BTW we renamed our new cat: Benjamin Franklin.....Frank for short, it just fits him better

Manifest Destiny

So we would like to introduce the newest furry addition to the family: Meriwether Lewis. Our new Norwegian Forest Cat (yes, finally we have gone into the realm of pure bred pets) is starting to acclimate to his slightly less wealthy home. With an original staggering price tag and higher ranking owners, Lewis, as we call him, has condescended to agree to live in our humble abode. At five months of age, and already tipping the scales at 14 lbs. we expect that he may soon eat us out of house and home! He is just a sweetheart, that has very large feet (another harbinger of monstrous size).

On an entirely different note, Ma and Pa (Miller's rentals) are over from the 'States to spend some time over the holidays with us. We have enjoyed eating, hiking, and spending time with the cats (I love being able to say "cats" instead of "cat" again!). We hiked in Pottenstein yesterday, seeing the great geology of the area, and to a slippery walk up the extinct volcano in Neustadt am Kulm today. We enjoyed the crisp, yet lovely weather on both days. Ma and Pa came over the day after Christmas, leaving us to spend Christmas day liesuely getting lost while wearing the best pants in the world (thanks, Mum). We also greatly enjoyed speaking to the family and seeing the fabulous photos from Christmas Eve.

Work has been going fine, with the occasional delay due to snow. We really enjoy getting a delay, as it is reminiscent of snow days in grade school. This week should be fun, as we are taking a day trip to Prague tomorrow and will be heading to the Alps later this week. As always, please feel free to check out our photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtwash125 .

Around the Next Bend. . .

One of the character building experiences of growing up in our houses was hiking. Once Jak and I had been dating for a while, we discovered that both of our parental units (or more properly, our Mothers) have a strange disability when it comes to hiking. While our mothers are normally experts on directions and distances, when hiking all destinations were strangely "just around the next bend."
Now in Ma's defense, while hiking in the Grand Canyon this is strictly true, however, it doesn't really count if you can see the campsite a half mile away. . .across the canyon. Only hours later would one actually reach that fabled "around the next bend." There is no defending Mum, there is no mythical bend that shows, well anything at all. Bends therefore have grown to symbolize that intangible feeling that comes from hiking in the woods. Or more accurately, that "Damn it I am tired and hungry and have no freaking clue what we are doing out here!!"
Now that we hike on our own, we have found that the disability is genetic, as both of us have inherited it to a greater or lesser extent. Jak to a slightly greater extent, as while she can without fail find a 1 square foot sign in the middle of a land navigation course, simple things like trails can on occasion defeat my fearless adventurer. Nathan has inherited Ma's almost perfect sense of direction, as well as her inability to be truthful about the trail ahead.
I cannot simply blame genetics, as the German's continue to make rather asinine decisions in cartography that do not help matters. Contour intervals are mere suggestions, trail markers a rarely seen oddity, and who in God's name makes grid squares that are 1400 meters wide?
Despite this all, we managed to have a wonderful time hiking down in Garmisch this week. We were down for a Marriage Retreat (what are we retreating from?) with my company, which in our chaplain's eyes is best served by having at most 2 hours of seminar in the evening and giving us the days to destress and relax. For most that involved relaxing in the pool or seeing the sites, perhaps with a bit of shopping. We strapped on crampons and mountaineering boots and climbed one of the smaller Alps on a path that can only generously be considered a trail. It was wonderful and relaxing, and exactly what we needed. Tom wasn't the most happy to be left at home, but considering he gets worn out after half an hour of "Throw the Catnip Mouse and watch Tom run into the wall trying to get it" with Dad, it was probably best he stayed at home.

So what, my cat is spoiled!

So Tom is a bit lonely. We have yet to find him the right friend, so we have been lavishing attention on him. The spoilage doesn't stop there though. Tonight, both Nate and I have been preparing for my company's Christmas party. I have been making my famous pulled pork, while he has been making his classic twice-baked potatoes. I have substituted the water that I would normally throw into the slow-cooker with the pork, for a Belgian Ale. We shall see how that goes. In the process of prepping the meat for cooking, I was removing any really large fatty pieces. Not wanting to waste anything, all fat scraps were thrown into my cast iron skillet, cooked, and then pureed for my feline child. I gave him a bit tonight, and he just went wild for it! It will be a welcome substitute for his special indoor cat wet food diet for the next couple of days (in addition to his dry food, of course). I know he is a bit fat, but I can't help in feeding him, as he is just so cute! Being a good boy, he never begs at the table, nor has he ever eaten "people food." I think he just likes to eat, which makes him a bit chubby. Hopefully we find a girlfriend for him soon, as he is just not meant to be in a one-cat home. I have been tempted by ads for pure-bred maine coons, but it would go against my belief that cats are not something that should be bought (especially at hefty 400 Euro price tags!). There are enough unwanted kitties out there, but none of them has yet to stumble their way into our lives.

So the Holidays are here...so everything must go wrong...it is in the rules!

I am not sure who wrote these rules, but they should be shot....by a firing squad ...no better yet, defenestrated! In short, this week was terrible, until today, that is. On a very somber note, we unfortunately lost our beloved Aaron Burr to a short illness. He passed away under anesthesia, so felt no pain. It was very tough for us and his brother, Tom. We have been lavishing Tom with attention, but he certainly misses his furry friend. As Pa told me, time heals all wounds, but right now, this one still hurts. Cats just are not meant to live alone, so when the time is right, Tom will be getting a sister. We are looking for an adult female cat in the Grafenwoehr area, so if anyone knows of a kitty needing a home, please let us know. Thank you all for all of your condolences, and thanks to our friend, Jen, who was a great help to us during this week.

So, after a tough week at work and the loss of our pet, what would feel better than a bike ride with friends? Yesterday, Nate, Chris, Joe and took out our bikes for some cyclocross practice. We decided to start the ride with a run up of our favorite dirt hill. I was the first to ride off towards the path with Chris, a ways behind me. No sooner had I passed a car parked off to the side of the road, when from out of nowhere came a large, black, vicious dog. It chased me for about 500 meters before I had to chose; either kick it in the face to stop it from following me into the road, or let it run into the road and let it get hit by a car. As much as this animal's demise seemed the best for it, as it was slowly taking chunks out of my ankle, I thought that that bitch of a woman who was half-heartedly yelling at it to come back, might miss it. So, I chose to kick it. Landing my size 8 cycling shoe right in its face, it quickly decided that I was not worth the effort. The rest of the ride was enjoyable and uneventful, for which I was quite thankful. After showering, we went to Obi to grab some Christmas decorations and went out to dinner with my commander, who rightfully thought that we needed to get out of the house.

Luckily, today was better. Nate put up with a cleaning frenzy this morning. He is used to this, as I do it at least once a day. When you own a cat that just won't stay off the counter (yes Tom, I am talking about you), you have no choice but to sterilize often! Our friend Chris, who owns a truck, came with us to pick out a Christmas tree. I chose both Chris's and our tree, while they cut them down and carried them to get wrapped. It was very manly to say the least. While waiting for the tree to dry, as it was a wet day, Nate helped Chris build a bike for his wife, while I put hooks on all the baubles for the tree. We took a break to ride down to the Advent Market in town and sample some Gluhwein (hot mulled wine), bratwurst, and roasted nuts. It was very festive. We put up our gigantic tree (about 8.5 feet tall!) and Miller is now bottling some home brew. Hopefully our life is uneventful for a while.

Oh, by the way, we both got promoted this week. No more butter-bar.

Victory is Mine!

So, sometimes in the Army you have to make some sacrifices in your daily life. One such sacrifice is the occasional food item at the commissary. This week it was celery, which being the week prior to Thanksgiving, was a crisis! Well, let's start this story right....they do not have any rhubarb, fluff, soup bones, nor gravy master. So why would we shop at a place that cannot stock even these simple items? Well, in one word: CHEAP. When faced with paying a Euro to Dollar exchange that would make even the richest folks faint at the thought, our American tax free food shopping is really the best option despite a limited selection. I would expect our commissary to not have regional items that are very New England specific, but some things you would expect them to always have. Celery is one of them. I mean, how would I make my stuffing or turkey salad? Well, in the end, we had to go back to get some, late on a weekday night. We were victorious, but it was a close call! There is an unwritten rule at the commissary or PX, which is, if you find something that you want, buy as many as you can, as who knows when they will stock it again. This leads to buying bulk in items that most people do not stock up on, like bread (our freezer is full) and ground pork (once again, limited freezer space). Next time celery is in stock, I may have to stock up on that, but I am still not sure how I would keep it fresh! I will miss the families for Thanksgiving, but you are all in our hearts and minds.

My Turn

I don't have pictures of a new bike (or newly painted bike) to show, in fact I have no pictures because where I have been working this week it is against regulations to take pictures. But I feel obligated to write a post, even though I have absolutely no idea what I am going to write about.
As a little background on the no pictures, this week I tagged along with some of my Soldiers to 1st CTC's Certification Exercise down in Miesau. Now for most folks, Miesau does nothing to excite, but for the ammunition world outside the states, the world revolves around Miesau, which is the home for the Ammunition Center Europe. I'll be quick, as this is rather boring to all but me. In short it is an area about 20 square miles filled with bunker after bunker of things that go BOOM!! When I was asked by Higher what my plan was for my Soldiers was if there was an explosive event, my answer was "ummmm, run away? If you're not vapor already." In reality the danger is fairly low, and the training was excellent.
So now that the boring part is past, I have to complain for a second. I enjoy the army, I like my job despite the occasional frustration but there are some things that drive me nuts. One is Power Point, the Army has decided at some point that life did not exist, things did not happen, and questions could not be answered before Power Point came along. Telling where the bathroom is? PowerPoint slide. Plan to eat lunch? PowerPoint Slide. Nap time? PowerPoint slide. You get the general idea. While I in no way shape or form tolerate or support Terrorism, if they managed to crash PowerPoint, I wouldn't complain too much.
The other complaint is what is called the Army Writing Style. Yes, we have a manual and standard for everything, including the number of multisyllabic words a sentence should contain and mandating the capitalization of such things as Soldier. It all conspires to create writing that is aimed at an 8th Grade education, which is about what we can honestly expect out of some Soldiers. Now most of you reading are from New England, and let me assure you that our 8th Grade must be very different from the rest of the country, because this writing style would have been beneath even the special education rooms in 8th Grade here.
I digress, by which I mean that I still have nothing to write about. Love to you all, I promise a better post sometime soon.

Some things are worth waiting for!

Almost a year after the movers wrecked the paint on my favorite bike, I finally have it back. Fresh from the paint shop at Marinoni in Canada, here he is. Words cannot explain.

Just one more reason why riding in Germany is just more fun!

So yesterday, Miller and I built up a 29er frame that had been sitting in the bike dungeon for the last couple years. It is nothing special, just a Motobecane frame with a beefy Surly rigid steel fork and some other sturdy yet heavy parts on it. Nothing could make this bike light, so I didn't even really try. In absence of a chain tension-er (yes it is a single speed) we threw on an old Ultegra derailleur until we could make it a bit less ghetto fabulous. In short, this bike is a beast, but man, is it fun! When we finished it, we took the taxing walk across the lawn to show it to our fellow bike guru, Joe. This is dangerous, as when we show him some cool new bike part, it is usually just a matter of time before he gets some bike envy, and ends up with another bike, hence his new Cube 'cross bike! While showing him the new rig, we decided that although it may be dark, muddy, and rainy, a night ride was in order to take my steed through its paces. In short order, we ran across the lawn to go get into our bike gear, eat some of Carmen's (Joe's wife) awesome salsa, and grab the lights for a night-time adventure. After meeting back up, we started out on some of our usual trails. After a couple wet-root induced wipe-outs (I don't feel bad, Joe's son, Alex, wiped out in almost the same spot, he is five years old though!), we all were really enjoying ourselves. Riding at night is super fun, as it always feels like you are going so fast, simply because the range of your lights does not allow you to to look too far ahead on the trail, like you would during the day. We bombed around on the trails for a while until Joe and I switched bikes for a while so I could rock some full suspension glory while he tried out my fully rigid 29er. At this point, like a horse to water, we were taking the trail back home, when we decided we were far too parched to continue. We needed some refreshment before we could make it the last mile home. We stopped at Jalisco's, our favorite Mexican place for some Zoigl. Luckily Joe is good friends with the bar tender, as he allowed us to bring our bikes inside, as we didn't have any locks with us. Refreshed and happy, we made our way back home. A very good ride, with good company and good beer. What more could anyone ask for!

Happy Veterans' Day

Firstly, I just want to start this post by wishing all veterans who have served in all capacities a happy Veterans' Day. We should not forget though, that although we may use it as a day to thank and remember our veterans, it is also a day to mark the ending of the first World War. On this day, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in peace to lay wreaths to remember the many Soldiers and civilians that died in that horrible conflict. This action gives us all hope that currently waring peoples such as those who are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, may someday remember this conflict in a more peaceful time. Please pray for all Veterans, both of the past that have made the ultimate sacrifice and for those around the world who currently take up arms so others do not have to.

Work....

So there is not all that much to post about. Miller is gone right now to go welcome the forward part of his element home from their 12 month deployment. I on the other hand am very busy with a change of command inventory among many other things like ranges and Soldier issues. I came home from the field last week, but have had no to time to rest! Both Miller and I will be super busy these next couple weeks. We are looking forward to the Holidays coming up (even though we both have to work on Thanksgiving night!). Ma and Pa will be coming to Germany for Christmas, which will be very nice, yet it will be different not being home! We will really miss all of you back home though. We are so busy, but hopefully will have time experience some of the holiday markets and the such. Sorry for the short post, but I am so very tired, so I will be turning in early. P.S. The above photo is a silly picture of the company leadership. Yes, I am the one getting the "wet willy."

When Jaks' Away. . .

Well for first, the mouse definitely will play. By play I mean that Barbara escapes daily (I wish I knew how) and goes to live under the chair in the bedroom for a little. It is an annoying habit, but as of yet I still have not found the avenue of escape. We shall see. Winter has started to arrive, as it has been snowing on and off for the last several days, without any significant accumulation but a sure sign of things to come.
Jak is in the field for 9 days, so I am temporarily living the bachelor life style. Work is busy, so bachelor life style tends to consist of eating dinner, chasing the cats around for a little, and doing random things that need to be done around the house. Exciting to say the least.
Our brewing is going well, the Belgian Ale is bottle conditioning, and is probably ready for consumption, I am just waiting on Jaks' return to try it. We made a Irish Stout which I bottled last night, a Pumpkin Ale on Sunday that is now bubbling happily away in its' secondary fermenter, and an Apfelwein that I just made last night. The biggest problem not, other than not sounding like drunks, is the waiting.
This weekend promises to be pretty exciting, as the Cyclocross World Cup is coming virtually to our doorstep. Chris and Joe (our riding buddies) and I are heading to Plzen on Sunday to watch the races, which should be truly amazing.
I guess this isn't the most thilling report on our lives, but hey, boring can be good sometimes.

4 Day

One of the hidden gems of being stationed in Germany is that once a month we get a 4 day weekend. This gives an opportunity to relax a bit, travel some, and generally take a quick breath before going back to the deep end. In our case, we used this weekend to ride bikes, climb an Alp, brew beer, make cookies, fix furniture, clean the house, chase cats, and generally do a bit of everything.
Yesterday Jak and I hiked up the Hoher Fricken, mainly because the name is fun to say and half way up there is a cave called the Frickenhollen. It was a fricken good time and absolutely beautiful, if a shade too vertical for our joint's tastes. The trail starts out on a kid's path, with questions here and there about trees and the like. It was a nice easy way to start, but it got even better. The first kilometer of the trail is through a gorge with waterfall after beautiful waterfall. Fricken awesome! From there, the trail does the very normal thing that trails do in the Alps, namely went straight up. Via a series of switch backs in short order we were high above the valley floor with views one way to the Zugspitze which was getting the first snows for the season and the other way out on the plains leading towards Munchen. It was stunning, and the weather was perfect. For the first time this year we were able to hike in pants, which was a welcome change from our normal au-natural adventures. Just kidding, we normally hike in shorts, but there is something very nice and reminiscent of home about hiking in pants. We both were trying out some new gear, which was very successful. After much searching we had gotten Jak some mountianeering boots which she tried out with great success, and we both wore our new packs which did not destroy our bodies like the one's we climbed the Zugspitze with.
The only catch with the hike was that we were literally hiking between storm fronts, with the rain of the previous 3 days about to give way to another several days of rain, so we had to hike quickly to make sure we had time if the weather socked in. We managed to get most of the way up before the clouds started to roll in and as rain started to darken the horizon we decided that discretion was the better part of valor and headed back down. Many amusing slips and two pairs of burning quadriceps later, we made it back to the car with plenty of time to gas up, eat some Subway and head back home. I love living only 3 hours from the Alps, though we are definatley jealous of those stationed in Garmisch where we were hiking, that must be the best posting in Europe. The only disappointment of the day was that the Frickenhollen proved impossible to find.

We love days off!

These past couple weeks have been very busy for us at work, as I am planning a field exercise which starts on Tuesday, and Nate has been dealing with some rather interesting Soldier issues. I have also recently (meaning on Thursday) found out that I will be double hatting as XO (my current job) and taking Second Platoon as a PL. This is great news, although it means a ton more work. I will love having a platoon again. The rest of second platoon is down range at this time, but will reintegrate as soon as they come back in a couple months. This means I am next in the shoot for deployment, which I could not be happier about, as with being XO, I would have almost no change of deploying. My fellow PL, Ted will be leaving for Iraq in a couple months, but I am next to deploy hopefully when his platoon gets back. I am pretty excited to be faced with some new challenges of working with a new platoon. Not too much is new on Nate's end, but he continues to enjoy his job as a Rear Detachment commander. Although things have been busy, they are moving along just fine.
Last night, we had a great cyclocross ride in the dark. Around dusk, we set out to ride the trails with some lights. We saw some deer (which means that Nate saw some deer, while I saw dark jumping blobs). Other than that, the ride was uneventful. We are truly enjoying the rainy and cool fall weather. The colors are not nearly as good as at home, but the trees are pretty nonetheless. Although we have no racing planned for this weekend, last weekend we raced a time trial on a very hilly course. Nate raced on his fixed gear, suffering in style. I took my TT bike for a spin. We didn't win, yet didn't finish last, so things went well. We also got schooled by a guy with one arm....well, it didn't hurt that he was on a 5,000 Euro bike....Anyway, out to adventure! We will write soon.

Ouch!

Jak and I ride rather regularly with our friends Chris and Joe, who in normal life are Captains Myers and Patterson of the MP Brigade. While we would not normally advertise hanging around MP's (Military Police), they are wicked cool and fun to hang around with. After many attempts, they finally got us to go to a race with them this weekend down at Hohenfels. This area is normally known in the military community as an area in which to conduct miserable training (MSG Surratt sank a tank there), but the terrain is perfect for Mountain Biking. Considering it was the USAREUR championships this weekend, we really could not pass up the invite to ride. Kind of like Jak cannot pass up the chance to criticize my grammar and spelling as I write this. Anyway, long story short, we went down and Jak, Joe and I raced. Chris was out with a pulled back, though we are sure this is just a symptom of him being old and a West Pointer (Sarcasm). The course was a 3.5 mile lap that went down some awesome single track, went up a God-awful climb, wend down an even more awesome single track featuring a giant hole (more on that later) than took a long fire road climb to the start area. In the women's race, Jak did 5 laps of that and managed to fall into the giant hole only once! Despite the short detour to the center of the Earth, Jak took home the win in the Open Women category by a comfortable margin. In the men's race, I started off with the leaders before realizing that the leader was a 19 year old German prodigy on a 16 pound bike who apparently does nothing but train and inject EPO. Soon after that realization, my legs exploded, spraying the surrounding area with shrapnel and killing many of my opponents. Not really, my legs did explode and propel me back to the middle of the pack. By lap 3 my legs had come back to me, and by lap 5 I was back up higher in the rankings, crossing the line just in time for the German Prodigy to lap me for a second time as he won. This lapping coincided with my finishing my water and Nutri Grain as a hard bonk set in, leaving me to complete the remaining two laps with visions of Coke and Sugar Plums dancing in my head. Don't ask me where the Sugar Plums came from, or even what a Sugar Plum is, I was just really hungry. Though my body was now against me, I managed to finish with a respectable 3rd Place in the Men's Open, though many of the Master's smoked me. It was a great time, and Joe rode an amazing race to get 5th in the Masters, smoking me as well in the process. Much fun was had by all, and we retired to Grafenwoehr to consume large quantities of Mexican Food.
On Sunday, Operation Home Brew reached its second critical phase as we racked the beer into the secondary fermenter. We sampled a little and it tastes good, even though it has another week until bottling, and another week after that until normal drinking. At the risk of courting disaster, I think we may have a pretty good beer on our hands.
Throughout all of this, Aaron Burr was having a rare attack of well-behavedness. We are required by law and his threats of continuing cuteness to add this picture.