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Only a few days ago I returned home from a longer sojourn, and - as usual - after the joy of being home again, the little sadness of leaving the new impressions and acquaintances behind and the strains of travelling had vanished, a certain emptiness found its way into my mindset and I was in a position of having already accustomed diffidently to old habits again but having not quite yet arrived with my thoughts often going back to what shall now become another travel memoir...in this state of mind I decided to create this little blog here. Let's write a bit about the small conveniences of life: art, wine and literature. Maybe there will be some people who can relate.

I begin with some words by Friedrich Hölderlin, whom I adore (and of whom I am unable to get tired of...). Reading his poetry is like praying for me.

[Excerpt from Die Stille]

Die du schon mein Knabenherz entzücktest,
Welcher schon die Knabenträne floß,
Die du früh dem Lärm der Toren mich entrücktest,
Besser mich zu bilden, nahmst in Mutterschoß,

Dein, du Sanfte! Freundin aller Lieben!
Dein, du Immertreue! sei mein Lied!
Treu bist du in Sturm und Sonnenschein geblieben,
Bleibst mir treu, wenn einst mich alles, alles flieht.

Jene Ruhe – jene Himmelswonne –
O ich wußte nicht, wie mir geschah,
Wann so oft in stiller Pracht die Abendsonne
Durch den dunklen Wald zu mir heruntersah –

Du, o du nur hattest ausgegossen
Jene Ruhe in des Knaben Sinn,
Jene Himmelswonne ist aus dir geflossen,
Hehre Stille! holde Freudengeberin!

(Here is the whole poem Die Stille (The Silence) in Projekt Gutenberg. I'm afraid I couldn't find an English translation in the internet.)

Even though I do love music I openly admit to prefer silence most of the time, and I think that there is hardly anything more dreadful than music being reduced to a background noise, which happens unfortunately far too often. One of the mysteries of modern life are certainly those people who are constantly wearing earphones - Lärm der Toren...