I have had no update on my dad's condition for the last few days. Brother Wolf and his wife Yvonne have flown over to Germany, and I won't get word until they have a chance to communicate, which I know they will do as soon as possible. My dad fell again while in the hospital, apparently due to another seizure. So, whenever he returns to the community, he will be in the high-care section at first. BTW, two years ago, when I last was over there for my mother's funeral, I put together a picture album of the place--sans funeral--which you can access here. Or click on the incredibly blue waters of the Rhine river. I added a few pictures from that trip since the original posting. 

There are beach-like areas for a long stretch on both sides of the Rhine around Bonn. So, as children, we used to love to go there, build dams, castles, and run-offs. The big touristy paddle-wheel ships would create pretty significant, though temporary, floods, which added to the fun. The only problem with playing at the Rhine was possible pollution. To be more specific, conventional wisdom at the time was that one could easily pick up polio by swimming or bathing in the Rhine during the summer. Thus, as a rule, we totally avoided doing so. This picture stems from the area somewhat north of Bonn and Cologne. Bonn is located right about where the mountains start to encroach on the river, and a train or boat ride from there on south is a never-ending National Geographics special. You start on the left with the seven mountains where, in some versions, the Niebelungen Saga took place. For example, one of the mountains is where Siegfried slew a dragon and then bathed unclothed in its blood. Doing so rendered him invulnerable. Unfortunately, a leaf had fallen on his shoulder and adhered to it, thus preventing the dragon blood to make contact with his skin in that location, and thus, it was the only place where he was vulnerable. Once could say that his a leaf-shaped section on his shoulder was his "Achilles Heel," but one shouldn't. 

Then, on the right there is the Godesburg, an ancient castle, and a multi-purpose edifice for today's busy tourist. You can go up the hill, and down the hill.  You can go up the staircase in the tower and down the staircase in the tower. The possibilities are not endless, but multitudinous. Not too distant is a natural mineral water spring. 

Further on, you will pass the "Lorelei," where in ancient times mariners were enticed by the sweet music of a beautiful maiden who, once a man was drawn to her, would never let go of him. (Cynical people may ask what's newsworthy in that.) Then, on the left on a steep hill, you can see the Marksburg, the only medieval castle/fortress that had never been conquered by an enemy. Pretty soon we come to the famous tower of Hamlin, into which the pied piper corralled all of the local rodents, and from where he led the children of the town's people into the water when the local town council refused to refused to disburse the funds specified in their contract. All of these sites are included in your train ticket from Bonn to Frankfurt.

Speaking of the Marksburg, our guide was extremely upset over the fact that the restorers had added a torture chamber to the building complex. He was quite adamant, repeating several times, "The Marksburg never actually had a real torture chamber." But tourists love to see torture chambers. I must say that, having seen a few of the common devices used to extract confessions, to punish evildoers, or to motivate students to study (really), that they should quickly put an end to anyone's nostalgia to return to earlier, simpler, times. 

Anyway, I'm waiting for a call or e-mail from my brother. In the meantime, I continue not to lack for things to do. It took me longer than I had anticipated, but I managed to get together almost all of the photographs for the 2nd edition of Neighboring Faiths to IVPress into what I hope is the appropriate format. I confess to a little anxiety, hoping that they meet their standards. Thanks to everyone who generously contributed an image or more: Dave Seaford (African sand cave paintings and Missions to the Zulus), the Oriental Institute (King Darius and Xerxes), Faye Chechowich (Whirling Dervishes), Scott Coulter (Shinto Shrine sequence from Honolulu), and Wilhelm Schmidt's own Anthropos Institute in Vienna, Austria for Schmidt's portrait. It's a funny thing: I have thousands of pictures related to world religions, witness the never-ending parade of Krishna pictures that showed up in the last series, which are all pictures I took in temples and other locations. But, believe it or not, I still have more photographs of our lusty cowherd. Still, when it comes to finding "just the right picture," l'limage juste, as Gustave Flaubert's brother, the painter Picassé Flaubert, might have said, the options narrow down pretty quickly. The book is supposed to be printed in April. I don't know what that means in terms of the release date, but I do know that there is an in-between period of time to compose the index.

So, I'm sitting here writing steam-of-consciousness style, touching on the Marcel Proust side of the blog's slogan. Much on my mind; many things crowding my mind.  Mais aujourd'hui, les temps ne sont pas perdus. Or, as Bob Dylan said, Les temps, ils sont changé.