mardi 15 mars 2011

Die Schwelle des Traumes

Bild 072


It seems like a total insult to write about food when you only have to see the newspaper headlines to feel a sadness in your heart about the situation in Japan. Two friends I had fallen out of contact with who live in Tokyo described the horror of seeing the buildings swaying around them last week. Unable to concentrate on daily life, they have retreated to the mountains for a few days. I feel terribly helpless but all we can do is give a little and continue to watch the nightmare unfolding, hoping it will end soon.

So no recipes but in the meantime, here are some pictures from last Sunday in Treptower Park when the water was calm and silvery grey. I have always had a fascination with water, the way it ebbs and flows like life itself, never returning to same place and yet at the same time it frightens me with its power and strong currents which threaten to drag me under. I managed to get up early to capture the silence and beauty of one of my favourite places when the day was so mild and I could sit outside to read Patti Smith. Peeking through some holes in the fence at the long abandoned Spreepark, the old East German amusement park, I glimpsed ticket kiosks with broken glass, rollercoasters left to rust, overgrown fairground attractions and trainlines going nowhere. Waking up early yesterday, I opened the window to breathe in the smell of damp grass and hear raindrops falling; had it all been just a dream?


Bild 030

Bild 034

Bild 035

Bild 038

Bild 066

Bild 043

Bild 071

Bild 084

Bild 086

Bild 087

Bild 107

Some of the attractions at the old Spreepark

Bild 122

Bild 137

Bild 161

Bild 165

Bild 176

Bild 177

Bild 194

Bild 199

Bild 204

22 commentaires:

  1. Gorgeous shots!

    It is terrible what happened in Japan...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    RépondreSupprimer
  2. Beautiful photos, I especially like the one of the ferris wheel in the distance.
    The events in Japan are on my mind.

    RépondreSupprimer
  3. Beautiful post, Vanessa. You represented the sadness felt by so many of us and reminded us of the beauty that does still exist. I know how you feel about water, such beauty and power. Sometimes awe inspiring and other times fear inducing.

    RépondreSupprimer
  4. Since Friday I try to focus on good thoughts for Japan instead of letting the sadness grow too much….., just to keep me going and because I can´t do anything right now.



    But now I can´t hold back tears anymore, it´s overwhelming sad.

    Nadine

    RépondreSupprimer
  5. I've been meaning to go to Treptower Park as I'm only a 10 minute bike ride away. Are you reading Just Kids by Patti Smith? I just started reading it and completely addicted.

    RépondreSupprimer
  6. @Rosa - Thanks
    @P.K - That's perhaps my favourite shot too. The terrible images from the past few days keep appearing in my mind. It's amazing though how calm the people are.
    @Denise - Thanks Denise for your wonderful comments. I can never reconcile how beauty and destruction can be found in the same thing but then again that's the whole point of why water is fascinating. Even in such sad times, we have to keep going somehow and not let the darkness overwhelm us.
    @Nadine - I found great hope in the way the Japanese are coping, so calm, no shouting or panicking but the pictures are tragic, like a girl looking for her family home in the rubble or stories of people eating nothing all day but a rice cracker. I know it doesn't help not doing nice things in Berlin but somehow I can't block it out for long.
    @Christine - Oh you should defintely go there, such a wonderful place. Soon the flowers will be out too. How funny that you've also started Just Kids; I took it with me to the launderette last Sunday and began reading it in the park opposite. So honest and beautiful. Now I'm really keen to see the Mapplethorpe exhibition again.

    RépondreSupprimer
  7. I love that last sentence...And the sparks of color are a beautiful contrast to the silvery grey.

    RépondreSupprimer
  8. Je crois qu'on se sent tous terriblement desempares, sans mots, sans voix.

    RépondreSupprimer
  9. At the moment, I feel like there is a heavy weight on my chest. As if nature hadn't done enough... now there is man's folly and hubris to contend with. Nuclear energy is not safe. Why continue using something that can go so horribly wrong>?

    RépondreSupprimer
  10. Just beautiful. My favorites are the first image of the lone sailboat, and the ferris wheel. And I feel the same way - it's hard to feel appropriate about writing about things like recipes with so much devastation happening elsewhere.

    RépondreSupprimer
  11. Some beautiful words over a terrible thing. I've been trying to have news of all my former classmates in Vancouver, most are safe although shaken, some I don't know. The world seems absurd some times...

    RépondreSupprimer
  12. It's tragic.
    these photographs are beautiful.


    Kim.

    RépondreSupprimer
  13. I know what you mean, there's a part of me that feels guilty for just going about my daily business when people in Japan are going through hell. It does make me feel helpless too.

    beautiful, beautiful images, as always.

    RépondreSupprimer
  14. I agree. There is a fascinating, haunting quality about the sea.

    RépondreSupprimer
  15. Living in California, I have seen buildings and trees swaying a few times myself. And I feel for the people affected in Japan. Its a possibility that we who live along the Pacific Ring of Fire have to live with - a horrifying possibility...
    Your photographs are beautiful and calming

    RépondreSupprimer
  16. Is there any smell better than damp grass and fresh rain? Sigh. It is lovely.

    RépondreSupprimer
  17. @Tracy - I think we all need a mix of colour and greyness.
    @Gracienne - Tu as tellement raison - les mots ne suffisent pas.
    @Deana - Politicians are always pushing us into things but they're never the ones to suffer when things go wrong. I'm hoping Germany will decide to close its remaining nuclear power stations soon.
    @Lecia - I love the way you're donating money from your prints from Japan. Every effort counts and keeping the people in our thoughts is the best we can do as we carry on with normal life.
    @Julie - Thanks Julie. Times like this make you realise how important is it to keep in touch. I hope all your friends are safe.
    @Kimberley Geneviève - Thanks for your visit.
    @Hila - Thanks so much. So true but we can't stop everything each time there's a disaster. Every day I hope things will start to get.
    better.
    @Des - I'm hoping to make it back to the Baltic Sea either in spring or autumn - so beautiful.
    @Indie.Tea - My aunt and uncle used to live in California and their house was badly damaged by a big quake. It must be awful living with such a risk, I can't imagine. So glad you like the photos.
    @Molly - Indeed! I love rain in summer though, so soft on warm days bringing out the smell of fresly cut grass.

    RépondreSupprimer
  18. All we can do is donate what we can and pray for the people of Japan. An event like this can happen to any of us at any time. And it makes us feel quite helpless and insignificant. Forces of nature always do.
    Fine photographs, Vanessa.

    RépondreSupprimer
  19. I love the rim of the Ferris wheel in the distance. The mood of these photos captures my feelings too.

    RépondreSupprimer
  20. that water is so calm, beatiful shots Vanessa! cheers from London,

    RépondreSupprimer
  21. I agree. There is a fascinating, haunting quality about the sea.

    RépondreSupprimer