This is the time of year when darkness encroaches on us. Around 5.30 pm, the dying sun casts its last rays on the balcony opposite mine, signalling drab times ahead.
Time has passed since you last heard from me on this blog. You may have surmised that I have also entered a twilight zone, that of late age, and laid aside my camera and pen. Far from it! I have been busy finalising another blog, dealing with my family name and our namesakes. Alas, only German-speaking readers have benefited from this work. Spurred on by my brother Ludwig, who pointed out that most of our relatives struggle to understand Shakespeare's language, I gave in and published that blog in my native tongue. It is now finished, and you can inspect its final chapter here.
This turned out to be a major undertaking, and I am glad I lived long enough to get to grips with it. Here you can see me surrounded by some of the literature and material I had to wade through to do the necessary groundwork. Still, much remains to be done, since I plan to turn the blog into a book!
Producing the book will keep me occupied during much of the coming year. But thereafter, health permitting, I will translate the blog into English so that all you trusted Readers can sample my efforts.
I am starting to realise that, of all things, only work remains for an old-timer who wants to stay reasonably fit despite age catching up with him. Work is a sure way of combating the morosity that otherwise tends to overwhelm an octogenarian. To see what I mean, why not sample this bittersweet tune, which I discovered before I even turned twenty; I am equally fond of it now, but for a different reason. Then it mirrored the feeling of entering a strange new land that would eventually become my new homeland. Nowadays, it resonates with my yearning for my younger days, while also feeling like a stranger in that strange land of getting old and fading away.
