Yesterday at the Thursday Berkeley Farmers' Market, I get into a conversation with Karamoo and Amina who are sitting on the sidewalk. After getting my favorite breads from Eduardo Morell, first apples from Bernie, mushrooms and eggplants, I listen to Karamoo playing the kora. His partner Amina stands up and dances with me under a blue sky – I feel transported. The exquisite music from Mali is delicate and joyous, flows like a river; the sounds and harmonies open the heart. Amina smiles, showing me her graceful soul as we communicate through movement, we float…. As it ends, she declares the song a dedication to earth, a praise of its beauty. We bow. Danke schön :)
Let Us Be Careful The last few days, a feeling of being adrift in a vast tumultuous ocean…. I am stirred deeply. Uneasy. The recent bizarre speeches of American politicians in Germany have left me strangely irritated. The arrogant tone, the hostility. As most of you know, I am now officially both a German Citizen and an American Citizen . Both countries with their histories and cultures are lodged in my bones. Ich bin tief verbunden . In telephone talks with my two siblings, I try to find out how things are evolving in Germany, the country I left 44 years ago. In recent years, cultural transformations of unknown outcome have been happening. Again, times of war in Europe. It does not bode well for the future. The weight of the Unknown. Generational and personal memories keep arising. In 1992, I arrange for my (Chicago born Jewish) late husband Bob Blauner and me (München born German) a personal tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. W...
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