:00Seat Belts?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPap9UInuh6ATmrHw9PNXxOKsSQdROp2BLkCRujuOb5jg8FxSY1VLAL8D-W_BANTSTp4z0fcIXVT1h2vw3Vyg9Ahla17A-ESAcqJzfn0KxsaJ5KQFpJ2PgYaDsA7aOJw7jyCTLFAleYqms/s1600/dummy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPap9UInuh6ATmrHw9PNXxOKsSQdROp2BLkCRujuOb5jg8FxSY1VLAL8D-W_BANTSTp4z0fcIXVT1h2vw3Vyg9Ahla17A-ESAcqJzfn0KxsaJ5KQFpJ2PgYaDsA7aOJw7jyCTLFAleYqms/s320/dummy+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
We don't need no stinkin' seat belts. When I was young the province of Ontario in Canada didn't have any seat belt requirements for kids, let alone the use of booster seats. What the heck was a booster seat. When I was growing up the seat of choice wasn't a seat. It was standing up behind the driver, typically my dad, grabbing onto the headrest like it was a second steering wheel. Man that was nuts, but did we ever have fun as kids in the back of the car. <br />
<br />
My best friend's dad had a station wagon which took the fun to a whole other level. We would pile into the trunk area of the station wagon and basically have a party back there. His parents didn't mind too much since there was an extra row of seats between them and the chaos. <br />
<br />
Was it dangerous? I guess. But we really weren't as paranoid about safety as we are today. I thought my dad was fairly lax when it came to seat belts. I'm thinking this family's safety wasn't top of mind either.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF92_cepH3E0YYaAdOP0MxPNYSxOg1pLZ2jVAOqcNjuStc3CotnurLnjOlsP7GnZmu5UQ3HUSIxLLb0BPEERC5DKJf1dHwJChn3lK7_U4olaz96yTGdNX866A87n5Cki5XaVGv3bBLd9Lu/s1600/wagon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF92_cepH3E0YYaAdOP0MxPNYSxOg1pLZ2jVAOqcNjuStc3CotnurLnjOlsP7GnZmu5UQ3HUSIxLLb0BPEERC5DKJf1dHwJChn3lK7_U4olaz96yTGdNX866A87n5Cki5XaVGv3bBLd9Lu/s320/wagon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-85137297732436902162010-11-03T18:37:00.000-07:002010-11-04T11:00:40.188-07:00Pressure Points<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPhRoU2gUZBtzf-65_f4sWggyn1ZfaCioAcrQJ3KQWFhS0BwfT4_dTMe8sdn5YXbxlWyiL0IRyGDr2mV5XN523il8xMg54wjrt3MiYnf_QmgG45QQ0uE0BG-BBVimNFERdr8hTml3xJ9O/s1600/pressure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPhRoU2gUZBtzf-65_f4sWggyn1ZfaCioAcrQJ3KQWFhS0BwfT4_dTMe8sdn5YXbxlWyiL0IRyGDr2mV5XN523il8xMg54wjrt3MiYnf_QmgG45QQ0uE0BG-BBVimNFERdr8hTml3xJ9O/s1600/pressure.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It seems that my dad had a knack of finding which points on my body would lead directly to a nerve. Pinching the nape of your neck if me or my cousin were acting up was one of his favorites. He was very strong and had powerful hands but he knew how to use his strength and never abused it with us. <br />
<br />
That's how you get respect. You have the power but you choose not to use it.<br />
<br />
Another one he liked to have fun with was the hand shake grind. With my little hand in his he would place his thumb on my index finger knuckle and his third finger (his hand was a lot bigger than my 6 year old hand) on the knuckle of my pinkie finger. He would then proceed to move his fingers back and forth causing my knuckles to grind against each other. Man, that was painful but he was definitely holding back. The bizarre thing was that while I was looking for information regarding this for the blog I found quite a number of websites dedicated to discussing this. I even found a counter technique... Point your index finger toward the other persons wrist and it's supposed to prevent the knuckles from rubbing over each other. Ah, where was the internet when I was young?<br />
<br />
Then there's the one we both enjoyed. He'd grab the muscles on either side just above my knee and squeeze, REPEATEDLY. It really tickled. I begged him to stop and he would, eventually. Sometimes he tickled me till I cried because I was laughing so hard. I think that, because of this, I now have an immunity to being tickled.<br />
<br />
Now that I'm a parent I can somewhat understand the twisted pleasure of doing the tickling thing. Not only that but I will pass down the wisdom of the ages to the next generation.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-69040589956462547462010-11-02T19:09:00.000-07:002010-11-02T19:09:22.502-07:00Risky Business<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt3c-mp7gLbSeCr9gjV_XLRErh81zKXmdAP6jn7RwN9QlIWOwWXNxHsGgIXPhtlFi8_EKxzQB-qY8wHm8zeaG3eM2i5_5nsF1Z45YWaabPrlUQYW12OobwlCC1qwmKBUBuBoHXu_Ib07t/s1600/finn+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="81" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt3c-mp7gLbSeCr9gjV_XLRErh81zKXmdAP6jn7RwN9QlIWOwWXNxHsGgIXPhtlFi8_EKxzQB-qY8wHm8zeaG3eM2i5_5nsF1Z45YWaabPrlUQYW12OobwlCC1qwmKBUBuBoHXu_Ib07t/s320/finn+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmzQbLMQBQhmHmhhk8E7YqTd9g7quq4WYtmMqsGnvWA2HSNL8U7JInu7rBW3dJGRJ_4UQWNpqSpqouLBoSOpqnO0ifent_edY12Daaybg8BwYok3FkoENdtU7ymfcSSwgjhaJQfHPnDB9/s1600/finn+leonhardt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmzQbLMQBQhmHmhhk8E7YqTd9g7quq4WYtmMqsGnvWA2HSNL8U7JInu7rBW3dJGRJ_4UQWNpqSpqouLBoSOpqnO0ifent_edY12Daaybg8BwYok3FkoENdtU7ymfcSSwgjhaJQfHPnDB9/s320/finn+leonhardt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This was the Finn Leonhardt. It had it's own built in crane system so it could unload containers in the ports that were less equiped and didn't have the facilities to unload regular ships. This allowed them to go to the more out of the way, exotic ports. This was also the last ship dad worked on before he went back to school. Why did he decide to go back to school... Not for the main reasons you might think. <br />
<br />
They had been at sea for some time and were trying to avoid a fairly rough storm by trying to steer around it. On the radar, the captain could see that the storm was growing bigger and gaining speed. Realizing that they couldn't out run the storm he needed to prepare the boat for the big waves and he sent a few men down to the cargo hold to make sure all the cargo was firmly tied down. "Batten down the hatches". <br />
<br />
My father was one of the men that went down there and as he was securing the containers the waves had begun to pick up. The storm was gaining on them and they didn't have much time before they were right in the middle of it. The waves started getting bigger and bigger. Then finally a huge wave hit the ship. The containers, these are 20 foot long, 10 feet wide and 10 feet high containers, ended up flying around like cardboard boxes and almost came crashing down on my dad. <br />
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It was at this point, this near death experience, that made my father rethink his priorities. Having been recently married and with a child on the way he thought it might be best to stay close to home. <br />
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Even though there was phenomenal money to be made at the time and he truly enjoyed his life on the ship, he decided that his family needed him more.Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-22311045787424258342010-10-31T19:22:00.000-07:002010-10-31T19:22:32.721-07:00Blue Monday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYo8Nd3CGHGSah3mbw4BxBziFPdmbHTjlU52j7lNYDFUOeGvLMdNdBEUV7BBZcIhZegHy-TS16oa7260GJFLKAz9q3T32KXOoYzx4RQV_N27o73Cl9tzI9wHTQQ-bFqRMI_L_M6UF2rTtb/s1600/fats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYo8Nd3CGHGSah3mbw4BxBziFPdmbHTjlU52j7lNYDFUOeGvLMdNdBEUV7BBZcIhZegHy-TS16oa7260GJFLKAz9q3T32KXOoYzx4RQV_N27o73Cl9tzI9wHTQQ-bFqRMI_L_M6UF2rTtb/s320/fats.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">My dad used to have a huge collection of albums when he was on the ship. Lot's of Fats Domino, Chubby Checker, Buddy Holly you name it. All the people on the ship loved it because anytime they threw a party my dad would bring his albums.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So to get your week off to a good start, start thinking about Saturday. Thanks Fats.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Blue Monday how I hate Blue Monday<br />
Got to work like a slave all day<br />
Here come Tuesday, oh hard Tuesday<br />
I'm so tired got no time to play<br />
Here come Wednesday, I'm beat to my socks<br />
My gal calls, got to tell her that I'm out<br />
'Cause Thursday is a hard workin' day<br />
And Friday I get my pay<br />
Saturday mornin', oh Saturday mornin'<br />
All my tiredness has gone away<br />
Got my money and my honey<br />
And I'm out on the stand to play<br />
<br />
Sunday mornin' I'm feelin' bad<br />
But it's worth it for the time that I had<br />
But I've got to get my rest<br />
'Cause Monday is a mess </div><div align="center"></div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-75028752282620015722010-10-31T19:04:00.000-07:002010-10-31T19:04:26.942-07:00Sunday Drives<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51GBY2Q2uFudC9DZzXKiwev3xakz-GREL9l7YNoOSwpqnPfDRjYUwX3EEOWOKz6Gp0_4jmtNNVxO8qY6gI2z5Rmu3oMlnljvH-57Sp_klH-ow1g_zPm3AF_KcwMePQ_Xb9vc4i9-Re8Me/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51GBY2Q2uFudC9DZzXKiwev3xakz-GREL9l7YNoOSwpqnPfDRjYUwX3EEOWOKz6Gp0_4jmtNNVxO8qY6gI2z5Rmu3oMlnljvH-57Sp_klH-ow1g_zPm3AF_KcwMePQ_Xb9vc4i9-Re8Me/s320/bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">This is the bridge between Prescott, Ontario and Ogdensburg New York. It was a bridge I knew very well since, one of the things we did almost every Sunday was to go out for drives all around eastern Ontario and northern New York State. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">When I was young almost everything was closed on Sundays. You were lucky if you even found a gas station open. Even television seemed to take a break. It was a time where people, just, STOPPED. A time to spend with family, to relax, rejuvenate, to reflect on the week past and to dream about the week ahead. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It was on these Sundays that we went for drives around town, the little townships in the area, had picnics and went to the U.S. My dad always liked going to towns along the St. Lawrence seaway. It gave him the chance to watch the ships go by and reminisce about days gone by. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">We had so much fun as a family going to these places and taking the day off. Even though we don't have a designated "day off" anymore, I really do believe individuals and families should try and create this oasis from the day to day chaos of life. Bring back some peace. I've found my world perspective becomes a bit brighter when I do. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for the memories dad.</div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440905485863844081.post-37740969541953702782010-10-30T10:11:00.000-07:002010-10-30T10:11:59.460-07:00Hot Wheels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsZ7ksmJAPuuQsOOxl4Vo5m_3gAiseSJI9laRvDgiVK4npnQl04Ans74AXmhN2r1jb_MWAdFJaUWgTmC0dNIE0a4MDXifr_aHlqvBTZrVSnFad7rUbjy0I0IGfmZ5W01l814N3TbEgiEx/s1600/hw2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsZ7ksmJAPuuQsOOxl4Vo5m_3gAiseSJI9laRvDgiVK4npnQl04Ans74AXmhN2r1jb_MWAdFJaUWgTmC0dNIE0a4MDXifr_aHlqvBTZrVSnFad7rUbjy0I0IGfmZ5W01l814N3TbEgiEx/s320/hw2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">After leaving the shipping industry, my dad decided to return to school. He studied in Hamburg, Germany which was about an hour and a half from our home town of Travemunde. Because of the travel time he would study there during the week to devote his time to his studies and then come back home during the weekends. This left me, a rambunctious 1 year old, alone with my mom.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">When he would return home for the weekend my mom and I would always meet him at the train station. On his return he would always bring a hot wheels car. I ended up amassing quite a collection and I had a great carrying case for all the cars. As you can guess, these went with me wherever I went.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">This included our flight to Canada. I don't know if I would have been allowed to bring a case full of metal onto the plane with all the security restrictions these days. I would like to think so but I give people the benefit of the doubt.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I don't have these cars anymore but the memories are still there. Besides, there's always ebay :) </div>Marcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05954268371146885260noreply@blogger.com0