Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Ready for the woods! My neighbor asked me if I had someone to clean my windows.  I wondered if that was a hint.  I cleaned them in 2 rooms and then went for a bike ride.  It was a good morning. A German friend, Evie, who married an American and then lived in the US for seven years was telling another German friend, Steph, if she’d heard of “German Chocolate Cake.”  “What?!”  Steph looked bewildered.  Evie explained: “It is a chocolate sponge cake.  You know how American cakes always have an icing on them?  Well this icing is a mixture of pecans and coconut.”  Stephanie looked disgusted.  I guess it would be like telling a Frenchman about “French Toast.” Zooming! He was so excited about it that he rode it in the rain. Henry got a new bike.  We were fortunate to buy it second hand from a Kindergarten friend who noticed that his was rather small.  So now 3 of the four of us are zooming around on German bikes.  His is co...

In February when I was making reservations for an apartment in Amsterdam, I made a phone call about a canal apartment.  The owner, an American, told me, “Oh no, that’s not available.  That’s Queen’s Day weekend.  You know it’s Queen’s Day, right?” No, I didn’t. What was Queen’s Day?  The only thing I could gather from Ms. Marshall was that it would be a crazy day celebrating the Queen’s birthday, and everyone would be in Amsterdam.  Luckily, her other apartment was available so we booked it.  Later, when talking to our Dutch friends we told them we’d be in Amsterdam on Queen’s Day.  The husband’s response was exuberant: “Oh you’ll be there on Queen’s Day?  That’s terrific.  That’s awesome.  You’ll love it.  That will be great.” The wife’s response was a bit more subdued.  “Well, you could go to a smaller town where there will still be a celebration but not as crowded as Amsterdam.”  She also told us places in Amsterdam wh...

Quote by Goethe in the Keukenhof Thursday morning we took the tram to the Van Gogh museum.  Elisabeth chose to do a treasure hunt offered by the museum.  She was busy searching paintings to answer questions, and writing about which were her favorites.  John and I shared an audio tour, passing the headphones back and forth while we kept our eyes on the kids in the ever thickening crowd.  Henry was listening to a children’s audio tour that was for ages 6-12.  It was a bit beyond him, but it kept his interest.  By the way, in The Netherlands they pronounce Gogh like “Goch,” the ch being a sort of guttural sound. I have always enjoyed Van Gogh’s paintings, but never thought much of the artist himself.  I knew there was some crazy story about him cutting off his ear, and that did not endear me to him.  In my mind I chalked him up as another artist with problems.  When I read the introduction to his self portrait I read for the first time that...

The children in particular loved the canal house.  Henry and Elisabeth were on the top floor and took great pleasure in having their own room together, something I was a little nervous about.  While I was still scoping out the place, Elisabeth had neatly placed all her clothes and Henry’s clothes in two separate dressers and set her book on her nightstand.  Soon they were discussing a plan as to how to share the bed and not wake each other up too early.  We sealed the deal by offering them a movie night if they could have good nights and good mornings for two nights in a row.  Our expectations were obviously low, after their time of sharing a bed in Celle, but now they have raised them.  We heard, rather than saw, sibling love at its best--our room was directly underneath them.  Their arrangement was that they would stay asleep until 6:30 or at least stay in bed, some sources say.  If Elisabeth was still asleep at 7:00, Henry could wake her up....

Our lovely two week spring break just ended yesterday.  The first week we spent showing John’s parents bits of Hannover, Hameln (aka Hamlin as in the Pied Piper of) and Celle, our erstwhile home in Germany.  Then on the Tuesday after Easter we took the train, along with John’s parents, to Amsterdam. View of "our" canal  Elisabeth asked me on the four hour train ride, “Is Amsterdam bigger than Hannover?”  The answer was quickly revealed as we exited the train into a much busier train station than we are used to.  But what I missed right away was the German penchant for orderliness in street crossing.  I used to think Hannover had a lot of cyclists.  Now I know it is small potatoes compared to Amsterdam.  There is a huge triple story parking deck for bicycles by the train station.  I heard it can take an hour to find your bike.  The trams seem to run willy nilly in front of the train station and I felt like we were about to get run o...