Amazing how a simple piece of paper can make all the difference between sleeping through the night and laying awake, contemplating escape routes to Poland. Not a historical path for escape, granted, but since the border's just an hour away, it seemed as good a Plan B as anything.
Not that we were ever totally serious. But at least today, 120 Euros lighter, we've been granted a free pass to stay in Germany for a year. No more 8 a.m. groggy visits to the Ausländerbehörde; no more embarrassed calls to wonderful, generous friends for translation favors. We're really here as "residents" -- a grün card? -- which at least lets us really fold up our suitcases and contemplate welcoming the leaves back, and summer, mazes of sidewalk cafes and sunsets that last until 11 p.m.
But I'm not ready for time to pass that fast, not yet. Church bells are ringing, saying that it's 6 p.m., but it feels like midnight. Such is the beautiful gloom of a northern winter.
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"...he dwelt as it were, in a tent in this world, and was either threading the valleys or crossing the plains or climbing the mountain tops..."
peasant glasses. no stems. solid sides and a tough bottom. drink up.