30 Jun 2012

Summertime

(When the living is easy)
I just love being all surrounded by warmth, and how somehow every muscle of my body relaxes into it. My plants seem to feel the same: the balcony gets greener and more flowery by the hour. I can almost see how it sprouts in all the pots! A vacation feeling comes over me - letting go of worries, just enjoying the pure pleasure of sipping some cool water and listening to the children playing football in the park below. I feel like one big smile!
My body loves summertime. And my soul, too.

Warmth, Flowers, Happy Legs

28 Jun 2012

Sleepless in Basel

I know they're here
the Times of Change:
Unrest in my blood
Anxious heartbeat
Sleepless in Basel

I don't know
where I'll go
what I'll do
But I do know
That things will change

From night to day

24 Jun 2012

Lightness

I love butterflies. They have become a symbol for lightness in life - a reminder that I should avoid taking things too seriously, and my wish to live life lightly (without too many possessions and scattered engagements).
It always makes me happy when I see butterflies flutter around, and often I challenge my patience by trying to take pictures of them.
Imagine my happiness, as I sat in the warm grass on a hill yesterday evening, and two small butterflies actually came to sit on my boot. It seemed like a sign that I'm on the right track :-)

Sitting very still for a long time, all three of us

19 Jun 2012

Locked Out

What do you do when you're locked out and know it's going to take some time...? At first I just sat there, staring up the road, hoping for my neighbour to turn up (quite unlikely at 4 PM). Then my friend called and said she'd drop by on her way home with my spare key. Long Live Dear Friends :-)
I went down to the river. Flatboats passed by. Far away from traffic noise I found a bench, still warm from today's sun. Listening to the birds and the river, I closed my eyes and meditated. Never mind the bikers passing by! It was very peaceful, and I got very peaceful.
I realised how lucky I am: it's summer, and I don't have to freeze while waiting. My Friend will save me. And I'm so happy to have a home to return to!

The home I return to

16 Jun 2012

Caring Gestures

Some days...! You're short of time, suddenly a heap of Very Urgent Tasks turn up, and it gets really stressful. Of course, on top of that, some private issue comes up too - and you've had it!
Then, as per miracle, somebody drops you a kind line, opens the door for you or brings you a goodie. Like the other day: my shoulders and pulse were uncomfortably high, when B gave me a warm hug and a delicious chocolate truffle. Suddenly the whole situation changed!
So now I will stock a little bag of chocolate truffles at work for Urgent Cases: for collagues rushing about with something hauntied in their eyes...
The little touch that means so much.

11 Jun 2012

From You to Me to You

You turn your back
I feel neglected
Your silence
a lack of confidence?

Then I realize:
a cry for help
Inaudible
all covered up

And I reach out my hand

10 Jun 2012

Dining Alone

Traveling alone is fine: I can do what I want, and at my own pace. My day can start at 7 PM if I feel like it, and there are no complaints about sore feet after hours of walking. The experiences can be shared later, back home.
There's just one point: the evening dinner. So often I've felt awkward, sitting there alone, believing that others pity me or think I'm strange. So often a good dinner could not be properly appreciated.
Well, the "miracle cure" applies here, too: relax! Savour the good food, a nice glass of wine, and your own company! If you want to comment on something, do it in your head ;-)
With this in mind I thoroughly enjoyed my raclette at the small hotel in the Jura mountains. And I really did not feel strange at all.

Best raclette in a long time!

5 Jun 2012

The Smell of Linden Flowers

I walk along the street this early June morning, still a bit dizzy after a short night.  Suddenly  I smell something and stop abruptly. The smell comes from several lime trees in a row; it's that very special, fresh smell of the linden flowers.
Amazing how a smell can transport you to other times or places in a nanosecond! All of a sudden I am back in my early teens... I had a skin care which was supposed to be "all natural". The skin tonic was called Cucumber, and it actually had the smell of linden flowers. I loved it! For some reason I connect it with the family vacation in Switzerland that year, when I was 15 years old.
But my train does not wait, so I came back to 2012 and walked on, happily humming Fleetwood Mac's "Jigsaw Puzzle Blues" - another memory from that vacation.
And once again I felt that time is only in our heads.

3 Jun 2012

Hold On To My Dream

Very long ago I had a favorite green sweatshirt, with a picture on the front: a wooden house, like a Swiss châlet. The sweatshirt got worn out and had to be thrown away after very frequent use, but the image of the mountain house remained: we still refer to it as my "dream house".
Since then I have step by step approached it geographically, and even though ever living in such a house sometimes seems like an impossible dream, it remains in the back of my mind...
This week end was spent in a similar lodge, high up in the Alps. I remembered my dream as I deeply enjoyed the silence, the fresh air and most of all, the closeness to nature.
This is where I gather force. This is where I become fully alive.

View from châlet Le Bivouac, 1.475 m