I feel like the woman in Marlen Haushofer's novel "Die Wand" (The Wall): on a beautiful piece of land surrounded by nature with some animals keeping me company, but trapped behind this invisible wall, disconnected from the immediate and further world out there, removed from fellow humans. #Iowa #USA

From the #Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network [via FB]: a majestic exit from the horse barn on the state fairgrounds this (Monday) evening.

Oh man, potential tornadic rotation northeast of us along Highway 2...hoping nothing touches down. It's already been a miserable summer between subtropical monsoons, corn sweat and Canadian smog; no need for destructive rotations.

Diese primitiven unausgereiften Bewerbungsportale nerven mich so sehr: hier durch die Bank ein Denglisch-Sprachenmix, und gleich zu Beginn die Wahl zwischen "Herr" oder "verheirateter Frau"... #Jobsuche

Checking out this truck tomorrow. 😃

Liebe Bsky-er in Deutschland, kennt einer von euch zufällig eine/n #Hiring- Entscheidungsträger/in bei ABB in "Mannem", #Mannheim? Eine passende Stelle ist dort ausgeschrieben, aber der klassische Bewerbungsweg führt mich in D immer nur in schwarze Löcher, oder ich werde geghosted. #Jobsuche

My line dance teacher Norma at the #Iowa State Fair 🌽🤠👢: who13.com/hello-iowa/l...

Seawater Kintsugi #photography #nature #sea #kintsugi

œuf dur à l'opossum. #opossum

Mein kleiner Nachtdackel. #Opossum

Being blocked for pointing out the current fascist regime is happening a lot to me lately. And we've been through this Substack thing. Chris is doing so much; he simply doesn't have the capacity and means to create an independent platform for sharing his work right now like Marc Elias for example.

Wet and windy ~

How, even?

Kann ich jetzt bitte wieder nach Europa zurück? 😔 In Deutschland will man mich ja nicht...aber zumindest näher dran?

A drone show doesn't get more #Iowa than this!

Weather from the west ~ #Iowa

Frog and spider ~

Got a couple of oblossums to give away as little "just because" gifts. They're made by an Iowa artist, Melissa Fuerst ("PeacefulOpossumArt" on Etsy). #opossum

Days of the mini fridges on campus: pre-season move-in day for part of our student-athletes, including international students from around the world. I already met one fresh(wo)man who flew in from Stuttgart last night!

The LinkedIn algorithm by now is so restrictive and suppressive to smaller authentic accounts that I could post "I farted" without views and other consequences.

I'm surrounded by...an #opossum.

Nächtliche Schnüffelnase. #Opossum

I see the "Call your representatives" battle cry remains popular. Our "Republican" (=now 💯Trumpist) representatives do NOT work for us! They do NOT care about our phone calls. This is not mere "apprehension"; we're under a full-fledged authoritarian rule. You can't phone-call your way out of that.

A gloomy morning, rain, the usual rush hour traffic in #Iowa, and Bob Marley singing everything's gonna be alright.

Imperative! Because "the Republicans" is no more—it's the Trumpist party now. That's why I'm literally drawing a line in the Sand for #Iowa: his Swiss neutrality worries me deeply. It may very well win him the spot (governor), but it does not disclose fully until he's in it what he truly stands for.

Juicy postcards from a friend in València in the mail today 🍋🍊

Blackbird loves his baths! He stops in twice a day for a joyful dip in the "pool" at the Tree Stump Buffet. (1/2)

Real #Iowa emotion: Hay Bale Envy ➡️ Uneasiness, mortification or discontent at the sight of a neighbor's hay bales; to repine at a neighbor's hay bale prosperity; to fret or grieve one's self at the real or supposed superiority of a neighbor's hay bales, and to painfully resent them on that account.

In the doctor's office waiting room, an older lady asks the man accompanying her what he'd been up to lately. "Well yesterday, I went to see Rob Sand."—"Who's that?"—"This state auditor who wants to be the next governor."—"Oh."—"Yeah. But that has nothing to do with what's going on today." 😅 #Iowa

Eine sehr amerikanische Erfahrung; Vorsorgetermin bei der Frauenärztin: im Vorgespräch erklärt die nurse, "We're doing a full-body exam today including a breast exam, then we're going downstairs for the other exam." Und ich denke, häh? Wir sind hier doch schon im Untersuchungszimmer im Erdgeschoss??

Today was a good day at work*, because I didn't have to sit at the computer and stare at the screen for 8 hours; I just can't do that anymore. *Spent the day out and about in Des Moines to set up our State Fair booth.

Hey guys, I really enjoyed reading about your personal childhood and coming-of-age wagon memories; thank you for sharing them sparked by this classified ad. ❤️

Just now seeing – and loving – this. #Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #Trump

We missed Voxxclub at the German Fest in Milwaukee, @jenambrose.bsky.social!

I could use 2-3 weeks in Germany right now. Just to get out, get some things done there, reset my nervous system from the continuous political stress here.

Now *that* is an all-American car! 😃 #weirdcarbs

Timeline juxtaposition. I know Sand is our "only hope" right now for #Iowa governor, but his tactical Swiss neutrality on the deeply undemocratic Trumpists (which the Republican party now is), along with all his food appeasement politics, gives me heartburn. I need to hear "democracy" from him.

Sarah Benz erzählt, wie mensch eine Bestattung aktiv mitgestalten kann. youtu.be/LftLrGQ8djA?...

Midnight apple snack. 🍎 Look who's got a full pouch of joeys!! 😍 You can see one little tail sticking out. #opossum

🎵 It ain't gonna go away—Ode to the #Epstein files 🎶 youtu.be/R8AGEjj2Jds @davidlosure.bsky.social 🪕

Just met some cool dudes on my street. I love this town, man.

"Haze", "smudginess", "filtered sunshine"—like on Chinese state TV, the Des Moines TV weatherman skirts the term "smog".

From an #Iowa now long gone: red guard me on the old Massey-Ferguson and at a hopeful campaign office that I was invited to by Chinese Democrats in Des Moines, and a sign that has also disappeared from the county seat courthouse entrance.

Our new billboard! Indivisible Iowa Black Hawk County rocks!! @indivisible.org @indivisibleia.bsky.social @maddow.msnbc.com

I don't know how to clear my head today with this polluted air. 😟

Sidecars are a pretty rare sight these days in #Beijing, and an Ural Baikal (with 京A plates!) even more so! Ural Motorcycles is headquarted in the US with assembly facilities in Kazakhstan www.imz-ural.com/the-company

Sipping on my morning coffee enjoying reading fellow Iowans finally getting outraged about something, protesting a great injustice, standing up against a hostile foreign (European) force, ready to revolt against a cruel display of arbitrary state power...roundabouts! [FB post by the #Iowa DOT]

The smog didn't clear up over night—it got denser. The temperatures have dropped to a pleasantly mild and dry state after the tropical hot and humid spell, but we won't get to enjoy it today, and I can't ride through this air on a motorcycle. It doesn't help that everything else sucks already. #Iowa

The Goldwing and the Impala—why I'm building a garage right now: so I don't have to play vehicle tetris every day! 😅 And, well, to store all my worldly possessions in if need be.

Country-Song des Tages, @destinrayn.bsky.social @griesgram999.bsky.social @daskleinee.bsky.social 🤠. H/t @neptune78.bsky.social [Quelle: FB, "Conservatives Are Destroying Our Future"]