Today is another one of those posts which is a mix of small stuff and answers to questions from the comments.  I’d intended to be better about answering questions more regularly – best laid plains. My only excuse is that Ich habe viel um die Ohren, which loosely translated mean “I’ve been up to my ears with things to do.”

Not least of which was studying my German. For those of you keeping track, today marks the end of my 9th week of taking German class, which means I’ve completed three 3-week sessions.  The class is every day for 3+ hours. Combined with travel time to and from class, and at home study/homework time, plus time in a few tandem sessions to practice my spoken German outside of class, I find I spend at least 6 or so hours a day studying German in one way or another. That’s been great for learning the language, but it doesn’t leave much time for things like answering questions in the comments on the blog. 😉

However, I’m pleased to report that my studying paid off –  I got the equivalent of an  “A” (whoohoo!)  on today’s test today (we have a test every 3 weeks). Of course, my test taking skills are not improving overall, as most of my mistakes are just careless errors I make when not paying attention to what I’m writing. Hey, I tend to leave out letters when I’m writing in English, too.  I’m just saying.  Thank goodness no one grades me on my typing on this blog, for example…

Also, the next time anyone tells you German is just like English, you can tell them that, unlike in English, the word “Cousins” can only mean a group of male cousins – it cannot refer to a mixed group of men and women who are the children of your aunt, for example. For the record, you need to refer to that group as Cousins (“male cousins”) und Cousinen (“female cousins”).  I lost a point on that question. But I got an A on the test overall, so I’m not really complaining.

The next 3-week session starts on Monday, so I only have the weekend to rest on my laurels. 😉

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Re the blog comments, first I have just a general comment on the comments you all have left on the blog: I love them! Thank you all very much for posting them. I greatly enjoy getting comments and feedback, on both the posts and the photos. It’s so much fun to know that people in various parts of the world are reading this blog and taking the time to post a response. The fact that I’ve been a bit slow getting back to respond all of you doesn’t reflect my sincere appreciation for all your comments and suggestions. And, of course, I always enjoy those compliments on my photos! 🙂 Keep all the comments coming – and thank you again very much!

Now, to the questions/answers:

Re the Black and White version(s) of the tree reflection photo: I think of the versions of the photo that I posted, I also like the pure black and white one the best, although initially I think I was leaning toward something with a little color, But the more I look at the B&W one, the more I’m struck but what Ashley pointed out – the leaves are unexpected and a bit of a surprise when you come across them in that version of the photo. Thanks again, Ashley, for the suggestion to try B&W for that photo!

Re the Boxspring mattress ad:
@Dovie: yes, those black high heels also struck me as a little-less fairytale princess than the rest of the story I constructed around that bed…

@Mom: it does look like the general idea of a hospital bed, but I think you might need to a real hospital bed after sleeping in the one in that ad.

@Tatjana: Yes, it’s true that the other kinds of mattresses here don’t look like that; since I only recently sent you the blog link, you probably missed my post about the regular style of mattresses here in Germany. Of course, that “noodles and roasted coffee” style of bedding I talk about in that post is normal here in Germany, but not necessarily standard elsewhere. 😉

Re 23 Skidoo:

@Dovie: thanks for the link to the “whole 9 yards” – it’s always intriguing to see how these expressions take on a life (not necessarily true) of their own for their backstories.

Re the fountain photos from last Friday:

@Stan: thanks for the comments – I love your description of the photos. When I do another photography show, if I include that detail #2 photo, I think I’d like to borrow your description of it.

@David: thanks for the comments, and for “liking” this post – very cool, IMHO.  😉 Thanks also for your comment on the boxes post; we really appreciated you being such a good sport and not commenting on our ad hoc interior decorating style when you were here. 😉

Re A Touch of Frost:
@All:yes, the sofa is indeed comfy;
@Kathy: I don’t know how much weight it will hold, but it is a regular couch.
@David: we actually do have the boxes stacked next to the sofa, behind the door instead of in front of the window as before. It’s still quite the designer living room, in terms of the decoration, in other words…

@All: thanks for the compliments on the photos! I’m glad I took the risk of being late to class to take them. I also enjoyed how several of you commented that the photos look like paintings – I find that I’m experimenting recently with that idea. Kathy, you had mentioned exploring the idea of printing some of these on watercolor paper to see if that enhanced the effect – it would definitely be something to try. I once printed a photo that looked kind of like a painting on canvas, and that was also an interesting effect.
©Ashley: I see I’m not the only one to fall in to the “have a hammer, everything looks like a nail” approach… I’ll take the suggestion about adding a guy in Bermuda shorts under advisement. 😉

Re Ready for Heaven or Hell:

@Mom: interesting suggestions about the origin of the name.
@Kathy: the sauerkraut had bits of pork (or maybe ham?) in it, and some other spices that made it very flavorful. I’m not a red cabbage fan in general, but I’ll be sure to try it at that restaurant if I see it on the menu. Maybe they also do good things with red cabbage, like they did with the sauerkraut!

Re Start of the Season:

@Stan: that’s a fancy furniture store you see on the left. It’s all lit up since it was still open when I took the photo.

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Whew, that was a lot to catch up on, but I do love having all those comments! 🙂

Anyway, let’s end today with another one of my photographic experiments – I even have a question for you to consider. First, the photo:

Now, here’s my question: which part of that photo is the reflection in the Neckar, the top or the bottom of the image?

If you guessed the top, you would be correct. The real ducks are upside down in the photo, i.e. it’s a reflection of the ducks that seems to be swimming away from the viewer in the photo.  It’s not just the ducks, of course: the entire photo has been flipped 180°.

And yes, that’s just what I did in my Unexpected Boatman photo.  Same technique, same river, same trick with a reflection — it’s the hammer/nail phenomenon at work once yet again, I guess.

Have a good weekend – see you on Monday!