They're here! They're here!

Ok - we've only been back from Germany for over a month... but I finally have all the photos uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure. I could not figure out how to do "albums" on Picasa, so I used the good ol' standby of WinkFlash. I know many people don't have their own account for this, so I created one for everyone to use.

Site: http://www.winkflash.com/photo/signin.aspx
UserID: guestofnohner
Password: nohner123

On the main page, click Friends (small button at the top in the middle). Once you click there, you'll see PiserPower - click on that. In there is a Germany folder. Click on that, and all the sub-folders are ready for viewing. Some have lots of pictures, some have only a few. Hope you enjoy them! I know I had a great time taking them, and look at them often just to remember where we went.

Love and peace,
Denise

Update

Sorry this is a lame blog post, but I wanted everyone to know that I am sorting through my 1000+ pictures from Germany, and am trying to put some order to them before sending a link. I don't think I'd get too many people just sitting and scrolling through that many pictures in one sitting. So, I'm attempting to go through my journal to blog about those days/cities, and put the corresponding pictures with it. Thanks for your patience!

love and peace
Denise

Germany!

Wow - what a trip so far! The Y and the Z are in different places on this keyboard, so typing is not as easy as it should be! Today we are in Oldenburg, which is the home of our host Wilke. He is walking us ragged - bound and determined to get us all in shape before we come back to the states. We flew into Hamburg early Sunday morning, got off the plane and through customs within 30 minutes...let's just say that only two flights had come into the airport that morning. We were in Hamburg until Tuesday morning, and in that time, we saw the Dom Market, Botanical Gardens, Miniature Wunderland, and lots of old buildings with wonderful history. There are lots of historical places documenting WWII, and I am humbled by the pictures of the destruction. I know why America was in the war, but we don't always get all sides of the story when we get taught history.

Tuesday we took the train to Bremen, once again walking all over downtown. The architecture is so beautiful here, and I have taken over 600 pictures so far (yes, that is from Sunday to Tuesday). We then took a tour of the Beck's brewery - and we were certain to get our money's worth when we got free samples. :)

Today we are going to a museum and into the city of Oldenburg. We will have a picnic for lunch, and then out to dinner with Wilke's family. They have borrowed a sports bus for today to haul us around, and they have just arrived. So, time to log off and hit the road once again. If I have a chance to post again before we leave, I will do so. I think our hotel in Hamburg has a hotel, so I can check in one more time before we depart.

We are having a wonderful time, and we all still can't believe that we're actually here.

love and peace
Denise

Farkle!

Ok, who has played farkle on facebook? I know I have, and I love it - I'm constantly battling myself to get higher scores than all my friends. The thing I hate about this game on FB, though, is I want to play against my sister, but we can't seem to. We can both be logged on at the same time, but we can't see each other. We thought perhaps it was a geographical thing, but I have played against people in England and France, so I don't think that holds water. FB says in their info about it that they are working on being able to just challenge your friends, and we are eagerly waiting for that.

The coolest thing about this app on FB is it reminds me so much of playing this fun dice game as a kid with my grandparents. I mostly think of Grampa, though. When I roll the 6 dice, if I get a 3-of-a-kind of deuces, I put them back and think "gotta grow 'em up." Or when I'm about to roll, I'll say "come on aces, show your faces." I'm sure there are people on FB who don't know Farkle has been around for a long time. You can actually buy a Farkle game nowadays, but why do that when all you need is a cup, 6 dice (or 10 to play Greedy), and a notepad and pen to keep score. I don't think Grampa would be able to play the game like he used to, but the way he would play, and the things he would say, will always be with me, making me smile as I roll the dice.

Does anyone play something today that makes them think fondly of their childhood? Thanks for taking time to read today - I know I don't post often. At least this time I didn't get the "ahem" from the fam damily.

love and peace
Denise

Farewell to a wonderful musician

I found out this week that my high school band teacher passed away (at the age of 55) from a heart attack on Memorial Day. I have been saddened by this a lot this week. It's not that I was particularly close to this teacher, but he awoke something in me that wasn't there before having him as a teacher. His name was Steve Werpy - Dr Steve Werpy, actually. He worked very hard to get his PhD - in fact was working on it when he taught me my senior year. He was an associate professor a Dickinson State University, and they are holding a memorial for him on June 10th. I felt compelled to write a farewell letter to him, and they are being kind enough to read it at the memorial. I thought I would share it with all of you (whether you knew him or not).

A couple things first... Dr. Werpy was a different sort of guy. If you called his house, his answering machine had a clip from Star Wars - Yoda, to be exact. He loved Star Wars so much that Eric and a few others took the tall, dome-topped garbage can from the band room and painted it like R2-D2...and the Werpster loved it. Dr. Werpy never took our word for it that the Weird Al song called "The White Stuff" was about Oreo cookies...he thought it was a disgusting song, and we got such a kick out of it! Lastly, Dr. Werpy had music living in his blood. Everything to him was music. I sincerely mean it when I say he awakened something more about music in me that last year of my high school career. In my letter, I say something about my xylophone solo - and I mean every word of it.

Here's the letter (sorry this is such a long post). Dr. Werpy was a wonderful teacher, and his passion for music was wonderfully contagious to those who chose to get close enough to catch some of it. I am quite certain this man is leading some sort of heavenly group of musicians.

Love and peace - Denise

"Dear Mr. Werpy,

Oops – you’re Dr. Werpy now, aren’t you? When you taught me my senior year in Sidney (1992-1993), you were only working on your Doctorate then. In fact, I remember your license place said “PHD2BE” and I always knew you would make it. I never had a chance to tell you how your passion for music touched my life…so let me try to now.

When you conducted our band, I’ve never seen anyone so entranced by what he was hearing. You would get on your podium, we would play our song, and you would hold your arms up at the end – even after cutting us off – and just stand there in the moment. Then you would begin to back away from the music stand, and would almost fall off the podium. We thought it was funny at the time, but we all recognized that you were lost in the music.

Had it not been for your encouragement and love for music, I would never have made the Honors Concert at Festival in Glendive that year. That was the hardest xylophone piece I have ever played, and the most fun I’ve had playing one. I thought you were crazy to ask me to use four mallets! Thank goodness Baker always let us use their very nice equipment since ours wasn’t up to par for wonderful solos such as that.

You were not a nickname kind of guy. We had nicknames for quite a few teachers – but not disrespectful or bad ones (well…mostly). I remember asking you if we could call you “The Big W” or “The Werpster”, and you paused and said, “Uh…no.” You didn’t even crack a smile, and I was certain that I offended you. I hope you know that to this day, a few of us still refer to you as The Werpster…we always have, and we probably always will. It has always been a matter of endearment to us.

Thank you, Dr. Werpy. Thank you for bringing another level of LOVE for music to my life. I was sorry to only have you my last year in high school, but you made such an impact. I can still pick out pieces of that xylophone solo, and that was a LONG time ago.

I am so sorry to hear of your passing, but I hope you know that you made a difference in the lives of musicians everywhere you went. I will never forget that wonderful senior year under your tutelage, and only hope that your final resting place is playing your favorite music.

Until we meet again,
Denise Johnson Nohner"