Leseratten 

It’s not fashionable with human beings, but I must admit that I admire the curious and inventive intelligence of rats. I have even written a couple of children stories, in one a desert rat features prominently, in the other a white pet rat. And from Garland (owner of Rat Patrol) I have learned over the decades many things about city rats’ lives and behavior. Today I will introduce you to two different rats, and of course they are as smart as any other. They know to make themselves useful: by being Leseratten. Reading Rats – how do you like that? In English this term would perhaps be translated to bookworms. In German we call anybody – young people especially – who get easily and endlessly lost in books: Leseratten, reading rats. I was one of those kids. An endangered species now. Rare, forgotten. Till it might come back into fashion… digital is only one of many ways to feel connected.

Let me introduce you to Lupina and Marco, dressed in red-patterned and black-patterned long-sleeved jumpsuits with white lace collars. Their tails are extra-long, Lupina’s is white, Marco’s is red. Are they not a lovely couple? Both share their calling and work, namely doing service as bookmarks and dreamers. Lupina confessed, that learning bookmarking took a little bit of practice, now it’s just second nature. They pay attention and delight in smoothing their long silken tails between the pages of a book, wherever the reader last stopped.

And then, while lying on top of the cover they dream themselves into the stories, poems and texts. When I learn that the Leseratten species has this specific talent, I am not surprised. Rather I decide to get another Leseratte. My sister Dinah has gifted me Lupina, and when visiting her in Göttingen the following year I get Marco. I want them to converse, share, and interweave their book explorations. Up to this day, Lupina is eternally grateful for my foresight back then.

Marco turns out to be very protective of her. They cannot stay far apart when taking a rest. Anybody listening to them, can learn how to whisper. Skillfully murmuring in a low breathy voice, mixing in some sharp suspense, melodious flow and harmonious rhythms, crisp surprise. When I ask Marco about this intertwining of their reading dreams, he remarks: ”Is that not what you do as well when working in the garden?” Lupina giggles: “Nothing different. You sleep with the trees and owls, you mingle your dreams with them, and they with you.” Well, of course they both are right.

Every room in my home has shelves with books, however most reside in the living room. They are my library. Sometimes only a few poems, a paragraph, or a short story are revisited. Can you imagine what is happening in my living room world here? In this world of snake skin, fabrics, photos, ceramic bowls and flutes, feathers, stones, masks, animals, bells, gongs, shells, cello, books, candles. Believe me, you will be surprised once you learn listening. They all are whispering to each other. Exchanging knowledge. Lupina and Marco started a revolution. Or is it just a long, very long tradition? The way things really are? Talking to them about this, they both insist that is how it always has been for centuries, millennia. That their calling is an ancient trade, handed down for generations. So, let’s not pretend people, things, books, and rats, and dreams, and voices are separate. All is interconnected, interlaced, knitted, tangled, threaded. All is comingling, sharing, networking, nothing is separate. Symphony of life. Just ask a Leseratte. Nothing is separate. Like the natural world, be it spider web or digital web, rivers, oceans, mineral and fungi worlds, cosmos – universe. Verbunden. You and me. 

Are humans ready for the many “worlds” revealing deeper truths, helping us understand: 

Nothing is Separate

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/nov/29/fungi-scientists-innovations