Enjoying nature and photography.
Ein letztes Wort, ein letzter Satz, laut geschwiegen, stark verdorrt die feinen Triebe, dort, wo leises Existieren platzt, und Leben Platz hat, Raum hat, nichts zu viel ist, dort, dort fliegen sie und wiegen sich ein letztes mal im Winde. Verschwiegene Geliebte, kriegende Besiegte, dort erliegen sie geschwinde uns'rer Gier: Schwalben der Nacht. Komm, spring hinüber, mach schon, komm, kopfüber in die letzte Schlacht.
Der Himmel überfüllt
mit blau
und flüchtigen Erinnerungen,
tropfend, wirbelnd,
gold'ne Sonne,
Fels ganz grau
und ganz umhüllt
in Weite,
ganz erfüllt, ich gleite
blass dahin,
verblasst wohin
es geht, erfasst
vom Sturm,
so rau.
Hoch hinauf auf steilen Schrofen
schreite ich dem Schmerz davon
der sich einen Weg erschlich
ins Herz, ein scharfer Stich,
einwärts gekehrt quer ich
zum schmalem Pfad
zum scharfen Grat, bin frei, endlich.
Ein kleiner Stoß, ich fliege los
Gedanken brechen aus,
aus ihren Runden raus,
der Grat verschwunden, ungebunden
schweb ich hier in Dunkelheit –
es tut mir Leid.
And all is lost in a storm, of something sinister.
The Feeling of Losing Everything, Archive
I guess I missed my 3rd blog anniversary earlier this year. I also missed my 200th blog post (it was this one six posts ago). And in general, I don’t like milestones all that much. They represent not only the beginning of something new, but also the end of a chapter. And this entails reflection, which I often struggle with. But today I will try to make an exception. Without contemplation, I will simply let another milestone happen.
The weather turned. Temperatures are beginning to creep past 20 degrees. The bouldering gym has moved from second home to third home as work has now become my second home. It’s too much – but who would say otherwise? Sometimes it seems unclear whether I live life as intended – but who would say otherwise? But: Old hobbies are waiting to picked up again. Juggling balls have already seen the light of day, and 88 keys are waiting to be pushed again. Visitors are coming by the lake and we are delighted to host them. Yet, I have to find time to return the favor. Instead, we watch the birds coming back with memories from endless journeys across continents. And they bring back our wanderlust, to go out and explore, and enjoy, and soak up life.
They swarm in hundreds from below,
trudge through the meadows in a row,
to infiltrate the sacred realm,
to irritate, to overwhelm
the residents below the sky
who simply sigh and shy away –
their habitat is in decay
because of mankind's holiday.
Drawn to the void inside
alloyed by sweat and tears,
in search for heavy feet
and pure joy on repeat.
I only fear the laziness
while trying to escape the years
to find instead the emptiness
out there, wide landscapes all around,
a place where thoughts do have no doubt.
Go and check out https://matthiasblanke.github.io/MunroStats/
There are many Mountains in the UK and Ireland; but especially Scotland has all of the high peaks. A refined classification system categorizes all British hills based on their height and drop (also called prominence).
The Munros are the highest ones: A Munro is a Scottish Mountain with a height above 3000 feet that has a ‘distinct’ peak. Currently, there are 282 official Munro mountains, see also here. All other Scottish Peaks with a height above 3000 feet that are not considered to be a Munro are called Munro Tops.
When we visited Scotland this year (actually it was 2022, but this post has been in the pipeline since), I was quite intrigued by these mountains. But where are they? How high are they? Which one is the highest one? Which one barely passes the 3000 feet threshold?
A little googling yields this excellent MunroMap that shows where all Munros are located in Scotland. Then, there is the Hill Bagging website where you can track your own progress on your pursuit to scale them all. There is also this wonderful blog post about the distribution of Munro mountains across different regions in Scotland. And lastly, the database of British and Irish hills gives comprehensive tabular data.
This encouraged me to do a little side project: I took (parts of) the data and visualized the location of all Munros as well as further hill types, as well as their height distribution compared to their drop. On the map you can also check out their prominence. It was a nice intro into learning Vue.js and also get started with d3js, but there is lots more to learn; so maybe there will be a second post soon.
Our island has plenty to offer: A vibrant tourist season, tranquility in winter, lovely walking trails and well-developed cycling paths, magical sunsets, and water all around that causes foggy mornings and provides habitat for many marine birds. What it doesn’t offer are woodlands. Before, I would often take my bike and drive to the woods, to wander around, to get lost between the trees, and admire their age and wisdom. Woodlands are soothing; they absorb stress. So it’s about time that I start to explore the woods on the mainland – just beyond the watery boundaries of our new home.
A brief break
to take a breath,
a brake in life
to take a step
back, two steps
onwards,
as soon awaits the biting cold –
so, take your skates,
roll out and trust:
yourself,
and the ice shelf,
through faded sceneries
where bare trees house
jaded starlings
left alone
within the snow,
I am still watching, though,
behind the door,
while the world awaits outside.
Punkt im Dunkeln