Lazy Sunday

This morning Marty and I decided to go for a walk.  Just the two of us.  The kids said they would be fine without us.  Josie has a shiny, new cell phone with cell service.  We tested out her calling and what's apping us.  It seems perfectly normal to do this in Berlin and if I could get over the fact that they will be on screens for the entire time and realize this is actually the safest thing they could be doing alone in the house while we are gone it will be a win/win.  They saved up all their screen time and used it all in one fell swoop and we all were happy about it.  We walked over 5 miles, as fast or as slowly as we wanted.  We just walked around the neighborhood so were always within 10-15 minutes of home but we all know that when they are on their screens 8 hours could pass and they wouldn't even notice.

We came upon a gardening street called "Dachas" (more info here: Dacha).  People who live in the city or apartments and want a small plot of land to garden or just to get away from the busy and dense-living life of the city buy or rent these small plots of gardening land and come out to enjoy a quieter environment and slower pace.  Most of the small plots have a small cabin or shed.

 Julie says that it is illegal to live or sleep in these cabins but some people do it anyway for the weekend and some - not so well off folks- live there year round.  She thinks they turn the water off in the winter and it would certainly get quite cold.  Anyway, it is an interesting little area (one of many) all over the city and country.

There is a gate at one of the entrance to each street of gardening plots to keep the wild pigs out.
Julie and Micha came over for a nice, relaxed family dinner.  They played a game of Exploding Kittens (the new family favorite) while I made dinner (roasted potatoes, zucchini soup, sauteed zucchini and onions, scrambled eggs and finished it off with zucchini, chocolate chip cake)

Feels like Seattle trying to use up the zucchini.  Benjamin even helped me grate the zucchini.

He has always loved to help me bake.
The entire day I can't get over my feelings of sadness, disgust and outrage about what has happened in Charlottesville, Virginia. I will never, as long as I live, be able to even come close to understanding this type of hatred and prejudice.  NEVER.   The ignorance astounds me. I find comfort in the quote by Nelson Mandela
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally from the human heart than its opposite"

There really is only one side!!
Currently living in a city and a country that has survived a similar type of hatred and prejudice I am surrounded by the living, breathing history and scars of the lessons learned.  The magnitude of it all hits pretty hard.  We thought (ignorantly) that being far removed from the sad state of American politics, ignorance and prejudice it would hurt less.  It's not the case.  At least not yet and now that we are here we actually hope that we continue to feel it and somehow find a way to be active from here.