Freedom Part Two

I know of freedom (see last post, and yes, I visited Berlin and had to pass East-border, once per bus, once with private car, ohhhh, scary!).

 

We had a car in Australia, twice.

We drove off. Enough time on our hands, little money, but we were young.

Sadly no internet back then, we missed sooooo ... sooo darn much!

(1995 and 1999, both times, sadly)

The "Lonely Planet" we had, as in paper.

Helped a lot - yet... we missed too much.

Enough water? Yupp. Enough gas? Enough food, Pepsi? And some beer? Yupp. OK, off we go!!! Slept in the car, had our home with us, always.

This car was our dear home. 

In German cars are male, and he was the best.

I always felt safe.

 

Every now and then I sat down, wrote a letter to my family. Over say... a month every time. 

Here a few words, there some others.

 

Pinning where we are.

 

Sent it to Germany, was there 4 weeks later.

No one would´ve found us if anything bad´d happened.

Two weeks ago my Bro told me that my Dad feared my life every day.

Do you think he ever told me? My Dad?

When I came to visit he reached out.... his hand. Like to a business partner. Never a hug.

My Brother always hugs me big, just saying.

And now.

We´re all stuck.

I cannot even visit my family.

Where has freedom gone?

We are educated people and should know better. DISTANCE (and hugs with family!!! Last time we did this, there is TRUST, yes, TRUST versa SCIENCE, I know, but we´re all fit and healthy).

Herpes. Ingo had it, Bro had it. I shared glasses and bottles with both and never got it. Nieces kissed me, YIKES, I´m still not dead yet!

OK, not funny.

But back to science: It´s a virus, too, and likely everyone has it - an outbreak might come or not.

I´m not in the risk group for Corinna. Big Niece is (diabetes I), but she´s a fit 10-year-old.

I miss them all so much, last time was summer 2020!!! AGES ago.

Freedom.

 

It´s kinda gone, freedom.

Henry 🦁...

We´re stuck in so many ways. There is not only Corinna... Ingo´s health doesn´t allow real freedom anymore, either.

But, Tom made me homesick with his Hawaiian-pics, I might show you more of our travels...

FREEDOM

 

 I told of Soljanka/Solyanka some time ago and that all my three T´s were from East-Germany.

And maybe some of you thought, "what? - 'East'-Germany?! Is Germany not united since 1989???"

 

It is. 

 

On paper.

 

I remember a school-colleague. 

Her parents were "rich" and came "to The West".

And she complained!!!!

In GDR someone would´ve told her what to do with her life.

Become a baker. Butcher, whatever.

 

(Now we do it as in "The East", thank you, Corinna. Pic taken yesterday in Braunschweig.)

 

Well in "the West" no one TELLS you what to do!!!!

You have the freedom of the world!!!! You CHOOSE! But that´s also responsibility for your life and she hated that.

Mind you, I struggled, also. Made a test and they said "you can study anything you want, according to this."

a) not helpful

b) not true (ME in mathematics or such, forget about that! I can count to three, and that´s about that - Calculus, what we call Infinitesimalrechnung was nothing I enjoyed)

 

 

What shocked me truly was... she hated democracy. She hated West-Germany. She hated (or feared)  FREEDOM.

By golly, I took the wrong choice but can proudly (???) call myself a graduated engineer (now without a job).

I started all over - and likely again, too.

Hopefully.

But to grow up in a place... well, we get an idea, thanks to Corinna.

Some things are not available. Period. Shelves empty.

Wonder what became of her?

 

I do cherish freedom, I have an idea of other places - I luckily only read about but also see here.

Women in a burka and even worse, a hijab, I see that here in ("West"-) Germany, in Braunschweig, in "our" quarter. 

The "husband" carrying the purse, the woman is packed with groceries, walking behind him. And yes, she is smaller. What is love? Not caring, obviously...

To freedom, says Henry 🦁

 

Now, this is soooo long ago, but it stuck to my mind. How this girl hated/feared freedom.

 

 

In Deep Conversation (?)

 

 

Our Peanut(s)... they crack me up!

I found this one - we "have" three Squirrels -  this one I found with one of our King Frogs like this, isn´t this too cute?

Enlarge to see the eyes, awww..

Wonder what the topic was?

Looks like a longer conversation was on and the King Frog got lost in thought about it, trying to come up with some wise words, huh?

He/she melts my heart!

Maybe I didn´t provide enough nuts and there were complaints?

The snow is gone, but weee, it cooled down badly again, -1C.

And.. hehe. I saw he/she got some nuts dugging out from our flower beds, too!

Clever bunch, that!

OK, to be honest... I´m glad Peanut didn´t hit the poor frog as he/she did with my poor Scare Crow. No food > aggression! The Crow went to the bin, Peanut did a proper job!

 

(I call them Peanut as at first I gave them peanuts when they were little. Now they clearly prefer Walnuts, but that´s not a proper name, is it?! They HATE Cashews, we have something in common!).

Henry 🦁...

 

He´s always happy to help!

 

 

Popo - And Who Is Lilly?!

On March 1st I got mail!

Real snail mail - I had to laugh so hard!

Because... what was the first thing I saw when I opened it?

 

Yes. Another Popo (butt)!!!

Mine, kinda, too!

As you maybe know I´m rather clumsy and Ella - who sent me this on.the.dot! - calls me Hathi, you know, the baby elephant from The Jungle Book. Elephants and china-cups, or glass for that matter and I... not a good idea!

Awwww... cute card! 

Ingo understood it all, I had to use google translate - what did we do before internet?!

It would´ve forced me to ask Ella ... no - I wouldn´t even know her!!! How sad! But even if... no, pre-internet that would be an awful long wait via snail mail!

I would´ve had to call my fav book-store or library - with Corinna and lockdown you cannot march in, you have to order first, so I would´ve had to order a paper-dictionary. Remember the olden times?

Thank you internet and google!

But there was more!!!

Ella sent herself along!

 

Is that a summer-tattoo?

And that was still not all!

Look at these beauties! Must not loose them on the billiard-table 😉

 

I had a "blue-phase" when I started my first real job!!

 

The carpet in the place I was into flat-sharing was blue, and my dear colleague S... the hanging closet he didn´t need no more.. blue.

First company car, boss asked which color - I said, I don´t care, cheap, you chose? Blue 😂

Sweet, sweet memories.

The last shoes I got for our Australian first journey after so many years: blue!

Unexpected, sweet memories!

 

You think that was it, you´re wrong, along with a lovely letter came a lucky charm!!!

 

 

Maybe a job is on the way? 

 

And a very beautiful card:

 

And can you imagine how I got wide eyes when I turned the calendar page?! Lilly?!!

(That was the name I wished they´d chose for one of my Nieces, no such luck).

This is not Lilly!

I had to get a pen just yet again!

And the title, well, I dunno what it is with Popos these days.

First I find the Popo-Guy on our balcony (and Hathi!), then the Klitschko-Brothers, followed by my lucky pig arriving at Stevenson and where did the mailman put his stamp on?

 

Right... The Popo!

I  walk the street and what´s there? 

Someone wrote...

"POPO" on the wall.

Henry 🦁 laughs and shows me his... Popo!

          

Isn´t this plain hilarious?!

Well, one last thing: 

My Brother is wrong. If online-friends are not friends, then why would Ella care to send me all those wonderful, funny goodies? 

Thank you loads, Ella 🦋, you made my day🧡!

Are You Chicken?

Sami took me to Curtin last time and there are not only murals but also signs 😁

What about you, do you dare to play?

This is for Tom´s signs 2.

 

Henry 🦁... he´s trying to joke again:

 

 (Rather bad) copy-cat, you! Walk at least on two paws!

 

 

T STands For Traurig

On Friday I - as usually - WhatsApp´d my T. 

Since his then-girlfriend went sick and I had to leave his side to work in Braunschweig (yay for the Braunschweig-part), we do keep contact like this. And Friday I saw he has a new icon, a white flower. 

And I got so darn scared.

 

I kept my feelings under control in 2002. The trainee came to me, giving me a white flower, and that was it, I lost control. 

I cried, I just burst into tears. For 2+ weeks - after driving Braunschweig > Wolfsburg, working 8 hours, driving to Göttingen (140 km) - seeing my Father dying of cancer... 

 

I just moved on, like a robot, worked fine. Until this girl came with that white flower. She meant well, but she broke my wall. 

 

And now a white flower as icon?! What happened?! 

They renovate the house, his new girlfriend and him, so what is this?! 

 

I got so scared. "Klappe zu - Affe tot" is a West-German saying, but a white flower is unique (he´s from East-Germany). 

 He answered, "It would be S´s 52nd Birthday today 'that´s all'." 

 

How I come to this? 

 

Mean, mean dark cancer came with butter.

 

 

T was angry, said S didn´t want his dish cause she saw he added butter back then. 

 

But... She just could not stand the smell due to cancer, it  made her gag - just they didn´t know of the cancer at that time. 

 

It took them nearly 2 years. We tried a lot, but it took her so darn long. "In the end", which was an awful long time.... she could move but one eye. That.Was.It. Nothing more.

 

And on Friday she´d turned... 52. " Traurig" is German for "sad". 

And, boy. He has a new girlfriend, a new life but certainly my T, as he is, cannot forget, S lives on like this. He still meets her Son for coffee, too.

 

Have I mentioned what nice guys I have here. 

I try to enjoy butter and even bought new Butterschmalz to cook for Ingo.

And certainly... heavy backpack and whom do I meet?

Yupp. W. LOL.

Well. "LOL".... he´s lonely , he talked and talked, he found no end.

Ingo said it´s good I do this, it is.

Boy, his eyes are like Terrence Hill´s so blue!!!

He is "allowed" to meet his wife at the nursing home again.

Sometimes she does not recognize him - try not to cry....

Invited him for supper but he smiled and said, sounds so yum but he has rice that will go bad otherwise.

Yips, neither of us can let go food go bad.

Art-wise I share the last 60-90-seconds sketch (This is what it´s all about):

 

 

And here goes another journal page...

 

And to join Elizabeth and Bleubeard´s "T Stands For Tuesday" ...

 

Henry 🦁...

He tries to see the good, he does not want to be traurig.

 

 

 

A lion can relax in 1C and dream of Spring!

Oh, Corinna

 

Our dear host went mural hunting with me here in 2019.

Oh, how time flies. 

Sadly I forgot to take a note of the artist - bet there you found one, unlike mostly in my place...

Well, this one sadly still suits the times.

Most shops are still closed. And, well... to Germany Australia still has...

... code orange. 

 

 

I cannot send anything over. I joked "maybe for Easter" and I think "lille Corinna II" won´t make it even then... I only hope my Bärenland-man is correct and the goodies will be OK even then.

Oh, wait. July, right, then it´s your Christmas, maybe Corinna waits for that?

And a P.S to last post: I wrote - in context to the song - that I remember the times - I broke that arm in 1994! Aaaaages ago 😉. Yet, yes, sad badminton etc is gone forever for me. I was really good at that. Also.. I´d be a tad old to start studying now, don´t you think?

Even if I still have to show my ID when I want to buy a beer at the grocery store... I´m nearly 50, just believe me!

Henry 🦁

He´d like to serve you a Schnitzel and a beer, but his restaurant is... closed.

All the stylish clothes for nothing!

This is for Sami´s COLOURFULWORLD Monday Murals.