If we ever need someone to fill in for us at Greensboro Daily Photo, we know who to call, Katja Brown. She attends so many community events that our paths and Facebook postings cross frequently. In addition to visual and performing arts events, Katja takes a special interest in social justice and world peace. Through serving on the boards of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro and the Piedmont Interfaith Council, she volunteers regularly, promoting the understanding and appreciation of cultural and religious differences. Katja was born and raised in a tight-knit community of 500 people in a village near Frankfurt, Germany. It was a community where people knew each other's names and cared for each other. She has found that same sense of community in the UU Church of Greensboro.
Katja and her husband have two high school children who attend a charter school and are also very engaged in community activities. In addition to church and family activities, Katja is involved in the German language club of Greensboro. She loves the luxury of time, afforded by not having to work outside the home. She savors having time to take food to friends who are not feeling well and cooking the recipes she learned in cooking school in Italy this past summer.
The above photo was taken on Battleground Avenue at the big oak tree in the same complex as Earth Fare. Katja's grandfather's name was "Baum" or "tree" and so her connection to trees runs deep. She had just finished a session of core fitness training and had hardly caught her breath. We are grateful to have caught up with her; and, more importantly, we are grateful to know her.
Her favorite quote is from Einstein: "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." We don't agree with the former statement, but the latter is definitely true. Katja loves hearing new ideas, learning new things, and taking time to appreciate nature's beauty- especially on Greensboro's public trails with her trusty dog Apollo. When asked what she loves about Greensboro, her response was, "what's NOT to love about Greensboro? With all of the universities and colleges in the area, there is so much to do." And indeed, Katja is a do-er, of good, kindhearted things. Today is ABC Wednesday and, for our A-Z People Series, K is for Katja- a dear friend to Greensboro Daily Photo.
It sounds like she's busy. Good portrait shot!
Posted by: William Kendall | Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 12:06 PM
Glad to finally meet the Katja of all the comments on GDP and FB. Maynr we.ll meet in person some time soon.Hint. hint Janis.
Posted by: Jane T. Mitchell | Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 01:07 PM
Always nice to know a kindred spirit!
Posted by: Janis Dority | Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 09:26 PM
very interesting woman!
ROG, ABCW
Posted by: Roger Green | Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 06:02 AM
She is one of those people who have their heart on the right place!
Have a nice abc-week / day
♫ Mel☺dy ♫ (abc-w-team)
Posted by: ♫ Mel☺dy ♫ | Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 07:15 AM
It seems you have a lot of German people in your town!
Posted by: Halcyon | Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 04:50 PM
I am touched by all the comments! I just discovered them this morning.
When I moved to NC in 2007, I founded a German language meetup group and organized monthly meetings for about 2 years. Then I took a hiatus and just recently returned to a new meetup group organized through the NC language exchange (http://www.meetup.com/nc-language-exchange/). Besides the two German language "Stammtisch" get togethers on Monday evenings at 7.30 p.m. every month, they also offer Spanish, Portuguese, French and even English language meetups in this group. I was thrilled to see how many German language lovers are in Greensboro. The Stammtisch get togethers are well attended, about 24 people show up each time, and a lot of the people that attend are students at the local universities.
Posted by: Katja | Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 06:51 AM