The first rain, one day later than last year.

And yes, we are not in Kansas.

On the other hand, we were planning to go on a trip to Germany anyway and I knew that in Germany I would find something called a “Tropfenfänger” or drip-catcher in plain English. Available in any store over there, I told the other half of the household, no problem at all. It’s just one of those little secrets of Europe only the natives know about, I said.

So the Tropfenfänger went on the list of things to bring back home, right besides Rouladennadeln (for keeping beef-olives in shape during cooking) and 80 x 80 cm pillowcases (the largest pillowcases in the USA measure 62 x 62 cm) and other essentials and off we went: Los Angeles, Paris, Hannover, no problem. Getting the stuff on the shopping list too was a breeze… with one exception: Tropfenfänger seemed to have ended up on the list of “extinct creatures”.

Like the Dodo. Oh dear. Doomed to a life with a dripping teapot?

No, the story does have a happy ending: I told my story of woe at the family table and everybody was just as astonished as I was that something we all remembered from our youth had simply disappeared. Until my sister-in-law stood up and left the room, to reappear a short while later with three of the elusive thingies still in their original packaging. She vaguely remembered that they ended up on a storage shelf after clearing out some kitchen… anyway, who cares? I triumphantly carried them home and believe me – that was the end of any dripping from the teapot.

Care to take a look at this magnificent piece of German efficiency?

Not the latest in sleek design, but VERY effective.

This is progress indeed. Now for four more weeks with this contraption.

At least we spelled the name correctly (but this is an insider joke ).

These are the old tiles:

Very pretty with the dolphin silhouette.

These are the new tiles:

Fish bones?

Should we be worried? Very, very worried?

This was the first time that I saw one of these fabled, very American, lemonade stands in action. What a marvelous teaching tool for children!

These three young girls learned about patience, money matters, how to be nice to customers, how to advertise and how to withstand the heat, because they were selling lemonade for a good cause.

It’s like a course in Business Economics and customer service in the front yard – but much more fun.

One TV commentator called the German soccer team the “bright young things.” I agree with him – that game today against Australia was action packed and pure delight.

Congratulations for a well-deserved 4:0. Now keep it up, will you, please?