Things Will Be Haywire

Crazy stuff taped to a pole in Phoenix, Arizona

The astute reader will have noticed that I went 40 days after New Year’s Day without sharing a post, and it was not because I fell from the Earth. I fell into writing, writing something bigger than usual, and no, this photo is not part of my effort. While the date on this post is the 8th of January, and the date of the photo was from the 2nd of January, this is actually being posted on the 11th of February because that’s the day I opened a new office document and began penning a thing.

I do find it peculiar not to be sharing anything on a regular basis. After years of pushing so much out here, it appears that our lives have taken a pause if the frequency of posts was considered a measure of our activity. Rest assured, we remain quite busy with Caroline working on a number of fiber arts projects and I, well, writing as I’ve already said. We’ll return to traveling as soon as I feel that I can afford a window of distraction while still being able to fall back into this work that, from where I sit today, looks to become my most ambitious project yet. I have to admit, writing that feels link a jinx of sorts, but I’ll try to keep the superstition at bay.

Hopefully, this will be the one and only allusion to this plan to use many words to accomplish the goal of creating/penning something I’ve never attempted previously.

So, please understand that for a while, the missives here on the blog are likely going to be few and far between but not so few that I’ll be left feeling years from now, when I look back at 2024, that Caroline and I took time off from busy, adventurous lives. Stuff will happen, and stuff will be noted.

The Comment That Became a Post

Claudia Wollny and Caroline Wise in Frankfurt, Germany

This is the first comment that rose to a level that demanded I convert it into a post. On this day, when Claudia and Caroline were hanging out, I was able to selfishly slip away for writing and ice cream. I was hoping that Caroline was going to post a little something about her and Claudia’s time together, but it has turned out that Claudia beat Caroline to the punch by leaving a very sweet comment in German on my entry. I asked my wife for a translation so I could post it here because it doesn’t belong unseen below a blog entry:

It was a magical day – almost as if time had stopped breathing for a moment. The sun was shining and it was somehow unreal to actually see each other when we usually just chat. I would like to add a few more memories from my perspective.

The day before, I was panicking because I had wanted to come by car. It’s a good thing that I came by train after all. I was so happy to meet Caroline and finally get to know John in person (who had initially planned to just say hello and then bow out politely). Naturally, he was immediately “arrested” and had to have coffee with us, followed by lunch at an Italian restaurant. How thoughtful of John to swap seats with me because my spot was a bit drafty. We spoke both German and English, which worked very well.

After lunch, John sought some alone time, mindful of their imminent departure for America. So, after walking through the pedestrian zone looking for a pleasant spot, Caroline and I ended up heading to the same elegant café where we had enjoyed our coffee outside earlier that morning. Since, as we all know, calories don’t count when traveling, we grasped the moment and, without hesitation, indulged in the tastiest ice cream sundaes with hot raspberries and cream. I conceded halfway through – which is not my usual style – Caroline held out a little longer…

Unfortunately, time passed far too quickly, and so we rushed to the train station, where my train was already waiting.

One last hug, and then another, and another…. three, four? … while we nervously awaited the impending call for the train’s departure. Then, impermanence struck, and the doors closed. Like a dream.

Claudia

Two Million

Sketch of John Wise by Becca

I have been approaching 2,000,000 words written on my blog, so imagine my disappointment when at 1,999,999 (yes, exactly that number by some strange quirk of the universe), I uploaded some images for what was to be my next post and recognized that the blog’s word tracker was counting images as words! When I glanced at the stats prior to digging into my writing session, I saw that I’m already over 2 million words. Now, I suppose I have to consider that I’m not over that giant number after all because some 20,000 photos or more are likely skewing the total number. No matter, the milestone has been met or will be soon enough, and it’s just fine for me at this time to post this point of bragging. By the way, don’t even consider reading the entirety of this blog, as it would take you a staggering amount of time, to the tune of over 133 hours.

Some days later, I return to the draft for this post looking for what else I want to say, and it all feels so arbitrary, aside from the fact that I do intend to change the focus of my writing. There is so much momentum captured here with what I put into my blog posts that there’s a sense of loss knowing what I have to curtail, at least for a while. However, I will not give up posting about our travels, and while I can only reluctantly slow down routine updates, I must. So much of this endeavor has lent riches to memories that would otherwise be pale compared to what the minds of the two of us would have retained.

There are over 3,140 posts spread out here throughout my blog, and while that is likely plenty, it still feels like I’m turning my back on a friend. Over the coming months, I’ll be scouring every one of these missives as I hunt for bits and pieces that must be extracted for my next big project.

Something else I’d like to see happen to these 2 million words is to have them fed into artificial intelligence to spit out a profile analysis describing what it can see and learn about the person who wrote it all. Maybe next year, AI will have matured to that point.

This post has been hanging out as a draft for over a week as I get ready to pass it over to Caroline for the old once-over, a pause during which I’ve grown ambivalent about posting it at all because it really means just about nothing. The bigger accomplishment would be that I love writing, and if I’m fortunate enough to dig in every day, I feel keenly delighted that I’ve committed something from my head and thrown it into the cacophony of other voices who write into the void. I looked with anticipation to the day I saw the word count roll over to 2 million words and only now realize that had I only ever written 100,000 words about Caroline and my life together, I still would have likely written 1,000 times more than the majority of humans ever shares about their life and love.

The sketch was a few-minute doodle drawn by Becca Wasylenko, the Barista at WeBe Coffee.

Old Birds

Caroline Wise spinning fiber to make yarn in Phoenix, Arizona

There’s a sense of delight when you look at the person you fell in love with so many years ago and take a moment to realize how deeply you are still enamored with countless aspects of who they are. There is not one thing or even a multitude of qualities I could pin my affection on regarding how I feel for Caroline. When I found myself lost in how the light was falling on her hair, shirt, and face with her gaze focused on what she was doing, I smiled inside and, in an instant, sighed upon the realization of how familiar I am with how her hands work at spinning yarn, typing, turning a page, holding a seashell, or reaching for my hand. I smiled at the single headphone in her ear as she was listening to an audiobook while the other dangled to the side so she could hear me if I talked to her. Her glasses are probably dirty because that’s their normal state, but that won’t stop her from looking up to glance at me occasionally and offer me a big warm smile with eyes that say, I love you.

As much as she appreciates putzing around at home on the weekend, Caroline also enjoys just hanging out with me, savoring her iced coffee with a splash of oat milk, joining in on the occasional conversation I strike up with people, and playing with whatever craft she’s brought along. The Fitbit on her left wrist reminds me that we were out walking earlier and that we’ll be walking again after dinner, as we probably get about 75% of our 10,000 steps a day walking together, often hand in hand. The blouse she’s wearing is a recent acquisition from Mexico because, for the past year, she’s been absolutely in love with clothes from the Mayan region of Chiapas, Mexico. Had this been 20 years ago, she might have been wearing a salwar kameez or kurti (Hindu shirt), as my wife has never been one to care about fitting in with the hip crowd while being appreciative of the diversity of global culture.

During the times we are apart, though we are never really apart because Skype is always open, so we can reach out and nudge one another with a hug or expression of love, we are still connected even if nothing is shared. There’s something about our relationship that seems to have grown in its symbiotic nature, as though we are becoming conjoined. This has me thinking about how albatrosses can spend years learning to cooperate before becoming mates for life; maybe that’s what Caroline and I are like. I was talking with ChatGPT about this, and it shared, “Albatross courtship is quite elaborate and can involve synchronized flying, mutual preening, and a variety of calls and displays. These rituals are important for forming strong pair bonds that can last a lifetime.” It also pointed out how albatrosses can spend 50 or more years together and that the oldest wild albatross, at 70 years old, is still rearing chicks, meaning it and its lifelong mate are still bonded. Yep, we are like a couple of old birds.

Days Go By

Caroline Wise with Jutta Engelhardt and John Wise at the Idaho State Sign

Travel, write, repeat. That has been the procedure for this year, though that’s not all that happens, of course. Sometimes, I’m unable to fill the spaces between, case in point, the days since our trip from two weeks ago up to this Friday, when we are leaving for another shorty. And so, instead of continuing with what I’ve been working on, namely my writing and photography, I turn to this page to share a tidbit or other.

On the road in Molokai, Hawaii

For one, I have been making progress on my long ongoing project to update old pages and travel stories on this blog. I added photos and narratives to events back in 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009, and likely some random posts in between here and there. The subject is almost always travel-related because back in the era of poor bandwidth, I was only posting between 1 and 3 photos of our adventures while I might have shot hundreds of photos worth sharing. These days, I have been focusing on a road trip with my mother-in-law Jutta to the Pacific Northwest in 2005, our first trip to Hawaii in 2006, a neglected trip to Oregon in 2008, and a short jaunt down to the Florida Keys in 2009, and spent time where I could find it refreshing those posts.

Rocks rising above the water in Siletz Bay, Oregon

Consider this photo from Siletz Bay in Oregon, taken on November 30th, 2008. I took this image and wrote a paragraph or two about the day; there are now 22 photos and 830 words to describe the events of the day. Funny enough, the page was only visited about 135 times before I updated it. I doubt it will ever see another 100 visits in my lifetime, so obviously, I’m not doing this for readers; it is a labor of love to better share experiences Caroline and I have been fortunate to have had. With a more complete record and narrative that follows the sequence of how the day progressed, we bask in the incredible luck and beauty we’ve shared.

Caroline Wise at Fort Jefferson on Garden Key at the Dry Tortugas National Park

Back in August, I offered a similar update of posts that I’d been working on, and I suspect that I’ll be doing these updates for a few more years. While I love this photo of Caroline snorkeling at the Dry Tortugas while we were camping out there in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico in 2009, this was just one of a few images that represented the day, which is now vastly improved, at least in my view. While I may not post as frequently as I’d like with entries that tell what’s going on as days go by, buried deep in nearly 3,000 missives are these reflections of what experiences were had in a golden age of travel.

First Time Voter

Caroline Wise voting in an American election for the first time. Phoenix, Arizona

Exactly 60 days ago, on Friday, June 3rd, 2022, Caroline Wise became a U.S. citizen, and today, she voted for the very first time in America. She was mailed her ballot, but at least for this first vote, I knew she’d have to vote in person, and as this is a primary, I’ll wager that come November, she’ll want to vote in person for the general election, too. That’s about all I can really share about us stopping in at a nearby grade school for the occasion; maybe Caroline can share some of her thoughts?

Caroline here: I’ve lived in the States for 25+ years now, and for most of that time, my joke was “lots of taxation, no representation” because, as a resident alien, I couldn’t vote. And while I could conceivably have been voting in German elections, I decided not to since I don’t actually live there and didn’t feel I could properly assess the options. When you are a German citizen living in Germany, you are required to vote. Since the powers that be know where you live (you have to register your home address along with your tax information), they send you the invitation automatically. Nowadays, you probably have more options for absentee or early voting, but back in the day, I would show up at a local school, get a simple ballot, and put crosses into the circles with a pencil.

So, as a new citizen, I am excited to exercise my right to vote, even if this was just a primary election. I had waffled over dropping off an early ballot too long, so the plan on the day of the election was to go a little farther out on our morning walk and head to Paradise Valley Community College, which the election website stated was our closest polling site. However, on the way there, we saw volunteers setting up a polling site at Sunset Canyon Elementary, which made the process even easier. There was no line, and the check-in process was easy. We had told the folks there why this was my first election and received congratulations for my newly acquired status. Once our ballots were inserted into the counting machines, I even felt a bit emotional, which I had not anticipated. I felt proud about passing another milestone on the way to being a “real American.”

Brand New American!

Caroline Wise has become an American Citizen today here in Phoenix, Arizona

Seemingly forever ago, back in 1995, Caroline moved with me from Germany to the United States, the land where I was born. We arrived here without a clue what we’d do for our careers; we were ready for an adventure doing unknown new stuff. Over the ensuing years, we accomplished many things and experienced an amazing number of adventures. After nearly 25 years, we’ve grown confident in this endeavor while experiencing a resounding sense of joy. With the sense that life was traveling on the right track, it was time to throw some new conditions into the mix. What if Caroline were to auto-magically transform from a German into an American? Or maybe she could be both simultaneously?

First of all, why might she/we want that? A couple of reasons, really. As a tax-paying resident alien (green card holder) for all these years, Caroline is entitled to a lot more social security here in the United States than in Germany. However, that entitlement is tied to maintaining her residency here, among other factors. So, if Caroline wanted to take up retirement in Germany (or just wanted to stay outside of the U.S. for an extended period), she wouldn’t qualify to receive her social security without an address in America. This is one of the drawbacks of being a resident alien. Secondly, there are “luxuries” that come with being a U.S. passport holder, such as the certainty you can easily reenter the United States from abroad. Every time when we return to the U.S. from Europe or recently from Mexico we encounter that feeling of nervosity when we fear that somehow her reentry will be denied.

Caroline Wise has become an American Citizen today here in Phoenix, Arizona

If she could maintain her European status and also be a U.S. citizen, we would be free to make choices later in life regarding living options that wouldn’t be limited by how long visas allow one or the other of us to remain somewhere. This process, though, is not an easy one. I wrote back on September 21, 2020, that Caroline was applying for her U.S. Citizenship; what I didn’t mention was that she’d just received approval from the German government that would allow her to retain her German citizenship. So, here we were more than three and a half years into this process, and then on May 24th, 2022, she walked into the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Office to take the citizenship test and possibly be sworn in that morning.

Caroline Wise has become an American Citizen today here in Phoenix, Arizona

When I dropped her off, my wife was a German citizen; the next time I would see her she’d likely be an American citizen too. Or so I thought. As for me, I was sitting at a Burger King at the corner of the parking lot, sipping a coffee, and waiting as I couldn’t accompany her into the facility. Every so often, she texted me; she was pretty nervous.

After an hour and a half, a message was delivered to my phone, “Passed.”  Huge relief was felt between us, but her fingerprints had expired, and the resubmission would take another 60 to 90 minutes. We thought this meant she would still be able to attend a swearing-in ceremony on the same day, but as it turned out over 2 hours later, it wasn’t meant to be. She emerged from the building holding an invitation to an oath ceremony to be held at the District Court in Phoenix on June 3rd. Which brings us to today – and all the photos in this blog post.

Caroline Wise has become an American Citizen today here in Phoenix, Arizona

Since the venue was the U.S. District Court, I was able to attend the ceremony. About 70 applicants and their family members jammed into the courtroom and viewing gallery. Just before the ceremony started, volunteers were requested, and Caroline and two other applicants raised their hands without knowing for what. It turned out that they would be called on later to speak to the attendees about their experience as immigrants.

The ceremony included speeches (including a recorded message by the President), the all-important oath of allegiance, the national anthem, and the pledge of allegiance. I could tell that Caroline was close to tears because when it was her time to step up to the microphone, her voice was a bit shaky, but she pulled it off nicely.

After the ceremony, Caroline insisted I take her photo with the presiding judge, the Honorable Stephen McNamee, as a nod to her dad, Hanns, a retired judge of the German Federal Court of Justice.

Caroline Wise has become an American Citizen today here in Phoenix, Arizona

Not quite 30 minutes old as a new American, Caroline was registered to vote, and a U.S. Passport was applied for. Her social security card update will have to wait until we get her citizenship certificate back.

Our first stop was at the drive-thru at McDonald’s for a Happy Meal, followed by shopping for her first AR-15, while a pair of new yoga pants from Lululemon arrives next week. With all of those things done, she’ll really be 100% American. Please excuse this last bit of jest; it’s just my sarcasm to throw in some of the uglier American stereotypes, as she’d never wear yoga pants. [I might – in a yoga studio only, though – Caroline ^_^]