Took this at a rest stop while stretching my legs.

Evening walk to clear my head. What a week it has been! I am so looking forward to a couple of days off (and I don't necessarily mean work, just everything…), I really need that break.

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I've finally gotten around to sending out the zines and prints I gave away for the last 365 project finish. Everyone who I contacted about them winning: I am very sorry for the delay. I delivered packages to the post office today. Depending on where you are in the world it might take a couple of weeks to get to you. 🤞

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Lumi and I went to Gruga to check on the Herons. I remembered that I had lots of fun photographing them last year. I think we were a bit late in the day, but I managed to get a couple of mid-flight shots of various birds, a heron among them.

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Discarded.

Observing reflections.

Always a favorite place to visit after heavy rain.

The tree outside our kitchen (well, atm it is just another room, because there is still no kitchen in it) window is in full bloom. We were able to borrow a stove top from friends. The kids really wanted to have noodles and tomato sauce. 🙂

One more post with a dozen random impressions from our trip to Türkiye. Tomorrow it will be back to our regular ol' program.

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Made it back home yesterday. The journey was quite smooth, but leave it to Deutsche Autobahn to slow us down for an hour on the last 10 km of our trip. 🙄 Oh well.

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I said this before, I am very glad we could make this trip happen on such short notice, and especially as a family, despite the circumstances. Or rather – we couldn't have made this trip if not for the circumstances. I strongly believe it was the right move to have the kids be part of it all. They are such compassionate, empathetic human beings. I couldn't be more proud.

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Final visit to the cemetery. Since there is no gravestone yet, the kids found a piece of marble and created a temporary one with a sharpie.

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Short trip to Osmaniye, which was cut short due to some family obligations of my father in law. We might try again tomorrow. It will be our last day before we head home very early on Wednesday morning.

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The mourning tents were removed yesterday and we went to visit my father in law on his farm. Very scenic views, flats on one side, mountains on the other. Also lots of different animals. The weather was nice as well, so we spent the whole day outside and ended with a nice barbecue. Lumi found a penny board and taught herself to ride it over the course of the day.

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My wife gave me the go-ahead to share these images from her grandma's funeral. You might find it weird to photograph in a situation like this, but for me, this is my way of processing and understanding what is happening. People didn't mind either – they were focused on t...

Ulya took a break in the afternoon yesterday and we drove to the ocean. I think I wrote before about the sad state of the beach, which is even more dirty than last time we visited. Such a shame. The clouds made for a dramatic backdrop, though.

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We had an amazing breakfast this morning – the best we've had in a couple of weeks (re. still no kitchen back in Germany). On the way back from the restaurant, we passed many new houses built since the earthquake, but also quite a few that have fallen into disrepair around here – most of them, from what I am told, because the former owners passed away and the families haven't been able to settle their affairs.

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My wife is spending most of the day in the mourning tent, talking to various visitors and making tea. The tents will be up for one more day tomorrow. Also: Bayramın kutlu olsun! (Since it is the first day of Ramazan Bayramı.)

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So we made it here. Yesterday was an absolute marathon of a day. Photo above from the second to last leg of the trip. We had to rent a car at the airport, which was fortunately possible at 2 am in the morning.

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Preparations are already in full swing. The city came and set up two mourning tents in front of the house (one for the men, one for the women). Ulya's grandma will arrive in a couple of hours, if all goes well. I have no idea what the proceedings will be but, I'll try to document it as much as I can.

Ulyas grandma died this morning. 😢 The funeral has to happen quickly thus we had to act very fast: Booked flights at 12:10, departed at 15:45. Posting this from our layover in Istanbul.

Tired.

We've been having this issue with the janitor of our new building. There's a room where we were supposed to store our e-bike — the one we use multiple times a day to get the kids to school and kindergarten. But he refuses to grant us access, even though there's clearly enough space. Before we moved in, a third bike was actually allowed in there. I've tried talking to him multiple times and even took pictures to prove the point, but he refuses to hear us out and his explanations just don't add up. I can only assume he's a pedantic little dictator who enjoys exercising power over his little realm. Really got me riled up today. (Can you tell I am still pissed off?) Now we are left to haul the bike up a very steep flight of stairs – every day. I hate shit like this. In other news: Cherry blossoms are in full swing on Rü.

View from the hospital room. (My wife's grandmother has been here since last Thursday.)

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I did the most stupid thing earlier today: I deleted two weeks worth of photo edits, including a whole photo book – which I fortunately did order a couple of days ago. Thankfully I didn't lose any images. But recreating those edits and especially a whole book feels daunting. Not sure I am up for it. Just goes to show how much this current situation is taking its toll. So stupid.

Moved the old Cinema Display out of storage and connected my old 2013 MBP. The MacBook still sports the Haptiq sticker Claudio made for us back in the day! My mother-in-law had been using it for the last couple of years, but broke the screen recently. (Hence connecting an external display.) The speakers are shot as well, but otherwise it still works fine. I made an account for Lumi so that she can explore a proper computer by herself. (She uses an iPad at school, but let's be realistic, that is not a real computer.) The Cinema Display is still great, btw!

Parking deck. Photo from yesterday. What a stressful week it has been. And today topped everything off. Ulya spent almost the whole day in the hospital with her grandma. It is not looking good. 😢

Self-made cardboard box backpack.

The kids spent a lazy (and very rainy) afternoon watching Bluey.

Mirror selfie - although you need a bigger monitor (or zoom in) to actually see Daniel and me.

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Another batch of images from yesterday's outing at Halde Hoheward. Loved the old guy enjoying the afternoon sun, leaning against the obelisk.

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Still no kitchen in sight. Finally went out and bought an electric kettle. Now at least we have hot water!

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Spent the day at Halde Hoheward with Daniel. Perfect weather to be outside and most importantly: Dedicated photography time! 🙌 I really enjoyed myself. Daniel also took his daily polaroid. (I'll share some more images tomorrow.)

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Trying on different hats at teyze's.

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Implemented a new comment form below. Got the idea from Marcel. Not quite sure yet if I will keep it in its current form, but I have to live with it for a while to decide.

Capybara birthday balloon.

Evening walk. Still not having a kitchen is really annoying. I am craving healthy, self-made food. Funny how that works.

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I've kinda stopped posting links to these posts over on Mastodon (and Bluesky). No real reason, I probably was too tired to bother during our move. Not sure I am missing anything. If you want to reach out, you can always email me (see below)!