30 May 2009
In addition to being happy to see Alexis and feeling most welcome in her German family's home, I have two dominant senses -- one internal and one external -- from our first day in Hamburg. The internal one, rather natural at the end of a long period of travel, is that I'm ready to return home. I've enjoyed our time away, especially this period in Europe. The travels have been enriching. Working on the road has been okay, but not as productive as when I'm in my home environment. And, while a break from being intensely productive was probably necessary, I've already realized the benefits of the break and am ready to get back to work fully.
The external impression is that the light is dim here, today. It is pretty stunning to consider, but the sky we've lived under has been blue with only one or two exceptions throughout our time in Mallorca and Sevilla. When there were clouds, they were large fluffy white ones. The skies were bright and the landscape aggressively illuminated. Even for my few days in Denmark, although it rained at the beginning, mostly it was brightly sunny.
Today, in Hamburg, for much of the day the sky was heavily overcast. And even when the sun came out, and it did, it seemed to lack the power I felt from it in Spain. Maybe it is the dark waters of the Alster or the green grass in its parkways. Or maybe the feeling comes from the street trees that are in full leaf, so that the sidewalk on Rothenbaumchausse seems only dimly lit, even in midday. Or maybe it is none of these thing so much as the contrast with southern Spain. Whatever the source, this is the external sense that dominated my impression of this day.
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