There's a path that runs in front of the house, a hiking path. On good days such as today, it is busy with much foot-traffic. In Switzerland, the hiking paths are marked with yellow arrow signs that say "Wanderweg" - or wander way. Other signs can be as simple as a yellow diamond, just so you know you're on the path. At intersections (yes, they have so many paths that they intersect each other), there are signs that give time and distance to towns or landmarks. Anyway, I digress to the first sign I was describing, the simpler yellow "Wanderweg" signs. When people come on the trail from town, the last sign along the road (or our driveway) and the sign down the hill are not visible from each other - the green house is in the way.
This has been giving me much entertainment since hiking season began. People come (with their walking sticks, of course) and do one of two things at the sign on the driveway. First, they could do the stop and freeze, searching for the sign and not finding it. If there is a couple, the man will usually be pointing with his walking stick in the direction that he thinks the path goes. The second thing they could do is that they usually continue in the direction that the next sign actually is, but stopping in front of the green house so they still cannot see the next sign. Sometimes they continue along the driveway and even around the house, still not spotting it. It gives me great satisfaction to see their confusion.
That is all,
Jon
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Rain, Sun, Visitors, Hay
The weekend weather fit better in the month of March. It rained the entire weekend and didn't get above 50-something until late Sunday morning. Handily, I just so happened to have a guest, Kristen, for the weekend. Instead of doing fun outsidey things, like walking in sunlight, we stayed inside and watched movies (The Hangover, Borat) and tv shows (Flight of the Conchords, Family Guy) until the weather decided to cooperate on Sunday. Before lunch on Sunday, we took the walking path that goes on the driveway and down the hill in front of the house. It provided wonderful views of the valley and area that I hadn't seen before.
Not three hours after Kristen left that day, I went to pick up Stephanie from Wattwil. She had began her travels that day in Salzburg, and has traveled to such cities as Berlin, Prague, Munich and London in the month of July. It was fun to hear what she'd seen. Unfortunately she came at a time when it was impossible for me to take off, so she made use of a relaxing time here on the farm by hiking and playing piano. She'd also help pick currants every once in a while, which I appreciated. Stephanie left today, just before lunch and heading to Basel.
I couldn't take time off because it was high time for hay time. When I wasn't picking currants on Tuesday, I was out on the hillside with a rake. By the end of the day, I barely had the energy to shower the dust off myself.
In due time,
Jon
Not three hours after Kristen left that day, I went to pick up Stephanie from Wattwil. She had began her travels that day in Salzburg, and has traveled to such cities as Berlin, Prague, Munich and London in the month of July. It was fun to hear what she'd seen. Unfortunately she came at a time when it was impossible for me to take off, so she made use of a relaxing time here on the farm by hiking and playing piano. She'd also help pick currants every once in a while, which I appreciated. Stephanie left today, just before lunch and heading to Basel.
I couldn't take time off because it was high time for hay time. When I wasn't picking currants on Tuesday, I was out on the hillside with a rake. By the end of the day, I barely had the energy to shower the dust off myself.
In due time,
Jon
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Most Surprises Are Good
Including this one.
I get a message on Facebook from a friend from Bethel, Nick Schrag. This came on Sunday. Summarizing, it said: "Hey, myself and two friends are in Zurich and are wondering if you have any room to crash for a night or two." I ended up not being alone here while the family is on vacation (they're returning tomorrow). They made the house a base and went up the mountain yesterday afternoon. Aside from that, it was just a great time of socializing. They even helped me out in the stall, which more than earned them their welcome.
These guys are from Freeman, SD, which first made an appearance on this blog in the "Summer From Hell" entry.
Nick has a nice camera and while here for two nights, he took 172 pictures in the Hemberg area. Here are 11 (some with commentary).
Here's the greenhouse that I helped put together. It's got many things, from radishes to broccoli to lettuce growing in there.
When we 'make hay', it gets pulled up through this tube by a very fast fan. It (somehow) automatically moves so that the hay can be distributed evenly in the storage area.
Here's the storage area. That giant fan helps dry the hay.
This is the summer stall that we finished building in the spring. The cows are here in the daytime when it's hot out and then they're let out onto the hillside in the background at night. When we're done cleaning it, the ground is clean.
The sheep have a couple of different places where they can go. The building is another side of the stall/machine shop. The cows eat the grass on the hill above the fence.
Some great workers!
Dirk does have cowbells but doesn't put them on his cows. He says they're too loud, which I agree with. It's 10:30 pm right now and I can hear bells echoing throughout the valley.
We went on a walk last evening and sitting on a fencepost was this hat. It's the typical hat of a Swiss farmer. Sweet!
They left today. Kristen is coming on Friday and Stephanie is coming on Sunday. With more friends coming and the inevitable hay making, the dwindling time will be finished before I know it.
Show Me A Little Shine,
Jon
I get a message on Facebook from a friend from Bethel, Nick Schrag. This came on Sunday. Summarizing, it said: "Hey, myself and two friends are in Zurich and are wondering if you have any room to crash for a night or two." I ended up not being alone here while the family is on vacation (they're returning tomorrow). They made the house a base and went up the mountain yesterday afternoon. Aside from that, it was just a great time of socializing. They even helped me out in the stall, which more than earned them their welcome.
These guys are from Freeman, SD, which first made an appearance on this blog in the "Summer From Hell" entry.
Nick has a nice camera and while here for two nights, he took 172 pictures in the Hemberg area. Here are 11 (some with commentary).
Here's the greenhouse that I helped put together. It's got many things, from radishes to broccoli to lettuce growing in there.
When we 'make hay', it gets pulled up through this tube by a very fast fan. It (somehow) automatically moves so that the hay can be distributed evenly in the storage area.
Here's the storage area. That giant fan helps dry the hay.
This is the summer stall that we finished building in the spring. The cows are here in the daytime when it's hot out and then they're let out onto the hillside in the background at night. When we're done cleaning it, the ground is clean.
The sheep have a couple of different places where they can go. The building is another side of the stall/machine shop. The cows eat the grass on the hill above the fence.
Some great workers!
Dirk does have cowbells but doesn't put them on his cows. He says they're too loud, which I agree with. It's 10:30 pm right now and I can hear bells echoing throughout the valley.
We went on a walk last evening and sitting on a fencepost was this hat. It's the typical hat of a Swiss farmer. Sweet!
They left today. Kristen is coming on Friday and Stephanie is coming on Sunday. With more friends coming and the inevitable hay making, the dwindling time will be finished before I know it.
Show Me A Little Shine,
Jon
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Is a vacation at home possible?
Let me jump back to before the Montreux post and regale you with stories from the weekend that took place two weeks ago, or the weekend before last, or, known simply as the weekend where I was put in charge of the Fellmann Farm. But wait, there's more! For this weekend only, you'll also get an 8 year old who takes Ritalin everyday and loves the rapper 50 Cent even though he doesn't understand any English!
Before I had my weekend of joy at Montreux, I endured a weekend that was filled with me saying words like "nein," "schneller," and "stehen" repeatedly. Cyrill wanted to have a friend come over. Nein. Cyrill would drop behind me when we were walking to the stall. Schneller. Cyrill would sit when he was supposed to help me. Stehen. Cyrill would want a popsicle. Nein. Cyrill would want to stay up. Nein. Cyrill would work too slowly helping me clean up the kitchen and table after eating. Schneller. Nein, nein, NEIN!
The weekend actually went better than I thought it could've gone but it still had its down moments. When the cows were in the stall here at the house, he'd help once or twice a week doing the stall chores, but he hadn't helped yet in the other one. This made it hard to find him something he 'enjoyed' to do. He'd think he was finished with a job and sit down, where I'd find him sitting and then tell him to get up and work, because he wasn't finished. Perhaps this was one of the few times that I was glad my German isn't perfect. There were times where I wanted to say some choice things to...umm...'motivate' him in ways a coach or two has 'motivated' me in the past.
I was rewarded for my weekend of work with two extra days off. However, as time is dwindling I do not know how I will spend my two remaining days off. I think Dirk was trying to 'help' this situation by having me start work an hour later each day this past week. While I am a fan of later sleeping, my internal clock is tuned to wake up each day at 6:45. So on these days of supposed later sleep, I'd be lying in bed wide awake for an hour and that's not how I want to lose half a day of a day off. In fact, I think Dirk was quite perturbed that I actually started work at the normal time on Friday. Too bad.
The weather here has been quite Oregonish. Highs have been between 60 and 75 with lots of drizzly weather. On Thursday evening, the skies finally cleared just enough for the sun to peak and shine through the still rainy weather. I ran down to the fence at the bottom of the property to snap some rainbow pictures, unobstructed from the electric towers. I'm really going to miss the valley.
On Wednesday night, Dirk, Maya, Tim and I stayed up a bit later and played a game - Scotland Yard. The game involves trying to stumble upon a thief (Tim) in the city of London. The rest of us were detectives and tried to find him. Tim really likes Michael Jackson (or Michi Jackson, as it's said here) and was devastated to hear about his death. (I was more devastated to hear about Billy Mays myself.) In the game, Tim didn't want us to see where he was looking on the board.
I finally get a few moments of some peace and relaxation here on the farm. The family is leaving tomorrow with the camping trailer and going up to a camp ground near the Bodensee. They'll be gone until Wednesday. We'll probably be doing more hay later in the week. I'm looking forward to a visit from Bavarian Trainee Kristen Jones next weekend and Dutch Trainee Stephanie Siemens after Kristen leaves.
I've also begun throwing certain items toward my suitcase. In a few short weeks I'll be returning to the land of the hot and home of Jessica (Kansas). I mustn't get too used to the views outside my bedroom window, but it's hard when they're this fantastic.
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.
Jon
Before I had my weekend of joy at Montreux, I endured a weekend that was filled with me saying words like "nein," "schneller," and "stehen" repeatedly. Cyrill wanted to have a friend come over. Nein. Cyrill would drop behind me when we were walking to the stall. Schneller. Cyrill would sit when he was supposed to help me. Stehen. Cyrill would want a popsicle. Nein. Cyrill would want to stay up. Nein. Cyrill would work too slowly helping me clean up the kitchen and table after eating. Schneller. Nein, nein, NEIN!
The weekend actually went better than I thought it could've gone but it still had its down moments. When the cows were in the stall here at the house, he'd help once or twice a week doing the stall chores, but he hadn't helped yet in the other one. This made it hard to find him something he 'enjoyed' to do. He'd think he was finished with a job and sit down, where I'd find him sitting and then tell him to get up and work, because he wasn't finished. Perhaps this was one of the few times that I was glad my German isn't perfect. There were times where I wanted to say some choice things to...umm...'motivate' him in ways a coach or two has 'motivated' me in the past.
I was rewarded for my weekend of work with two extra days off. However, as time is dwindling I do not know how I will spend my two remaining days off. I think Dirk was trying to 'help' this situation by having me start work an hour later each day this past week. While I am a fan of later sleeping, my internal clock is tuned to wake up each day at 6:45. So on these days of supposed later sleep, I'd be lying in bed wide awake for an hour and that's not how I want to lose half a day of a day off. In fact, I think Dirk was quite perturbed that I actually started work at the normal time on Friday. Too bad.
The weather here has been quite Oregonish. Highs have been between 60 and 75 with lots of drizzly weather. On Thursday evening, the skies finally cleared just enough for the sun to peak and shine through the still rainy weather. I ran down to the fence at the bottom of the property to snap some rainbow pictures, unobstructed from the electric towers. I'm really going to miss the valley.
On Wednesday night, Dirk, Maya, Tim and I stayed up a bit later and played a game - Scotland Yard. The game involves trying to stumble upon a thief (Tim) in the city of London. The rest of us were detectives and tried to find him. Tim really likes Michael Jackson (or Michi Jackson, as it's said here) and was devastated to hear about his death. (I was more devastated to hear about Billy Mays myself.) In the game, Tim didn't want us to see where he was looking on the board.
I finally get a few moments of some peace and relaxation here on the farm. The family is leaving tomorrow with the camping trailer and going up to a camp ground near the Bodensee. They'll be gone until Wednesday. We'll probably be doing more hay later in the week. I'm looking forward to a visit from Bavarian Trainee Kristen Jones next weekend and Dutch Trainee Stephanie Siemens after Kristen leaves.
I've also begun throwing certain items toward my suitcase. In a few short weeks I'll be returning to the land of the hot and home of Jessica (Kansas). I mustn't get too used to the views outside my bedroom window, but it's hard when they're this fantastic.
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.
Jon
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Rock Cliches and a Drumstick
"We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didnt have much time
Frank zappa and the mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky"
-Deep Purple
Since last weekends wonderful time with Cyrill, I hadn't been able to get "Smoke on the Water" out of my head. I was extremely excited for my 4th of July Weekend and sang the first lines of the song repeatedly. Rock cliche, I know.
I left on the 8:35 bus on Saturday morning to begin my 'pilgrimage' to the Montreux Jazz Festival. What began as a jazz fest in 1967 soon turned into an arts festival spanning not only jazz, but reggae, classic rock, hip-hop, and any other genre under the sun. As soon as the Dave Matthews Band was announced to make their first appearance at the legendary festival, I knew I had to take the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands at such a historical fest.
In Zurich, I met up with a fellow DMB fan that I met online and we were going to make the trip together. We only live about an hour away so it made meeting up pretty easy. He had previously traveled to Paris earlier in the week to see them and is also going to their Amsterdam show this week. Lucky guy.
We arrive in Montreux to building storm clouds and skies growing gray. We follow signs from the station that have only one word: jazz. This is a serious fest! The Montreux Music and Convention Center and main location of the fest is located on the shore of Lake Geneva.
We scoped out the venue for lines and joined the only one we saw, thinking that it was already the line for the concert. It was the line for tickets to be released that day. We already had our tickets so we walked around. Stefan had met a woman at the Paris show that lived in Lausanne and she was also joining us in our adventure to be in the front row. Perhaps I should explicitly explain this. I'd seen DMB three times previously, all times being either in the lawn at an amphitheater or half-way back in an arena. I always had to rely on the video screens to even make out what was going on on-stage. The ticketing and seating arrangement for this show was opposite of typical North American shows: the general admission, cheaper standing tickets were on the floor and the expensive seats were in the balcony. Anyways, my goal was to be front row, dead center. Goal stated.
For easy re-entry once you enter the venue, your ticket was checked and you were given a bracelet. The three of us were first in line for that at 4 pm. From there, we proceeded to be first in the venue line.
We waited in line for 3.5 hours and met some interesting people. There was a couple who came down from Hannover for their first DMB show. There were some eastern European fans that came. There were people from Spain, France, Germany, and Switzerland to see the show that night. After 3.5 hours, the doors open and in the style of a cow slaughterhouse we sprint up stairs (taking 5 or 6 at a time) and there I am, staring at the stage set up for Steely Dan from the front row, absolutely dead center.
I make small talk with an older gentleman sitting on the floor next to me as we wait for the show to start. Since the festival's inception in 1967, he has only missed 4 or 5 years. He used to come for a week but now chooses a show to come to each year. He said Bob Dylan is always the best show. He even had juice boxes!
Finally the lights dim and the festival organizer comes out, introduces the night and Steely Dan takes the stage.
They played all their hits. From Reelin' in the Years to Aja to Two Against Nature, I was surprised that I recognized a lot more than I thought I'd recognize. They played a funky hour and 45 minutes of music. The piano player even played a melodica!
They started 5 minutes late and played 15 minutes over their allotted time. The DMB fans were worried that DMB would have to cut their set a bit shorter. After a quick change and 30 minutes to sit and rest up, the lights went down and DMB was introduced. The hall came alive with a bit more raucous cheering than Steely Dan had.
Starting 15 minutes later than they were supposed to, they also chose not to stick to their allotted time. Thankfully. They played many new songs off of their new album (which sounds fantastic, by the way). Dave's shirt was also soaked with sweat after about 2 songs. He didn't help himself in this regard by dancing like a mad-man.
They put on a fantastic show, even though it was a little over half the length of what they usually play.
Anticipating being in the front row, I made a sign. I heard a story that there was a person who brought a sign to each concert he went to that only said "Love". People were remembering him by making signs that said the same thing. Here's my Swiss Cheese Love sign:
At the beginning of DMB's set, there were about 15 photographers in the space between the front row and the stage. A couple took pictures of me holding the sign while I was singing and dancing. The camera behind Carter even zoomed to the crowd and I could tell he was focusing on me (or my sign). On #41 (a song by DMB), Dave looked down and gave me a slight nod. They noticed!
Not wanting to waste paper, I also wrote something on the other side. It said, "Carter rocks my socks off! ...stick?" Carter is the drummer. When they finished the set and walked off the stage, he walks directly toward me, pointing his sticks at me. He tosses two in my direction and I successfully catch the first. In awe that I caught the first, the second one lost my attention. I didn't care. I got a Carter Beauford drumstick!
Being hot and thirsty after dancing and singing to DMB, we exited the venue as the stage was being changed to Chickenfoot. Here are the three of us who met up: me, Stefan and Anne.
Anne left so Stefan and I went back in to check out Chickenfoot. They were terrible. It seems like Joe Satriani only knows how to play a guitar solo, not a song; and Sammy Hagar started every crowd participation in the book. We left after a couple of songs back to the train station and caught a 3 am train back to Lausanne, where we slept in the train station for a couple hours before getting on the first train back to our region of Switzerland.
It was a mighty fine weekend! Perhaps DMB will get invited back and will be allowed to play longer, but for now I'm just hoping that a DVD will get released. Montreux generally releases shows a couple of years after they happen, so I can only hope that a show (where I was front row at!) will get released on DVD.
I'm tired and need to brush my teeth as that hasn't happened since Saturday morning. Mmm.
Here's a slideshow with other pictures from the weekend, though I posted all the 'good' ones.
Keep on the sunny side,
Jon
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didnt have much time
Frank zappa and the mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky"
-Deep Purple
Since last weekends wonderful time with Cyrill, I hadn't been able to get "Smoke on the Water" out of my head. I was extremely excited for my 4th of July Weekend and sang the first lines of the song repeatedly. Rock cliche, I know.
I left on the 8:35 bus on Saturday morning to begin my 'pilgrimage' to the Montreux Jazz Festival. What began as a jazz fest in 1967 soon turned into an arts festival spanning not only jazz, but reggae, classic rock, hip-hop, and any other genre under the sun. As soon as the Dave Matthews Band was announced to make their first appearance at the legendary festival, I knew I had to take the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands at such a historical fest.
In Zurich, I met up with a fellow DMB fan that I met online and we were going to make the trip together. We only live about an hour away so it made meeting up pretty easy. He had previously traveled to Paris earlier in the week to see them and is also going to their Amsterdam show this week. Lucky guy.
We arrive in Montreux to building storm clouds and skies growing gray. We follow signs from the station that have only one word: jazz. This is a serious fest! The Montreux Music and Convention Center and main location of the fest is located on the shore of Lake Geneva.
We scoped out the venue for lines and joined the only one we saw, thinking that it was already the line for the concert. It was the line for tickets to be released that day. We already had our tickets so we walked around. Stefan had met a woman at the Paris show that lived in Lausanne and she was also joining us in our adventure to be in the front row. Perhaps I should explicitly explain this. I'd seen DMB three times previously, all times being either in the lawn at an amphitheater or half-way back in an arena. I always had to rely on the video screens to even make out what was going on on-stage. The ticketing and seating arrangement for this show was opposite of typical North American shows: the general admission, cheaper standing tickets were on the floor and the expensive seats were in the balcony. Anyways, my goal was to be front row, dead center. Goal stated.
For easy re-entry once you enter the venue, your ticket was checked and you were given a bracelet. The three of us were first in line for that at 4 pm. From there, we proceeded to be first in the venue line.
We waited in line for 3.5 hours and met some interesting people. There was a couple who came down from Hannover for their first DMB show. There were some eastern European fans that came. There were people from Spain, France, Germany, and Switzerland to see the show that night. After 3.5 hours, the doors open and in the style of a cow slaughterhouse we sprint up stairs (taking 5 or 6 at a time) and there I am, staring at the stage set up for Steely Dan from the front row, absolutely dead center.
I make small talk with an older gentleman sitting on the floor next to me as we wait for the show to start. Since the festival's inception in 1967, he has only missed 4 or 5 years. He used to come for a week but now chooses a show to come to each year. He said Bob Dylan is always the best show. He even had juice boxes!
Finally the lights dim and the festival organizer comes out, introduces the night and Steely Dan takes the stage.
They played all their hits. From Reelin' in the Years to Aja to Two Against Nature, I was surprised that I recognized a lot more than I thought I'd recognize. They played a funky hour and 45 minutes of music. The piano player even played a melodica!
They started 5 minutes late and played 15 minutes over their allotted time. The DMB fans were worried that DMB would have to cut their set a bit shorter. After a quick change and 30 minutes to sit and rest up, the lights went down and DMB was introduced. The hall came alive with a bit more raucous cheering than Steely Dan had.
Starting 15 minutes later than they were supposed to, they also chose not to stick to their allotted time. Thankfully. They played many new songs off of their new album (which sounds fantastic, by the way). Dave's shirt was also soaked with sweat after about 2 songs. He didn't help himself in this regard by dancing like a mad-man.
They put on a fantastic show, even though it was a little over half the length of what they usually play.
Anticipating being in the front row, I made a sign. I heard a story that there was a person who brought a sign to each concert he went to that only said "Love". People were remembering him by making signs that said the same thing. Here's my Swiss Cheese Love sign:
At the beginning of DMB's set, there were about 15 photographers in the space between the front row and the stage. A couple took pictures of me holding the sign while I was singing and dancing. The camera behind Carter even zoomed to the crowd and I could tell he was focusing on me (or my sign). On #41 (a song by DMB), Dave looked down and gave me a slight nod. They noticed!
Not wanting to waste paper, I also wrote something on the other side. It said, "Carter rocks my socks off! ...stick?" Carter is the drummer. When they finished the set and walked off the stage, he walks directly toward me, pointing his sticks at me. He tosses two in my direction and I successfully catch the first. In awe that I caught the first, the second one lost my attention. I didn't care. I got a Carter Beauford drumstick!
Being hot and thirsty after dancing and singing to DMB, we exited the venue as the stage was being changed to Chickenfoot. Here are the three of us who met up: me, Stefan and Anne.
Anne left so Stefan and I went back in to check out Chickenfoot. They were terrible. It seems like Joe Satriani only knows how to play a guitar solo, not a song; and Sammy Hagar started every crowd participation in the book. We left after a couple of songs back to the train station and caught a 3 am train back to Lausanne, where we slept in the train station for a couple hours before getting on the first train back to our region of Switzerland.
It was a mighty fine weekend! Perhaps DMB will get invited back and will be allowed to play longer, but for now I'm just hoping that a DVD will get released. Montreux generally releases shows a couple of years after they happen, so I can only hope that a show (where I was front row at!) will get released on DVD.
I'm tired and need to brush my teeth as that hasn't happened since Saturday morning. Mmm.
Here's a slideshow with other pictures from the weekend, though I posted all the 'good' ones.
Keep on the sunny side,
Jon
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