One of the really fortunate things about growing up in my corner of Southeastern Pennsylvania is that I got to enjoy wild raspberries and wild blackberries, which would grow in a lot of places. They’re delicious, and totally edible.

This post continues a series recounting some travel mostly in Western Europe in Summer 2018.

I was pretty damn tired.

I flew back to Berlin from Budapest and spontaneously stayed in a friend’s apartment. I had a train to catch, departing from Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6:51 AM.

Four hours later, I needed to change trains in Köln. I was immensely pleased to have the chance to look at the famous and beautiful cathedral, and immensely displeased to discover my connection was cancelled.

Fortunately, the German rail system is designed with flexibility in mind, and so there wasn’t actually any hard requirement that I needed to ride on that particular train. I caught the next one, an hour or so later.

Fresh-faced and dewey-eyed, I emerged into the charming city of Aachen.

I promised I would eventually share a photo of a baby rabbit.

Many of these sweet bunnies live in the forests near my parents house. They are quick to run when startled. The older rabbits zip away quickly, but sometimes the younger ones, petrified, are a little bad at disappearing from sight.

I had no intention of startling this bunny, and I had no idea they were even nearby until they were already petrified. So, I took a picture.

Happy Monday!

(Pointless EXIF data after the break.)

Today, I’ll be succinct.

My photo of the week is an old one, and I post it because it’s a moment of transcendent beauty that helps commemorate a change in my life.

In April 2018, I took the train between Seattle and Vancouver. As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I did see a lot of beautiful landscapes out the window.

This photo is one of them, particularly stark because this is not a black and white photo. This reflects the landscape as I saw it with my own eyes.

I post this today, because I’m embarking on a new journey of my own, one which will lead me to the Pacific Northwest.

(Pointless EXIF data after the break, but nothing else.)

Humble milkweed.

A plant so named, because if you break its stem, it will produce a milky syrup. Incidentally, that “milk” is poisonous to humans.

I really think it’s a cool plant.

In my last photo of the week post, I did my best to outline some of the struggles of wildlife photography, particularly when the subject is skittish or fast-moving.

This particular subject was neither.

It all started out so innocently.

Out of the blue, someone messaged me to ask I was planning to attend next week’s workshop in Berlin.

I had no such plans. I never had any such plans.

On the occasions when I had asked, management did not think there was enough value in sending me to Berlin to meet with my team’s counterparts there. However, shortly after receiving that innocent message, I also received a new manager.

I sat in a “hand-off” meeting between my new manager and my previous manager. My old manager probably said something like, “we should make sure we give Steve any resources and opportunities that would be useful to his career growth.”

I saw my opening and said, “I heard there’s this workshop in Berlin next week, to go over [redacted]…”

Believe me, when I got approval, I did not hesitate to book my plane tickets and temporary dwelling.

It was only later that the headaches started…