THERE IS A DELIGHTFUL NIP IN THE AIR AS I walk down the cobble stoned streets towards the Rhine River. While I am enjoying the crisp spring weather my focus stays chiefly on my footing as my ankles have yet to become fully accustomed to the cobblestones. I walk down my block in the Altstadt making my way through Schillerplatz and past the Fastnachtbrunnen, a whimsical bronze fountain made up of hundreds of characters in celebration of the famed Mainz Carnival. I continue through Gutenberg Platz and past the Staatstheater Mainz, which has been my wonderful artistic home for the past fifteen months. Finally, I reach the Rhine. As a gal from Ontario who has spent many an hour sitting by various rivers, lakes, ponds, marshes etc., I have always been drawn to bodies of water. I find my time sitting next to the Rhine to be deeply grounding.
A couple of years ago I was sitting at home in Canada preparing
