Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Hau wech die Scheiße

The end of October has been marked by my friends moving.  After years of steady tenancy their landlord upped the rent too much too quick, and it's better to move than stay.  I spent several days unearthing every plant - their plants - for relocation.  It felt like gathering and boarding Noah's Ark, as most likely the old house they took care to maintain and improve will be simply demolished without reservations for property development, but that's not our concern now.
November has seen us now unpacking everything that was packed in a hurry, and thus the subsequent reevaluation of our material things.  They've been storing much of my things too, in boxes in the crawlspace.  Things from another lifestyle of living on my own, all the simple things that one takes for granted a home should have; plastic dish drying rack, wastepaper basket, pasta strainer, etc. The things typically discarded and repurchased with every move.  I'm not sure why I keep those, perhaps just a convincing safety net if ever my life were to drastically change direction and circumstance again - at least I'd have a pot to piss in, so to speak.  Or else I'm noting that even the cheapy dollar store goods are seldom just a dollar anymore.  Or I habitually prefer to limit my waste production, if it's arguably not 'garbage', it should still be useful...?
More intriguing is the unearthed objects and scribblings on scraps of paper.  Like an archaeological dig I have to remember the period and context by where I find them.  Then returns the associations and memories.  Enough time has passed that all emotions have mellowed, for better or worse. Menus, business cards, receipts.  Envelopes to my old address, written in the penmanship of people no longer in communications.
When I was in Germany one of the local Hamburgers hosted me a week or two, and like anyone with a new pet he taught me a clever trick, or a snippet of his foreign language that I could carry with me onwards to make friends in Germany; "Hau wech die Scheiße".  He said that was a colloquial way to say "cheers", and translates to "Throw away the shit" (to be followed by downing a shot).  The intention/interpretation may get lost in translation, but seems like an appropriate mantra for now.  It's a spring cleaning but in near-winter; not only for possessions but for mindset too.  Too fresh wounds of this year still sting, but I can sort the wheat from the chaff easily from seven years ago.
Fall is a time of collecting, accounting, inventory and harvest, yet anything I had cultivated in spring/summer left me disappointed and empty.  I'm not looking forward to a cold and sparse winter.  Perhaps the best course of action is to plough it under and let it rest, like so many rotten vegetables.  Hau wech die Scheiße.  Let the earth regenerate as it stays dormant.  Maybe next year will be better.