March, 2006 - Nr. 3
Letter from the Editor
Dear Reader
Surely the world did not stand still in the last few weeks and lots of things must have happened. If they did - as I know they did - I admit that they went by me in a blur, because we were moving… and moving…and moving….and my universe was filled with nothing but trucks and boxes and garbage bags. But prior to these symbols of my life making it into these containers and over to the new premises I had to sift through them and review what to keep and what to ditch. This gave me a good opportunity to relive some very memorable moments, like performing at special occasions and meeting interesting artists and other fabulous folks- to solve a few mysteries - like the case of the missing earrings - and it also gave me new riddles to solve, like how did my long departed father’s undies end up in my husbands drawer, when I know for a fact that I did not take them 24 years ago from Germany to Canada. But there they where, neatly placed into a plastic bag, labelled in my mothers handwriting: "3 Schluepfer Eberhard" - "3 underpants Eberhard".
I distinctly remember telling my mother that the best of all husbands - mine- did not wear that kind - the long legged variety - and never would and therefore it would be wrong for me to smuggle them into Canada. I remember my mother’s vehement argument that one day he would find them comfortable. And I remember that I pointed out that "one day in the future" does not warrant having my luggage go overweight. Wouldn’t you know there were other items my mother wished me to take to the new world, as though thus my father would be remembered longer or better.
Among those items also where a few useful items, like a fabulous dinner jacket and several Bleyle sweaters, which seamed to have been made for my fathers physic, but somehow never quite made it with my husband. The undies were found in the same drawer as those unworn turtlenecks in grey and blue. They went together into one of the many bags to be carted off to Sally Anne or Goodwill.
One of the monumental jobs was to decide whether to keep all the accumulated photos or throw them out. Just a few hundred went by the wayside through natural selection. There was once a flood in the basement and they got totally ruined - as where other papers and documents. But what to do about the thousands of photos taken just in the last 15 years for Echo Germanica?
I did not have the heart to throw them out! So many people, so many memories, so many lives we observed, captured a moment of and touched could not be discarded like so much excess paint. One day maybe I have the time to sort them out and donate them to the clubs and organisations where they were shot…if they would be interested…?
We lived in this last house almost as long as we are operating Echo Germanica and accumulated an awful lot of paper. The press releases and background materials required for research before we all got used to just googelling everything and committing it to CDs for posterity took up nearly the entire basement and the rest was filled with clothes I could not part with from days gone by, when I was young, and skinny and a model, until I was about 47 years old. Then middle age suddenly set in and my life and wardrobe were changed forever until now. Having to review my life in pictures, thousands of books because I cannot walk by a bookshop without taking books home, as well as a useless wardrobe (different sizes for all ages and occasions) made me realise that I should have done to my clothes what I did with my blond tresses; throw or give them away.
I was always wondering if I would have regrets when I would loose all those accumulated items. The truth is that it is a freeing experience. I still have lots of things, even more than I need, yet the prospect of new acquisitions beckons. However, I am making a new rule that I am not getting something new without letting go of an older item, especially in the clothing department.
Having seen the front lawn covered with unwanted things and having carted off so many bags to resale stores has taught me to look at the world from a different perspective. I think I let go of the last bit of post war syndrome: maybe it will come in handy one day.
I did not even know that I was operating on this premise until…until I had to move it!
Overflowing closets and pantries are really not the answer to better living in our days. Being a bit more frugal can be very healthy and reminds us of that which we learned when we were young but forgot: Everything in moderation!
I just remembered: I did watch some of the Olympic Winter Games during the move, and by golly, it was grand to see Canada do so well!
But I also recall the two-legged racoons and hyenas go through my garbage bags on the front lawn, ripping everything apart so we had to re-bag sometimes 3 times before the city could take it away. This of course reminds me of another lesson learned early on: One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.
Have
you reviewed your treasures lately?
You see we were a little preoccupied in the last month. All the new data is available in the impressum. Actually only the address changed and the rest will remain the same. Next month we will be back in full force and hopefully it will be spring… with green grass.
Until then!
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
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