It is a picture book winter, a winter such as the children always wish for. Snow and ice and on top of that it is really cold, so that the snow also does not melt away.
At last the hill behind our house is white and one can slide down witth sledges, bobs, plastic bags, which last year was not possible at all. Read More »
Tag: private
The urge to go to school
On Saturday I attended the school lessons. A hoard of adults squeezes into a classroom; if you come too late, you don’t have a chair and about comfort you can disagree.Read More »
Noise
If someone pelts you with polysterene beads, plastic bags or soft toys, it is probably treated as a harassment and punished with God only knows what.
But if one is harassed by noise, it is often ignored. I remember well many years ago when in a small village we wanted to celebrate August 1. When it was finally dark, we started the fireworks. We hadn’t even reached half way, and then Willy stood before us and shouted at us. He had to go to work and get up the next day very early and wanted finally to get to sleep. After all these years I can still remember how ashamed I felt. At home it was drummed into me that my freedom extended only as far as someone’s else’s freedom was affected. We immediately stopped the fireworks.Read More »
Body Pump
My youngest (I can no longer say «smallest» because he is almost as tall as I am) always has training on Saturday morning.
Because it is quite a long distance, I sometimes drive him. It is actually a peaceful refreshing hour while I wait for him, because I can read the newspaper,undisturbed with a cup of coffee in my hand. I wait for him and then we drive home.
The last time I was surprised by music and discovered a gymnastic group. It looked very harmonious and rhythmic. I felt a desire to participate and decided the following week to give it a go.
Minus is dead
Our female betta-fish Minus has not really won our hearts. First she fought with her male partner Plus, who was deadly injured and then she killed her companion, our snail Schneck. This was too much brutality in such a small area for us beginners. We somehow sensed, that we may have contributed to this tragedy due to our incomplete knowledge. Read More »
What is the moral of this story?
Lisa was clever. Perhaps not the best in her class, but always close to the top. She was small and thin. In her puberty she was not an object of desire for her male fellow students. That gnawed at her self-confidence. The few, not to say the only one, who had showed any interest her, she didn’t like at all and those she liked had no eyes for her.Read More »
The death announcement
Cemeteries somehow attract me. There is only one reason for this. On a small surface there are numerous fascinating human stories. No-one tells them, they are the gravestones with names, dates and sometimes photos, which drive my fantasy at full throttle. Wherever I am on this earth, I visit a cemetery in order to feel the cultural differences and think up stories that are unknown to me. Recently my youngest has accompanied me more and more frequently and together we think about people we haven’t known, but who seem so exciting that it seems worthwhile occupying oneself with them.Read More »
The bank parties
Ida was jobbing. This was the only way she could earn the money she needed for her studies. The restaurant, where she worked, was situated idyllically at the edge of town, with a breath-taking view, surrounded by woods, meadows and vegetable gardens. It was a popular excursion site for the townspeople.
But it wasn’t exclusive. For the tenants of the restaurant sustainability and authenticity were more important than profit and luxury. All of this created a unique atmosphere, where at Sunday brunch scarcely two plates were identical, and where all leftovers were processed or given away. Ida loved her job, although it was really backbreaking. One joked and flirted with the guests, one laughed a lot and valued the mutual honesty.Read More »
Wadu has a problem
Until yesterday the world was still in order. But today his girlfriend came to him and said that she wanted a child. Wadu likes children, but he doesn’t want any of his own. That’s what they agreed 6 years ago when they moved in together.
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Barcelona in November
The first snow down to 1,000 m was forecast in Switzerland for Sunday. It will be cold. But this week I had the good fortune to be working in Barcelona and there for a mid-European there is no autumn to be felt.
Every morning, as soon as it was light, I ran along the shore. It was terrific. The ideal temperature for running, a light breeze, the beach empty. Every morning I saw the man with the metal detector, searching the beach for coins and jewellery. Every morning I saw the homeless, wrapped up in their sleeping bags. And every morning I made an irritating observation, which didn’t fit the idyll, like the well-dressed man, who sorted through the rubbish bins. As soon as he found an empty alcohol bottle, he smashed it on the ground into a thousand pieces with frightening fervour. I was also irritated by the old woman, who all alone and naked had swum far out into the sea.
After my run I also went for a swim, after all it was 20 degrees. But, aware of the risks, I swam only close to the beach and properly dressed.
The only really disturbing experience in Barcelona was the two youths in the room next to mine, who at half past four in the morning, quite drunk, tried to break open the connecting door between our rooms. They didn’t succeed, but, with all the noise, sleep was impossible and, until the hotel security had finally succeeded in talking sense into them, it was almost time to go for a run.
Image source: Wolfang Dirscherl / pixelio.de
Michaela Merz 