Heinrich Heine, (1797 - 1856) was the most significant German poet and literary critic of the 19th Century.
Besides his poetry, which was set to music by such Greats of German composers as Schumann and Schubert, he wrote journalistic essays and innumerable Bonmots. Two of them are posted below by one of his admirers,
Bertstravels.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Heinrich Heine: Sayings and Bonmots
Society is a Republic:
As soon as one individual reaches upwards, the totality pushes him back by ridicule and critical accusations. No-one is permitted to be more virtuous or more intelligent than the rest.
He, however, who, through the unyielding power of Genius, stands above the commonplace, is persecuted by Society's ostracism. He becomes victim of such merciless derision and defamation, that he is forced to withdraw to the solitude of his thoughts.
Heinrich Heine
Those without glory or fame are quite right when they preach humility. It is easy for them to practice this virtue, it costs them no effort and through their commonness, their do-nothing inactivity lies hidden and cannot be recognized.
Heinrich Heine
As soon as one individual reaches upwards, the totality pushes him back by ridicule and critical accusations. No-one is permitted to be more virtuous or more intelligent than the rest.
He, however, who, through the unyielding power of Genius, stands above the commonplace, is persecuted by Society's ostracism. He becomes victim of such merciless derision and defamation, that he is forced to withdraw to the solitude of his thoughts.
Heinrich Heine
Those without glory or fame are quite right when they preach humility. It is easy for them to practice this virtue, it costs them no effort and through their commonness, their do-nothing inactivity lies hidden and cannot be recognized.
Heinrich Heine
Power!!! That's what it is all about: Power!!!
Jason B wrote an insightful comment on the Blog "How is this again"...
I cannot agree more with him: Religion, as it is practised, certainly under the guise of Christianity is indeed "all about power."
The very idea of "original sin", the absolute vilification of sex, (the second strongest drive of mankind).....
it all is designed to make everyone feel "guilty" and "unworthy"... Nobody is easier to control than he who feels guilty and unworthy. The Pomp and Circumstance with which all practices, particularly in the Roman Catholic church are conducted, are surely meant to impress and frighten the layman and call him to absolute obediance.
Unfortunately, Jason B, neither you nor "Bertstravels" will be able to change one iota on all this sorry mess.
I cannot agree more with him: Religion, as it is practised, certainly under the guise of Christianity is indeed "all about power."
The very idea of "original sin", the absolute vilification of sex, (the second strongest drive of mankind).....
it all is designed to make everyone feel "guilty" and "unworthy"... Nobody is easier to control than he who feels guilty and unworthy. The Pomp and Circumstance with which all practices, particularly in the Roman Catholic church are conducted, are surely meant to impress and frighten the layman and call him to absolute obediance.
Unfortunately, Jason B, neither you nor "Bertstravels" will be able to change one iota on all this sorry mess.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
How is that again ?
A couple of days ago my good friend Tony came to visit me. We sat in my ground floor studio, comfortably ensconced in easy chairs. We spoke of the weather, the very warm temperatures, the lovely red and yellow roses growing in our garden, the crystal clear water in our swimming pool, reflecting a cloudless sky.
Each had a glass of good white wine and all was well with the world.
Suddenly Tony said: "You wrote something in your Blog about unbaptised children and Limbo."
I agreed that I had indeed done so. Tony looked a little pained. "You know," he said, "that was written from your logical mind and you treated it very one-sidedly. "
"How do you mean 'one-sidedly'? I asked him.
"Well" he mused, "have you considered that there might be another logic, from the point of which the whole thing might make sense?"
"No", I said, I have not considered this, because the logic I have, is the only logic available to me.
When I say that two plus two makes four, I cannot consider this statement from another Logic.
When I say, A is larger than B and B is larger than C it therefore follows that A must be larger than C.
Such statements I cannot consider from another Logic. If there is such a thing, I am unaware of it and therefore I cannot consider it. In any event", I said, "what has this to do with unbaptised children and Limbo, a fictional place dreamed up by the Catholic Church in about 1300 AD, a place, to my knowledge, never mentioned in the Bible"...
"Well," Tony continued, "I just thought you were too adamant in your thoughts expressed in your Blog.
And what's more", he continued, "this issue is such a small and unimportant issue. There are many more important biblical considerations, worthy of some careful thought.
"Tony", I said, "this may well be an unimportant issue to you and me, but it surely is of paramount importance to all the babies allegedly waiting in this cursed place. And, in any event, I just wanted to show up the arbitrary nature of Catholic thinking, or non-thinking, where they invent a place, because it is convenient to have it, sort of as a waiting room, or storage shed, until they have a better idea."
My friend left after another glass of wine, saying: "I'm looking forward to your next Blog."
It occurred to me that Tony was partially right: It is a small, unimportant issue when compared to much more impressive ones.
Take, for instance, the biblical claim that 'God is all-merciful and all-good'. Let me suggest that if indeed he has those attributes, than the Bible is surely wrong in its reporting of his (God's) activities.
Before going any further I researched the meaning of 'mercy' and 'merciful' ...
Mercy: (noun) compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
Merciful: showing or exercising Mercy. Bringing someone relief from something unpleasant.
(synonym: compassionate, lenient, being compassionate.)
Have a gander at "Genesis 6:5-7"
where it is reported that God was so disappointed at the wicked behaviour of what was supposed to be the crown of his creation, Man, that he decided to wipe from the face of the earth the human race, "for I regret that I have made them." (God, the infallible, regrets what he has done, thereby admitting that he had made a mistake ???)
So, because he obviously screwed up the first time around, he decided to start from scratch. To do so he would cause the death of all humans, men, women, children, babies, including righteous men, faithful, loving women, and innocent children and babies, who never had had a chance of being "wicked and evil."
So the whole sorry tale of Noah and his ark started... the 40 days and 40 nights of pouring rain, the total flooding of the earth, including the highest mountains, and to make sure that nobody could keep their breath long enough, he made it last for 150 days. (The fish must have had a great time.)
So, God killed the whole human race except for Noah and his immediate family.
Is it not just a bit worrysome that people have no question regarding the wanton, cruel death of so many human beings, but they wonder: "Will they ever find the ark?"
Please consider: Numbers 25:1-9
Many Israelites started to consort with the women of a nomadic tribe, the Midianites. Not only would they sleep with them, but they began to worship their Gods.
God could probably have accepted the sex between the Israelites and the Midianites, but what really cheesed him off, was this praying to other Gods. There was to be NO competition.
"For I am a jealous God"
So God ordered Moses to "take the heads of all the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun..
Then, following God's orders, Moses caused all the Israelites who had "committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab and who had bowed down before their Gods" to be killed.
And the plague killed 24,000 of them.
You want to go on to: Numbers 31:2-3, 7, 9-10 a.s.o
These chapters tell of God commanding Moses to slaughter all the Midianite men, women and children but all the "maidens who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves. Count the booty and divide it amongst the men who went out to battle."
In Joshua 10:1-43, 11:1-23 and 12:1-24
God commands Moses to kill all the people in 31 kingdoms who were hostile to the Israelites, and Moses, being the obedient servant to the Lord that he was, went out and killed in the name of the Lord, and killed and then killed some more.
The horror-show, goes on and on. Should you want more of the same, the Bible (Old Testament) is full of it.
Killing, raping, plundering of gigantic proportions and all of it "ordered" by a "merciful, compassionate, loving God."
It simply cannot be that both are true: The murders and the concept of a merciful loving God. These two concepts are irreconcilable.
They cannot go together.
If God truly caused, by his orders, and by his own doings, this mayhem, then, in today's age he would be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the International Court of Justice in De Hague and tried for War crimes, Genocide, Incitement to Hatred, Serial Murder and whatever other charges a public prosecutor could come up with. And since we are told that the Bible is God's word, it is tantamount to a complete, written confession and, in my humble opinion, he should be tried, convicted and sentenced. Because compared to the God of the Old Testament, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse dung, Pol Pot, all of them together are like benevolent kindergarten teachers.
So what alternative is there?
The Israelites and the people of old behaved much in the same way as people do today: The 30 Year War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Viet Nam, Rwanda, too many wars to count, to many perpetrators and too many victims...
The only difference seems to be that in the times of the Old Testament the perpetrators could call out: The Lord ordered me.
The Lord made me do it... and everybody believed it.
(The American comedian, Flip Wilson, ended many of his hilarious routines with the high pitched whine: "The devil made me do it"
There isn't much difference between the two claims.
So, either it was as stated and the Lord was an insane killer, or the Bible is a fairy tale. You simply cannot have it both ways.
Bertstravels
used as source material: "Divinity of Doubt" by Vincent Bugliosi and The Bible, Old Testament, St.James Version.
Each had a glass of good white wine and all was well with the world.
Suddenly Tony said: "You wrote something in your Blog about unbaptised children and Limbo."
I agreed that I had indeed done so. Tony looked a little pained. "You know," he said, "that was written from your logical mind and you treated it very one-sidedly. "
"How do you mean 'one-sidedly'? I asked him.
"Well" he mused, "have you considered that there might be another logic, from the point of which the whole thing might make sense?"
"No", I said, I have not considered this, because the logic I have, is the only logic available to me.
When I say that two plus two makes four, I cannot consider this statement from another Logic.
When I say, A is larger than B and B is larger than C it therefore follows that A must be larger than C.
Such statements I cannot consider from another Logic. If there is such a thing, I am unaware of it and therefore I cannot consider it. In any event", I said, "what has this to do with unbaptised children and Limbo, a fictional place dreamed up by the Catholic Church in about 1300 AD, a place, to my knowledge, never mentioned in the Bible"...
"Well," Tony continued, "I just thought you were too adamant in your thoughts expressed in your Blog.
And what's more", he continued, "this issue is such a small and unimportant issue. There are many more important biblical considerations, worthy of some careful thought.
"Tony", I said, "this may well be an unimportant issue to you and me, but it surely is of paramount importance to all the babies allegedly waiting in this cursed place. And, in any event, I just wanted to show up the arbitrary nature of Catholic thinking, or non-thinking, where they invent a place, because it is convenient to have it, sort of as a waiting room, or storage shed, until they have a better idea."
My friend left after another glass of wine, saying: "I'm looking forward to your next Blog."
It occurred to me that Tony was partially right: It is a small, unimportant issue when compared to much more impressive ones.
Take, for instance, the biblical claim that 'God is all-merciful and all-good'. Let me suggest that if indeed he has those attributes, than the Bible is surely wrong in its reporting of his (God's) activities.
Before going any further I researched the meaning of 'mercy' and 'merciful' ...
Mercy: (noun) compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
Merciful: showing or exercising Mercy. Bringing someone relief from something unpleasant.
(synonym: compassionate, lenient, being compassionate.)
Have a gander at "Genesis 6:5-7"
where it is reported that God was so disappointed at the wicked behaviour of what was supposed to be the crown of his creation, Man, that he decided to wipe from the face of the earth the human race, "for I regret that I have made them." (God, the infallible, regrets what he has done, thereby admitting that he had made a mistake ???)
So, because he obviously screwed up the first time around, he decided to start from scratch. To do so he would cause the death of all humans, men, women, children, babies, including righteous men, faithful, loving women, and innocent children and babies, who never had had a chance of being "wicked and evil."
So the whole sorry tale of Noah and his ark started... the 40 days and 40 nights of pouring rain, the total flooding of the earth, including the highest mountains, and to make sure that nobody could keep their breath long enough, he made it last for 150 days. (The fish must have had a great time.)
So, God killed the whole human race except for Noah and his immediate family.
Is it not just a bit worrysome that people have no question regarding the wanton, cruel death of so many human beings, but they wonder: "Will they ever find the ark?"
Please consider: Numbers 25:1-9
Many Israelites started to consort with the women of a nomadic tribe, the Midianites. Not only would they sleep with them, but they began to worship their Gods.
God could probably have accepted the sex between the Israelites and the Midianites, but what really cheesed him off, was this praying to other Gods. There was to be NO competition.
"For I am a jealous God"
So God ordered Moses to "take the heads of all the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun..
Then, following God's orders, Moses caused all the Israelites who had "committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab and who had bowed down before their Gods" to be killed.
And the plague killed 24,000 of them.
You want to go on to: Numbers 31:2-3, 7, 9-10 a.s.o
These chapters tell of God commanding Moses to slaughter all the Midianite men, women and children but all the "maidens who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves. Count the booty and divide it amongst the men who went out to battle."
In Joshua 10:1-43, 11:1-23 and 12:1-24
God commands Moses to kill all the people in 31 kingdoms who were hostile to the Israelites, and Moses, being the obedient servant to the Lord that he was, went out and killed in the name of the Lord, and killed and then killed some more.
The horror-show, goes on and on. Should you want more of the same, the Bible (Old Testament) is full of it.
Killing, raping, plundering of gigantic proportions and all of it "ordered" by a "merciful, compassionate, loving God."
It simply cannot be that both are true: The murders and the concept of a merciful loving God. These two concepts are irreconcilable.
They cannot go together.
If God truly caused, by his orders, and by his own doings, this mayhem, then, in today's age he would be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the International Court of Justice in De Hague and tried for War crimes, Genocide, Incitement to Hatred, Serial Murder and whatever other charges a public prosecutor could come up with. And since we are told that the Bible is God's word, it is tantamount to a complete, written confession and, in my humble opinion, he should be tried, convicted and sentenced. Because compared to the God of the Old Testament, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse dung, Pol Pot, all of them together are like benevolent kindergarten teachers.
So what alternative is there?
The Israelites and the people of old behaved much in the same way as people do today: The 30 Year War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Viet Nam, Rwanda, too many wars to count, to many perpetrators and too many victims...
The only difference seems to be that in the times of the Old Testament the perpetrators could call out: The Lord ordered me.
The Lord made me do it... and everybody believed it.
(The American comedian, Flip Wilson, ended many of his hilarious routines with the high pitched whine: "The devil made me do it"
There isn't much difference between the two claims.
So, either it was as stated and the Lord was an insane killer, or the Bible is a fairy tale. You simply cannot have it both ways.
Bertstravels
used as source material: "Divinity of Doubt" by Vincent Bugliosi and The Bible, Old Testament, St.James Version.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
How Old is the "Wiesenmarkt" ?
From 30th August to 3rd September 2013 the annual Bleiburger Wiesenmarkt (The Market of the Meadow) will be held for the 620th time.
Yes, you read correctly: for the 620th time.
that means that the good Citizens of this small town of Austria, located snugly on the border to Slovenia, gathered in this large, community owned meadow for the first (recorded) time in 1393. ..
and that, in turn, means that it took another 99 years until Columbus set sail for the first time until he ran aground in "America" !
Almost 100 years before Columbus told Queen Isabella of Castile that he could find a short cut to India, the farmers around Bleiburg gathered to determine who had the cow with the biggest udder, who had the fattest pig or grew the largest squash...Then they danced and sang and probably hefted a jug of "Met" or two...
So the farmers of Bleiburg got good and drunk 58 years before Columbus was even borne and the earlier mentioned 99 years before he landed in the Bahamas.
Yes, you read correctly: for the 620th time.
that means that the good Citizens of this small town of Austria, located snugly on the border to Slovenia, gathered in this large, community owned meadow for the first (recorded) time in 1393. ..
and that, in turn, means that it took another 99 years until Columbus set sail for the first time until he ran aground in "America" !
Almost 100 years before Columbus told Queen Isabella of Castile that he could find a short cut to India, the farmers around Bleiburg gathered to determine who had the cow with the biggest udder, who had the fattest pig or grew the largest squash...Then they danced and sang and probably hefted a jug of "Met" or two...
So the farmers of Bleiburg got good and drunk 58 years before Columbus was even borne and the earlier mentioned 99 years before he landed in the Bahamas.
The 620th Ouverture to the "Wiesenmarkt"
from r to l
Bürgermeister (mayor) Stefan Visotschnig
costumed representative of the then ruling Duke,
Arthur Ottowitz (Chief of the Cultural Department)
n.n.
The pole carried by the Duke's man
signifies the permission to open "Wiesenmarkt" festivities
within two weeks and to celebrate for three days.
It is surely interesting to note that at the top
of this garland encircled staff, there is the iron fist of
the Duke, holding a menacing sword.
I think the message was:
"Go on and have some fun!
But never forget who is the boss."
The ladies of the town's Trachtenverein ( costume club)
The Mayor and his Grandsons,surrounded by dignitaries and
other citizens.
I am looking forward to the Opening Salvo of this great festival:
"The Wiesenmarkt"
Friday, August 16, 2013
S U N F L O W E R S
Close to Bleiburg there are huge fields of sun flowers
inviting you to photograph them.
Sun flowers, green hill, church on top.
How can you resist ?
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
CASTLE BERNSTEIN
Bernstein Castle is idylically located
between the rolling hills of Lower Austria
and the plains (Puszta) of Hungary.
It, and a number of other castles fulfilled their historic duty
to defend the area agains invadors from the East.
The roof and chimny of the main house are reflected
in the vine surrounded bottle glass windows
Monday, August 12, 2013
Add to LIMBO
I received three e-mails responding to my question about Limbo.
Not one of them takes a position, Pro or Con to the issue I raised, but all three tell me that the Bible is not to be taken literally. With this argument one can of course accept every bit of nonsense written anywhere.
Am I therefore to understand that Baptism is not necessary, because its requirement is not to be taken literally? How do Christians know what to accept because it is meant to be accepted, and what they may ignore because it is not to be taken literally?
So I am asking again: Were new borne babies who died prior to being baptised consigned to hell until the 13th century when the Catholic Church simply invented Limbo ?
And this consignment, first to Hell and then to Limbo was done in the name of an "All Loving", "All Merciful" God???? Give me a break....
Quite frankly, I would prefer if readers who feel that they would like to comment would do so on the "comment" directly on the Blog, so that others who might be interested may also read opinions other than mine.
Bertstravels
Not one of them takes a position, Pro or Con to the issue I raised, but all three tell me that the Bible is not to be taken literally. With this argument one can of course accept every bit of nonsense written anywhere.
Am I therefore to understand that Baptism is not necessary, because its requirement is not to be taken literally? How do Christians know what to accept because it is meant to be accepted, and what they may ignore because it is not to be taken literally?
So I am asking again: Were new borne babies who died prior to being baptised consigned to hell until the 13th century when the Catholic Church simply invented Limbo ?
And this consignment, first to Hell and then to Limbo was done in the name of an "All Loving", "All Merciful" God???? Give me a break....
Quite frankly, I would prefer if readers who feel that they would like to comment would do so on the "comment" directly on the Blog, so that others who might be interested may also read opinions other than mine.
Bertstravels
Sunday, August 11, 2013
What is LIMBO ?
When I was at Kordi's Funeral Mass I could see, off to my left the "Baptismal Font".
It stood in a small niche and was fronted by a huge wall painting , showing Jesus Christ on the Cross and at the bottom were depicted human figures burning in Hell Fire.
For a moment I was stunned at the juxtaposition of the baptismal area and the eternal agony of hell.
Then it occurred to me: According to Catholic Teaching you will burn in hell forever unless you are "borne again of water."
(John 3:5).
Now you must wonder: Why do we all burn in hell forever unless we are borne again of water ?
It's "Original Sin", baby, we are all saddled with because Adam and Eve, or maybe it was Eve alone, when in the Garden of Eden, ate of the forbidden fruit. The Bible does not tell us 'why' the fruit of this particular tree was forbidden, it just was.
But now, the Catholics had a bit of a problem: What should they do with all the new-borne babies who died before they could be sprinkled with water? You cannot just let them burn in hell forever. It's not their fault that Eve listened to a talking snake, and it surely is not their fault that they could not receive the Sacrament of Baptism. So they came up with a wrinkle: They invented a place, I don't believe is ever mentioned in the Bible. They invented "Limbo" for those little innocent kids, and no lesser man than Thomas Aquinas assured the parents that there, although they would not see the Lord, they would be well taken care of and exist in a relative state of contentment.
So, all these innocent babies, who could not possibly ever have sinned themselves, are, nevertheless, punished by never reaching heaven.
Some "Just God" we are dealing with here.
Let's just step back a bit: God, who is "all-knowing" knows the Past, the Present and the Future.
He created man in His image, created Adam and Eve and imbued them with a strong sense of curiosity.
So, they Had To Taste the forbidden fruit and God knew that they would... and when they did, He punished them cruelly. And not just them, but all of their descendants, including little kids, right up to now and forever into the future.
For doing what they were programmed to do, they got kicked out of Paradise and saddled with Original Sin, whose forgiveness could only be obtained by Baptism.
This entire story sounds preposterous. It sounds downright silly.
Please note: I am not a Bible Scholar!
I am just
Bertstravels.
It stood in a small niche and was fronted by a huge wall painting , showing Jesus Christ on the Cross and at the bottom were depicted human figures burning in Hell Fire.
For a moment I was stunned at the juxtaposition of the baptismal area and the eternal agony of hell.
Then it occurred to me: According to Catholic Teaching you will burn in hell forever unless you are "borne again of water."
(John 3:5).
Now you must wonder: Why do we all burn in hell forever unless we are borne again of water ?
It's "Original Sin", baby, we are all saddled with because Adam and Eve, or maybe it was Eve alone, when in the Garden of Eden, ate of the forbidden fruit. The Bible does not tell us 'why' the fruit of this particular tree was forbidden, it just was.
But now, the Catholics had a bit of a problem: What should they do with all the new-borne babies who died before they could be sprinkled with water? You cannot just let them burn in hell forever. It's not their fault that Eve listened to a talking snake, and it surely is not their fault that they could not receive the Sacrament of Baptism. So they came up with a wrinkle: They invented a place, I don't believe is ever mentioned in the Bible. They invented "Limbo" for those little innocent kids, and no lesser man than Thomas Aquinas assured the parents that there, although they would not see the Lord, they would be well taken care of and exist in a relative state of contentment.
So, all these innocent babies, who could not possibly ever have sinned themselves, are, nevertheless, punished by never reaching heaven.
Some "Just God" we are dealing with here.
Let's just step back a bit: God, who is "all-knowing" knows the Past, the Present and the Future.
He created man in His image, created Adam and Eve and imbued them with a strong sense of curiosity.
So, they Had To Taste the forbidden fruit and God knew that they would... and when they did, He punished them cruelly. And not just them, but all of their descendants, including little kids, right up to now and forever into the future.
For doing what they were programmed to do, they got kicked out of Paradise and saddled with Original Sin, whose forgiveness could only be obtained by Baptism.
This entire story sounds preposterous. It sounds downright silly.
Please note: I am not a Bible Scholar!
I am just
Bertstravels.
Monday, August 5, 2013
KORDULA
When I was a kid, age 8 to 12 I would spend every summer vacation in Feistritz an der Drau, a small town in Upper Carinthia. My mother's mother lived there in a small house, a garden with various fruit trees in the back, a small brook running past it and on the other side of the brook, once you crossed a small wooden bridge, there lived my Grand Uncle. He had a carpentry store and a small farm.
A loving Grandmother, fruit trees in the garden, a brook, a Grand Uncle, the smells of fresh wood, two horses in a stable and some cows. Isn't this close to Paradise for a small boy?
I loved everybody there. But the person I loved most was my Cousin Kordula, the daughter of my Aunt Elsa.
"Kordi" was five years older than I was and naturally I considered her pretty "grown up".
When you are 10 years of age, a 15 year old is "all grown up", No?
Kordi even then was a very funny girl. I sought her out every chance I got and listened to her tell stories. When Kordi told a story, you just could not stop laughing. She was "a riot."
She knew a hundred or more "Gschtanzln" which are short dialect songs, mostly 4 liners and all funny, some of them a little risque. I learnt a lot of those from her.
As we grew older we met only rarely, both of us having all consuming interests of our own. But now and then, at a birthday celebration of one of our family, I would meet Kordi again. Once, I remember, my brother Sigurd and Kordi were there and double- handedly entertained the whole party. All Assembled were in absolute stitches.
Once I tried to call my sister Inge from Canada, but her line was always busy. Finally I reached her and said: "I've tried to reach you for almost an hour, but got nothing but a busy signal"
"Yes", my sister answered, "for the last hour I've been chatting with Kordi and I have not laughed so much in a long time."
Since 2009 I've been living in Bleiburg, in Lower Carinthia, and Kordi lived in Spittal. This means we were only about 200km from each other. In all this time I saw Kordi but 5 or 6 times and I will always regret this neglect of an old friendship.
Several months ago I visited her for the last time. She had come down with a serious illness which prevented her from swallowing and robbed her of the power of speech. But we still had a good time. I did most of the talking and she used a paper and pencil for her questions or comments.
The illness was not able to rob her of her will to enjoy life nor of her sense of humor.
Well, today, just about an hour ago, I've returned from Kordi's funeral.
She had passed away on 31st July and I am certain she did so with a smile on her face and maybe she still whispered a "Gschtanzl"....
Bertstravels
A loving Grandmother, fruit trees in the garden, a brook, a Grand Uncle, the smells of fresh wood, two horses in a stable and some cows. Isn't this close to Paradise for a small boy?
I loved everybody there. But the person I loved most was my Cousin Kordula, the daughter of my Aunt Elsa.
"Kordi" was five years older than I was and naturally I considered her pretty "grown up".
When you are 10 years of age, a 15 year old is "all grown up", No?
Kordi even then was a very funny girl. I sought her out every chance I got and listened to her tell stories. When Kordi told a story, you just could not stop laughing. She was "a riot."
She knew a hundred or more "Gschtanzln" which are short dialect songs, mostly 4 liners and all funny, some of them a little risque. I learnt a lot of those from her.
As we grew older we met only rarely, both of us having all consuming interests of our own. But now and then, at a birthday celebration of one of our family, I would meet Kordi again. Once, I remember, my brother Sigurd and Kordi were there and double- handedly entertained the whole party. All Assembled were in absolute stitches.
Once I tried to call my sister Inge from Canada, but her line was always busy. Finally I reached her and said: "I've tried to reach you for almost an hour, but got nothing but a busy signal"
"Yes", my sister answered, "for the last hour I've been chatting with Kordi and I have not laughed so much in a long time."
Since 2009 I've been living in Bleiburg, in Lower Carinthia, and Kordi lived in Spittal. This means we were only about 200km from each other. In all this time I saw Kordi but 5 or 6 times and I will always regret this neglect of an old friendship.
Several months ago I visited her for the last time. She had come down with a serious illness which prevented her from swallowing and robbed her of the power of speech. But we still had a good time. I did most of the talking and she used a paper and pencil for her questions or comments.
The illness was not able to rob her of her will to enjoy life nor of her sense of humor.
Well, today, just about an hour ago, I've returned from Kordi's funeral.
She had passed away on 31st July and I am certain she did so with a smile on her face and maybe she still whispered a "Gschtanzl"....
Bertstravels
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