OK, friends, it’s Friday again—and time for another flashback. Let me take you back some 40 years, to student days in Germany. I played guitar with three young Berliners in a group we called The Rocky Top Bluegrass Boys, and during one of my summer breaks we traveled through the “corridor” through East Germany (The German “Democratic” Republic) to West Germany and played in various folk pubs, one of which was in a deep- underground hideaway in Heidelberg called Storyville. During the day we explored the attractions of Heidelberg, one of which was this stone lion. I no longer remember exactly where it was, but it might have been on the castle grounds (maybe you can help here, Wolke), but I do remember that I really liked the lion’s expression and, in a moment of whimsy, thought I’d set up my little tripod and do a self-portrait with it. Ah, the memories! By the way, stay tuned for a really big one tomorrow…
krikitarts 
Great….but have you grown up yet!
I sure hope not!
Thank goodness for that….my motto is you have to grown old but you don’t have to grow up!
Hear, hear!! I love David’s motto. :)
OMG, this picture made me smile :). Were those your hippy days? Love the long hair, the funky boots, and the big pout!! It sounds like that would have been one heck of a fun trip!
Those were good days indeed, and what a trip it was! I am so sorry that I have lost all contact with the other three. I’ve been back to Germany several times and have tried to pick up the threads, but they’re too frayed to trace. I do have photos of us, though…
That’s why photography is so important!! It allows us to hold on to our memories. :)
Nice photo, Gary…I rather like the outfit. :)
It wasn’t an outfit; it was just what we wore back then. I’ll tell you, though, I absolutely loved those boots and sure would love to have another pair like them! I do still have the Ben Franklin glasses frames.
That’s a look that dates you pretty accurately – if Ronnie Van Zant wore boots he’d have ones like that. I love the 70’s!
So do I, Finn; what a wonderful time that was to be in Europe–I still count my time there among the best years of my life!
Brilliant..
Enjoyed visiting your blog! As someone who lives in the land where Bluegrass music comes from…it sometimes seems to me that this musical form is better appreciated outside my own country.
Hello and thanks for your visit! Sorry I’m so tardy in replying, but your comment got buried in a shuffle. I’ve been to the Louisville area a couple of times and realy liked, and I do love (most) Bluegrass music. How did you find my site? Do you have a Website, too? -Gary
Hi Gary, I guess I came across your site on WordPress where I also maintain a blog. I call it “Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog” and explores art and the environment as it presents itself at the Falls of the Ohio State Park across from the City of Louisville.
Hi, Al, Thanks for your reply. I found your site (there’s no direct link to it from your Gravatar from your comment), but only had time for a very quick look, though longer than I’d intended, as I like very much what you’re doing with your art and your environmental passion. I plan to have a much more thorough look in the near future and am pleased to have made your acquaintance. BTW, I find your styrofolk and their mute contemplation of the world into which they have been born(e) positively brilliant and truly inspired.
Great self-portrait, Gary! I love it!
Thanks a lot, Melanie! Oh, to be able to step back into those times again–but with my current cameras, of course . . .
Classic! Love it. I lived in Berlin from 73-76. Loved that too :)
Wow, we were neighbors! Where was your place? How could one not fall in love with Berlin back in those days? I still wake up sometimes and think I’m still there. It’ll never be the same again, but…Berlin ist wohl ganz gewiß immer noch eine Reise wert, oder?
I believe the area was called Dahlem. We lived in a military housing area. The name of the street was Flannaganstrasse. It was within walking distance of Berlin American High School (which has since been renamed) and Oskar-Helene-Heim. Nothing ever stays the same, does it? I’d love to go back one day. I probably wouldn’t recognize it!
Wow, Joylene, we really were neighbors! From the Uni, I routinely rode the U-Bahn from Dahlem-Dorf to Oskar-Helene-Heim and then caught the bus A-18 to the Studendendorf up on Potsdamer Chausee. Did you pick up some German skills while you were there? Sorry if I mistakenly
presumed so, in my previous message!
We may have passed on the street! No, I really didn’t learn much German while I was there. Living among Americans I really didn’t have to and being a teenager, I didn’t see the value at the time. I learned enough to go shopping and order a bier and currywurst at the Imbiss stand :) I regret it now though…..
That’s really sad–what an opportunity! But you had lots of company. I made several good friends in the American community there and many of them hardly ever got out among the local folks; it’s easy to understand.