Among all the tasks pending this week, I’ve grown a year older, and everything has stayed the same.
I’m still enjoying the banalities of everyday life back in Basel. Somehow, everything fits together, even the weather. Not hot anymore, not yet cold, a mix of everything. Sunshine, rain, and brief thunderstorms. This week’s activities were just as mixed. There were still some mandatory tasks that had been left behind due to the absences of the last few weeks. Gardening, for example, or fixing the tooth that broke during my stay in New York. The new district heating system in the houses was completed, and the basement could—and had to—be finally cleaned. With all this going on, art unfortunately took a bit of a backseat. I’ve only managed to get some drafts for a new mountain painting I’m working on.
Urban poetry
Another journey around the sun
My birthday was among the activities of the week. After all these years, I don’t find this day particularly exciting anymore either. And above all, I don’t think aging is particularly tragic. So far, the effects are manageable and don’t limit me any further. Although I do sometimes think I used to have a lot more energy. How many years did I study late into the night? I took on continuing education courses, I painted, and attended classes to get fit for new projects or new jobs. There was always something that interested and motivated me, something I wanted to understand and do. And every morning, I got up to go to work, often going for a jog beforehand. And the weekend started on Thursday with an evening at the disco. After all, Fridays were the day you finished work an hour earlier. A week like that would probably push me to my limits today, but that’s not particularly tragic. As you get older, your needs change, and I’ve danced enough nights through my life that I don’t have to leave on Thursdays anymore.
Ivy blossoms and hawthorn berries
Little joys
That’s how I, that’s how everyone and everything is subject to the changing times. Everything is in flux and everything is good, bringing new experiences that make every age and every single week special, even if nothing extraordinary happens. There’s something to be happy about everywhere. Different materials and textures on the street, a dark stripe that harmonizes with a bench, or the curved shape detail of a bridge. Ivy blossoms and hawthorn berries, or the view over the city from a new location while enjoying a birthday cocktail. And then there are the chestnuts that are falling from the trees everywhere right now. The urge to bend down and collect each one hasn’t left me to this day. So there are some things that are definitely resistant to aging.
