„Spurensuche“ :: 2024


I couldn´t find an english word for the german word „spurensuche“, at least not in the way it is (very often) used here. maybe i just didn´t find it or the english-speaking community simply doesn´t trace back its own history in a way that would need a word for that. anyway. i started doing that last year, the „spurensuche“, the going-to-places-where-i-havn´t-been-for-more-than-a-decade. places i used to go a lot back then, favorite places. this is a wild thing and it needs a lot of courage, because: 1. does the place still exist ? (many places don´t!) 2. are the original people still there/ alive (as most of these places were founded back in the 1980s!) ? 3. do i still like the place, does it feel right ? 4. does the place still like me ? etc .. and if you have the courage to just go there, it will take you a few months to finally re-arrive in the now, still a now, nevertheless different in a way. as if you visited a city where you lived long ago - is it past or still alive in the present tense ? and who are you ? „spurensuche“ is a big thing, so it´s interesting that i couldn´t find a (proper) word for it in english .. ?

anyway. everyone is talking about sustainability these days. another translation for sustainable is endurable, so on my „spurensuche“ (so far!) i found my back-then-favorite-places still alive and kicking. obviously they have successfully fought storms and hail, survived parasites and flooding. these people are still in good spirits, they also still look the same, they havn´t even aged ! i found (many) places that havn´t changed. maybe that´s normal. why should they change anyway ?

a passionate organic food store :: biodynamic vegetables (c) 7th :: 2024