Nature....

The first pic was taken in Ouchy, near Lausanne (Switzerland), the two pics underneath were taken in La Panne/De Panne (Belgium), the one beneath in Blankenberge (Belgium), the next two pics were taken in Cannes (the palm tree) and in St. Tropez, the last three photos were taken in the Pilat (Massif Central/France)...and I can assure you, that ain't photoshop...the place really looked like that that day...

Translation...

Where are you? Where are you?
Ripped out of my life, out of my body, like a limb that is missing...torn, broken, cut off...your love, my love...gone...wiped off the face of the Earth...swallowed by the ground...literally...there you are, lying in the humid soil...are you really down there? Wasn't it just a bad Dream? Your disease, your decay, your wasting away...like in a movie, where the dead rise from death, because they only feign death, because they don't use real bullets - only blanks...
Are you really down there, underneath our feet...is there anything left of you here, outside of my memory? I'm talking to myself...and I get no answers...you can't hear me and I can't hear you...so many questions...and no answers.
The emptiness swallows my words...I miss you...so much...you were a part of me, as I was a part of you...I miss that part of myself...it is with you...
My love, your love...keep that part of me...may it accompany you...Sometimes I allow myself to hope that I will see you again some day...keep that part of me until then...that and my enduring love...

...

Wo bist du? Wo bist Du?
Aus meinem Leben gerissen...von meinem Leib abgerissen, gleich einem Glied, das fehlt...Abgerissen, abgebrochen, abgeschnitten...deine Liebe, meine Liebe...einfach weg...weggewischt vom Antlitz des Planeten - vom Erdboden verschluckt - im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes...Da liegst du jetzt, in der feuchten Erde...bist du wirklich da, da unten? War es nicht ein böser Traum...alles nur geträumt, deine Krankheit, dein Vergehen, dein Dahinsiechen...wie im Film, wo alles nicht wirklich passiert, wo die Toten hinterher wieder aufstehen...weil sie nur 'tot' gespielt haben, weil sie keine echten Kugeln, sondern nur Platzpatronen benutzt haben...
Bist du wirklich da unten, unter unseren Füssen...ist noch irgend etwas von dir hier, irgendwo außer in meiner Erinnerung? Ich rede mit mir selbst...und bekomme keine Antwort...du hörst mich nicht und ich höre dich nicht...Fragen über Fragen...und keine Antwort.
Die Leere verschluckt meine Worte...Du fehlst mir...so sehr...du warst ein Stück von mir und ich ein Stück von dir...mit dir fehlt mir ein Stück von mir selbst...es ist bei dir...mit dir...
Meine Liebe, deine Liebe...behalt' das Stück von mir...es soll dich begleiten...Manchmal erlaube ich mir zu hoffen, dass ich dich irgendwann wiedersehe...behalte mein Stück bis dahin...das und meine Liebe...

The Things We Lost in the Fire...

This is a funny title for a blog - especially since I haven't lost anything in a fire...

Many people have however lost their belongings in the terrible fires that were raging only recently in and around Los Angeles...And it is not so much the fridge that you will miss, or your TV set, or your DVD player - it's the personal stuff, the photos, your journal, your grand-mother's pendant, or the pictures that your kids have drawn for you...that's the stuff that you will miss - like crazy...
This blog entry is about loss...it would be easier for me if I could write this blog in German, as German - being my mother-tongue - is closer to my heart...I will try to get my thoughts across in English, though...the language that most of you speak...

Like the personal belongings that all these people lost in the fire, the people that we lose along the way are gone for good...whether you believe in an after-life or not, the truth is that in this life your loved ones are forever absent.
One wonders, does it get easier as time goes by? Does the pain ever go away? Is time a healer? I don't know...for now I can only answer these questions in the negative...
The ones who pass on leave a tremendous void in our lives and that void will never go away as much as their shoes cannot be filled by anyone else...
It is almost as if someone had cut your leg off...and with the one leg that you have left, you struggle to walk, to stand up straight...swaying back and fro like a twig in the wind. You stagger through your life for a while and you almost forget that you have only one leg left...until you look down, until your eyes catch sight of your single-leg...that's when the pain comes back, that's when you remember that something is entirely different, that you're not the same person anymore and the realization that you're living an altered life just blows your mind...
You cannot grow another leg...so you make-do with what you have...

My father died five years ago and it is still tremendously painful to acknowledge that I will never see him again, talk to him again, that I'll never touch him again, never hold him again, hear his voice again, or laugh at his cheesy jokes again...never...that's a big word...
I sometimes catch myself thinking as I wake up or just before I fall asleep - 'My God, he's gone...he's really gone'...He's not on vacation somewhere, or on a business trip...he's gone for good, wiped off the face of this planet...He is nowhere...he is no more...forever...God, that's so fucking painful.........To hold him one more time, to touch him one more time, to talk to him one more time...I would love to meet up with him and chat over a cup of coffee...and then I would let him go...if he could be back in my life just once in a while, once a year, whatever - just for a fricking cup of coffee...
I'm talking to my walls...to the emptiness...to the silence.
The void is right here - loud and clear...

In Bruges...

For those of you who liked In Bruges...I have posted some pics that were taken in 2004 and 2007. Bruges is a truly lovely fairy-tale place...with stunningly beautiful buildings and romantic canals, a beautiful backdrop for any movie...

I have a really nasty little virus at the moment - that's the main reason why I haven't been in touch lately (in case anybody missed me LOL)...
Do you know this feeling, when you're actually glad that you're sick, because you finally have the time to call someone, to read a book, to watch a movie...
My last couple of weeks have been so strenuous that I highly welcome this nasty little virus although it includes head aches, coughing, sneezing, and a fricking sore throat (drinking water burns like Hell...I wonder what a Thai Curry would feel like :)
BTW...movies...I've finally been able to see In Bruges...and I really liked it...plus Bruges is THE perfect backdrop for any likeably quirky "low-budget" movie - European style (as opposed to *Eurotrash* LOL).
When I'm back in shape, I'll post some pics that I took in Bruges a couple of years ago.
It's a truly lovely place, yet, at the same time it doesn't feel like a *real* place, like a place that continues to exist once the hordes of tourists leave the magnificent scenery...I never stayed in Bruges longer than a day; that's probably why it felt like they were going to close shop once we had left the area...
Bruges already felt like a movie set before anybody used it as a movie set - the cobble stone streets, the canals, the medieval churches and mansions and us collectively playing the part of the tourists - duefully standing in line for a boat trip through the canals or for a cup of hot Belgian chocolate for that matter.
I still can't quite imagine that *real* people live in this place...that they live, work and sleep in these medieval stone houses...
There's a shopping high street in Bruges, and honestly, that was the ONLY place that hinted at the fact that Bruges was *real* place, with *real* people...

Happy Birthday Freedom...

19 ago today, people were dancing on the Berlin Wall and not one shot rang out during this remarkable night. It was the night of all nights, a night that made the impossible, the improbable, the unthinkable come true. That night perhaps for the first time in human history, a people demolished a stone wall with their voices alone "Wir sind das Volk, wir sind ein Volk!" [We are the people, we are one people]. And like the trumpets of Jericho in the Old Testament, their mere presence made this Wall, this regime, crumble and fall to their feet.We were in a state of grace on this chilly 9th November 1989 and we were given a tremendous gift that night - FREEDOM. I believe that we as a country, as a nation, were forgiven that night - by the ones that perished. They reached out to us that night and then they let us go...in peace.
When I returned to Berlin in 2006, I was incredibly moved to see a Menora in front of the Brandenburg Gate, right next to a huge Christmas tree, that read "the Jewish community of Berlin wishes everybody Happy Hanukkah"....
'They're back' I remember thinking...like the birds in the spring, after a long cold winter. It was the winter of our discontent, a winter that had lasted too long. The Jewish element was an integral part of German culture, society and wisdom. Gustav Mahler, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartoldy, Heinrich Heine, Albert Einstein just to name a few. Someone once said that the extermination of the Jews was an act of self-mutilation...and that's just what it was. I am relieved and delighted to see that they're back, back to where they belong.

In memoriam of the victims of the Reichskristallnacht [Night of Broken Glass] of November 9th 1938, and of the victims of totalitarianism and terror.

London Part Two...

After posting pics of 'traditional' London, I thought I would also like to show you some pics of 'modern' London.

I have a Dream...

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

The Home of the Brave...

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.

Ever since the Declaration of Independence, the United States of America have been a beacon of hope for generations of immigrants, for the oppressed, for those who yearn to be free, for millions in quest of a better life...
Last night, America has turned its back on a regime that has managed to corrupt the very essence of America - the very values that are the foundations of a country that has inspired the world...with its boundless optimism, its energy, its creativity.
The outcome of this election has the potential to fix a lot of the damage that has been done throughout the last eight years, but above all, this historical vote has the potential to be an impetus for the rest of the world - diversity, integration, multilateralism - just to name a few...
Once again, America can be a beacon of hope for a world that has been severely damaged by 9/11 and its aftermath...a world that is struggling to overcome years of adversity and hostility - with a global financial market on the brink of desaster.
Once again, America can be the beacon of hope for this tempest-tossed planet.

YES, YOU COULD AMERICA!

I woke up in the wee small hours of this truly historical morning and I realized that...

Compassion has indeed beaten fear, that diversity has indeed beaten division, that intelligence has beaten arrogance, and that hope has beaten hate.

Congrats America! What a magnificent outcome! Yes, you could, America! Who would have expected this outcome six months ago!
What a landslide victory - a victory that is the very epitome of hope.

Special Guest Blogging...

Kai made a beautiful comment on her blog regarding the U. S. election. I found this incredibly beautiful and I want to bring it to your attention.

"I hope compassion beats fear, diversity beats division, intelligence beats arrogance and hope beats hate."

Beautifully put! Let this be our 'mantra' until tomorrow!

If you want to read more - see link below...

London Part One...