Freedom is Calling - Page 18 of 25 - Blog about following the call of freedom

The first Piece of the Puzzle

EW March 31, 2024

We wish you a Happy Easter weekend !!!

Progress on Big Paul

Despite a respiratory tract infection, which is luckily subsiding by now, I finished the first module of Paul’s furnishing. The plan is to have several modules that will interlace like the parts of a puzzle to give the pieces stability without permanently fixing them to the car. We want everything removable while serving our particular needs for the journey to come.

Well, the first piece seems rather unspectacular, but it is the starting point to a more complex construct. You can see it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vkJzdOIQCZI

Sun Dogs

This week, my sister captured a phenomenon that is fairly rare to observe in this area. If you like, you can see more of her beautiful photographs on her Instagram channel https://www.instagram.com/regina_keim/

Scientists call it an atmospheric optical illusion, this sun halo with two parhelia commonly known as sun dogs left and right of the sun. You can faintly see a third short rainbowlike phenomenon at the edge of the halo above the sun. This whole spectacle is caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere.

To fiction authors and dreamers it is more than that. It touches the soul and stimulates the imagination. Does it look like a portal to an Otherworld? Is it a door for lightbeings to enter our realm? Or leave?

Is there darkness on the other side … or pure light?

How do you feel, when you encounter such an atmospheric phenomenon? Please let me know in the comments.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

A special Anniversary

GEF March 31, 2024

Happy Easter everybody!

It’s a great time to party. For us, it’s not necessarily an egg-hunting opportunity. We are celebrating our three month anniversary today.

Somehow, it was just a crazy idea when we hit the publish button on New Year’s Eve and put our first two blog posts online.

Being not so keen on social media, we just wanted to create some sort of independent platform for ourselves to stay in touch with friends.

Meanwhile we have a collection of 30 posts and it has become a nice little discipline for the two of us to write and/or post a video every weekend.

Thank you so much for subscribing and reading, folks!

It’s always marvellous to hear from you!

Preparing for my online business

For me, our blog is also a great „training camp“, because I want to bring my business online.

Producing new content and publishing it according to schedule gives me a new chance to test myself and find out what comes easy and what is fun doing on a regular basis.

Also, I can familiarize myself with the technical side of things. The advantage of modern business, as all these online marketers always emphasize. Because you can reach millions of people with just a click. And the handling of the software is soooo easy nowadays.

Well, yes. And no. But that’s a topic for another blog post.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Chaos and Order

EW March 24, 2024

Well, this has been a warped week. Eventually, I am back in the lowlands with the main purpose to prepare and file my taxes. Preparation always takes its time, looking up all the required numbers. I pride myself in keeping good records. Nevertheless, something is missing every year which I then have to look up, sifting through files, downloading tax forms. However, it’s great to be able to file taxes online nowadays – provided everything works smoothly on these websites what rarely happens.

Today, I finally filed everything and payed my dues.

Slowed down

Everything took a bit longer this week for the reason that I caught a nasty head cold. Every thought seemed to go in slow motion through my brain. Nevertheless, I got ideas on how to furnish Big Paul and I started buying materials.

Do you want to see it live?

For myself, I am really reluctant to take selfies. And actually, I feel kind of alien walking around talking to my cell phone. Well, you may say everybody does it, just blend in with the other folks who have their cell phone glued to their faces.

After several fruitless efforts, I eventually pushed the record button. If you’re curious you can watch my feeble attempt on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oqSaBjaBexM

How do you feel taking selfies?

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Learning English the Toffee Way

GEF March 24, 2024

„Why in English?“, a friend of mine asked the other day. Wouldn’t it be difficult or at least uncomfortable to write a regular blog in a foreign language?

Yes, I admit it can be tricky. My brain is German wired.

In my native language I can play with words and terms. I can use irony and „subtext“ to give it color and a distinctive meaning.

Not so much in a foreign language.

But this doesn’t really matter.

It's music

I have always had an affinity to languages. It’s the special sound, the music, the swing of a foreign idiom that appeals to me.

It opens up another world.

One of my favorites: Italian.

I don’t speak it, but I love its musicality. Listening to Italian makes me feel like life was nothing but a colorful opera.

So, every language comes with a very distinctive touch.

Use it - or you lose it

But having the affinity to a language is one thing. Being able to live and act in it is a different story.

This is when English comes into play.

It has been around for a long time. I have always had an opportunity to use it. And – my love for rock music made it easy to really dive into it.

No other foreign language has ever been so familiar and easy to approach.

This became very clear when my partner and I made a trip to the Canadian Province of Quebec. Once you cross the Saint Laurent and leave the English speaking side behind, it’s French only. Period.

I had taken French at school for six years. My partner had even lived and worked in France for quite a while.

Anyway, we both hadn’t spoken French for a long time. And how rusty it had become we realized when we wanted to start a communication. We stammered something like: „Je, je voudrais… o… ah… mmh… parlez-vous Anglais?“

The secret of "Tricky Dick"

So why has English always been my number one?

Actually, my affinity to this language goes back to my childhood – and the magic of a toffee.

In the Fifties, my father worked with the British. Every once in a while, my parents threw a dinner party for his colleagues. And then these distinguished gentlemen arrived, very collected and polite, with the typical stiff upper lip.

Apart from saying hello they usually ignored me, and I squeezed myself into a corner, curious enough to take a look, but shy enough to stay in the background.

Back in those days, children had to shut up, behave and not disturb the grownups. That was true for Germany and England just the same.

But one of the gents was different.
His name was Mr. Dick.

He always came in a classical outfit – trenchcoat, bowler, umbrella and perfectly polished black leather shoes. A pleasant man with a sense of humour and entertainment, interested to talk to anyone in the room.

Obviously, Mr. Dick had an ambition to persuade me out of my shell and teach me some English. At least enough to have a friendly small talk whenever we met.

So, Mr. Dick smiled at me and indicated a slight bow.
„Good evening“, he said. „How do you do?“

Now, I knew I was supposed to answer: „O, I am fine. Thank you. How are you?“
„Very well indeed, dear girl“, he said. And then – drumroll – he drew something from his coat pocket that made my mouth water.

„This is extra fine English toffee. From London. Especially for you.“
And he gave me a little tin box with a picture of Big Ben and a Union Jack on the lid.

Wow! I was allowed to open it and take a piece.

„Only one a day“, Mr. Dick said. „They are not readily available.“

I thanked him with a perfect curtsy and rushed away with my treasure.

Did I want to learn more English? Of course.

The better my speaking ability would develop, the more wonderful vanilla flavoured toffees I could expect.

Unfortunately, Mr. Dick was transferred back to England after a while. But his toffee treatment had done the magic trick.

My love for the English language has grown ever since.
And I enjoy listening, reading, speaking and writing in English, whenever I have the opportunity.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and