On this last morning in Europe at the busy airport, I’m reminded of the ways people attempt to fill their lives with happiness. The lobby of the Hilton has rows of huge, stacked cubicles with fake geraniums. There’s also a bar area with a big pretzel sign on top. This area is surrounded by fake palm trees. (Reminds me of some teacher I know who made her classroom posts into palm trees…:) In the corner of the lobby by an elevator stands a cigarette machine. I’ve seen so many in Europe, but it’s a blast from the past in America. And this weekend in Munich is the height of Oktoberfest, the annual beer-drinking festival so popular that in some places, if you don’t have a reservation from months ago, you’re out of luck. I see couples passing by with their traditional German outfits–women in dirndl skirts and shirred blouses that show lots of cleavage, and men in their boyish lederhosen and felt hats with feathers sticking out. People are ready to party.

On the other hand, we’re ready to leave. At the breakfast bar this morning, with the most elaborate spread I have ever seen at any breakfast ever, the one food item that caught my eye was the honeycomb tray. Surrounded by other condiments that may have been highly processed and perhaps even chemically “fake” food, the honeycomb in its natural state drew me in. It made me think of what in my life is real and what is polished up and presented as real but is actually not. I know. Deeply philosophical….