when the wind quiets down
there is a vast stillness all around.
some very distant sounds
of a crow or a car –
tiny streaks on
an wide empty blue canvas
from the hilltop
far away horizons, timeless
and silent.
mid-February sun begins
to warm up the world
stirring up fragrances of soil and grass
there is a promise
not only of spring
but also of something much larger
that my little brain can’t grasp
something too huge to take in
something wonderful
Sunday after the birthday party, taking care of a slight hangover, cleaning up the house. I was lazy but Sabine convinced me that we should take a walk, and maybe not one of our short standard walks around the hill, but something a little more special. The weather was cold and sunny, spectacular compared to most of the rather grey January.
We drove to a village called Frangenberg, near Linde, a few miles from here, and took a round walk around the hills at Breidenbach and Spich, under a deep blue sky, with wonderful views. The end-of-January sun had already some power, and there was a hint of early spring.
We discovered an old stone cross, nothing unusual in this area, but this one (150 years old) had my name chiseled into it … hmmm …
Sometimes we stopped and listened … there was the hum of a very far away plane, surrounded by a silence that was deep and rich and stretched out far in all directions.
Back home we had cherry cake and coffee and then we put these images on my computer and looked at them and had half of the chocolate candy box that Vera and Michael had given to me yesterday … they were REALLY good
Unusually cold and wet, this May 13th, and it’s been like that for several days, and it will be like that for some more days. (9°Celsius is 48° Fahrenheit)
Today is Ascension Day (I can’t help imagining Jesus with a jetpack on his back, roaring off into the clouds) – anyway, I haven’t taken a walk for days and today is a good day for that, at least it doesn’t rain at the moment.
Incredible to watch the plants grow ! The Bergisches Land is one of the rainiest areas in Germany. The soil is heavy and not good for crops of any kind, so agriculture is usually limited to keeping cattle. We don’t have as many flowers as the more fertile regions in Germany but … there are some if one looks closely. I started in our own garden …
The meadows have already grown up high … the dandelion season seems to be mostly over.
I love walking through the forest on the hill opposite of our house … the birds were singing, and I didn’t meet anyone else … except for some deer.
