Deconstruction

What do YOU think of, I wonder, when you hear the word deconstruction?! I think of what's happening to this barn near our house here in Atlanta. It's being torn down, board by board. De-constructed. But not exactly what I'd call being destroyed, oddly. Taken apart. And in the process, you get to see what's there, something you didn't quite see before.

I introduced you to Ruth (my "little" sister) and her new blog, Synchronizing, back in Februry. Not too long ago I introduced her as one of the "step-sisters" in my family. You can safely say I'm downright proud of her! Now let me introduce you to her newest blog, Paris Deconstructed.

Now she trumps herself! She is in the process of "deconstructing" Paris as a business hobby (soon to be full-time??!!). As she says, it's "travel coaching," for a city that defies description and imagination.

It also sometimes defies getting your hands around, as was the case with Donica and me. We kept putting it on our back burner to see "some day." To be honest, we didn't know how to tackle it. It seemed too big, too arrondissement-ed, too sophisticated, too ritzy, too too too...whatever!


Until, that is, we got the bright idea to fly Ruth over with us in October of 2004 and then again with her husband, Don, in April last year in exchange for her coming up with a day-by-day schedule and tour-guiding us through the city.

Omigod! If it's food you want, or history, or art, museums, literature, bridges, architecture, the wars, you-name-it...or all of the above...you've got it. In easily, deconstructed bites that are manageable for chewing on!

Her ideas for a business are mind-boggling. She LOVES Paris. She wants YOU to love Paris like she does. And she will help you! If it's not being your real tour guide, she'll be your virtual guide, coming up with your day-by-day plan for whatever interests you. She knows Paris like the back of her hand and so can deconstruct it the way you need it. In fact, she came up with an incredible, comprehensive questionaire we had to fill out separately before she came up with her plan for us. Custom-tailored!

She already has her web domain. She already has the know-how, the guts, the energy, the pizzazz and entrepreneurial spirit. She'll do it and when she does, watch out. Paris will never be the same!

Sisters get to boast like this. Sisters get to pop their buttons. And usually sisters know what they're talking about!

May Day, May Day

If you want to get real technical about this, last night at midnight (the night directly opposite Halloween) is when Spring arrived for Germany and why today there is a holiday.

On the Market Square in Goslar, Germany

We first learned about this back in January when we were in Goslar, the delightful small town in the Hartz Mountains of northern Germany, near Hannover. Everywhere we went we saw the witches and wondered what in Sam's scratch that was all about.

Well, now we know. The Brocken is the highest peak of the Hartz Mts. (at 1142 meters) and can actually be seen from Goslar. Last night, on Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night), if legend holds, the hexen (witches) met around their bonfires and whooped it up for their last fling before Spring. Even Goethe wrote about this in his Faust.

Under Christian influence, Walpurgis Night became a feast to ward off evil spirits. "Bells may toll in some areas and prayers may be said; there may be blessings with holy-water and blessed sprigs can be found in homes and barns."

But supposedly the best way to ward off the evil spirits during Walpurgis Night is NOISE. "As soon as the sun sets, boys of all ages may make noise. Their equipment ranges from boards to beat onto the ground to pistols for firing shots."

Christina, whose oldest son camped there this past February, wrote a bit about this witches' haven. So now I wonder if her two boys whooped it up last night, banging pots and pans and whatever else they could get their hands on. And what about the girls! Didn't Christina get to bang her own drums?

May Day, indeed. All I can think of is, ALREADY?!?! Oh yes, and if the witches protect the Eiscafes (ice cream shops), thank God for the witches!