Thursday, September 20, 2007
something random i think i'm going to miss
Most nights around this time, if I'm awake (which I frequently--okay, usually--am), I hear the street cleaner go by. The street cleaner is this little, boxy, orange vehicle that comes out at night to clean the streets of Chemnitz (kind of like the robot mice in the house in the nuclear disaster area in one of Ray Bradbury's short stories, but a lot less morbid).
The street cleaner has a huge, round brush and an assortment of other cleansing nozzles, gizmos and whatsits attached to its underside. So at night, when all the good little children are asleep, and naughty little Courtney is yet again putting off going to bed, the street cleaner whirs and whines its way up our street and then, awhile later, back down again on the other side.
The whirring and whining kind of make for a melancholy sound. I wish I could say that the thing chuckles to itself or something equally quirky, but it doesn't. It just whines and whirs and sounds kind of like a big, sad vacuum cleaner from a distance. This is one of those sounds that, for me, is distinctly Germany. It's a sound I think I'm going to miss.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Does this thing have a flashing orange light on it? I can remember the street cleaner from the second summer I was in Chemnitz and staying with Karen in the apartment above the school (the house of Frau Brettschneider?). I woke up one night to this strange orange glow and a loud noise. It kind of freaked me out. :)
About 2 months before I left England last summer, I made a list of things I would miss about England and things I was looking forward to having/seeing/doing again in Oklahoma. One of the things I miss: living a block from a mosque and the numerous times per day it seemed to come alive with prayers and chanting.
P.S. For what it's worth, I know the heartache of leaving a "home" and going back to another place others call "home." I'll pray prayers of strength and hope during this transitional time for both you and Ed. Still, I do have to admit that it will be nice to have the curly-headed writers back on the same continent again :o) Love you guys!
(Consequently, I don't check my blog very often. You can, instead, contact me via risleycurls@gmail.com and we can plan a reunion of sorts.)
That's just something I was thinking.
Alisha: Yup, the flashing-orange-light-thing was it! And you also remembered Fr. Brettschneider correctly. Funny thing, getting room but not board from a woman named Mrs. Boardcutter. ;o)
Angie: Home? and home and "home"....oh-so-many definitions of that word! It's nice to spend time with people who understand the confusion. Thank you for the prayers--they're helping!
Post a Comment