A mysterious place.
There is a place, where thoughts can run free. One that sooths material needs and brings remedy for the weary.
A curious incident in our globalised world has it, that some strange fellow over yonder turned batman’s best mate into his dinner and accidentally killed all tourism world-wide. The halted dynamics of our globalised world came to an abrupt halt, leaving people all across turn their usual question: “What shall we watch on Netflix tonight , dear?” into an existential question of life and death. By an act of openess to novelty, Berlin accepted the new trend of staying home and turned it into an almost fanatical religion, inspiring people from all level of society likewise.
Chance has it that the unknown solitude outside gets a grab on a fortituous few, that set out for a long adventure of discovery. Forgotten treasures are hidden in a world, that once was so fast and now changes for a quieter character. It is here where features and signs take on a new appearence. The darkness feels thicker. the stars above shine all the brighter, licking the sick blue planet underneath with their heavy, celestial light. Some places develop a unfathomable attraction as time goes by and thereby create an aura that amaze the soul with an underlying feeling of awe towards it. And with the unknown and mystical lethargy that has befallen our usually Oh! too rapid society, the veneration, encompassing only certain places, cedes. The lethargy, however, continuously spreads through all streets and houses, seaks through windows and is wildly absorbed by every person, until all venture into the normally familiar surroundings becomes testing. It is in these times, that the boundaries to other places are lifted, or at least, set to a different level, as the usual dismissive athmosphere is level with the rest of the city. Especially as one can enjoy the society’s dynamics and stay within its expectations avoiding direct contact to its members.
One spot that strikes me as particular wonderful is miraculously near, yet so exclusive. It is within the reach of a home office worker’s way to work and back and is so elusive like the probabilty that this very worker puts on pants for his “office time”. Though the way to the pipes – because that is precisely what this place is – is obstructed by a metal fence, the small effort to overcome this obstacle is not in vain. The locked gate, delineating the border between a semi-busy and a calm philosopher’s life, seemed mighty before the lockdown and can by now easily be climbed over. No more wary eyes need to be avoided. You simply step over and finds yourself in an oasis of quietness. As it crosses the rails underneath, the place seems to magically hover mid-air, thus transmitting a feeling of split-off from the grounds below. You continue forward, while taking in the fresh air, the regular vibrations from the water that flows through the pipes and go on all the way until you reach about the middle of the distance to the closed restaurant that lays at the end of the unoffical crossing. There you halt and let the curve of the pipes equal the curve of your spine.
Before you stretches an enormous grey and urban valley, filled with metal rails and automatic train signs. High buildings, lit in a very individual way on both sides, act as insurmountable mountains that guides the eyes forward in a quasi natural way. As the eyesight creeps forwards towards the open skies above it, its gaze momentarily rests upon the next train station in a far distance that shares its light with you, though retains its sounds. Just like marvellous shooting stars, every now and then, a car turns around and gives a dynamic touch to the usually stiff still life ahead. Suddenly you become aware of a forgotten sight: the thin clouds overhead make space for a spectacle of grace and eternity, uncovering the universe’s lost treasure. The stars step out of their exile, looking down on you in awe. There it hangs now, the universe’s precious, that has become nothing but a legend that the elders used to tell us about in all major cities where the inhabitant’s focus lays not in the day-dreaming, but in the everyday routine. Here at last, you can experience the power of nature again. The energy that flows from the celestial bodies and our Earth is the same energy that we use to fuel our destructive civilisations. We humans have learned how to harvest and unleash all this energy in a most violent fashion, thereby threatening the healthy life cycle. Yet, nature must do only as much as produce a few lines of RNA and all human activities come to an unforeseen halt.
Did the violonist from Sting have any solo concerts? (He does)
What camera does this guy on Facebook use to photograph the surface of the moon?
What did I spend this money on? – Oh yes, I remember.
How many times did I wash my hands already?
Another train of thoughts rushes to your head. Its the memories that you associate with this place. Its exclusivity had it, that you dared not trespass its territory on a regular basis, just for special occasions and usually in a rather inebriate condition. It always brought balance to a life out of balance by means of a reminiscient return to thoughtfulness. On a cold Orthodox Christian night, this added a certain heartwarming touch to the Christmas lights all over the balconies of the granite blocks on both sides of the valley, and, though some randomly innocent and stray pine trees also found their way across the boundary, had the jolly drunk community that surrounded you shortly slow down and absorb the mystical air around.
You realise that much has changed ever since the hypersonic times. Though they are distant by nothing more than three weeks you begin to recollect memories and let a broad set of questions protrude your consciousness, such as: How many friends have left in search of a more adequate life and location? How many others have appeared? How much knowledge have we learned? How many some things forgotten or exchanged for better approaches to difficult topics? … Within a couple of weeks, life has found a dramatic change in direction. Much that once was is lost, though most that now live remember it. It began with the forging of a virus. Millions were given to the Chinese, great miners and craftsmen under The People’s Party’s control…
Again your minds spins unconcealable through memories of age-old times, through scenes of Lord of the Rings that pop up before your inner eye, through your children’s frauds, through philosophical questions about death and love. And as you live your life again through every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge, I leave you alone with yourself and wander back home, where fresh green tea awaits me.
Wash your hands, wash your butts, wash your face… though not necessarily in this order. Stay safe and, if possible, home. But before the walls come creeping closer every day and your mind approaches it breaking-point, stray out into the darkness and find yourself a quiet spot of solitude.
NoMethDragon 