Mary Fleming

Ode to Forsythia

Friday, 24 April In Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, the narrator describes a critical encounter with a row of hawthorns. This is a short blog posting, so I won’t quote extensively from this predictably lengthy passage, except to say that still a boy, he stood before

New Horizons

Friday, 17 April In my pre-bike Berlin days, I often looked longingly at some spot that seemed just a bit too far to walk in the time available. So the last couple of weeks have offered the exciting possibility of actually getting to some of them. The one I looked

Joining the Ranks

Friday, 10 April I have been an urban cyclist for as long as I can remember. In Toronto, with my tricycle on our dead end street, where I was frightened that even three wheels might not stop one of those tectonic ruptures in the pavement from tipping me over. In

Traditions, Part II

Good Friday, a holiday. As is Easter Monday, thus keeping both Protestants and Catholics happy. Another religious observance and its concomitant traditions taken seriously (see Traditions, 10 Dec '14). The Frohe Ostern’s began early in the week; yesterday afternoon Berlin got very quiet. The workers who are still

Molecule Man

Back in Berlin, after a mother-son-dog road trip. If it sounds picturesque, tant mieux. The truth is that even though William made it much easier by being excellent company and driving more than I did, any car journey between Paris and Berlin in a single day renders one almost delirious.

Love-Hate Locks

“I am standing on the Pont des Arts in Paris,” begins Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, written in 1969. “What is civilisation? I do not know. I can't define it in abstract terms—yet. But I think I can recognise it when I see it: and I am looking

City of Light

Thursday, 12 March With US snow still fresh in my mind, I sheepishly report: it’s been gorgeous spring this week in Paris. Bright, chilly mornings have given way to warm sunny days, each one noticeably longer than the one before. The first birds are chirping at 4am and a

Inner Voices

Central Park, Sunday, 1st of March Thursday, 5 March 2015 I have just returned to Paris from two plus weeks of travelling: New York to the Berkshires, Philadelphia to Washington, DC and Virginia, then back to New York. Besides trying to tout Someone Else in bookshops along the way (not

Paris lives

Sacré Coeur, from rue de Chartes/rue de la Goutte d'Or Thursday, 12 February One reads these days about Paris becoming a museum. Or a jewel box (see last week’s post). This may be true for certain arrondissements, but outside the hollowing centre, the story is quite

Different Boxes

![ [https://mf.ghost.io/content/images/2015/02/DSC_1054.jpg] Some Someone Else's, back in Paris Thursday, 5 February When David and I talked about buying a place in Berlin, we said: wouldn't it be great to find something outside the box. Some part of

Moving, Part II

Thursday, 29 January Getting settled continues to rule our lives. More workers, more deliveries. Among the latter, endlich, our hook-up box from Kabel Deutschland. The job's not quite done and they'll have to come back, but Saturday morning I was able to e-mail and google to

Moving

Elsa and Someone Else, Alt-Treptow Wednesday, 21 January If you want to block out the horrors of the world, move into a Berlin apartment. Germany may be the strongest economy in Europe but it takes over a month to get the telephone, internet and television hooked up. Like getting a

Rooting for the Centre

Wednesday, 14 January It's been a rough week for the world. In Paris, I sat in front of the television feeling as if I had received a physical blow to the head from a cold, metal object, causing a bruise. Le Monde headlined its Friday paper "Le

Endless Rhythm

Wednesday, 7 January The week of New Year seemed a good time for some home-town tourism. Why not visit the recently re-opened Musée Picasso? As we arrived at the handsome hôtel particulier in the heart of the Marais, it became obvious why not: at the left side of the cobbled

Swaddled

Thursday, 25 December Attempts in France (minus Alsace-Lorraine) at being gemütlich at Christmas time, such as Christmas markets, just seem fake. Decorations in Paris always nudge into the gaudy and/or the tacky. Along the boulevard St Germain, near our apartment, trees have been surrounded in lights to look like

One Lucky Dog

photo by William Fleming Wednesday, 17 December Double birthdays: my sister Catharine (greetings across the blogosphere!) and Elsa. Obviously I know it's my sister's birthday but how do I know about Elsa, the abandoned dog? For those of you who don't know her rather

Tradition

Tegeler See, St Nicholas Day Wednesday, 10 December Christmas is taken very seriously in Germany. It is approached, perhaps not suprisingly, in an orderly fashion. The last Monday in November (in Berlin at least), Weihnachtsmärkte open throughout the city. Come December, children receive their Advent calendars and begin cutting paper

Leaves, Memory,Leftovers. And Keeper's Nose

Last Saturday in Prinzlauer Berg, I could not resist picking up this leaf, a flash of colour in an otherwise very dreary landscape. This past week, cold has decscended on Berlin. And with it, that unrivalled Berlin grey. There are no such trees in our corner of France (at least

Closer to Home

Wednesday, 26 November Our current temporary lodgings in Kreuzberg, as I noted on 20th October, bear many similarities to our first temporary lodgings in Mitte. There’s the Denkmal, or historical monument status (here being a former hospital; there being a former Jewish seminary), the paucity of cupboard and closet

Elsa in Uferland

Tuesday, 18 November There was some worry that after a stretch in France, Elsa would have to start all over again in Berlin. Wouldn't another temporary apartment that had no familiar smells provoke renewed angst? Wouldn't she say Oh,no! More bare wood floors and leather

25 years

Monday, 10 November Most everyone my age, at least those living in Europe, remembers where they were. I was sitting at home on the rue Tournefort, two children upstairs asleep, husband away, watching the eight o'clock news. Like many others, I remained glued to the television late into

Up and Down

Sunday, 9 November Saturday morning, one day on the wane Sebastian is worried that I might have to go into marketing rehab. This week I sent over 200 emails to friends and acquaintances, alerting them to publication of my book. By 6.00 each evening, I had a head like

Beautiful Weekend in Berlin

Sunday, 2nd November Kreuzberg, Saturday morning The sun has been shining and if it weren't for the oblique angle of the light and the turning, falling leaves, one could think it spring. Both lovely and disturbing. But the real reason it's been a beautiful weekend in

Writing

As one of my novels is about to appear on Amazon, Sebastian K., who's done basically everything, says people would like to know about my writing. So here's a quick history. In the beginning When I first began writing, I was frightened and perplexed. Frightened that

Back to Berlin

Monday, 20 October We tried going via Frankfurt, instead of threading the needle between Cologne and Düsseldorf. It made no difference in time or on our nerves: driving the Autobahn is horrible, as noted in blog entry from 1st April. In this new, temporary place on the Grimmstrasse, there are