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Winter is in the air here in Germany, a fact augmented by the abrupt temperature difference noted upon returning last week from Jacksonville, Florida. And since we've been back, the mercury has continued to slowly but steadily drop, a sign winter is creeping in and preparing to lay its dark, bleak shroud of icy cold over greater Europe. The time change hasn't helped things, with darkness settling in successively faster each night; soon it will be rare to leave work in daylight. Grilling, one of our recent preferred modes of cooking, appears to be done for the season for obvious reasons.

Technically it's supposed to be fall, but why even kid ourselves? The leaves turned color a few weeks back, and it was pretty indeed, with classic oranges, yellows, and reds covering the hills and our streets. That time was short lived, however, and just as we noted the leaves changing we nearly as quickly noticed a few windy, rainy days which washed the leaves away and seemingly the whole of autumn with them. Now, mostly bare branches remain.


The older I get the less I deal well with "seasons", especially non-temperate ones. Perhaps spending my tender teen years in Southern California spoiled me, but I now find the cold and dark more than just cold and dark, I find them almost depressing. (Last year I had no such qualms. Having just returned from the desert, I found the cold one hell of a nice change. What a difference a year makes.)

The trip to Florida was my fifth trip to the States since March, which is a pretty insane number for a non-business traveler when I think about it. Those flights are long, dammit! The East Coast trip is generally a much easier physiologic and psychologic experience than the West Coast trip - those extra three hours make a big difference in jet lag for some reason. Out of all five trips, something went logistically wrong with at least one leg in every single journey, a sure sign that the airline industry is in a mild to moderate state of shambles. Twice bags were lost, including upon our arrival to Jacksonville this last time. Multiple planes were delayed and twice flights were canceled outright. Because of flight delays, I've spent more time running through airports to make connections in the last year than ever before, with memorable sprints through Heathrow, Amsterdam, and most recently Charlotte to name a few. Twice these sprints were successful, but both resulted in delayed luggage.

The trip to Jacksonville was quite pleasant and restful. Occasionally its nice to have a trip designed primarily for mingling and vegetation, which it seemed this one was. I was able to meet much of Gwen's family (mother's side), and found them all very gracious and accepting - for lack of a better term. Gwen's mom has a knack for interior design and is quite the gifted seamstress. The flowery and richly-materialed home she shares with Gwen's step-dad was a stark reminder of our own spartan-by-comparison living, but it certainly made for a congenial place to relax. I quite enjoyed it and the trip overall.

As always, the icing on the cake of any trip back stateside is the ability to step back into American culture, albeit briefly. For this trip, and at the risk of being branded an American consumer zealot, I'm speaking mostly of Best Buy and Starbucks here. I don't know why the Germans can't figure out that a large sippable coffee that can actually be taken to go isn't a good idea, because it IS a good idea - a very good idea in fact. And I was reminded of this notion each time I took a sip of one of my repeatedly purchased venti hazelnut lattes, thank you very much.

The Germans do better in the Best Buy arena, but the electronics stores here in Europe are useless to me because of regional differences in electronics compatibility. Because of this, I'm relegated to the base offerings and and have few other options. There's always internet shopping, but its not quite the same as wandering through aisles upon aisles of an electronic candy store. So its always with a high degree of glee that I return to Best Buy on each successive trip home. There's always some new piece of technology on the market (like the iPhone, for example) to marvel at, and the multiple racks of up to date video games are a sight to behold. My normal electronics shopping here in Germany consists of what the base PX can provide, and though I shouldn't complain by any means, to compare the local AAFES "Power Zone" to a Best Buy is to compare a Soviet era bread line to a large Parisian bakery.


Since our return from the States, Gwen and I have slowly settled back into routine. Excluding short day trips, we probably won't be traveling significantly again until the holidays. Work is work, and I'm at the point in my Army career where I'm starting to look PAST my Army career. The coming of the new year will mark the 18-month point of time I have left. I'm told that the last 12 months happen quickly, and a lot of that time will be spent doing inordinate amounts of separation paperwork (shocker) and looking for a job, housing, etc. I'm actually looking quite forward to it. Odds are I'll probably take a few months off in general after getting out before settling into any sort of steady job or routine, but we'll see.

Either way, it will be nice to at last be done "protecting" freedom and instead be able to experience it. I might even grow my goatee back.