Hello from Bavaria!

Huh?  You say, “Bavaria??”

Yup.  My flight route was Seattle-Amsterdam-Munich-Rome-Palermo.  I stopped in Munich, as planned, and took a train to the city center where I then caught a direct train to Sonthofen in the Bavarian Alps where Ursula and her sister Elsbeth picked me up and took me to the little village of Hindelang.  The next day, I finally caught up on my rest, logged on to my email and found out that John’s Sicily project (photography book that I am helping him produce) had to be cancelled-or postponed/being pushed forward to an unknown date.  And here I was en route to Italy and all was Kaput!

What happened is that John signed on with a NYC agent and suddenly, his career is taking off like a rocket.  The agency put him on an assignment right away to do a documentary in LA, working with some big name directors.  He told them he couldn’t start right away because of the Sicily project and that I and others working on the project were already en route to Palermo.  Never mind, they said.  If they were going to take John on, then he had to be prepared to take on this fabulous assignment they offered him.  They told him they would cover the pay I was supposed to get and that I am to send them an invoice.

Wow!  Our Sicily plans dashed just like that!  On the one hand, I felt disappointed that I wouldn’t get a chance to be assistant producer (yet), but I am thrilled for John!  This is really great news for his career.  I have been counseling him to get an agent and move to NYC and now it is really happening!  In his email to me, he expressed a deep concern that I would be upset with him and that he was afraid that this sudden change of plans would ruin our relationship.  This is the part that made me cry!  Nothing on earth could ruin my relationship with John.  He is such a part of me and I felt so sad thinking that he was waiting for my email response with this great fear in his heart.

I spent the next two days, making cancellations and flight changes, contacting people, and basically, unraveling all the work I did so far.

So here I am Going with the Flow in Bavaria in a little village called Hindelang nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains.  I am going to stay here with Ursula and Tom until May 18th and fly back home.  Though I am coming home early, I will keep my work schedule as is, going back to teaching as planned on Wednesday, May 30.  I will get a paid for stay-cation. Meanwhile, we are hiking every day!  Plenty of beautiful trails leading into the mountains.  Today, we got socked in with heavy rain.  I will send some more pictures soon!

Ah, Life!!!

Cat and Tulips

Bavarian Cow

View of the village I am staying in: Hindelang (seen from our hike)

Ursula points to home away from home.

Spring Fields

Spring in Hindelang