Little Bavarian Village

One of my many reasons for coming to Germany was to visit the little villages that abound in the Bavarian Alps to see how they compare with the Northwest tour destination of Leavenworth near our recreational property in Plain, Washington.

On our way to a couple of the castles built by King Ludwig II, we stopped in the town of Oberammergau. Though a little more than twice the size in terms of population, the town is very similar to Leavenworth, with traditional painted buildings and woodcarving shops aligned against a setting of high peaks and dark forests.

Since the late 17th century, villagers have performed the Passion Play every year ending in a "0" as a celebration of being spared from the black plague. Real villagers -- not professional actors -- perform the play, and the local thespians grow real beards and hair for their parts. The next performance will take place in 2020.

The visually stunning house facades feature religious images (below) but also include fairy tale motifs from the Brothers Grimm like Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood. The town also has too many woodcarving shops to count and other knick-knack stores as well as amenities for tourists and townspeople alike.

The real visual art, however, was the incredible mountain scenery surrounding the village. Upon leaving Oberammergau, Gina (above, with our tour group) and I concluded that the town was a dead ringer for our adopted hometown of Leavenworth, Washington.

Haus Of God

Outside of Italy, Germany has some of the most spectacular churches, cathedrals and abbeys that I personally have even seen. There must be at least a half a dozen houses of worship in the shot above alone, including the yellow St. Dominic's Abbey in the foreground.

The German national constitution guarantees religious freedom, but the primary faiths are Catholicism and Protestantism, along with a burgeoning Jewish and Muslim population.

Bavaria, however, is over 80 percent Roman Catholic and the churches here are some of the most ornate and elaborate anywhere outside the Vatican.

In 2005, for the first time in almost five centuries, a German -- Joseph Ratzinger (right), the Archbishop of Munich -- was elected Pope. Fittingly, he chose the name of Pope Benedict XVI. Needless to say, His Holiness is quite popular in these parts.

In the Altstadt (Old Town) in the Munich city center, the twin copper onion domes of Frauenkirchen (Church of Our Lady, above) are visible for miles. The red brick exterior of the church belies the soaring passage of light on the inside of this splendid house of worship.

Adjacent to the front doors of the church is a footprint cast in the pavement (left); legend has it that the devil lost a bet with the architect of Frauenkirchen and stomped out in disgust.

The tomb of Ludwig the Bavarian (Ludwig I) can be found in the choir.

Aside from the intricately beautiful stained glass windows, Frauenkirchen also features numerous paintings and sculptures. Excellent views of Munich and vicinity are afforded from the top of the towers.

Not far from Frauenkirchen is St. Peterskirche, founded in 1732. Located across the Marianplatz from the New Rathaus, St. Peterskirche (Church of St. Peter) is truly gothic in its exterior design, though the inside is relatively subdued compared to some in the neighborhood.

However, the church has a magnificent high altar and visually stunning statues, such as this one of St. Peter (right).

Along the city's main shopping strip, the Michaelskirche (St. Michael's Church) is one of Munich's most fantastic cathedrals.

The cathedral's tall ceiling is huge and has no supporting columns.

Beneath the main church is a crypt featuring the tombs of the ruling Wittelsbach family. St. Michaelskirche is the final resting place of Ludwig II, the most beloved king to ever rule Bavaria.

As spectacular as all these churches are two smaller "hauser mitt Gott" (houses of God), the Asamkirche (St. Johann Nemopuk) and the nearby Damenstiftskirche (Women's Collegiate Church), both designed as private chapels by the prolific Asam brothers, who lived next door.

Both baroque in style, not one square inch of either church is unembellished. The Asamkirche is particularly compelling (below), but not to be outdone, the Damenstiftskirche has a full size rendition of the Last Supper (above).

Unfortunately, both the Catholic and Protestant denominations are losing worshipers, which is more than likely attributable to a 8-9 percent tithe paid by those who belong to each faith.

Munich: Home Of The Monks

Arrived in Munich, Germany (above) on Tuesday, June 14 after a full 24 hours of travel from Eugene via Amsterdam. Two days later, my daughter Gina arrived from Poland "on holiday" following the conclusion of her tour of duty in Radom teaching English.

Munich is the capital of Bavaria -- one of 13 German states -- and the third-largest city in Germany. Founded in the 8th century by Bendictine monks who were drawn by the area's fertile farmland and its proximity to Italy, the city of 1.3 million inhabitants derives its name from the medieval "munichen," or monks.

Officially sanctioned by the government in 1158, the city prospered at first but was hit hard by the bubonic, or "black," plague in 1349. After 150 years, the epidemic subsided and local residents celebrated their good fortune with a ritualistic dance called the "schafflertanz."

The performance is now repeated every seven years but is reenacted several times daily by the little figures of the "glockenspiel" (left), a carillon in the city center. A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a freestanding bell tower or belfry of a church or other municipal building. The device consists of at least 23 bronze bells, which are played in a series to produce a melody, or sounded together to play a chord.

In the 1800s, Munich experienced an explosion of monument building with the creation of spectacular architecture and wide Italian-style boulevards (below). However, when King Ludwig II ascended the Bavarian throne in 1864, his many grandiose projects bankrupted the royal house and threatened the government's piggy bank.

In a odd twist of irony, many of those projects -- including numerous castles, palaces, museums and opera houses -- now contribute greatly to the economic heartbeat of Bavarian tourism.

Munich has experienced tough times, but the last 100 years have been particularly difficult. WW I practically decimated the city by starvation, and the Nazis rose to power in the Bavarian capital. Allied bombing missions nearly wiped Munich off the face of the earth in WW II (more than 80 percent of the city was destroyed). The 1972 Olympics began as a great celebration of German democracy but tragedy struck when 17 people were killed in a hostage shootout.

Today, however, the city thrives as a great metropolis and world village. During Oktoberfest, more than six million visitors flock from around the globe to hoist a glass of beer to this compelling city; it's a hip spot with a mellow attitude that somehow manages to coalesce spectacular alpine scenery with a Mediterranean joy of living.

A delightful combination of the past and the present, Munich is a city of lederhosen and laptops.

Lovely To See You Again, My Friends

With a 180-degree turn in the weather compared to their last trip to Eugene, the Moody Blues played to a somewhat damp crowd of fans on Wednesday, June 1 at the Cuthbert Amphitheatre in Alton Baker Park. During their 2009 visit, organizers delayed the starting time of the concert from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. because -- dig this -- it was too hot.

No foolin': it was well over 100 degrees with a sharp sun glare positioned directly in the bands eyes, and everybody -- even the audience -- was relieved when they delayed the starting time by an hour. This time, it was cold and wet, which did nothing to diminish the enthusiasm of the small and slightly soggy crowd.

The music was great as always, but one of the lead singers, Justin Hayward, had some trouble hitting the high notes, admitting as much to the audience. "Feel free to help me" with the harmonies, he pleaded to the crowd politely. His female back-up singers and a few in the audience gamely picked up the slack.

Turns out the band had to cancel the previous night's show in Boise because a "key band member" was sick; I suspect it was Justin Hayward. All in all, though, another memorable show: Jory, Rebecca and I had excellent seats close to the stage. Can't be afraid to pay top whack for prime ducats.

Trail Shaman

Spent a long weekend at Base Camp Juan from May 18-22; the focus of the trip was to help coordinate a "retirement party" for longtime friend and fellow wilderness stranger Chuck Ferguson, who was "packing" it in after 37 years as a seasonal U.S. Forest Service employee, mostly on trails in the wilderness of the North Cascades.

Chuck has acquired a number of nicknames over the years; some of them are even printable in a family newspaper. I've always known him as "Chuck," but he also responds to "Charlie," "Pappy," "Pa" and "Pappa Smurf." So in honor of Charles Ferguson, my co-conspirators and I have come up with the "Top Ten Reasons Why Chuck Is Retiring From The U.S. Forest Service After 37 Years As A Seasonal Employee."

Reason #10 -- No more air tanker retardant showers (above, dropping its fire-stifling red chemical on a conflagration caused by a lightning bust up the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth).

As you might expect just because you work on trail crew doesn't mean you're going to escape the occasional forest fire detail. And you thought trail crew was hard, dirty -- indeed, miserable -- work.

Reason #9 -- He ran out of new ideas for middle names for Bob Cline, our trusty packer. (I lost count at 15 new middle names for our resident mule skinner at Lake Wenatchee Ranger Station.)

Because Bob Cline was the one who usually packed us in on some of more challenging backcountry work sessions, he'd get the rap for our misery. Every time we encountered adversity -- usually weather related or equipment malfunctions, we would come up with a new middle name for our esteemed packer: Bob "Clyde, Simon, Bartholomew, Beauregard, Leroy, Gus, Washington...." Cline!

Reason #8 -- He finally grew tired of refried bean burritos (above) on the last night out on a ten-day trip in the backcountry.

Oh, the dreaded last night out on an extended gypsy tour or bridge-building junket deep in the Glacier Peak Wilderness! That last night's meal as a "let's use up whatever we have left in the food box" burrito.

Reason #7 -- He'd better get out while the gettin' is good.

If the government shutdown wasn't enough reason to skeedaddle, Chuck now had two reasons to get out while the gettin' is good: he wanted to party before the purported rapture on May 21.

Reason #6 -- He heard this summer's trail crew would be a reunion tour featuring some of the original band members (above).

The only thing that scared Chuck more than a sasquatch, grizzly bear, cougar or any other wild beast in the wilderness were the wild and crazy beasts on his own crew.

Reason #5 -- He developed a successful new consulting business: donkey whisperer.

You can't work with horses, mules and burros deep in the backcountry unless you know how to speak their lingo, and Chuck is one of the best in the business.

Reason #4 -- He has a new position as Chief Shaman and Spiritual Healer for the Inter-Galactic Legion of Owls (above), a fraternal organization of wilderness strangers.

As many of his friends already know, Chuck is a very centered, spiritual guy. In fact, many in his odd assortment of kooky cohorts consider him to be their guru, a shaman of sorts.

Reason #3 -- He learned he'd have to rebuild the footbridges up the White River in the Glacier Peak Wilderness this summer.

The job assignment that would strike fear and loathing in any trail crew member: a month or two building footbridges up the White River, where the black flies are so thick that you can't help but swallow a few when you inhale.

Reason #2 -- Chuck wanted Roger Ross to have to choose between his retirement party and the Royal Wedding.

Turns out, Roger (left) was able to make an appearance at both the Royal Wedding and Chuck's retirement party.

Cute dress, Rog. We're absolutely sure that Queen Elizabeth was duly impressed. Will you be auctioning it off for charity like Princess Beatrice's wedding bonnet?

And now (drum roll, please), the number one reason why Chuck is finally retiring from the Forest Service after 37 years as a seasonal employee: no more district orientation meetings.

Are there other reasons? Could it be that he wants to spend more time sucking tall cool ones by the fire with Roger Wallace, engaging in esoteric banter with Doug (Dog) Baldwin, enjoying long hikes in the woods with Frank Czubiak, hanging out with his assortment of kooky friends, or perhaps just meditating on the wonders of nature?

In the final analysis, the correct answer is probably "all of the above."

Tip of the hat to Heather and Patrick Murphy for hosting Chuck's party. Everyone had a great time walking down memory lane with Chuck and Jackie, and the food was fantastic. His supervisors at the Wenatchee River Ranger District, Bob Stoehr and Rich Haydon, presented Chuck with a plaque signed by the Regional Forester based in Portland and a classic USFS blanket for his years of dedicated service. Happy trails, Chuck!

You Say You Want A Revolution?

Traveled north to my hometown on May 10-11 for the "premier professional development opportunity for communicators in the Portland metropolitan area since 1996."

With social media increasingly taking center stage in announcing breaking news -- Osama Bin Laden's death was reported via Twitter, scooping all the major news organizations -- this year's PDX Communicators Conference was particularly salient. Indeed, social media is playing a key role in revolutions throughout the "cradle of civilization," with uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, Syria and even in Libya.

The conference theme of "Communicating in a Changing World" focused on delivering key messages using social media and measuring its effectiveness. This year's confab, sponsored by the PRSA Portland Metro Chapter and the Oregon-Columbia Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, included three keynoters and various and sundry breakout sessions.

Jeanette Gibson, Director of Social Marketing for Cisco Systems, said that business-to-business communication trends are the ones to watch in 2011. Participatory blogs are working particularly well because customers and employees feel involved in "meaningful engagement."

Why participatory blogs? To "create conversations," providing an opportunity to listen and test ideas while being open and transparent. "Ideas can come from anywhere," she reminded the audience. My takeaway? Use some of those ideas.

Katie Payne of KD Payne and Partners, in discussing "How to Measure What Matters," said the "main reason to measure (the effectiveness of communications) is not to reward for success or punish for failure, but to determine from research whether a program should be continued, revised or dropped in favor of another approach."

Although some may use website hits to measure communications effectiveness, she joked that keeping a count of "hits" is "How Idiots Track Success." PR practitioners need to measure outcomes not output: "It's not how many you've reached," she offered, "but how many have responded" to your communication efforts.

Michael Pranikoff, Global Director of Emerging Media for PR Newswire, is always an insightful and entertaining keynoter. In discussing the challenge of managing communications chaos -- with different messages for different audiences changing in real time -- communications professionals must learn to adapt and adopt with agility: "if content is King, then context is The Almighty" when communicating with target audiences, he noted wryly.

The breakout session of note was Mark Ivey, former bureau chief and senior writer at BusinessWeek and national media spokesman at Intel, who discussed "Seven Reasons Your Content Is Killing Your Business."

Among the more prominent of the seven reasons why your digital content may be floundering is that you may lack clear goals or you're not listening to your audience. His recommendations: create digital content that is consistently engaging, dynamic and relevant (read: not boring) and use free listening tools available such as Google Reader, Twitter Search and IceRocket.

At the end of the conference, sensing that rush hour traffic was at its peak, I remained for the social hour and raffle. Reconnected with some of my PRSA cronies and former students, and was one digit away from a relaxing weekend at a guest house in Yachats. Unfortunately, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Windows Of Opportunity

As we approach the end of the school year, both my j-school students (above) and I find ourselves in oddly similar circumstances, despite the difference in age, interests and perspective: we're all approaching one of those inimitable "windows of opportunity."

In class, we've discussed these extraordinary points in time -- the seminal moments in our lives when anything and everything seems possible. Despite what you may see or hear in the media, this celestial alignment is not as common as you might think.

From the time you arrive on this planet through high school, the first 18 years or so, you're on the educational track. At this point, you come face to face with your first window of opportunity. Following graduation (or not) from high school, you have a number of options.

If you're well-heeled, you can pursue your passion, whether it's kayaking in Sri Lanka or mountaineering in Bhutan. If not, you can defer your window of opportunity by spending the next several years in college, or the military. If you're really desperate, the French foreign legion is always an option.

Or you can delve into the working world. If that's the case, we'll catch you on the flip side. Short of winning the lottery, your next window will appear in about 40 years. Like I said, these windows of opportunity are rather infrequent, to say the least.

For my students, who will soon graduate from the University of Oregon SOJC, this is a heady time, full of possibilities.

Internship opportunity in Washington, D.C.? Why not? Study abroad adventure in Chile? Absolutely. Teach English in South Korea for a year? You betcha!

For me, the situation is much the same now that I'm "semi-retired": another window of opportunity awaits. I'll be off to Germany right after graduation for a tour of Bavaria with my daughter Gina, followed by a summer in the backcountry of the North Cascades.

One of many definitions of "window of opportunity" is this: "a short period of time during which an opportunity must be acted on or missed." In other words, it's now or never, for both me and my students (below, signaling the number one ranked college football team in the country at the time, the University of Oregon Ducks).

The portal to our next great adventure is nigh, and we're all poised to give the command: "open sesame!"