— CLOPPENBURG —

July 8, 2008 — Our summer in Germany continues to be enjoyable. We work during the week and take short drives on the weekend. One of these days, hopefully, we'll be able to travel farther afield but for now we are staying close to Delmenhorst.

Sunday we drove over to Cloppenburg to visit the open-air museum, Museumsdorf Cloppenburg. Pictured above is a windmill that was built in 1764 for milling. Cloppenburg Museum Village covers approximately 35 acres and features 52 meticulously restored antique structures collected from Lower Saxony. Many of the Museum's rural homes, windmills, barns and churches are over 200 year old!

Living with Meniere's Disease
There was no new installment on DaDane last week. Oops. I haven't been feeling particularly creative since we've been here, and I'm not sure why. To some degree I've simply been resting up after a somewhat difficult 6 months. During that time I was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease, which hasn't been so nice. (Fortunately, other nasties — such as Multiple Sclerosis and/or a brain tumor — were definitively ruled out via a gadolinium-enhanced MRI so in that regard I do consider myself lucky.) I was also supervising the renovation of a new art studio on our property (assisted by the contractor from hell) and preparing to leave the country for 4 months. By the time we arrived in Germany I was quite exhausted. It has been such a pleasure to live here at the Institute. The only thing I have to worry about is my inability to read grocery labels in German. And even that is improving.

Life in Lower Saxony
A few puzzlements have arisen while living here: Why are all the traffic lights turned off on Sunday? Why is the salt content so seldom listed on food labels? (Meniere's patients must closely monitor salt intake.) Why is white asparagus considered the only edible kind? (Wo ist der grüne Spargel?) Why don't people feed the birds? (Wo ist der Vogelfutter?) Do people feed hedgehogs and if so, what? (Igel sind niedlich.) Why is chicken so expensive?