Die Lorelei

Several years ago – maybe around 1972 - my Aunt Madge tried very hard to teach me to read and speak German. I would stop by her house in Tampa once or twice a week on the way home from work for lessons and to listen to her stories about the Berg family heritage. I was corresponding with a cousin in Germany and was planning a trip in search of family roots. Both sets of my father’s grandparents were born and raised in Germany before sailing to America in the mid-1850s.

On those occasions Aunt Madge would have several words to add to my vocabulary, and she would have a lesson ready of verb conjugation. She would also insist on my memorizing phrases and simple poems. She became ill and died before reaching her goal of making me fluent in German, but one poem, not so simple, Die Lorelei, has stuck with me.

According to Germany legend, a beautiful young maiden named Lorelei threw herself off the mountain, now named for her, into the Rhine River because of the heartbreak she felt after the rejection of a faithless lover. The legend has it that her spirit returned to the mountain to live, where she sang haunting melodies and lured sailors to their doom on the rocks in the river below.

The trip to Germany materialized in 1985. We were guests of a cousin, Erich Jox. He and his family couldn’t have been more hospitable. When they learned that I had memorized Die Lorelei they insisted on taking us on a boat ride on the Rhine River past the Lorelei rock – that mountain named for the lady of the legend. The rocks that made passage around the mountain hazardous have long since been blasted away, so the river now flows smoothly around the mountain, but it is easy to visualize what it must have been like to navigate before. It’s a beautiful spot. We drove to the top of the mountain where, at an overlook, it’s possible to see for miles up and down the Rhine valley.

The poem and a translation goes like this:

Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten, Daß ich so traurig bin,
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten, Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.
Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt, Und ruhig fließt der Rhein;
Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt, Im Abendsonnenschein.

Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet, Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldenes Geschmeide blitzet,Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar,
Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme,Und singt ein Lied dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame,Gewaltege Melodei.

Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe, Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe, Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh'.
Ich glaube, am Ende verschlingen, die Wellen, Schiffer und Kahn,
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen, Die Lorelei getan.

English Translation (not quite literal):

I cannot determine the meaning, Of the sorrow that fills my breast:
A fable of old, through it streaming, Allows my mind no rest.
The air is cool in the gloaming, And gently flows the Rhine.
The crest of the mountain is gleaming, In fading rays of sunshine.

The loveliest maiden is sitting, Up there, so wondrously fair;
Her golden jewelry is glistening; She combs her golden hair.
She combs with a gilded comb, preening, And sings a song, passing time.
It has a most wondrous, appealing, And powerful melodic rhyme.

The boatman aboard his small skiff, Enraptured with a wild ache,
Has no eye for the jagged cliff, His thoughts on the heights fear forsake.
I think that the waves will devour, Both boat and man, by and by,
And that, with her dulcet-voiced power, Was done by the Loreley.

A Visit To Virginia

As I sit here on this quiet Virginia hillside, it’s easy to forget the cares and concerns that life brings back home. This animal farm that my son has created is an interesting place. From one window of our motor home, we can watch the alpacas glide along, munching on the grass. From another we can watch his Angus cows and their newborns. In the distance is a herd of Nubian goats, the nannies all expecting any minute. His newest pasture if full of boar goats just arrived from a farm in Oklahoma. Two miniature horses and one burro have joined the cows. All the pigs and sheep are gone, but there’s still an assortment of dogs and cats. I think John works out all the frustrations of his workweek on the farm - clearing more land, fencing in more pasture, and keeping husbandry records on all of this.

It's definitely springtime. New green appearing more pronounced each day. Dogwood blooms spotting the woods. Azaleas everywhere.

I’ve spent the last couple of days wiring the alpaca barn for some additional electrical outlets while Ann has been doing the cooking and housework inside. We’re here to help keep things going while Barbara recuperates from major back surgery. I take Jordan - our 13 year old granddaughter - to school in the mornings and pick her up at the bus stop in the afternoons. Jordan is great with all the animals. She makes sure they all have food and water every day and wouldn’t give that job up for anything.

Life goes on..... And, are we ever grateful for it!

First Car

After reading a friend's posting in which he told of a vintage model vehicle, I started thinking about the first car I owned. I wasn't 21 yet, so had to get insurance in my mother's name. Been using State Farm ever since.

My first car was a 1941 Studebaker sedan. It was one of the last cars made before the war (World War II), and had been stored in a neighbor’s garage for a long time. I bought it in 1952 for $200. What a feeling of freedom! It had a free-wheeling transmission and got over 20 miles per gallon. That free wheeling feature has long since been outlawed for safety reasons, I guess. It did put a lot of stress on the brakes when going downhill. Not long after I bought it, I had it painted green. Why green I don’t remember, but I guess I thought it was cool. It looked better than the old gray color it was before. The headliner was rotten and finally fell down it big patches until I just took it all out. When the door was slammed, it tested one’s ear drums - boinngggg!! There was a leak in the radiator too that I never could get fixed.

That was the car Ann and I honeymooned in. We drove it to Sanibel Island for the weekend. Had to stop several times on the way to add water to the radiator. Think I used a bottle to get water out of a ditch each time. We made it to Sanibel and back. Romantic, huh? Here's a couple of pictures of the car - one at our honeymoon cottage and one taken on the ferry to Sanibel. That dates us for sure. There's a bridge to Sanibel now. It's been there for years.

Home Again - (for a little while)

After spending a month visiting Civil War battlefields, I feel like we've learned more about those terrible days than we ever wanted to know. As they say though, ignoring history is inviting its repeat. We did have a good time with the other caravaners, and our leaders, Larry and Carol Strong, did a great job of conducting the caravan. We plan to finish the series next year with Part III in Virginia. As has been my practice for several years now, I made a video of the caravan activities. It took a full week of editing to get it into viewable form. I'm now waiting on an order of DVD labels before sending it out.

Our stay at home will be shortlived as we will be leaving for Virginia next Monday. Daughter-in-Law, Barbara, is having major surgery. We're hoping to be able to relieve some of the stress around that household when John goes back to work. From there we'll go to Warrenton, Missouri for another week's work at the Child Evangelism Fellowship headquarters. That was a rewarding experience last year, and we're looking forward to a repeat.

So, the next posting will probably be from on the road.