September 20 (Jim Update)

Hello All. We haven't updated this week since I was back in Minnesota for a sales meeting for a few days and Kathy was in Paris with the boys. It's nice that here in the FDA free zone one can get a potent Valium/Lithium/Quaalude cocktail over the counter to help cover the after-effects of Paris traffic. I imagine she'll put up an update on Paris soon.

Tonight we're going to the Maintal Hochstadt "Kartoffelfest". That is, the Maintal Hochstadt Potato Festival. There's a building on the little rustic main street of town with a big wooden gate in front called the Kaevern. (the cavern) It's owned by one of the many Vereine (clubs or societies) ubiquitous in Germany. The fest will happen in a little courtyard inside.

According to a guy we met here in town, there are 140 different Vereine in Maintal and pretty much everyone belongs to one or more. One guy we met, Berndt, belongs to five. His significant other, Uschi, is in the local women's archery verein. There's a verein for medieval reenactors. Cooking. Wine making. Cars. Whatever.

One guy, Ollie, is a member of the local Maennerballet (men's ballet) Verein that puts on a recital once per year, which sounds pretty funny. He's about my age and build with a good 30 pounds tacked on. He was on his third beer last time we saw him at the beer garden and he had to leave to go to rehearsal if that tells you anything. From the way he describes it I suspect it's a pretty humorous show. It sounds like a "get out of the house & go to the bar to get tanked with your buddies every week before practice" thing. The only price is looking like an awkward dope once per year in front of everyone you know, which seems like a pretty good deal. I may have to fire up the Nowthen men's ballet chapter when I get home. Hell, we could probably 'rehearse' for a year' and can the recital at the last minute anyway due to a rash of plie' injuries and be free and clear!

Anyway, the Kartoffelfest deals with all food that is potato related. Potato soup, salad, puffs, frites, etc. The Verein that puts it on was started in 1908 and from the German name I gather that its whole purpose is putting on eating & drinking events and concerts that also involve drinking. Now THAT's a Verein I could get behind. Like much in Germany the Kartoffelfest sounds like an excuse to imbibe beer.

Last Friday we were invited over for dinner to the home of a cool older couple we met, Berndt and Uschi (mentioned above). They're very nice, speak excellent english, are very interesting, and have a really, really, really great house. It was built in the mid-1500's which is cool but the really neat part is that it incorporates a tall stone tower that stands over and includes the old city gate.

The tower is older, from 1470, and the floor immediately above the city gate is their family room. The old cruciform gun/arrow ports are still there though they now have glass covering them so they're weather proof. The hole still exists where you could shoot crossbow bolts down or dump boiling oil on people trying to get through the gate, though it's now covered by the hardwood floor. The entire interior is a mix of ancient wooden beams and rustic bare stone walls juxtaposed with modern floors, heating radiators, lighting, etc. The next floor up is their guest bedroom. Up there, through the westward gun port window you have a surprising view of the entire Frankfurt skyline glittering some miles off in the distance, perfectly framed by the quaint old cobblestone main street of Hochstadt. (Frankfurt is the only German city with skyscrapers and a real skyline)

Now I don't normally feel the pangs of envy. I'm literally always happy when somebody I know buys something really cool or has a stroke of good luck. I get truly pumped when a friend comes out well on something. But I felt an unusual exception in this case. As interesting and fun to talk to as Berndt is and as sweet and kind as Uschi was, I felt the unfamiliar but strong desire to forge a revised will with me as the rightful heir to their house and tower and arrange some kind of accident. Fortunately this accursed conscience that my parents drilled into me as a child (along with my weak grasp of German) stayed my hand. Therefore instead of premeditated murder for material gain we had a tasty dinner with local Hessian specialties, had great conversation, our kids didn't destroy anything except a glass ashtray of Uschi's, and generally had a wonderful time. Probably all for the best.

We hope to see them tonight at the Kartoffelfest.

More later.