Karinaland River

  Weltschmerz   It is the task of the living to honor and celebrate the dead. They leave us gifts and we are grateful. We miss them and keep them alive in our hearts. Today is the birthday of the late G.P. Skratz (April 23, 1948 – June 6, 2023), prolific poet, bard, songwriter, performance artist, and translator, beloved for his big unique laughter. At the recent memorial for him, on Sunday, April 14, I re-meet colleagues and friends I had not seen in 30 or 40 years. What a time warp. From the table of giveaways, I take a small turquoise paper square (3’’ x 3’’). Once at home, I unfold the mystery :   Words by gp skratz, paper art by Linda Lemon   This poem, called  Weltschmerz,  appears in three dimensions, three lines, ending in a question. Here I feel the late Linda Lemon, artist and partner of GP Skratz for several decades. Here, her paper art is combined with Skratz’s words – beautiful and simple. Linda died on March 8, 2024.   In honor of each of them, their art and lives, I shar

  Blue and Green   Blau und Grün   The blue star flower, borage,  an herbal ally, especially in the old days . In German: Borretsch . Also called:  Liebäugelchen , Blausternchen , Salatkraut , Sternblümchen , Wohlgemütsblume . These names describe the characteristics of the plant endearingly and accurately: little lovely eye, little blue star, salad greens, little star flower, and good cheer flower.   Gut fuer Herz und Gemüt, Hildegard von Bingen empfehlt es schon vor eintausend Jahren. One thousand years ago, Hildegard already promotes its healing properties. Good for the heart and lungs, a helper against depression and so much more. Borage’s taste is interesting, a bit like cucumber, as tea or in salad. Borretsch is also one of the seven fresh green herb ingredients for the traditional regional recipe of Frankfurter Grüne Soße , a green sauce eaten in spring and summer with potatoes and hardboiled eggs. A tradition to mark spring’s greening force. Full of vitamins and minerals. In m

  DUST  –  A Memoir     by Summer Brenner   When the package comes in the mail, I unwrap and immediately start reading, and can’t put it down. Then I write a spontaneous note via e-mail:   Dear Summer, your book arrives this Saturday morning, the driver brings it up to my door – surprise. Thank you so much for this gift!   Wonder-ful, what a wondrous memoir. Congratulations for this momentous accomplishment. The tragedy and beauty of your father and brother, and your eccentric mother – and you honoring the legacy.   My brother has a grown mentally & emotionally differently-abled son, very difficult journey, and I love him so, have known him since birth and know my brother's struggles. I also know the struggles with hospice first hand :)   so glad you are writing about these things!   Thank you for bringing all your writing skill, talent and honesty to this remarkable memoir.   This week, I attend the reading of my friend Summer Brenner’s splendid memoir DUST at  Books Inc.  on

  Hildegard Coincidences and synchronicities abound when it comes to  Hildegard . Pulling from the shelf my old books by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179) recently, I open the most beloved German editions, which I inherited from my wondrous friend and mentor Hildegard Elsberg (1906 – 1997), who is German Jewish and 48 years my senior. She is a mind-body teacher and a mystic poet, who as a young woman escaped Nazi Germany to teach movement and piano at a convent in India, where she meets her guru Ramana Maharshi. When she arrives in Los Angeles in 1947, she works for a time with Alan Watts. By pure chance I get introduced to her in 1988 – miraculously. Gushing to a German friend about Hildegard von Bingen (I was working on a theater piece about her), she tells me about this special older lady “Hildegard” she knows, and that I absolutely have to meet her! With excited premonition I exclaim: ”Is her last name Elsberg?” A few months earlier I was eating lunch at a tiny Thai restaurant in