I will continue writing, just seem to have some problems getting started again. Call it writer’s block. I have however started a YouTube Channel. Taking videos is so much easier than writing!
http://www.youtube.com/user/garlixdotcom
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 This is close to what my place might look like now. On the news today I heard that you guys will knock on doors soon and visit people who didn’t return their census forms. I am unable to return my census form this year, so I am sure you’ll stop by the house to check on me later this summer. The last time we met was 10 years ago. Do you remember me? I was a computer science student at Arkansas Tech, had recently married a local, and we were expecting a baby. Do you remember me now? It was that cute little mobile home by the bay, my maroon Chevy S-10, my Doberman, oh and the chickens in the backyard. Now you remember! Yeah, it’s been a long time. We also had filed for an adjustment of status for me. A lot of things happened in 10 years. This change of status must have been a government scam as we never heard a word from them, except for the initial thanks for your payment post card. Lots of problems, but I thought I’d try again. After the 911 thing they changed their system, but they are still unable to process paperwork in a decent time. And guess what? Instead of processing my paperwork they just came to my house one late afternoon in 2007, chained me up, and a month and a half later they just put me on a plane back to Germany. A lot more problems followed, but I wont bother you with those. Since they are still abducting and deporting husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, paperwork processing is still as slow as can be. My son and wife left the US and followed me. We spent some time in Germany, Canada and France. And now we’re still waiting for them to process our paperwork. So I am sorry to say, this time around Arkansas lost 3 residents. Two of them US-born citizens and one alien (according to the US government). They even gave me an alien registration number. I didn’t know I was an alien, but at least they didn’t take me to area 51 and experiment on me. I had found a new home, started a family and a new life in Arkansas. And I actually thought I belonged there. It’s a beautiful state! They call it the natural state for a reason. According to immigration law I have the right to residency, but they chose to waste thousands of taxpayers’ money to house and feed me for 6 weeks, drive and fly me across the US, and finally put me on a plane to Germany. All the shackles and chains and armed guards must have cost a fortune! I am not sure why a government would choose to break up a family and put them through so much trouble and pain. Is it worth hurting a wife and a child who are both US citizens and deport the father and husband who has the right to residency and will get it in the end anyway? Where’s the logic in this? But we’re working on my paperwork, or should I say, we are waiting on my paperwork. We are waiting on a response, once again. But maybe I’ll see you in 10 years. Now I just need someone in Arkansas to print this out and post it on my door. Photo Credit: Thanks to Ladyheart on Morguefile.com Tweet Tweet
 Morning Dew It is Sunday in late April. When I got up at 7 o’clock, the sun had just started to climb over the horizon. The morning concert of songbirds in the backyard was in full swing. In Europe, this time of day is the closest you can come to the sound of a tropical rain forest. With this exception: instead of parrots and toucans, Europe has robins, chickadees and nightingales. The morning air is still moist and cool. Every single blade of grass is loaded with dew. I am sitting behind the house absorbing the warm morning sun and slowly sipping on a cup of dark arabica coffee. A black redstart, a small European songbird of the Old World flycatcher family, is nesting in the ivy above me. He greets me with his short warning sounds as to say: “Don’t come any closer”. But then he goes on about his business. He still has repairs to make to the nest before his mate can lay the eggs.
Next to me grow a few English daisies and key flowers which I planted among the chives and parsley of the herb garden. I notice several mason bees buzzing around the flowers feeding on their nectar. Then they fly up and down the side of the house looking for holes in the natural stone structure to lay their eggs. Time has taken its toll on the building and weathered off parts of the chalk mortar exposing bare rock and the clay in between. This is where the mason bees dig their holes. My mason bee logs have not gone unnoticed though. Time will tell if they lure the bees away from the building or if they just add to the population. Several lizards have come out of their hiding places and have crawled up the side of the house to find a sunny spot. Once they are charged up and have reached operating temperature they are faster than your eye can follow them. On the hunt for insects they race up and down the ivy covered walls.
The sun has now climbed over the tree tops and its warmth is evaporating the dew. A light mist rises from the backyard lawn. After about 10 o’clock the sun will have dried the grass enough that I can venture out to check on my green house and square foot garden. But until then I will just sit here, drink my coffee, enjoy the morning sun, listen to the songbird concert, and read a good book. Oh what a nice Sunday morning it is. Photo credit: photo by me, Daniel Tweet
 Tom the mouse When we moved into a country cottage last August, one of the first things we did was to set up a few mouse traps. Reclaiming the abandoned house from the wild was a success. After only a few days we caught several mice of different sizes. The job was done and the house was ours, or so we thought. It was much later that we noticed a sole survivor. Afraid of baby mice popping up all over the place, we reset the traps and were sure we would get that one fast. But that last mouse was different. Several times we heard the familiar clack when the mouse trap goes off. But there was no mouse caught in it. Once we even heard a clack followed by a few squeaks, but once again there was no mouse in the trap. Winter came and we spent most of the day in the kitchen. That’s where we have the wood stove which made it the warmest room in the house. After dark the mouse would come out and run around in the kitchen. He was so bold and came very close. However, he was always cautious and hurried for cover at the slightest sound. That was a smart mouse! No matter where I put the traps or what bait I used, that little rascal stayed clear of it. He would investigate the smell of a new bait, but always walk around or jump over the trap, never touching it and never trying to take the bait. And he looked so adorable and cute! So we named him Tom. Since no baby mice had appeared in several months, we were sure he was a boy. Besides the occasional noise at night, we did not really have any food eaten by Tom. By late winter the cheap mouse traps were dirty. The wire had become rusty and they didn’t even work anymore. So we just threw them away and accepted Tom as our run-around-freely pet mouse. Spring came and it was time to clean out the pantry. We never had much food stored in there. But after cleaning it out I stocked it up with supplies. This would save me a trip or two to town. And I do like to stock up on food, or anything else. A few days later my son noticed several boxes of cookies, chocolates, dates and raisins chewed open, sampled, and spread across the shelf. That was our snack stash! And on top of that, literally, there was mouse poop all over the place. We never had much of that before either. Tom had definitely gone too far! So we moved the opened packages into the fridge and bought new mouse traps. We had to make an extra trip to town to get new mouse traps. So much for stocking up to save a trip. Sorry, but Tom has to go! Two traps are set and ready to go. This time we’ll get you, Tom. … to be continued … Photo credit: photo by me, Daniel |
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Om Mani Padme Hum. |
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