Trip to Germany: Zugspitze and Linderhoff (Day 3)

The following day we left Munich and drove south to Zugspitze, which is Germany's highest peak. We took a train up to the top of the mountain and even had to take a further gondola to get up to the topmost peak.

My two beautiful friends!

It was fun to get a look at the picturesque countryside and mountains while we rode on the train.

We at lunch at the top of the peak and then rode back down to our car. We considered going to Neuschwanstein Castle afterward, but we ultimately decided that would be too much driving and we wouldn't get to see very much before closing time. Instead, we went to Schloss Linderhof (Linderhof Palace) which was closer and on the way back to Munich. I think that this was a better decision ultimately, since we could this site was actually used as a residence used by King Ludwig II. Ludwig identified with the Bourbon kings of France, and accordingly the imagery references Louis XIV and Versailles. Ludwig II was also a huge admirer of the musician Richard Wagner (to the point of an unhealthy obsession, I think), and several of the structures and spaces in the park were made to depict or reference aspects of Wagnerian operas (although unfortunately we weren't able to visit the Grotto when we were there, which is decorated with illustrations from a Wagner opera). There even was an organ that was placed in the palace which Wagner played when he came to visit.

The large tree next to the lower rampart in the garden (in the middle ground on the left) is the 300-year-old linden tree which gives the palace its name.

Probably the structure that I found most interesting was the Moorish Kiosk on the palace grounds. The kiosk was created for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867 - I looked to see if the kiosk was depicted in Manet's painting of the event, but I don't see it. Eventually, the structure was purchased by Ludwig in 1876.

Trip to Germany: Munich (Days 1 and 2)

Last August I had the chance to visit Germany. It was an amazing trip and I've been wanting to write down my thoughts for some time. It was really fun for me to get to spend some time with Rachsticle, who traveled with me. It was especially fun to travel back to Europe with her specifically, since I hadn't been back to Europe (besides the UK) since the study abroad that we completed almost exactly fourteen years before. Rachel and I flew out from SLC together and first went to Munich, where my dear friend Meka was living for the summer. I was so glad that I got to spend some quality time with Meka and June while I was there .

After arriving, Rachel and I walked around for a bit before jet-lagged Rachel went back to her hotel to sleep. I ended up sleeping at Meka's residence inn with her and June, but before heading there I met Meka outside the Residenz Museum. This palace was used by Bavarian rulers (the Wittelsbachs) from 1385 to 1918. My favorite room was the Antiquarium, which is filled with grottoesque paintings and busts of Roman rulers.

Antiquarium

 In the theater within the palace

There were lots of different styles within the palace rooms, but I particularly liked this one that had red-and-gold chinoiserie decoration and pictures in small frames.

Schnitzel at the Hofbrauhaus!

 The next morning we walked past the Richard Strauss fountain on the way to the Marienplatz. The style of the column reminds me a little bit of the Bernward Column at Hildesheim, but I haven't been able to pinpoint any connection thus far. It is interesting that both the fountain and Bernward's Column portray Salome, though.

At the Marienplatz outside the Neues Rathaus. We watched the glockenspiel of the clock tower play chimes at 11:00 am, which includes moving and dancing figures that represent historical and traditional events. Before seeing the Glockenspeil, we went to the Viktualienmarkt for some eis (ice cream) and delicious schmalznudel. One of the green domes in the distance belongs to the Frauenkirche (which actually is a structure with two domed towers that can be seen in the skyline from around Munich).

Inside the Frauenkirche. I've never seen vaulting designs like these before.

After seeing the Frauenkirche and Rathaus, we split up so Meka could take June home for a nap. Rachel and I went to the Neue Pinakothek. This museum opened to the public in 1853 and was the first museum in the world that was dedicated to contemporary art. I was really struck by their late 19th and early 20th century art.

Van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888

Odilon Redon, The Cathedral, c. 1914

I've never seen a Redon like this one. The speckled colors in the window were really striking and remind me a little of Seurat.

Gustav Klimt paintings inside, including Music (1895).

After leaving the Neue Pinakothek, I went to the Alte Pinakothek by myself and I loved getting the chance to explore at my own pace. Although I liked spending time with my friends during my trip, I also quickly realized that I enjoy visiting museums by myself because my interests are so specific. I quickly can tell if something will interest me (either because I recognize it or like the visual details), and I spend long amounts of time looking at things that I find beautiful or meaningful. Plus, I like to take lots and lots of pictures so I can have possible detail images for further research or teaching. Anyhow, the trip ended up being a good balance between going to see some museums with my friends but also going off on my own too.

Unfortunately, 3/4 of the Alte Pimakothek building was closed due to a construction and restoration project. A portion of the collection was jumbled together in the upper galleries, but the lighting was terrible in the hallways and I didn't get great images. Nonetheless, it was fun to go to this museum and see so many well-known "friends" that I have studied and discussed with students, but never met face-to-face.

Boucher, Madame Pompadour, 1756

Look at the terrible glare on Dürer's self-portrait! I'm surprised the museum doesn't display this painting better. I was surprised to find that I was less drawn to the Dürer paintings: his famous Christ-like self-portrait looked a little yellow, like it needs cleaning, and the glare from the protective glass was off-putting. I was more drawn to Rembrandt's Christ Resurrected that was displayed next to this self-portrait.  

Gerard ter Borch, Boy Ridding His Dog of Fleas, c. 1665

I discuss this painting in a class with students, so this was a fun painting to stumble across

Durer, Four Apostles, 1526

These paintings were a lot larger than I imagined they would be!

After leaving the Alte Pinakothek, I went by myself to the Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst, but I wasn't as impressed with the Egyptian art there. I was most excited about visiting the Glyptothek with Meka that evening. It was fun to see the "Barberini Faun" and the pedimental sculptures from the Temple of Aphaia. I was also intrigued that there was a Neoclassical bust of the art historian Winckelmann near the entrance of the museum.

Barberini Faun, c. 220 BCE. I think this guy looks like Heath Ledger. Seeing this sculpture in person made my realize how clearly you can see the tail of the figure - hence why it is called a "faun."

It was such a highlight to get to see these sculptures in person, since I use the pedimental sculptures of the Temple of Aphaia to teach about the Archaic Period. I tried to get up close to see if I could see any of the raised designs that indicate more decoration and pigmentation (see this video around 2:43), but I couldn't see anything with my naked eye. I was temped to turn on the flashlight on my cellphone and look, but I knew the museum guard wouldn't be happy with that (and he was already eyeing me since I was getting up so close and standing in bizarre stances to look at the details).

This guy could be brothers with the Portrait Head of an Elder at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Gallery of Roman portrait busts. 

I thought it fitting that I began my time in Munich looking at the busts in the Antiquarium in the Resident Museum (first photo of this post), and essentially the last large gallery I visited in Munich was also filled with ancient Roman busts. Things came full circle in Munich quite nicely!

Goal for 2018: Lucy's Independence

Lately Lucy has really been getting on my nerves, and then I get further peeved with myself for getting so annoyed with her. It is a vicious cycle of annoyance and today was particularly hard. It seemed like the majority of Lucy's waking hours were spent whining, complaining, or crying. Her loud whines irritate me quickly, especially if she only cries and refuses to "use her words" to explain what she is thinking or feeling. I know that she is old enough to express herself, so I get really irritated when she incessantly wails like a siren and won't respond to my questions or comments. To deal with the noise, I find myself coping by either stuffing my face with sugary treats or raising my voice. Today I ate four Rice Krispie treats in a row while she had a screamy fit on the kitchen floor.

Perhaps today was so hard because I started to do my New Year's resolution, which is to teach Lucy how to have Quiet Time. On a whole, she doesn't like to be independent and do things on her own. She likes to have me help her with everything, and she likes me to be with her ALL. THE. TIME. Ever since she stopped napping last summer, I haven't been able to get much done in the afternoons because she refuses to quietly entertain herself. At her age, Sam would quietly look at picture books in his room for at least 20-30 minutes, but Lucy won't do that. If she and I are the only ones at home, the only time she'll give me space is if she is watching a show on the TV.

But I want her to learn how to entertain herself and I enforced this new Quiet Time period today. She screamed for about 45 minutes that she didn't want to have Quiet Time (see picture above), but she finally, finally settled on playing with Fashion Plates at the kitchen table. Where she sat right next to me. And needed my help every few minutes. Sigh. At least I wrote a few emails and got a couple of bills paid in the interval. But I wouldn't call today's Quiet Time a success.

So my goal this year is to teach Lucy to be more independent. Somehow my presence serves as a crutch for her to not do things on her own, and I want to get rid of that crutch. I want her to learn how to have Quiet Time, how to go to the bathroom without insisting on my presence (she's fully capable on her own), and also to stay in her own bed for the whole night. About 90% of the time, Lucy ends up coming into our bed in the middle of the night and commandeering most of the mattress. I'm going to reclaim by bed space this year!

And, perhaps just as importantly, I want to find better ways to deal with Lucy when she gets on my nerves. Ideally, I won't get annoyed at all. I realize it may take me a while to reach that point, but I want to start by figuring out how to respond to her without raising by voice or having an irritated tone. Maybe I'll start by just pausing and counting to ten in my mind before I respond to her.

Violet Puppy Dog

This picture was taken the day that we brought Violet home.

One of the reasons I haven't been able to blog so much this year is due to the topic of this post: our puppy Violet. We got a new puppy in June this past year and she has filled up much of our free time. It has been an adjustment having a new kind of baby in our house, but we really do love her. I have never really considered myself to be much of a dog lover (which is ironic, since I worked at a pet store for two and a half years as a teenager), but Violet won our hearts over. Just like with having kids, I think that often a person grows to love pets if you have one of your own.

Lucy actually was the first person to plant the idea in our heads about getting a dog. For several weeks she talked about how she wanted to have a white dog that she named Coco. I would look up pictures of white Bichon Frise puppies online to show Lucy, and she would gasp and say, "That's Coco!" This led me, out of curiosity, to see if there were any Bichon Frise puppies for sale in the area. When there was a litter of eight that was born on April 22nd, and the breeder didn't live too far away., I convinced J that we should go and "just look" when the puppies were old enough to leave their mother. Of course, the puppies were so darling that we couldn't resist them at all.

These are Violet's seven siblings. We watched them play while the breeder got Violet ready to come home with us.

Violet's siblings

The breeder had each puppy in the litter wear a different colored collar, so that she could tell them apart. Our puppy had a violet-colored collar, which ended up influencing the name that we chose for her. (I'm glad we convinced Lucy that we shouldn't name the puppy Coco, especially since "cocô" means poop in Portuguese.) Violet is sweet and demure like a small violet flower, I think, so her name is fitting.

The day we brought Violet home

Sam's friend Logan lived near the breeder, so we invited Logan to join us

After we got Violet home, I realized that I had a slight allergic reaction to her. We debated sending her back to the breeder, but we decided to stick with it - Sam sobbed and sobbed when we brought up the possibility of sending her away, and I felt like I couldn't break his heart (and truly, it was a sad thing for any of us to consider). For the first several weeks that she was with us my throat often had a tickle (especially after I vacuumed) and sometimes my nose would be runny. But we found an air purifier that helped and my immune system has since built up a tolerance to the small amount of dander that she produces. Luckily, she doesn't shed and that helps.

For the most part, Violet has been a fairly easy pet. She also doesn't bark very much. She loves to sit in our laps and likes to have J scratch her ears. She is patient with the kids; she adores Sam and tolerates Lucy's affectionate hugs. The only time she is really difficult -- which isn't that bad -- is when she gets a naughty streak and runs away from us. She zooms around the yard and often digs in the dirt while we chase her. We usually call this her "witching hour" behavior (J's co-worker calls it the "zoomies") since Violet goes back to her demure self afterward.

Violet likes to sleep in funny positions along the baseboards of the house that make us laugh:

One of Violet's other quirks is that she doesn't like to eat her food right at her dish. She gets kibble in her mouth and then steps a foot or two away (or even walks into the next room) to chew it. She also has a lot of self-control with food and will stop eating if she is full, which is different from the dog I had growing up (Maple).

Violet's favorite activities include picking up toys and bones and distributing them around the house to arbitrary locations. She also likes to join in when J plays a game he made up ("The Leg Game") with Lucy and Sam. She adores J and likes to be with him all the time. She also responds best when J is disciplining her.

Violet also likes to find makeshift dens around the house. She doesn't like to sleep in her crate, but she loves to sleep under couches and also in her soft travel carrier. Sam tried to climb under the loveseat and join her one day, but he got stuck after I took this picture (below) and I had to lift up the loveseat so he could get out!

It has been fun to watch Sam assume responsibilities and care for Violet. He is so good at taking care of her basic needs, playing with her, and walking her.

Sam carrying Violet on a hike in Lake Tahoe over this past summer

In fact, the only reason I have free time right now is because I'm watching Violet while J is with his brothers and their families at RB. We hoped to send Violet to doggie day care for the day, but Violet went into heat yesterday (her first and only one) and, for obvious reasons, should not be around other dogs. Currently she's sitting in my lap while wearing a makeshift diaper made from one of Lucy's Disney princess panties.

We plan to get Violet spayed, but she had some health issues this summer which led our vet to recommend that she get spayed after her first heat. The health issues really made this summer difficult for us and Violet - and I think that the stress is what caused me to lose all of the hair in the middle of my right eyebrow (which, thankfully, is now growing back). About two or three weeks after we got Violet, she began to squat frequently to urinate and would squat for long periods of time (as if straining to urinate). She also would wake me and Jeremy up multiple times in the night - it was worse than having a newborn! We thought she had a bladder infection, and we treated her for such, but her squatting and straining didn't improve. Our vet began to write off the behavior as simply a quirk, but then Violet began to have traces of blood in her urine. Again, she was treated with antibiotics but without result.

Finally, about two months since Violet's symptoms began, the vet did an ultrasound and found that there were multiple stones in her bladder. We made an appointment for her to go in for surgery, and a few days later the surgeon opened her up to discover that the stones were gone! After dealing with the stones for two months, she passed them just in the day or two before she went in for surgery! If only dogs could talk - then she could have told us that she didn't need to go in for surgery after all! We still had to pay for the surgery and Violet had to heal from her incision, which was really maddening and unfortunate.

This was taken just after Violet came home from her surgery, and the anesthesia still was wearing off. What a rough day!

Since that point, we have kept Violet on a special rice-and-egg kibble diet with a Cosequin supplement. In order to make sure that she gets enough protein (since she no longer eats the regular puppy food), she has a hard-boiled egg about every other day. She may be on the smaller side because of this special diet and her health issues, but I don't mind if she ends up being small.

Since Violet passed her stones and recovered from her surgery, she really has been an easy pet. She likes to sit in my lap when I work, and she is a cute fluffy buddy.

"Positive Neurons" and Santa Claus

About a week or two ago, J and Sam were playing Twenty Questions. Sam was thinking of a person, and Jeremy asked if the person was real. Sam said, "Kind of. He's a myth." It turned out that Sam was thinking about Santa Claus. We have never spoken with Sam about Santa Claus being a myth before. In fact, a few years ago he stumped us in Twenty Questions by claiming that he was thinking of a "real person" when he had Santa in mind. But J and I decided we needed to sit down with him before this Christmas Eve, so we could figure out what he has heard and what he is thinking about Santa.

Tonight ended up being a good opportunity for me to do so. Sam and Lucy wrote their letters to Santa tonight - Lucy even "wrote" (i.e. traced) half of the letters on her page and signed her name by herself on Sam's letter! I love that Sam included a winking emoji after his opening question. After we folded up the letters in an envelope and I got Lucy in bed, I sat down to have a talk with Sam about Santa.

I asked Sam why he told J that Santa was a myth. Sam explained that he half-believed in Santa, and half-believed that he was a myth. His biggest doubt was that Santa should have been a record holder for multiple categories in his copy of The Guinness Book of World Records ("Fastest Distance Traveled," "Longest Distance Traveled," "Least Seen Person"), but he isn't listed anywhere. What an endearing and perceptive conclusion to make!

I felt like I needed to tread carefully in our conversation, because I want the spirit of Santa and the magic of Christmas to be real to Sam. And what I decided to do was tell Sam that he is old enough to learn a secret: Santa is real, but he is more than one person, and Sam now can assume the special role of being a "Santa" himself. I explained that the role of Santa is to help keep the spirit and magic of Christmas alive for other people, which means that a true Santa will never encourage someone to not believe in Santa Claus. Instead, a true Santa strives to help keep the spirit and magic of Santa alive through love and generosity.

Sam was so darling through all of this conversation. He said, "Well, that makes sense to not discourage people from believing in Santa because The Santa Claus Book says that Santa is kept alive from the positive neurons that come from people who believe in him." I double checked this point after our conversation and found that the book discusses how the magnetism of the North Pole pulls "positive ions" up north, which lengthens Santa's life (p. 38). But I latched onto Sam's observation and we talked about how we want to encourage people to emit "positive neurons" when they think about Santa.

Anyhow, I think the conversation went really well. Sam is excited to encourage Lucy to believe in the magic of Santa Claus, and I said that he could help to fill her stocking and Violet's stocking this year. He really felt proud to assume this responsibility and graciously initiated a "thank you" and a hug at the end of our conversation. I sure love this sweet boy, and I'm so glad that he wants to keep Christmas magic alive.