Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Christmas Email

© Peter Sackett
Hi Vick,

We're at Locheilan. It's Christmas morning, and there was a spectacular tropical thunder storm last night. We could see it approaching before bed, coming over the hills near Violet Town. There were huge clusters of peach-coloured lightning. By 11pm it had reached us, and the thunder was great. One of the cows in the dairy didn't think so, and mooed in the dark. The lightning totally illuminated the house for a millisecond every half-minute or so.

We had planned to ride our bikes to Numurkah for a church service this morning, but the rain (I hope) and heat have spoiled that. I'd rather hang around here. Alison and I worked in the cheesery (I'm still not sure that's a real word) for a few hours last night, and that was fun. I got to smooth huge cylinders of bleu and then dip them in blood-red wax for the market, and then Alison and I brined big wheels of what would eventually become Camembert.

I brought GI Joe with me this trip-- two of my astronaut figures and a space capsule. When things dry out, I'll take them over to a small quarry nearby and photograph them. It looks like an alien landscape over there; the soil is a red-orange colour.

What are you up to?

Pete

Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Treat

This one is for my brother, Scott. It's an experiment--my first mobile post, made during a trip to Cole's.

Not much to say here, except that I'm glad they're at least fat free.

Friday, December 9, 2011

The Postcard Files: Löbau


Haus Schminke
Alexandra Merten and Kolja Harms, two of my favourite people in the world, sent this card to me recently. It seems while I was in the United States, they were also on the road again, this time to Löbau, a city near Dresden. They'd spent two days staying at the Schminke house, completed in 1933 by architect Hans Scharoun for noodle manufacturer Hans Schminke and his family. Alexandra appears to regard this place as a German counterpart to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth house in Plano, Illinois-- but one that offers a more intimate experience for the visitor. For a modest investment, you can stay a night or two. 

Well, I've never been to Plano, but if I were given the opportunity to visit one house or the other, I'd opt for the flight to Löbau. A big reason for that has to do with the joy of travelling with Alexandra and Kolja, with whom I've had many unconventional adventures, foreign and domestic. They have an extraordinary talent for finding interesting, often vaguely melancholy, places off the beaten path-- which is where the three of us like to be. I learned early in our friendship to trust their instincts, and let them guide me. I just wish I could do it more often.