<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 08:08:00 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>gugo</category><category>haiku</category><category>travel</category><category>family</category><category>collage</category><category>fav</category><category>video</category><category>creativity</category><category>work</category><category>collages</category><category>culture</category><category>simple life</category><category>daily musings</category><category>storytelling</category><category>life 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countries</category><category>happiness</category><category>language</category><category>nyc</category><category>postcards</category><category>teacher</category><category>time</category><category>trust</category><category>yoga</category><category>#lifehacks</category><category>aging</category><category>angel</category><category>books</category><category>community</category><category>dance</category><category>film</category><category>heroes</category><category>hope</category><category>meme</category><category>short story</category><category>slow living</category><category>DB</category><category>germany</category><category>good news</category><category>health</category><category>holidays</category><category>mood--booster</category><category>poverty</category><category>OLAS</category><category>classical ballet</category><category>elders</category><category>fashion</category><category>growing older</category><category>humour</category><category>inner landscape</category><category>reading</category><category>school days</category><category>vacation</category><category>weather</category><category>women</category><category>#artists</category><category>adventure</category><category>blog</category><category>blog action day</category><category>family. writing</category><category>freedom</category><category>freising</category><category>marriage</category><category>slow-travel</category><category>tweet</category><category>woman-on-a-journey</category><category>Lubeck</category><category>accomplishment</category><category>grandmother</category><category>growing up</category><category>home economics</category><category>luggage</category><category>memories</category><category>places</category><category>science</category><category>song</category><category>tolerance</category><category>travels</category><category>Berman</category><category>Blog Action Day 2008</category><category>Blog Action Day 2009</category><category>Blog Action Day 2010</category><category>Ehrenreich</category><category>Morgenson</category><category>NGO</category><category>artifacts</category><category>astonishment</category><category>autism</category><category>burrow</category><category>emotions</category><category>environment</category><category>eo trip</category><category>expectation</category><category>grammar</category><category>gratitude</category><category>gugu</category><category>insomnia</category><category>knitting</category><category>lunar eclipse</category><category>maximum wage</category><category>movies</category><category>relaxing</category><category>spaces</category><category>trends</category><category>typing</category><category>vido</category><category>walking</category><category>wisdom</category><category>woyopracmo</category><category>woyopramo</category><title>Yum Yum Café</title><description>Dropped by for a cup of tea, talk is lively, if not a bit random. Time flies by.</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>2093</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-1018127139887503985</guid><pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 07:49:33 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-06-07T09:49:33.113+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">gugo</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">OLAS</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">writing</category><title>Finding my way back</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;VORSATZ&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Auf dem Weg nach vorn&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;mit der Flut der Wörter&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;die ungenauer werden&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;je häufiger man sie ausspricht&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;gehen wir zurück&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Wort für Wort&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;einzuholen&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;was uns vorschwebt&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Heinz Kattner&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m running ahead with writing the book, chapter after chapter I kept a quick pace. Now, I have reached a point, the pinnacle of my journey and the words have run out. I can&#39;t seem to figure out how to climb this last incline. It&#39;s about what Dave taught me about sailing and life, but it is actually about dying and death.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Each time I write the chapter, I take so many detours that the results are confusing and convoluted to the point there is nothing to do but start again. No morsel to clasp onto. No passage to save.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I write and write, thinking this is going somewhere. Then I reread what I&#39;ve written a few days later and discover what I&#39;ve written is completely trash. Thus the need to start again. Or maybe I should go back before going forward. Find some way to use what I have written in the other chapters to prompt me into this chapter about Dave.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/06/finding-my-way-back.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-7261701440020092783</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:14:55 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-06-02T15:14:55.787+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">daily musings</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">fav</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">haiku</category><title>Don&#39;t you love it!</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Mother in hijab&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Alone with her three young sons&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Steering an e-boat.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/06/dont-you-love-it.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-5356547865944239215</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:15:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-06-02T11:15:00.115+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">OLAS</category><title>Not playing by the rules</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;In January, I took a fascinating &lt;a href=&quot;https://alisonjones.leadpages.co/proposal-challenge/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;ten-day course&lt;/a&gt; offered by Alison Jones called, &lt;i&gt;The 10-day Business Book Proposal Challenge&lt;/i&gt;. The course was fabulous and resulted in my writing a book proposal for my book, which I would never have been able to do without taking the course.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-alison-jones/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Jones&lt;/a&gt;, a publisher herself, walked us step-by-step through this document, explaining what is needed from a publisher’s perspective.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;My resulting book proposal is a very solid first draft. I would recommend the course to anyone wanting to write a non-fiction business book, or even, as in my case, a creative non-fiction book, whether you are going to seek a publisher or self-publish.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;It was very challenging to write a book proposal about a book that was, at that time, only in my head. Yet the process has helped me enormously now that I have started writing the book.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I have continued to ruminate on Jones’ insights into the world of publishing and about being a first-time author. I did not know whether to seek a publisher or self-publish. It took a conversation with my son to make up my mind. He’s a solution architect, i.e., a computer scientist, and not an author. This made his perspective even more intriguing to me because I have also not yet published a book.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;His advice was to self-publish. He suggested I pay a freelance editor and layouter and not worry about branding and marketing the book. He also said that the bottom line is that if 30 people end up reading my book, that’s fine. There is no correlation between the number of readers you have and the book&#39;s worth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;He believes, much in the way that is happening on social media, that bookshelves will soon become inundated with AI-generated books. This will, for a while, make it difficult for readers to find books written by human authors, other than those who already have a name. The probability of a first-time author finding a large readership with their first book is small.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;There is also the reality that publishers, who give their heart and soul to publishing books, are no longer able to do much more than carry the editing, layout, and printing costs. There is an expectation from their side that you, as a new author, will dedicate a fair amount of your time each day to setting the stage, as it were, while you are writing the book.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Then, in the days leading up to the book launch, and in the weeks and months afterwards, you work full-time writing blog articles, getting yourself invited onto podcasts, and writing editorials or articles for online magazines or newspapers. Much in the way actors are expected to do the circuit when a film they perform in premieres, most writers now have to enter this circuit as well.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I think my friend, &lt;a href=&quot;https://otterc.substack.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Charlotte&lt;/a&gt;, did a brilliant job of marketing of her new book, &lt;i&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.charlotteotter.com/leaders&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;We Need New Leaders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;. She probably surpassed the expectations of her publisher. It was inspiring to witness.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Even though we have been friends for over twenty years, she still has the capacity to awe me. The way she stepped up to writing the book in six months, handled all the marketing and sales, and turned it into a bestseller was amazing. Yet, her journey made me realise how little I am presently capable of, or willing to, follow the same path.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;This does not mean that I will not approach publishers. Never say never. Rather, my plans for the moment are to consult with a publisher, pay an editor to do the final edit, hire a graphic designer for the cover page, and probably do the layout myself. It will be an interesting and less costly process.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Less costly because, as a first-time author trying to get a publisher interested in taking on your book, the book not only has to fit within the scope of their catalogue, but you also have to say upfront how many hundreds of copies you are willing to buy from the run of the first print. The more you are willing to buy, the more likely they are to take your book on. I did some research and believe the upfront costs of self-publishing are on par with those of working with a smaller publisher.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;It is such a paradox. Even before writing my book, I am getting tangled in a game I know I have little talent for. Is it possible to write a book the old way? To take this time in my life and dedicate it to mastering the art of writing?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Not as an act of self-indulgence, but as a creative practice. One I have carried out behind closed doors my whole life.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;It has been a fascinating six months learning about the publishing world and how first-time writers can successfully publish their books. For now, though, I will take my son&#39;s advice and write the book and self-publish, knowing that the book may only be read by a few people, but hopefully loved by those who do.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/06/not-playing-by-rules.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-6081652559278026889</guid><pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-31T10:00:00.114+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">creativity</category><title>By the pool house</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I remember the lime tree growing precariously on a small patch of grass that sloped down to the lip of the cliff. Waves broke sonorously over the reef, exposing its coral tips when the tide was low. Salted winds roared up the cliffside and over the edge, drawing the moisture from the grass and curling the fallen leaves. Only the green limes survived the battering of the elements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/by-pool-house.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-57684698918189781</guid><pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-26T10:00:00.117+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">creativity</category><title>The sugar pot on the corner table</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Sitting at the corner table of her favourite café with one of her friends, she listens attentively to what her friend is saying, all the while sipping her tea as punctuation. The quiet within her body resembles that of a brooding hen.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Her friend folds out all her despair onto the table: the hateful words her lover spoke, how the situation had escalated into a full-blown, almighty fight, the hurt, the pleading, the slammed door, the grabbing of keys, and the sound of the car engine as he drove away. The silence of his not picking up his phone.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Her friend recounts every detail, as if rubbing away a stain that will not disappear. “Out, damned spot, out, I say!”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;She is at a loss as to what she can say to her friend. She who has never loved before, never allowed herself the indulgence of deep despair or blissful pleasure. Her mind wanders away from the stream of words her friend is speaking in her direction, but not to her.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;As if her friend notices the lull in attention, she stops talking and looks over, waiting for some words of consolation. She moves her gaze away from wherever it had wandered and back in the direction of her friend’s dilemma.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;She accidentally tips over the sugar pot. Her friend continues talking while she scoops up the sugar and places it back into the pot.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-sugar-pot-on-corner-table.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-5058778872013570156</guid><pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-20T10:00:00.127+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">creativity</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">gugo</category><title>The man outside the bakery</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;His morning routine passes by slowly with the ticking of the grandfather clock standing in the corner of his miniature living room.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Tick. He feeds his dog, a miniature poodle. Tock. He opens the two small windows in his tiny, dark, low-ceiling apartment, all the while the dog pit-pats beside him. Tick. Time to do a cat’s wash. Tock. He makes his bed. Tick. He gets dressed. Tock. He waters his plants. Tick. He puts on his jacket and swoops up his dog, cuddling it in the crook of his left elbow next to his beating heart.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;His dishevelled looks and formless clothes speak of elder neglect and loneliness. The health of his dog and the tenderness of their relationship tell another story. Slowly, he walks across the street and sits in the corner seat outside the Turkish bakery.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;At this time of day, there is no one else sitting outside at the bakery, only a constant stream of kids on their way to school, as well as adults heading to work. The old man sits there patiently with his dog on his lap, watching the neighbourhood waking to the day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;When there is finally a lull at the bakery, someone comes out with a cup of filter coffee, two sugars, and a dash of cream, and places it in front of the man. He gives a short greeting and hands over a two-euro coin. The two spend a few minutes chatting until a group of school kids, almost late for school, rush in to buy their bread rolls.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Sometime later, when tired shoppers or other older people begin to sit outdoors at the bakery’s tables, the old man and his dog go back home, leaving the empty coffee cup behind.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;section class=&quot;text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&amp;amp;:has([data-writing-block])&amp;gt;*]:pointer-events-auto [content-visibility:auto] supports-[content-visibility:auto]:[contain-intrinsic-size:auto_100lvh] R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]&quot; data-scroll-anchor=&quot;false&quot; data-testid=&quot;conversation-turn-2&quot; data-turn-id=&quot;request-WEB:6142d23c-4317-4ce6-85f5-eadf53897830-19&quot; data-turn=&quot;assistant&quot; dir=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/section&gt;&lt;div aria-hidden=&quot;true&quot; class=&quot;pointer-events-none -mt-px h-px translate-y-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom)-14*var(--spacing))]&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-man-outside-bakery.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-3469581385318360254</guid><pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-18T10:00:00.125+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… in the sea.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ47MERV5XIkxtR_JNWTOI6FCSJdQJOtpyHR_DpdjTaxNIB-RTzT_6RBuq1A0pZtseZT9F9_OTAlgy-ptIV4p7v9rgQSg42SCKk-AYFxXHNYm7gxEJgFN90s-TyLx-HKwKfNjtlRaEwrntU2kvhAdx9ugvKL5r_g61Rb6lMSAzK5zExafmvs_I/s3721/evan-bollag-6KbwjEJJ3vs-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;3721&quot; data-original-width=&quot;2481&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ47MERV5XIkxtR_JNWTOI6FCSJdQJOtpyHR_DpdjTaxNIB-RTzT_6RBuq1A0pZtseZT9F9_OTAlgy-ptIV4p7v9rgQSg42SCKk-AYFxXHNYm7gxEJgFN90s-TyLx-HKwKfNjtlRaEwrntU2kvhAdx9ugvKL5r_g61Rb6lMSAzK5zExafmvs_I/w426-h640/evan-bollag-6KbwjEJJ3vs-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You are full of joy. You greet the waves like old friends as you swim.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Blue is your favourite colour.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You let go and enjoy being carried.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I am afraid when I can no longer see the ground beneath me. The vastness and depth of the water make me uneasy. But you lie calmly on the surface and let it move around you. No worries about what lies below. You trust.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You tell me, “It’s so beautiful to be carried by the water. Let yourself be carried.” I take it to heart.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Today I can swim in deep blue water. I can jump bravely from a boat into the sea. I have taken your words to heart, just as I have taken your love for the sea. It lives in me now. And every time I swim in the sea, I think of you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@evanbollag?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Evan
Bollag&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/blue-ocean-water-under-blue-sky-during-daytime-6KbwjEJJ3vs?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-in-sea.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ47MERV5XIkxtR_JNWTOI6FCSJdQJOtpyHR_DpdjTaxNIB-RTzT_6RBuq1A0pZtseZT9F9_OTAlgy-ptIV4p7v9rgQSg42SCKk-AYFxXHNYm7gxEJgFN90s-TyLx-HKwKfNjtlRaEwrntU2kvhAdx9ugvKL5r_g61Rb6lMSAzK5zExafmvs_I/s72-w426-h640-c/evan-bollag-6KbwjEJJ3vs-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-32930982733042721</guid><pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-17T10:00:00.134+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… by my childhood bed.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wJbNoG0USyNaF2eXvarmj082ARJG6THM1Ws0K3QnRJ9nzXe5zM2l_ZbfDqGX_JcAdBVWOPk7jfcVWYnHfraFHpeSuPFejezIoQhSPagRRy7vl4cQkWcX9KTsGMPNitC9vkepobViGeuIbW_R3edlATWatEPkKZH4GTSaBtxV_5jLpd-hB1yr/s5472/ashley-k7s9Km_9dmM-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;5472&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3648&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wJbNoG0USyNaF2eXvarmj082ARJG6THM1Ws0K3QnRJ9nzXe5zM2l_ZbfDqGX_JcAdBVWOPk7jfcVWYnHfraFHpeSuPFejezIoQhSPagRRy7vl4cQkWcX9KTsGMPNitC9vkepobViGeuIbW_R3edlATWatEPkKZH4GTSaBtxV_5jLpd-hB1yr/w426-h640/ashley-k7s9Km_9dmM-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;It is after 10 p.m. Too late for a child my age, but you allow it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;My head rests on the cuddle blanket. It smells like me. (I only realise that much later.) You gently stroke my back.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;We talk about the day that has passed. Maybe also about the one to come.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;At some point I grow quieter. Sleep comes soon.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You wish me good night. Again and again.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;For so many evenings. I feel safe.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@photobyash?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt;&quot;&gt;ashley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/a-plush-bunny-sits-on-a-soft-bed-k7s9Km_9dmM?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt;&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-by-my-childhood-bed.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wJbNoG0USyNaF2eXvarmj082ARJG6THM1Ws0K3QnRJ9nzXe5zM2l_ZbfDqGX_JcAdBVWOPk7jfcVWYnHfraFHpeSuPFejezIoQhSPagRRy7vl4cQkWcX9KTsGMPNitC9vkepobViGeuIbW_R3edlATWatEPkKZH4GTSaBtxV_5jLpd-hB1yr/s72-w426-h640-c/ashley-k7s9Km_9dmM-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-2355736338767966422</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-16T10:00:00.119+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… on the sofa.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JeS7ghzlEjK0a6mHO2IQFs5bFyQKUkXHje5Wzf3YxyUJuizqtoH4yqzKehY8-NUVX8UPb04MlsTRWyB9eVoyA76C-_wocYyRouD7IeG7M-8_QmNtQFKUkii26xFxiy08UvTBrdkE4WnGVZi2kOteTBZLqTmRDc4Yz0pNCP-YyABwFQYsH707/s4096/giulia-bertelli-iP4u-sV4qpI-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;4096&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3072&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JeS7ghzlEjK0a6mHO2IQFs5bFyQKUkXHje5Wzf3YxyUJuizqtoH4yqzKehY8-NUVX8UPb04MlsTRWyB9eVoyA76C-_wocYyRouD7IeG7M-8_QmNtQFKUkii26xFxiy08UvTBrdkE4WnGVZi2kOteTBZLqTmRDc4Yz0pNCP-YyABwFQYsH707/w480-h640/giulia-bertelli-iP4u-sV4qpI-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Knitting.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;On the far-right corner of the sofa. Your corner. Beside your sewing box and your basket of yarn. Under the soft light.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You have something on the television.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You’re keeping yourself informed with news and documentaries, but you like to look at something to laugh to as well. Now and then, Franconian expressions of disbelief or outrage slip into the room.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Your grey knitting needles click together. You knit almost without thinking. Socks. Following Marianne’s pattern.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Though you haven’t needed the pattern for a long time. By now, your socks are spread all across Erlangen and beyond.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Everywhere, a piece of you keeps the feet of many dear people warm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@giulia_bertelli?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Giulia
Bertelli&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/three-balls-of-yarn-and-a-pair-of-scissors-on-a-table-iP4u-sV4qpI?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-on-sofa.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JeS7ghzlEjK0a6mHO2IQFs5bFyQKUkXHje5Wzf3YxyUJuizqtoH4yqzKehY8-NUVX8UPb04MlsTRWyB9eVoyA76C-_wocYyRouD7IeG7M-8_QmNtQFKUkii26xFxiy08UvTBrdkE4WnGVZi2kOteTBZLqTmRDc4Yz0pNCP-YyABwFQYsH707/s72-w480-h640-c/giulia-bertelli-iP4u-sV4qpI-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-8034139522749018468</guid><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-15T10:00:00.129+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… playing Schafkopf.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6QaCwmrsK2nKVTdbY58IyV4m4NF-3_Jr-HQgrQnfsZdsnI4C4wO0AxICrh1eoCkuKxplRhc_Fk1uSkz_Zp_PYVDtz-rkGZxvtL_zj_7NNq-ubYlIgpz2YRXcsmJWisqCSYGhitrXFbhmZx458fyNY2rwF8kUGX266wxP_YBwog68q8iBaItO/s4255/sven-ciupka-WbosA2fQy_o-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;4255&quot; data-original-width=&quot;2837&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6QaCwmrsK2nKVTdbY58IyV4m4NF-3_Jr-HQgrQnfsZdsnI4C4wO0AxICrh1eoCkuKxplRhc_Fk1uSkz_Zp_PYVDtz-rkGZxvtL_zj_7NNq-ubYlIgpz2YRXcsmJWisqCSYGhitrXFbhmZx458fyNY2rwF8kUGX266wxP_YBwog68q8iBaItO/w426-h640/sven-ciupka-WbosA2fQy_o-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Four of you are at the table. With a cheeky smile on your face, you lean back easily in your chair.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Your Franconian sayings make me laugh. You play with a kind of ease and confidence. No long thinking, no dwelling on missed chances. At least once in every round comes a firm, “Nachgekaddelt wird net!”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;And, you don’t even deny it, you like to peek at the other players’ cards. Which makes your advice on what should be played even more helpful.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Everyone somehow tolerates it. You do it with such charming cheek that no one can really object.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;And again and again, an almost outrageously bold laugh escapes you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;While playing, I see a different side of you. Not the sensible mother, but the mischievous, carefree Maria. It brings me joy to see you like this.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;One day, I want to play Schafkopf with the same confidence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Maybe with a little less cheating.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@svenciupkab?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Sven
Ciupka&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/white-and-black-card-on-black-surface-WbosA2fQy_o?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-playing-schafkopf.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6QaCwmrsK2nKVTdbY58IyV4m4NF-3_Jr-HQgrQnfsZdsnI4C4wO0AxICrh1eoCkuKxplRhc_Fk1uSkz_Zp_PYVDtz-rkGZxvtL_zj_7NNq-ubYlIgpz2YRXcsmJWisqCSYGhitrXFbhmZx458fyNY2rwF8kUGX266wxP_YBwog68q8iBaItO/s72-w426-h640-c/sven-ciupka-WbosA2fQy_o-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-7886509577222195374</guid><pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-14T10:00:00.196+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… at yoga.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj60Md8oZIxIaEQnayTV5J1_Z7gOyAa_Ct7fojWqhzlTfEkN1LZ3BksR_Plhyphenhyphenamu1n_4nXq9ZUJGoirGZocNHGLq2MHr83aWyuRMyU6CxIl26fqs1XEOqxyHIWmPRe8MVtmwW5ZUuWwXhuOa6VgKvT86YDSBENM6JK9gN0eDEzVq5SmeMJgVN4/s4032/sweetyoga-justine-0u5NV27igKM-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;4032&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3024&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj60Md8oZIxIaEQnayTV5J1_Z7gOyAa_Ct7fojWqhzlTfEkN1LZ3BksR_Plhyphenhyphenamu1n_4nXq9ZUJGoirGZocNHGLq2MHr83aWyuRMyU6CxIl26fqs1XEOqxyHIWmPRe8MVtmwW5ZUuWwXhuOa6VgKvT86YDSBENM6JK9gN0eDEzVq5SmeMJgVN4/w480-h640/sweetyoga-justine-0u5NV27igKM-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Wednesday evening. On your red mat.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;In winter, on the one with the sheepskin.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;At Marga’s class, just five minutes away by bike.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I got my flexibility from you. You move easily into downward dog and pedal your feet. You like the relief it gives your back.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;But what you love most is curling up on your back like a ball and gently rocking from side to side.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Only now do I realise that you were often quite tired after the day. That you wanted to relax. Not to have to exert yourself too much, even in yoga. Your energy often seemed endless, but on the mat, you were looking for calm and rest.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I would have liked to know what you were thinking about, or whether you were able to switch your mind off.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You brought yoga into my life. It stays with me almost every day now.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Often, when I’m on the mat, I think of you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@sweetyogajustine?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Sweetyoga
Justine&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/orange-tabby-cat-lying-on-blue-bed-0u5NV27igKM?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-at-yoga.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj60Md8oZIxIaEQnayTV5J1_Z7gOyAa_Ct7fojWqhzlTfEkN1LZ3BksR_Plhyphenhyphenamu1n_4nXq9ZUJGoirGZocNHGLq2MHr83aWyuRMyU6CxIl26fqs1XEOqxyHIWmPRe8MVtmwW5ZUuWwXhuOa6VgKvT86YDSBENM6JK9gN0eDEzVq5SmeMJgVN4/s72-w480-h640-c/sweetyoga-justine-0u5NV27igKM-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-4475281871193315256</guid><pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2026 14:32:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-13T16:32:00.229+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… behind the wheel.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWk7RM5X3LdG1Ffu8JSm06BiXivFoi3DWkmSbi2AJYtAb5RMz90r2_i8r-h9ykiUclK0Y5IpJAmKQAXJnxcTvwe4N8ww6DCqmmbqJF_SyH728pMPQ6TNlUrlEPlzA3z-rjElcuGX3hcoGlTe3ps3-uhdZqd7o7Xi8gmNYCFk2V0HsYbnGVpC_s/s2998/marco-conzadori-mbcN68Gd1AY-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;2998&quot; data-original-width=&quot;2158&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWk7RM5X3LdG1Ffu8JSm06BiXivFoi3DWkmSbi2AJYtAb5RMz90r2_i8r-h9ykiUclK0Y5IpJAmKQAXJnxcTvwe4N8ww6DCqmmbqJF_SyH728pMPQ6TNlUrlEPlzA3z-rjElcuGX3hcoGlTe3ps3-uhdZqd7o7Xi8gmNYCFk2V0HsYbnGVpC_s/w460-h640/marco-conzadori-mbcN68Gd1AY-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;460&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You’re driving the dragon-green Sharan.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;The roads wind in curves through the Italian landscape.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;The Tarzan soundtrack is playing; Phil Collins is singing. I have the window down on the passenger side.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You’re driving a bit too fast and everyone except you is a little afraid. You’re having fun and laughing out loud.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Cheeky. Young. Carefree.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;The wind brushes over my sun-browned, salty skin and the air smells of macchia.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I feel free and full of joy for life. Yours has rubbed off on me.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Aptos&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-JM; mso-bidi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Calibri&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-JM; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@maccarone46?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Aptos&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Marco
Conzadori&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Aptos&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-JM; mso-bidi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/church-emerging-from-morning-fog-in-rolling-hills-mbcN68Gd1AY?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-behind-wheel.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWk7RM5X3LdG1Ffu8JSm06BiXivFoi3DWkmSbi2AJYtAb5RMz90r2_i8r-h9ykiUclK0Y5IpJAmKQAXJnxcTvwe4N8ww6DCqmmbqJF_SyH728pMPQ6TNlUrlEPlzA3z-rjElcuGX3hcoGlTe3ps3-uhdZqd7o7Xi8gmNYCFk2V0HsYbnGVpC_s/s72-w460-h640-c/marco-conzadori-mbcN68Gd1AY-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-289658271659025088</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-12T10:00:00.120+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… by the pond.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9ssGfJ9vJgy9M7GvAaChZt-vWVdXSyX2QqdGl5K0nSGMqMg7zG_In2rtVvrc1TMAPxS3qCcRXCMz1psa7gnR8FGJ7tRW3OIFyjIY4ZZfnMreAbbJDDYqwtjtQYWgnSZYclWPxf8hhf8UkctQnyTCUF6WQ0JkZeN4v0uZaCs5ISBPSFewRSDs/s3000/nikolay-loubet-0nziP3KrwhI-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;3000&quot; data-original-width=&quot;2000&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9ssGfJ9vJgy9M7GvAaChZt-vWVdXSyX2QqdGl5K0nSGMqMg7zG_In2rtVvrc1TMAPxS3qCcRXCMz1psa7gnR8FGJ7tRW3OIFyjIY4ZZfnMreAbbJDDYqwtjtQYWgnSZYclWPxf8hhf8UkctQnyTCUF6WQ0JkZeN4v0uZaCs5ISBPSFewRSDs/w426-h640/nikolay-loubet-0nziP3KrwhI-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;In every season. But you prefer it in the sunshine; the cold wind doesn’t suit you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;It matters to you to get outside a little every day and keep moving.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;The loop around the pond has become a ritual. “Shall we do the short round or the long one? Oh, come on, the long one—we have time.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Often, we talk through heavier things while walking, because the conversation flows more easily. So much so, that when I suggest an innocent walk, you sometimes grow a little suspicious: is there something bad to share?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Sometimes it isn’t about talking at all, but about noticing what has changed in this familiar landscape since our last walk together. A kind of mindfulness practice. Has a tree begun to bud yet? Has the pond been drained? Are the swans nesting again? How many cygnets are there this year?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Even though you’ve probably walked the same path hundreds of times, you always have a sense of wonder for the small things, finding joy in recognition, in seeing them again, in the natural world.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Aptos&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-JM; mso-bidi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Calibri&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-JM; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@k0lyosik?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Aptos&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Nikolay
Loubet&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Aptos&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-JM; mso-bidi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/a-lake-surrounded-by-tall-grass-and-trees-0nziP3KrwhI?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-by-pond.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9ssGfJ9vJgy9M7GvAaChZt-vWVdXSyX2QqdGl5K0nSGMqMg7zG_In2rtVvrc1TMAPxS3qCcRXCMz1psa7gnR8FGJ7tRW3OIFyjIY4ZZfnMreAbbJDDYqwtjtQYWgnSZYclWPxf8hhf8UkctQnyTCUF6WQ0JkZeN4v0uZaCs5ISBPSFewRSDs/s72-w426-h640-c/nikolay-loubet-0nziP3KrwhI-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-2032255938432466258</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-11T10:00:00.136+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I’ll meet you… in the hammock.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQBWAliFEvrGu7IcyOxcFeXVNruwUvO_uL_dmkfYR1gp8sK8fNemmjqF49v5_7yQhrqkxdjiXbWwknOwnyGiOPoc_PJ5bZAnLRVT5DvNQvyJnDdpDtyjFXaXOgUAz11o_LNyuwNk13sQFU9xSu1YGxJdeDDnc4l-1zth_vlatHwIhDwPw7rxF/s6000/esther-masscheleyn-U4itWT1GF94-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;6000&quot; data-original-width=&quot;4000&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQBWAliFEvrGu7IcyOxcFeXVNruwUvO_uL_dmkfYR1gp8sK8fNemmjqF49v5_7yQhrqkxdjiXbWwknOwnyGiOPoc_PJ5bZAnLRVT5DvNQvyJnDdpDtyjFXaXOgUAz11o_LNyuwNk13sQFU9xSu1YGxJdeDDnc4l-1zth_vlatHwIhDwPw7rxF/w426-h640/esther-masscheleyn-U4itWT1GF94-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Under the apple tree. It’s in bloom. The tomcat in front of you on the grass. You’re listening to an audiobook or sleeping. It’s one of your favourite places to be.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You helped create it. Spent decades here.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;After all the children’s noise of past decades, there is more quiet in the garden now. You appreciate that fully and with deep-hearted awareness.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I’m sure of it. You’ve told me that often.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;How beautiful the garden is. How safe it feels in the hammock. You take the time to rest. You’ve always done that. That’s something I learned from you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@esseye?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Esther
Masscheleyn&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/an-umbrella-with-a-cord-attached-to-it-U4itWT1GF94?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/ill-meet-you-in-hammock.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQBWAliFEvrGu7IcyOxcFeXVNruwUvO_uL_dmkfYR1gp8sK8fNemmjqF49v5_7yQhrqkxdjiXbWwknOwnyGiOPoc_PJ5bZAnLRVT5DvNQvyJnDdpDtyjFXaXOgUAz11o_LNyuwNk13sQFU9xSu1YGxJdeDDnc4l-1zth_vlatHwIhDwPw7rxF/s72-w426-h640-c/esther-masscheleyn-U4itWT1GF94-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-3509496680861309925</guid><pubDate>Sun, 10 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-10T10:00:00.127+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… on the terrace.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ECa42nVP8wZW3uvWIATIOxa794To6MDuuLy91j3KNrSePuxbDJWyiDEo5NNfXiqAuLa89m8rR-5wsI10-66paxIIal_0F4rBNHp6t9GbxnY3QXe3EMj_0vB91mOo6kk8dFmJk91EsglGEXfBUAqIqMQKqTrBsaWXvrEy761gwGB8R_7zyzds/s4032/artiom-grishenkov-AcBF-x4VFhQ-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;4032&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3024&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ECa42nVP8wZW3uvWIATIOxa794To6MDuuLy91j3KNrSePuxbDJWyiDEo5NNfXiqAuLa89m8rR-5wsI10-66paxIIal_0F4rBNHp6t9GbxnY3QXe3EMj_0vB91mOo6kk8dFmJk91EsglGEXfBUAqIqMQKqTrBsaWXvrEy761gwGB8R_7zyzds/w480-h640/artiom-grishenkov-AcBF-x4VFhQ-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;With coffee. A latte macchiato, of course, with the layers neatly separated.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You’re wrapped up in your winter jacket. It’s cold, but the sun is shining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;The garden is still quite bare. I like it anyway. And I like that I get to share your ritual.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You’ve propped your feet up on the chair opposite, still in your Birkenstocks. You take a sip of coffee with quiet enjoyment.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I don’t think you really need the caffeine, but you use the coffee as a reason to pause. As time for yourself. To breathe between one part of the day and the next. You sort through your thoughts, but rarely speak them out loud.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Afterwards, there is a short nap. Then you carry on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You make use of the day. You keep yourself occupied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;Until the next pause.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@grishenkov13?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Artiom
Grishenkov&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/two-cups-of-coffee-sitting-on-top-of-a-wooden-table-AcBF-x4VFhQ?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-on-terrace.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ECa42nVP8wZW3uvWIATIOxa794To6MDuuLy91j3KNrSePuxbDJWyiDEo5NNfXiqAuLa89m8rR-5wsI10-66paxIIal_0F4rBNHp6t9GbxnY3QXe3EMj_0vB91mOo6kk8dFmJk91EsglGEXfBUAqIqMQKqTrBsaWXvrEy761gwGB8R_7zyzds/s72-w480-h640-c/artiom-grishenkov-AcBF-x4VFhQ-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-4195580419314896216</guid><pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-09T10:00:00.129+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you… on your bicycle.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTm4nZVywzd8ghPAMOBe7bunAadKpJ7gHFYzWa9VQxwARkkxw_YCL0jRhv5Sbrkox_L9el9Oy6HU9JowL80ekQRsRaAcA2PgA_OlhpFAwDiqiE1chxJMuNch68NWR4v92UDCRF5GjQD3OfX112FqAUy1jtaKO-wY9bekN5FYPx9xF88Z05vSS/s6720/richard-ludwig-WTp1FJIhgyA-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;6720&quot; data-original-width=&quot;4480&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTm4nZVywzd8ghPAMOBe7bunAadKpJ7gHFYzWa9VQxwARkkxw_YCL0jRhv5Sbrkox_L9el9Oy6HU9JowL80ekQRsRaAcA2PgA_OlhpFAwDiqiE1chxJMuNch68NWR4v92UDCRF5GjQD3OfX112FqAUy1jtaKO-wY9bekN5FYPx9xF88Z05vSS/w426-h640/richard-ludwig-WTp1FJIhgyA-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Your way of getting around. Every day. Often several times.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;When we ride together, I sometimes speed ahead in youthful high spirits or to prove how fast I am.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Sometimes that annoys you, but mostly you don’t let it unsettle you.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You are a steady rider. You like to chat while cycling.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;On the way into town, you often run into people you know in the Wiesengrund.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;On longer rides, you don’t enjoy cycling uphill, but you rarely get off to push, you keep pedalling steadily.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You take pleasure in riding. When the bike rolls, you feel the wind and the speed. You like moving forward under your own power.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;The bicycle is simply part of your everyday life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@_king_louie_?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Richard
Ludwig&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/white-bicycle-on-green-grass-field-WTp1FJIhgyA?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-on-your-bicycle.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTm4nZVywzd8ghPAMOBe7bunAadKpJ7gHFYzWa9VQxwARkkxw_YCL0jRhv5Sbrkox_L9el9Oy6HU9JowL80ekQRsRaAcA2PgA_OlhpFAwDiqiE1chxJMuNch68NWR4v92UDCRF5GjQD3OfX112FqAUy1jtaKO-wY9bekN5FYPx9xF88Z05vSS/s72-w426-h640-c/richard-ludwig-WTp1FJIhgyA-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-2358309030195725362</guid><pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2026 13:59:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-08T15:59:27.836+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#maria</category><title>I meet you at… the breakfast table.</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHBeAs1leuOdhVAokaQ4vBVRzk1alfMb1ZwEqxII_IL4wHjdyrRD0dWLIo-F5EuY9UU4VRrkkDILT5EJh_3Dh3hc_vzAHt_Vu6fx9FxD7E8SdbR9zrR7YXJ5FNnC0lECm-fN2kGw498Td9g97rLMNoiqLX54hXUurC1VRWpggyzKDXy6SlI3o/s5605/dfy-G8Dc7-lHKPQ-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;5605&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3866&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHBeAs1leuOdhVAokaQ4vBVRzk1alfMb1ZwEqxII_IL4wHjdyrRD0dWLIo-F5EuY9UU4VRrkkDILT5EJh_3Dh3hc_vzAHt_Vu6fx9FxD7E8SdbR9zrR7YXJ5FNnC0lECm-fN2kGw498Td9g97rLMNoiqLX54hXUurC1VRWpggyzKDXy6SlI3o/w442-h640/dfy-G8Dc7-lHKPQ-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;442&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You wake up before everyone else. You go and get the newspaper outside our front door, set the table, and make black tea. In the white pot with the slender bamboo handle that always drips a little when you pour. We call her “Pinkelbirte.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Last night you baked a cheesecake. The kitchen still smells of it. Now you eat a piece of cheesecake for breakfast. You don’t question whether it’s good or healthy. You’ve been doing this for a long time. It simply tastes too good.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;You welcome me with a smile when I come down the stairs. I feel seen and loved. This is home.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Written by Lisi Sperber&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;Photo
by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@dfy_seoul?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Aptos&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;DFY® &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Malgun Gothic&amp;quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: &amp;quot;Malgun Gothic&amp;quot;;&quot;&gt;디에프와이&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;EN-JM&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/a-wooden-stair-case-with-glass-railing-G8Dc7-lHKPQ?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/i-meet-you-at-breakfast-table.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHBeAs1leuOdhVAokaQ4vBVRzk1alfMb1ZwEqxII_IL4wHjdyrRD0dWLIo-F5EuY9UU4VRrkkDILT5EJh_3Dh3hc_vzAHt_Vu6fx9FxD7E8SdbR9zrR7YXJ5FNnC0lECm-fN2kGw498Td9g97rLMNoiqLX54hXUurC1VRWpggyzKDXy6SlI3o/s72-w442-h640-c/dfy-G8Dc7-lHKPQ-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-7200120203246655624</guid><pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 06:09:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-07T08:09:34.142+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">gugo</category><title>Certainly worth celebrating</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;After months and months of hearing my body scream and my bones creak, I woke this morning in silence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/certainly-worth-celebrating.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-6156826582027469145</guid><pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-05T10:00:00.122+02:00</atom:updated><title>Christmas lights blinking in my brain</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;BLOG_video_class&quot; height=&quot;266&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/gRDC48QBORI&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; youtube-src-id=&quot;gRDC48QBORI&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;As I was travelling on a train to and from Kiel the other day, I listened to this brilliant podcast with Trevor Noah, Eugene Khoza, and Vic Mensa. What I enjoy so much about their conversation is the depth and breadth of the topics they explore, the warm camaraderie they share, and their genuine curiosity to follow ideas wherever they lead. There is also a willingness to change their opinions, or at least to do some careful pruning of their tree of knowledge.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I have always been someone who likes to listen in on other people’s conversations. A group of friends sitting next to me on a train, or a couple on a date at the next table while I am eating alone in a restaurant. I am constantly making up stories about interesting-looking people while people-watching. So having the opportunity to be a fly on the wall and listen to Noah and Khoza talk with Mensa felt like someone had switched on Christmas tree lights in my brain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;More so than with other podcasts I follow, I generally find myself drawn in every time I listen to the podcast. Perhaps it is the dynamic between these close friends, their repartee, and their apparent lack of agenda. It creates a kind of magic that puts their guests at ease and invites a simple, unspoken agreement: let us entertain each other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;The person being interviewed does not have to perform. They simply have to relax. They are not required to be funny, wise, or overly knowledgeable. They are there because Noah and Khoza are genuinely delighted to have them sitting at the same table as them, and they want to hear their guest’s experiences and stories, however long it takes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;It is no surprise that this approach puts their guests at ease. And then, the magic happens.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/christmas-lights-blinking-in-my-brain.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/gRDC48QBORI/default.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-6718566083751231989</guid><pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2026 14:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-03T16:10:00.120+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">haiku</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">spring</category><title>While on a train to Kiel</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Travelling up north&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Rapeseed fields and lakes with swans&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;A poem passes by.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/while-on-train-to-kiel.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-5040525434870641855</guid><pubDate>Sat, 02 May 2026 13:47:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-05-02T15:47:21.272+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">spring</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">travel</category><title>Yes, hallelujah!</title><description>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhur13gxXmdpSlftiyIxWV4JcHnI-GcpKB9pQiifZz5K3hnRswWhF2bT5SpbY_PwW4UhJLsm8jxr2b_ImwODJ4pnJiP97AHkkQHVux0mFvODyS4SX_ypiIa-j_FkknzwETZlKfqXbaPUg5FBlTXCTp8Vr0H4mAk0vjaHw1zoTxgaJETd3H10OiO/s5184/gianmarco-avigni-6N8Q682KPGI-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;5184&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3456&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhur13gxXmdpSlftiyIxWV4JcHnI-GcpKB9pQiifZz5K3hnRswWhF2bT5SpbY_PwW4UhJLsm8jxr2b_ImwODJ4pnJiP97AHkkQHVux0mFvODyS4SX_ypiIa-j_FkknzwETZlKfqXbaPUg5FBlTXCTp8Vr0H4mAk0vjaHw1zoTxgaJETd3H10OiO/w426-h640/gianmarco-avigni-6N8Q682KPGI-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;While gazing out the train window at the passing rapeseed fields, I wonder how that bright yellow seems to reach up into the blue of the sky. It is as if the yellow of those fields, together with the sun’s rays, transforms the eggshell blue-grey of the winter sky and punches it with a hallelujah: spring is here!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat;&quot;&gt;Photo by &lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@gm_luvi_design?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Gianmarco Avigni&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/vast-field-of-yellow-flowers-under-a-blue-sky-6N8Q682KPGI?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/05/yes-hallelujah.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhur13gxXmdpSlftiyIxWV4JcHnI-GcpKB9pQiifZz5K3hnRswWhF2bT5SpbY_PwW4UhJLsm8jxr2b_ImwODJ4pnJiP97AHkkQHVux0mFvODyS4SX_ypiIa-j_FkknzwETZlKfqXbaPUg5FBlTXCTp8Vr0H4mAk0vjaHw1zoTxgaJETd3H10OiO/s72-w426-h640-c/gianmarco-avigni-6N8Q682KPGI-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-1588207858947697021</guid><pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 18:40:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-04-29T20:40:56.000+02:00</atom:updated><title>The no man’s land of being an immigrant</title><description>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9i-TtIHOlgjB31tH8LtWnthdNes6yZ6dJ4gKn2xncYU3iROooHsr29lwN7MdxORJe4HP_tIJHsN8xCGh8D5STHHzAbmOlEGBiJRw8V9oltCO2IAvwU9hg5JYiGwpzI6hRj8NcstVjt5S7w4mPH8xaohGXu9AK4CVXI_GlafeQY6WvEgwKC8x7/s5184/tasha-lyn-KQBE5nFh30k-unsplash.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;3456&quot; data-original-width=&quot;5184&quot; height=&quot;266&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9i-TtIHOlgjB31tH8LtWnthdNes6yZ6dJ4gKn2xncYU3iROooHsr29lwN7MdxORJe4HP_tIJHsN8xCGh8D5STHHzAbmOlEGBiJRw8V9oltCO2IAvwU9hg5JYiGwpzI6hRj8NcstVjt5S7w4mPH8xaohGXu9AK4CVXI_GlafeQY6WvEgwKC8x7/w400-h266/tasha-lyn-KQBE5nFh30k-unsplash.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;My grandfather immigrated to Canada at the end of the 1800s. His parents scraped together enough money to sail from Ireland to Quebec City, and then on to Montreal, in a vain attempt to escape the desperate poverty they were suffering. The promise of (almost) “free” farmland and a brighter future for their children spurred them to leave everything behind, with what might be called reckless optimism.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;Surprisingly, all the children survived the journey, and what followed was a story similar to that of thousands of Irish immigrants of that time. Poverty casts a long shadow across the lives of those who come because they might be needed, yet they remain forever unwelcome.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;When my great-great-grandparents arrived in Montreal, they took up farming a plot of land some relatives had secured for them. They were faced with constant destitution and disillusionment. Their home was a wooden cabin with no insulation, two small windows, and a leaky fireplace for cooking. Their plot of land was more stone than soil, and they all had to work to put food on the table.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;During the winters, they “farmed out” their children to more successful farmers, who would offer food and board in exchange for work caring for animals. According to my grandfather, he considered himself lucky to be able to sleep next to the stove in the kitchen; otherwise, he would have had to sleep in the barn with the animals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;In the spring, all the children would return to the one-room cabin and help their parents from before dawn until after dusk. This was their life for ten years, until my grandfather’s oldest brother moved to Montreal and found work on the production line of a furniture factory. One by one, each of the nine boys (there was only one sister) moved to the city and followed their brother working in factories. By doing this, they were able to bring their parents and sister into the city, where they crowded together in a place in a poor neighbourhood near Atwater.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;My grandfather worked his way up to become a shift supervisor. His was the success story of his family and of those in his neighbourhood. Whereas his brothers were a mixed bunch. Some worked only sporadically, others got into trouble and were forced to “go out west” so they would no longer be a burden to their parents. My grandfather was constantly helping one or another—finding them places to live or giving them money for necessities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;In his case, this constant drain on his emotional and financial resources eventually made him a dour, bitter man. Where once his siblings had helped each other move from the farm to the city, by the time he was able to leave poverty behind and afford a home in the suburbs, he had to do so despite their constant demands rather than with their support.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;He made his mother proud, but among his siblings, there was rivalry, and his success—modest by many standards—became an endless source of expectation. This clash of expectations led to tensions throughout his life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;I see a pattern with my friends who came to Germany as refugees over ten years ago. Having survived a harrowing escape from northern Iran to Germany, they moved in small increments—from a refugee camp to a small apartment in a rough neighbourhood to a slightly better place. Their story is one of success, if only because the husband found a job relatively early on, thanks to his IT skills and willingness to be underpaid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;As a result, they’ve become the ones everyone turns to whenever they are in need or in trouble with the state.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;Seeing them carry this constant collective burden, and being pulled back the moment they begin to move forward, makes my heart hurt. It is also humbling, because I know I would not have the moral strength to do the same. Recently, they had to choose between paying off a monthly loan and hiring a lawyer for their cousin, whose application for an extension on his residence visa had been rejected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;It is as if migration creates a life where forward movement is constantly pulled back by obligation, leaving people suspended in a kind of no man’s land, never fully arriving. The pressure of that life does not stay confined to the larger crises. It seeps into everything.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;It is present when they speak to their children’s teachers and wonder whether they are being heard in the same way as other parents. It is there when they wait for the landlord to respond and tell them when he will arrange to have their heater repaired. They are unsure how much they can insist before being seen as difficult. It is there in the constant need to prove reliability, patience, and gratitude.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;They speak German well. But so much is written between the lines. Tone, expectation, what is said indirectly, what is left unsaid. There is always the sense that something important might be missed, or misunderstood, or judged.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;These are ordinary situations. But they are not experienced in an ordinary way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;At the same time, their lives remain tied to those who have not found even this level of stability. Requests for help do not stop. Legal problems, financial strain, uncertainty about visas. Just as they begin to move forward, something pulls them back again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;In this space, it becomes difficult to know where one stands. Who will help, and who will not? What is secure, and what is conditional? They are building a life, but on ground that never fully settles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;They have recently become German citizens. It is something they worked toward for years, something of great importance that should mark an arrival. And yet, in their own understanding, they remain Kurdish.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px;&quot;&gt;My grandfather lived eighty of his ninety years in Canada. He always insisted he was Irish.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px;&quot;&gt;For both of them, arrival is not something they can fully imagine.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px;&quot;&gt;Photo by&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/@tashalyn73?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot; style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px;&quot;&gt;Tasha Lyn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;on&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://unsplash.com/photos/a-red-and-white-no-parking-sign-sitting-on-top-of-a-dry-grass-field-KQBE5nFh30k?utm_source=unsplash&amp;amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;amp;utm_content=creditCopyText&quot; style=&quot;--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #363737; font-family: &amp;quot;Roboto Mono&amp;quot;, monospace; font-size: 18px;&quot;&gt;Unsplash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-no-mans-land-of-being-immigrant.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9i-TtIHOlgjB31tH8LtWnthdNes6yZ6dJ4gKn2xncYU3iROooHsr29lwN7MdxORJe4HP_tIJHsN8xCGh8D5STHHzAbmOlEGBiJRw8V9oltCO2IAvwU9hg5JYiGwpzI6hRj8NcstVjt5S7w4mPH8xaohGXu9AK4CVXI_GlafeQY6WvEgwKC8x7/s72-w400-h266-c/tasha-lyn-KQBE5nFh30k-unsplash.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-8691995869848175468</guid><pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-04-22T15:29:52.314+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">#booksIlove</category><title>#booksIlove: The Maise Dobbs series</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Titles: The Maise Dobbs series, by Jacqueline Winspear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;First time I read the book: I read book one when it was published in 2003.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;There are 18 books in this detective series. Masie Dobbs is the main character, who is a quiet, assertive, thoughtful, and decisive person, and is richly portrayed. The series starts post-WWI and continues until just after the end of WWII. Each plot is complex and solid.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Winspear is a wizard at weaving missing-persons cases, or murder mysteries, with historical facts and social commentary.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I do not know of any murder mystery series, even those written by Elisabeth George, that is so skillfully written.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Whenever I am feeling down, I start at the beginning again and let the elegant storytelling draw me into sunlight.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/04/booksilove-maise-dobbs-series.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-2912377823609628248</guid><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-04-02T10:00:00.119+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">gugo</category><title>Growing old and a good hang</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;What I love about women in entertainment nowadays is their willingness to be fangirls for each other across industries, generations, and backgrounds. One of my podcast favourites is Amy Poehler&#39;s Good Hang. My, how she manages to draw out the beauty and funniness of her guests. She makes them shine.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;BLOG_video_class&quot; height=&quot;266&quot; src=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/embed/e48SbkngSgg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; youtube-src-id=&quot;e48SbkngSgg&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I loved this week&#39;s show, particularly what Brandi Carlile said about enjoying the process of growing old: &quot;If I am ever in a bus accident and seeing my life pass before my eyes, it will all be about the last five years.&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/04/growing-old-and-good-hang.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/e48SbkngSgg/default.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16405727.post-8757389639160549820</guid><pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:05:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2026-03-31T15:05:58.436+02:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">haiku</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">OLAS</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">travel</category><title> My haiku habit (week 4)</title><description>&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMOc28iZHjSD-f9yUYWzBBa_K9XlChvjnsKijCNwd7s3XYDdMp6hc494IAf6DvL8-4oSsFhha-ZEFz8SY3JVBydcoKM5qYK-d-vwFgtikX9ndeVT3zst8PRuI6w2gffYzkc84csydWVCV5eHTA0WHyeXvRJMRwSZH_PAEhmdpENp6I2n7N8Cl/s4080/living%20the%20last%20of%20his%20years.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;3072&quot; data-original-width=&quot;4080&quot; height=&quot;301&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMOc28iZHjSD-f9yUYWzBBa_K9XlChvjnsKijCNwd7s3XYDdMp6hc494IAf6DvL8-4oSsFhha-ZEFz8SY3JVBydcoKM5qYK-d-vwFgtikX9ndeVT3zst8PRuI6w2gffYzkc84csydWVCV5eHTA0WHyeXvRJMRwSZH_PAEhmdpENp6I2n7N8Cl/w400-h301/living%20the%20last%20of%20his%20years.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Living the last of his years&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Old captain alone&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;His house looking out at sea&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Red in green, yearning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;+++++++++++&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclFWWnshOXbUmO6WnfhObAVR26xN62pJRbipeaEFhzjtSVPFTDzxbo4tGvoD33kPQdJqD1bEiOAWrql6JsZMb-VgFBggYs21E7Y5TenCN0wBtxZVkh7GRP5LDYjTJQ2mATGi6-zCm4QvdP-peKAfwBTy5PWKlWaCQ7vQQDAv7NqsfliG-zUv6/s4080/watching%20with%20apprehension.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;3072&quot; data-original-width=&quot;4080&quot; height=&quot;301&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclFWWnshOXbUmO6WnfhObAVR26xN62pJRbipeaEFhzjtSVPFTDzxbo4tGvoD33kPQdJqD1bEiOAWrql6JsZMb-VgFBggYs21E7Y5TenCN0wBtxZVkh7GRP5LDYjTJQ2mATGi6-zCm4QvdP-peKAfwBTy5PWKlWaCQ7vQQDAv7NqsfliG-zUv6/w400-h301/watching%20with%20apprehension.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Watching with apprehension&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Steel grey storm clouds come&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Rolling over the mountains&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Setting sun shines through.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;+++++++++++&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZI_4TFWMNO85nyPQ4jsjP0D6L16LECsf-o-U8qqCKtvOsYvPVGN6U1s9Bu778uBLki8-nXckiH4kVoKjvNf90Lj_BYDOFPi8y7rcJZzr1Gja0ih6Hd47BJ1B0YjzkTnV4kBENT7ohc1X8iv8jRVFzKCzU7dlEBTb9fn0WQyKreGpWcnXn6ssF/s1204/connection%20of%20the%20heart.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;996&quot; data-original-width=&quot;1204&quot; height=&quot;331&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZI_4TFWMNO85nyPQ4jsjP0D6L16LECsf-o-U8qqCKtvOsYvPVGN6U1s9Bu778uBLki8-nXckiH4kVoKjvNf90Lj_BYDOFPi8y7rcJZzr1Gja0ih6Hd47BJ1B0YjzkTnV4kBENT7ohc1X8iv8jRVFzKCzU7dlEBTb9fn0WQyKreGpWcnXn6ssF/w400-h331/connection%20of%20the%20heart.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Connection of the heart&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Narvik to Gibbson*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Two sisters talk about life&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Thanks to free wifi.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;(* Narvik, Norway to Gibbson, British Columbia, Canada)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;+++++++++++&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_-aBXCYlD5JKqfE0V-1OwhS79ptqtU1LoAnJWPfftUwSYUPZ38fSnGzmRiJQigBljsU2s4SeSu55LXjyXqVhN1rn_6PUYkHpzzaiqZ3Qalj8shXQ7NOCL0_shiasltHeCcNU8ry4iBBSaDYRzYILDtMR0BoyCR3o4zP082_n1-_aoeWPIFvj/s3488/early%20breakfasst.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;2598&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3488&quot; height=&quot;297&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_-aBXCYlD5JKqfE0V-1OwhS79ptqtU1LoAnJWPfftUwSYUPZ38fSnGzmRiJQigBljsU2s4SeSu55LXjyXqVhN1rn_6PUYkHpzzaiqZ3Qalj8shXQ7NOCL0_shiasltHeCcNU8ry4iBBSaDYRzYILDtMR0BoyCR3o4zP082_n1-_aoeWPIFvj/w400-h297/early%20breakfasst.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;b style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;Early breakfast&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;100%&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Divine chemical sweetness&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;An energy boost.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;+++++++++++&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeNHao8o14cKLUvB62bdcja3sIeE2v5HQSu5O3FDLzwgnfDfThozTHcdgMXUlrkFQhHdaUEe8JiLmGUoXT8sqU74GJHHX9Wuhs0a8DrMbh2Vydztie8MfKAuArAqf3gaJFtb83lebipG4xnKHwHQ2xbDTtQMhHI-7SRLiBwyulQpHReJBJBCy/s3986/the%20women%20go%20ashore.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;3072&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3986&quot; height=&quot;309&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeNHao8o14cKLUvB62bdcja3sIeE2v5HQSu5O3FDLzwgnfDfThozTHcdgMXUlrkFQhHdaUEe8JiLmGUoXT8sqU74GJHHX9Wuhs0a8DrMbh2Vydztie8MfKAuArAqf3gaJFtb83lebipG4xnKHwHQ2xbDTtQMhHI-7SRLiBwyulQpHReJBJBCy/w400-h309/the%20women%20go%20ashore.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;The women go ashore&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Bea is hunting&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Refuses the sad muffin&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Eureka, there’s cake.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;+++++++++++&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB17GzZ_AvEWYNy8N4wVajyov5XjIjxIkNLWSTxcyB_rBGHTNN9Lv6Styg58N0O8DKBn4aQm5Re407z0VGRPWnCWjJxqmnPZE_6sl-X2yn99aP7qOyl0fSmIyduy-9b1NHpPb6WthOPUj1PyNtsp5G3rl5PodIqnypNyWu8zq7N3_OYdlmMR4R/s1808/gift%20of%20a%20sunny%20day.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;974&quot; data-original-width=&quot;1808&quot; height=&quot;215&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB17GzZ_AvEWYNy8N4wVajyov5XjIjxIkNLWSTxcyB_rBGHTNN9Lv6Styg58N0O8DKBn4aQm5Re407z0VGRPWnCWjJxqmnPZE_6sl-X2yn99aP7qOyl0fSmIyduy-9b1NHpPb6WthOPUj1PyNtsp5G3rl5PodIqnypNyWu8zq7N3_OYdlmMR4R/w400-h215/gift%20of%20a%20sunny%20day.png&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;A gift of a sunny day&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Blue skies and calm seas&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Gentle sway sends me asleep&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;It’s real, not a dream.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;+++++++++++&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXSXd8fpYEhH3QAg8qpn1KxLVmpMSYSPvHGEBY0grh1LZLav-eStHBApU-1yvtsL55c4EW7I8QSXsu2h8EuhYuXYUYO8DnMSMjva6_1IBUPi8q7ojUR_q-HyTcJpPfeI_tZpWV8JkWG2y2h8SxhWtUji74FO1URLl7MdudIOn06kd9X4yyzvZ/s3483/in%20praise%20of%20a%20warm%20cabin.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;2538&quot; data-original-width=&quot;3483&quot; height=&quot;291&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXSXd8fpYEhH3QAg8qpn1KxLVmpMSYSPvHGEBY0grh1LZLav-eStHBApU-1yvtsL55c4EW7I8QSXsu2h8EuhYuXYUYO8DnMSMjva6_1IBUPi8q7ojUR_q-HyTcJpPfeI_tZpWV8JkWG2y2h8SxhWtUji74FO1URLl7MdudIOn06kd9X4yyzvZ/w400-h291/in%20praise%20of%20a%20warm%20cabin.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;In praise of a warm cabin&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;To my new best friend&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Who keeps my dear body warm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Montserrat; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;I’ll name you Jessie.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-haiku-habit-week-4.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (lilalia)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMOc28iZHjSD-f9yUYWzBBa_K9XlChvjnsKijCNwd7s3XYDdMp6hc494IAf6DvL8-4oSsFhha-ZEFz8SY3JVBydcoKM5qYK-d-vwFgtikX9ndeVT3zst8PRuI6w2gffYzkc84csydWVCV5eHTA0WHyeXvRJMRwSZH_PAEhmdpENp6I2n7N8Cl/s72-w400-h301-c/living%20the%20last%20of%20his%20years.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item></channel></rss>