Wolfgang Niedecken’s song tells one of these father-son stories: It’s been a while (Verdammt lange her, or in the dialect of Cologne: Verdamp lang her), he sings, since we really talked, and that what we said got actually through to the other. I am sure many people have felt like this. We always (but wrongly) think that we’ve got all the time of the world to have this important talk with those close to us, when we’d say all those important, maybe somewhat ‘deep’ things we always wanted to say but never did. German’s are actually really good at looking deep into the inside, and talk about it nonstop (… I am writing this blog, after all:), whereas the Irish communicate more indirectly and the ‘big’ things when they happen can easily be missed if you don’t pay attention. Think Philadelphia here I come.

Today, I did not drive. I cannot believe it! My whole body actually feels like as if it had been transformed into this shape that perfectly blends in with the driver’s seat of the Kia Pactera, our perfect wheels hitting the German Autobahns at a carefully balanced 120km/h. So if I sit at a desk, like today, my body just cannot cope anymore with all the empty space surrounding it. (You need to have been in a Pactera to appreciate this. I had never heard of this car until about two weeks ago. Look it up and you know what I mean.)

I did not drive because Pat went straight from the airport to the hospital when she arrived this afternoon. She is getting the Nordostseebahn from Hamburg to Heide where I will collect her in about an hour. The just 30 minute-drive will be a poor compensation to the usual close-to-four-hours we usually get – sometimes, a little is better than nothing:)

Pat just sent a message from the train saying that Pádraig is out of isolation! No more blue gowns and face masks! It’ll be a whole new visiting experience for all, and it’ll be much easier for Pádraig to actually recognize who is visiting him! And this is not all: he is also off the antibiotics! One day I’m not there and all these good things start to happen… Pat told me that one of Pádraig’s good friends called today and talked to him over the mobile (God bless Meteor for free roaming). She said it looked like as if there was a great conversation going on – and we are all sure that there will be, once he’ll have got rid of the tracheostomy that prevents any ‘sound production’.

A good day.

So here is the first, and my favorite verse of the song I mentioned earlier, in Kölsch (the dialect of Cologne, for those advanced German speakers amongst you), in German (for those interested in it), and in English (as a backup).

Verdamp lang her, dat ich fast alles ähnz nohm.
Verdamp lang her, dat ich ahn jet jejläuv
un dann dä Schock, wie et anders op mich zokohm,
merkwürdich, wo su manche Haas langläuf.
Nit resigniert, nur reichlich desillusioniert.
E bessje jet hann ich kapiert.

Verdammt lange her, daß ich fast alles ernst nahm.
Verdammt lange her, daß ich an etwas geglaubt.
Und dann der Schock, wie es anders auf mich zukam.
Merkwürdig, wo so mancher Hase langläuft.
Nicht resigniert, nur reichlich desillusioniert
– ein bißchen etwas habe ich kapiert.

It’s been a while, that I took almost everything serious. It’s been a while, that I believed. And then the shock, when things turn out quite differently – strange how roads turn sometimes. Not yet resigned, but pretty much disillusioned – I understand just a bit by now.
(The full translation of the lyrics can be found here.)

Below is a link to a wonderful live performance – I had forgotten what we looked like when we were Pádraig’s age:)

Today’s German Music Tip
BAP, Verdamp lang her (1981). (A really amazing life performance by Wolfgang Niedecken and his band, BAP. I lived in Cologne when they got big. It was an amazing time. – Another favourite from the same band with some unbeatable lyrics: Frau ich freu mich.)
What’s hot
Un-Isolation
Sitting at a desk (and not behind a Pactera’s steering wheel)
Kilometres we have driven to-date (since Wed., 13 Nov): 1,707 – not much of a change since yesterday!
What’s cold
Antibiotics
The German word/phrase of the day
Ihre Meinung ist uns wichtig (“Your opinion is important to us.” On a postbox in the hospital’s waiting room.)