I’m in Germany to spend the last three weeks before my professional career begins after Labor Day. I took off from Detroit Thurdsay evening and had a fairly uneventful flight to Frankfurt. There were a number of empty seats and I was able to move to an empty row where I could lay down to sleep, which was nice. Isabel picked me up from the airport Friday morning and we took an unplanned trip to Ikea after missing our exit to Darmstadt. It’s been a nice nearly-two days here with Isabel and her family. I’m still adjusting a bit to the time difference though—I hope to make it through the late showing of Inception this evening!

Before I flew to Germany last Thursday, I photographed my newly potted, growing ficus plants, the Hermann Junior, Jr.’s. One of the Junior, Jr.’s is growing out from its original stem, which is what I was expecting to happen. In the other pot, new shoots are sprouting from the roots, which surprised me. I’m interested to see if the two pots continue to grow differently, but hoping that they simply continue to grow.

Last week my family took its annual trip to St. Joseph, Michigan. Starting five or six years ago, I think, my family starting taking a mini-vacation to St. Joesph, MI each summer. We made the three hour drive up early Monday morning, stopping along the way at Warren Dunes State Park to climb the sand dunes and play in the sand a little. After a rinse in Lake Michigan we got back in the cars and proceeded northward to St. Joseph. There we had a couple days of relaxation—most of it spent on Silver Beach. It was a nice trip. Great weather, except for a storm which blew in for a couple of hours on Wednesday morning. I’m sure we’ll do it all again next summer.

Today I potted what I hope will grow into some nice, healthy ficus trees. A few months ago while repotting my ficus tree, Hermann, Jr., I read about how to propagate a ficus tree. The easiest method was to cut off a still-green shoot and place it into a glass of water until it develops a sufficient root system and then plant it. After thinking it over for a little while, I cut off a few shoots. It took some time—maybe a month or so—but eventually they grew some nice roots. This morning I took the Hermann Junior, Jr.’s out of their water and lovingly planted them into a couple of small pots. Here’s hoping they’ll grow!

Yesterday I took my first visit to the African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton, Ohio. I took the short trip east of Toledo with my family, and I had a pretty good time. The slimy snouts as the animals pushed their heads through the window openings made me a little uncomfortable at times, but it was fun … if not a little messy—I had to call for a wipe on a few of occasions.