Seeing:
* the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, via live broadcast from the cozy vantage point of my couch with a glass of wine. My favorite part(s) were the giant falling dominoes, knocking each other over one by one. Normally overt symbolism like that kills me, but I found this pretty amazing for some reason. Maybe it was the German guy sitting next to me with tears in his eyes.

Hearing:
* the grief in people’s voices over the suicide of Robert Enke, a goalkeeper for the German National Team and Hannover 96. He had been suffering from depression for years, but had managed to keep it secret from just about everyone besides his family and doctor, until he stepped in front of a train on Tuesday evening.  Shock is a good word to describe the national reaction.  No one ever expected it and those closest to him are asking themselves why they never noticed anything wrong.  Although I’m not a huge soccer fan, I recognized Enke as the favorite player of mein Schatz‘s 5-year-old godson — who once had his photograph taken with the goalie and now displays it proudly on his closet door.  It’s hard not to be moved when the manager of the national team openly weeps during a press conference, or while listen to Enke’s wife describe how she thought that with love, they’d beat it.  Heartbreaking.  But if anything, at least there is a national conversation happening right now about depression and what it looks like and what its consequences are.

Tasting:
* lots and lots of lemon tea to help boost my immune system.

Feeling:
* the misty rain on my face and squishy mud on my shoes.

Smelling:
* heated eucalyptus leaves during the Aufguss at the sauna last night.