Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from Intermezzo) One of our last adventures in Poland proper would be a camping trip that summer in Masuria (pronounced much like the American state) which is the Polish equivalent of Britain’s “Lake District” because of the 2000 lakes the wind and connect through this northern part of Poland….
Intermezzo
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from Separation) A trip to Greece confirmed one decision: this would be our last year in Poland. It was time for a change. Over the course of the fall, we seriously considered a number of options, including relocating to another part of Europe to continue our teaching. Belgium was…
Separation
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from Jacek) When Jacek came over a few days later, Ben bounded at the door before it even opened. Jacek wasn’t even past the threshold when Ben was on him like a jackal on rotting meat (no offence to Jacek intended – but in fairness to Ben, Jacek was…
Jacek
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from Pennies from Heaven) It wasn’t long after Ben’s run-in with the corrective citrus that Andrea and started planning our winter vacation to correspond with the University’s own winter break. The destination we chose was one that had long captured my imagination: Greece. The question would be what to…
Pennies from Heaven
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from PART TWO: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku) If nothing else came from our New Year’s experience, I definitely took from it a pretty good training needs analysis of Ben’s strengths … and his “opportunities.” (er-hem) Ben was and remains overflowing in his many loveable qualities. He’s cuter than most dogs out…
A New Year (part two)
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from Part One: Car Ride) PART TWO: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku Arrived at the pension, we unloaded the car and Magda made arrangements with the owners to throw in a load of vomit covered laundry. We then took the dogs for a quick walk before heading upstairs to our rooms…
A New Year (part one)
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from First Snow) PART ONE: Car Ride The first snow also meant that New Year’s eve would soon arrive. In Poland, this holiday is named after St. Sylvester because it is also his “name day,” and Sylwester is as much or even more of an “event” as it is here…
First Snow
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from A First in My Life) It was the first week in December when the Baltic rains were transformed into the first snow. Ben always became a bit crazy in the rain, just like he did coming out of the bath. But the first snow of Ben’s life was…
A First in My Life
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from The Bonds that Chain) There are so many firsts, so many moments, so many milestones that we accumulate in our relationships, especially those first relationships. I had had pets or, more accurately, had lived with pets, for most of my life and certainly all of my formative years…
The Bonds that Chain
Chapter 2: A Polish Year (continued from “You Really Love Him”) It was to the outside world an improbable event when I let down my guard, put aside my rational being, and let my heart act with the impulsivity of a man who had bonded deeply with his dog. It was perhaps all the more…