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Phantom Border named as one of 20 Environmental Books to Inspire You in the Year to Come!

December 16, 2024Kerstin No Comments

…by The Revelator, the online magazine of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Regular readers may remember Lange’s Revelator essay about Germany’s “Green Belt” and what it represents for humans and nature. That essay just scratched the surface — this book-length examination takes us on a powerful journey through the Green Belt’s history, culture, and ecology.… Read more Phantom Border named as one of 20 Environmental Books to Inspire You in the Year to Come!

Working through History over Beer

April 4, 2024Kerstin No Comments

This article, based on my chance encounter with retired Bavarian police superintendent Otto Oeder and subsequent invitation to the Stammtisch, appeared in the Mindener Tageblatt’s January 13/14, 2024 weekend edition. Captions to photos are in English so you can follow along even if you don’t read German! Leuchtende Berghänge: sattgelbes Eschenlaub, das Hellgelb frühherbstlicher Buchenblätter,… Read more Working through History over Beer

Cold Lake Anthology Release

July 5, 2023Kerstin 4 Comments

Book launch July 9, 2023! The Burlington Writers Workshop announces the release of this year’s anthology. You can join us one of two ways: in person at Hotel Vermont or, for the geographically and time-zone-challenged (like me), online. Either way, you can get your free ticket – and order your own copy – here. Find… Read more Cold Lake Anthology Release

See for yourself!

January 18, 2023Kerstin 4 Comments

You’ve been reading along—or maybe you just came across this little island in the vast virtual ocean—and now you want to see these places for yourself? Now you can! Find out more. AFTER THE WALL: DISCOVER GERMANY’S HIDDEN HEARTLANDThis special tour [dates TBA] will take you to the Green Belt—the nature preserve that has been… Read more See for yourself!

History is Real People

November 9, 2022Kerstin 4 Comments

There is something to be said for being older than, say, fifty: Chances are you remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, which in my case came with a surprise revelation about history. I was in my living room in upstate New York that November 9, 1989, when a friend practically ordered me to turn… Read more History is Real People

Day of German Unity: Angela Merkel’s East German Past

October 2, 2022Kerstin 4 Comments

For most of her sixteen years as German chancellor, Angela Merkel said little about her East German past. After the surprise of her meteoric political career in the newly reunited country – a woman! An Easterner! – things quieted down for a while. By the time she became chancellor in 2005, the major challenges of integrating… Read more Day of German Unity: Angela Merkel’s East German Past

Fellow Passengers in the Bardo

December 30, 2021Kerstin 4 Comments

Last year I wrote about the time “between the years” – that time span between Christmas and New Year’s that can feel like a gap in time, a reprieve from other, more tightly scheduled times of the year. A kind of time that invites reflection and contemplation. Lately I’ve been thinking about another kind of… Read more Fellow Passengers in the Bardo

A Raven-Black Faith in the Future

December 31, 2020Kerstin 14 Comments

There is a German expression to describe the time between Christmas and New Year’s: Zwischen den Jahren, or “between the years.” It’s not that that time span of seven days is between any two years; what matters is the feeling of having a chunk of secret extra time. Time that is safe from work meetings, dentist… Read more A Raven-Black Faith in the Future

Die Vögel am Ende der Welt

September 29, 2020Kerstin 3 Comments

(Bonus Post in German! Ausschnitte aus Kapitel 18) For English, scroll back to the last two posts. Die Nachtluft hat die Hitze des Tages nicht wirklich aus meinem winzig-gemütlichen Dachzimmer vertrieben, und meine schläfrigen Versuche, einer hungrigen Mücke nachzustellen, waren erfolglos. Aber als die Morgensonne meine schweren Augenlider überlistet, fällt mir wieder ein, was für… Read more Die Vögel am Ende der Welt

Dating in the Borderland

February 15, 2020Kerstin 2 Comments

Anna had reserved a room for me in a small Gasthaus one village over from Kella. During GDR times, Pfaffschwende had been just outside the Schutzstreifen, the high-security “protective zone”. The narrow road to Pfaffschwende had been the only one by which Kella residents could access the rest of the GDR. As she and Andreas drove me… Read more Dating in the Borderland