SNIPS AND SNAPS

The following (Snips) are excerpts from emails I recently have received from DENNY HILL. These are in response to my request for information on your vacations. I suppose to some, their work is like a vacation. Such seems to be the case with Denny. If you want to know what kinds of "papers" of which he speaks, just Google "C. Denson Hill" and have your mind boggled! (Google to boggle!) He's in Berlin at the present time.

“I have two papers to finish up with my Polish friend, and a guy from New Zealand is also a coauthor. Then I have two other papers to complete, joint with my Italian friend and another German friend who now works in Sweden. The latter will come to Berlin next week so we can work together.

Basically I just spent my first week here concentrating on my German. That is easy since at the moment I have nobody to speak English with. It has been unusually warm here, so mostly I stay in my room during the day with German TV always on. Then around 9:30 or 10:00 pm I go out for supper and wind up in my favorite kneipe. For the last several nights, after a few beers, I wound up talking to some interesting local Germans. That is actually the best way to warm up my German.

In this part of Germany, you say tschuss! as a way of saying "goodbye", as you are leaving someone. But when you first see them, you would just say hallo!

In Bavaria, when greeting someone, you have to say Gruess Gott! (which I hate), and when leaving, you say Auf Widerschauen. (Textbooks teach you to say Auf Widersehen, but that is only the western German form.) The tschuss version actually comes from the Latin, and is very old. It was adopted in the eastern part of Germany, because they hated the communist way of having to call everyone comrade.
There is plenty to do here, but I am kind of lazy, so mostly when I am not working, or watching TV, I just like to hang out.”Tschuss!
Denny (June 6, 2008)

“Bush lands in Berlin today for a very short visit. Every time he has come here, he has been met by protesters.
The new president of Russia was in town last week. I did not see him on the street, but some people told me he was surrounded by at least 11 secret service types.
Celine Dion is here, staying in some luxury hotel for about a month. She has been seen on the street enjoying the city, seeing the sights. She appears to be very relaxed, and happily talks to people she meets, like while having coffee or a snack at an outdoor caffee. She is giving a number of concerts here, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Paris, etc. What she does is that she flies in her private jet to wherever she has the concert the day of the concert, does her thing, and that very same night, she flies back to Berlin to sleep in her hotel suite, and be with her husband and kid. It is very convenient for her because her jet is parked at Templehof, which is right in the middle of town. (It is used very little now, mostly for private planes. It was the airport of the famous Berlin airlift.) Now it is sort of a museum.”

That is the news from Berlin. (June 10, 2008)

"We finished at least a preliminary version of one paper, and now my collaborators in Italy are trying to finish another one. Later, when I return from Italy, my Polish collaborator will come to Berlin for a week, and hopefully we will finally submit another one, which we have worked on for almost 3 years."
Ciao,

Denny (June 18, 2008)

EDITOR: Now for a few "snaps". Recently I thought it would be fun to photograph the houses some of you lived in when we were Freshmen in high school. I'm sorry, but I don't know how to find those of you who lived in the country. Anyway, let's see how many of you recognize your old homeplace -- or that of someone you ran around with or dated. I will only put about three on each blog post, so here are the first three. Remember, you can leave a comment by going to the bottom of this post and clicking on "Comments" or you may click on the time, right beside it. Also, by clicking on the photo itself, you can enlarge it. If you have difficulty, just email me with your answer to "who's house is it"??

There is a curious coincidence about the third house. My parents bought it sometime in 1958. However, I was shocked to find out which one of our classmates lived there in our Freshman year. Once someone tells me who lived there, I will relate the "coincidence".

I know I keep asking for prayers for those of our classmates whose health may be less than perfect. I also know that not everyone prays. However, if you do not wish to pray for whatever reason, just send some warm, loving thoughts to those in need. Picture them whole and healthy. The following is from one of my favorite little inspirational books, "A Cherokee Feast of Days":

"When we last saw Essie she had been ashen and without the strength we see in her now. Now she sits flat on the ground, legs straight out in front, and reeds tumble across her knees and lie around her. Nimble fingers seek the perfect one to start a basket. Essie is close to our hearts. She has our Grandmother's name. Her reticence does not inspire idle talk, so we ask what happened to change her. With a quick glance, she says, 'God heal.' 'Is it possible? So quickly and completely?' Hesitantly, she asks, 'You got fast oven?' I say I do. 'What make it work?' 'Why, microwaves -- energy. They change the molecules, the structure of the bread from cold to hot.' Seconds pass. She says, almost too softly, 'Prayer energy. Make me well.'"

Well, I believe, like Essie, that prayer energy "changes the molecules". So, keep sending all that loving prayer energy to JAMES HAYS, JERRY DAVIS, ROSALYN HOELSCHER, and IRENE BATTS.

You know, prayer energy is some of the "good stuff" that happens!

Marilyn