Author Archives: marerobster

She’d thought she was dull, Loveness told me, because she hadn’t passed her Grade nine exams. That was the end of her formal schooling. She married a farmer, and ended up living in a Zambian village. It wasn’t until her … Continue reading →

After Short Track (speed skating) training on Saturday afternoons I generally stop by to visit little Emma, our now month-old granddaughter. Her four-year-old twin brothers are still young enough to be impressed by my skating outfit, especially my club jacket. … Continue reading →

After Short Track (speed skating) training on Saturday afternoons I generally stop by to visit little Emma, our now month-old granddaughter. Her four-year-old twin brothers are still young enough to be impressed by my skating outfit, especially my club jacket. … Continue reading →

Its wings spread wide, the Merlin falcon soars easily, rising with the wind – there’s no effort in it from where I stand watching. My own body is so heavy today with a bad cold. I let it go, soar … Continue reading →

On a particularly dark day I posted a picture on Facebook, of myself last year in a green sunny Zambia, with the words “I wish I could be down there”. A Zambian friend promptly replied: “You won’t like it here … Continue reading →

It’s a small group of women that gathers every week or two in Schleitheim for English Conversation. We’re an interesting lot – a very sprightly elderly Irish woman, the Reformed Church pastor, a well-to-do woman who accompanied her husband on … Continue reading →

That’s all it takes to drive away the power of the dark – a sliver of light on the horizon. I fear this time of year in Switzerland – sometimes days, weeks on end with little sun, lots of fog … Continue reading →

Think of how you react when your internet connection is down for even half a day. What if it was down for a week, or a month? You depend on it for the information you need to do your job … Continue reading →

I’ve never before heard so many people, at the end of a year, say – Good Riddance 2015! It can only get better. I hear it from my Zambian friends, battling with disease, drought, death and a struggling economy. I … Continue reading →

My hands warmed by my morning coffee, I stand on our balcony, this almost last day of the year 2015. Before me the smoke rises from the old houses of Schleitheim, as it has for a thousand years or more. … Continue reading →