The Empirical Manifesto

Dreamed my brother and I took a road trip to Germany. It was powerful reminiscing about my childhood, even stopping at the elementary school I'd attended as a child and running into a much older version of my favorite teacher - he even remembered me! He invited my brother and I to join him for lunch as was the Germany custom. I politely declined but my brother insisted, so we ate with him in his office, telling stories about the surrounding area.

I was mostly interested in getting to the shopping district, only a short walk from what I remembered, but the landscape had change so dramatically. The enormous forest of rubber tree plants were still there, but opposite them rough discs of white stone jutting out of the ground with a cottage built adjacent each outcropping - well, that and the blue artic sea of water being held in place by a picturesque ice wall. I'd forgotten my camera.

Retrieving my camera I was trying to get some wide-angle shots of the rubber trees, but recess had just let out and kids were swarming all over them. I also couldn't find my zoom in order to take any stunning pictures of the ice wall. It was quite disappointing being here and being unable to capture any of it. So I went back inside to retrieve my brother and say my good-byes when I walked past the gymnasium and peeked through the glass in the door, seeing it hadn't changed at all, and was suddenly haunted by the indoor jungle gym which had tormented my youth because of the nuns who'd used it as their harsh lectern. A small child was sitting atop of it now smiling, unaware of its evil past.

Then I saw our old neighbor who used to teach in Anna, TX as part of the faculty here. It was odd they spoke German in Mexico, right? Or was I in Korea? It was difficult to remember. But I thought I used to have friends nearby? Checking my cell phone, I found their number and called - they arrived immediately and we had a fun time catching up on the elementary school grounds, but soon they left and without any way to ever get a hold of them again, unless I happened to find my way back to Germany.

My brother and I finally did make it to the shopping district but time had gotten away from us both so I left him to join Mom and Dad at a fancy ball that evening, and out of either boredom from the auction, or glee at the fancy dresses, I pulled out my camera and starting shooting the events here. Sadly, lenses kept disappearing from my camera bag, and soon enough I was missing the Helios which had just been on the camera itself! I suspected foul play but was too polite to let on. The hotel investigator however brought me the fingerprint-accessible lock box (which oddly looked like the stock of an M-16) and once activated. slid open dropping several pennies and some tacks into my hand. The hotel investigator seemed pleased with this development but I had no idea how a handful of pennies tacks were going to help me recover my lenses.

Dreamed I flew to Germany for our annual get together with my USAF compatriots. It was being held at unixwolf's apartment near Mainz-Kastel. He hosted every year because he had an enormous flat and it opened into the courtyard of a fest. I was going to palm him $50 to offset the cost of all the beer he bought every year. I was drinking his litre-sized glass bottles of Grolsh. It was magnificent! I was so happy to be reaquainted with all my friends. Funny thing is, I met Jay at Sprint Paranet and was never in the Air Force with him.

But then I took my son to England for a fancy conference where I was meeting co-worker Pete and his family. It was all very foreign when we left the city, but I got separated and jumped into a sleek gray 90s Trans-Am driven by an little old lady. It was unusual to see such a car in the UK. She didn't notice I was in the car the entire drive, drove to her house (which was actually a creepy funhouse with a Batman-style secret entrance) and was then startled by my presence after she turned off the car. I thanked her for the ride and started walking back to town.

Had a black and white dream where I was in post-industrial Germany with The Goddess of Comfort as the entire nation was preparing for war. It was unreal watching all the war machines being shipped out on the narrow cobblestone streets.

Watched the Season 4 Supernatural episode "Sex & Violence" about a modern-day Siren last night before going to bed and dreaming I was back in Germany - Wiesbaden to be specific. The location may be because I plan on photographing two Churches my next trip - one of which can be found on the 50 Most Extraordinary Churches of the World (#24) and while perusing the site I ran across another I had previously blogged about (#30 on that list). This also accounts for the activity & the girl. As for Tomas' involvement, I cannot say.

Here we go:

I was visiting schpydurx who lived in a small apartment in Wiesbaden, West Germany - there were still tensions there and possible hostilities were brewing between the two Germanies - we were told to be cautious. That's when I met her - in the lime green stairwell hallway of the downtown hostel, reminiscent of the old Deutsches barracks. She was a brunette, simply attired in a black summer dress. She reminded me of my first love; the one I'd lost in that same town some twenty years earlier. I was trying to photograph the largest tree still living in downtown - an enormous oak on its own block, a survivor during the Allied bombings of World War II. But she was standing between me and my goal.

Tomas was at work - I don't remember actually ever seeing him, though we spoke often throughout the day in planning our evening activities once he got off work. At one point I decided I needed a smaller tripod, and I was rummaging around the top shelf of the closet where Tomas kept his gear, and that's when I saw it: The Nikon D-80! The largest, heaviest, most expensive Nikon on the market. It couldn't even use existing lenses because its lens-mount was twice the diameter of average DSLRs to house its enormous image sensor. He had several very nice, interestingly configurable tripods - some of which I wasn't even familiar with. I grabbed the smallest, hand-sized tripod normally used for photographing close-ups. I was going to use the minuscule tripod to photograph the tree from sidewalk-level, pointing up - to capture its immense beauty - just like the tree that was created from Anna's Grace in the Season 4 Supernatural episode "Heaven & Hell."

The girl was more and more alluring. It felt like I knew her, like I'd always known her. I wanted to be with her, forever. I was very excited for Tomas to get off work so we could all hang out. He was excited too. I wanted to got out and pick up a half-liter 4-pack of canned Koenig Pilsener. Real, unpasteurized German beer. I walked out of the apartment with the girl on my arm. She asked which route I wanted to take and because I remembered the street names and their directions, I told her. It was a beautiful day out, a little gray, but not cold. The dark green wooden kiosk was the only peddler on the corner of the block of the magnificent tree and reminded me of the Vietnam Vet who sets up shop outside the Lincoln Memorial.

The beer was a surprising £13.99! Nearly $26 U.S. I reached into my pockets with fingerless woolen gloves...and awoke. I awoke with the ache of the girl who's name I didn't know, but perhaps more importantly, an unquenchable desire for some great Germany brewski.

Its been far, far too long.

When I first arrived in Germany in 1991, I found my way to the bowling alley on base. This was my first assignment, and my first time overseas. The bowling alley had nachos, beer, soft drinks, and a pizza parlor. It was Friday night and I didn't know anyone yet and hadn't left base alone on a weekend night, so I ordered a pizza and brought it to my room. During this time I was reading the classics and introducing myself to cases of Spatelese.

I frowned when I opened the pizza box, because though it was steamy hot, the cheese atop the pizza was brown and crusty. I could tap on it. Certainly not what I was expecting, and not what I wanted. Nonetheless, I ate the pizza. My thoughts at the time were, "If I wanted a German pizza, I'd leave base. They should have American pizza on base." Next Friday came, and another pizza. The cheese was odd. It was crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside. The Friday after that, I ordered extra cheese.

The more I ate, the more it grew on me. It became the best pizza I've ever eaten, and my ruler to judge all others. I can't get pizza like that anymore, and I sure miss it. Fast forward to the ass-end of 2005. I relocate to Saint Louis. I don't know what IMO's is, and I didn't know there was any such thing as 'St. Louis style pizza.' galinda822 orders me a large supreme. At first, I was mortified. There were these little squares of pizza toppings & sauce atop thin phyllo-like 'crust' and the most god-awful cheese I've ever eaten, provel. As unusual as this was, there were other, more positive oddities about this pizza. The entire pie was covered with criss-crossed slices of crispy bacon.

Many IMO's later, its my new favorite, and just like the German pizza I left back in '92, I'm sure once I say goodbye to STL, I'll have a hankering for St. Louis style pizza.

Snatched from ximo:

You scored as The Operative. You are dedicated to your job and very good at what you do. You've done some very bad things, but they had to be done. You don't expect to go to heaven, but that is a sacrifice you've made for a better future for all. </td> The Operative 88% Capt. Mal Reynolds 69% Zoe Alleyne Washburne 69% Simon Tam 56% River Tam 44% Inara Serra 44% Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 44% Kaylee (Kaywinnet Lee) Frye 38% Shepherd Derrial Book 31% Jayne Cobb 31% Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

110/78 p69.