horrible train ride, nice wedding, bloody heatwave

i know i've been quiet a while - last week nothing much was going on, and we were away from friday afternoon till sunday evening, we had a wedding to go to - sepp's cousin daniela and her long-term partner hannes got married in the little town where they all grew up.

when i stepped on the train (from hell) at 4.20 on friday afternoon, i turned around to sepp and said "i am getting off again. i am not stayin on this train." it felt like entering a rainforest somewhere along the equator, or a sauna! a woman was complaining about the temperature on the train, and train staff were treating her like a stupid child and basically told her that if she didn't like it, she could always get off. jeez.

anyway - it did not get better, it got worse: it was about 40C (104F) in there, and the train had a delay due to some problems with a door, so it was heating up nicely in the sunshine. six people in our compartment. and no windows in sight that you could actually open. the a/c did not work. but of course. there wasn't so much as a breath of fresh air! the train was overcrowded too, coming from budapest, going to munich.

it was terrible - you could see droplets of sweat forming at first, then starting to drip, until finally everybody was soaked. the guy opposite me could have won any wet t-shirt competition! but seriously - no fun. i wonder if anybody actually fainted on that train. what about elderly people, people with health problems? i found it difficult to breathe at times!

when we got off in linz, i said "hm, it's NICE out here, so ... cool!" - at 90+F ...

the connecting train we needed to catch was not running, only buses, but of course nobody said so until about 2 minutes before the bus departed ... ah well. we made it. and i was very, very happy about the shower at sepp's sister's house!

the wedding was on saturday - we did not go to the civil ceremony, but joined others for the church wedding in st agatha. it was quite nice, with lots of music, and bits and pieces read by friends and relatives. the reception afterwards took place at a restored farmhouse with a beautiful inner courtyard. sepp's sister anita and a friend called veronika needed help with a project - an album with all the guests' photos and signatures in an album - and so we took tons of pics, which was fun as long as we were able to stay out of the sun.

of course i did not know anybody except sepp's family, and there were a few cliques of people who seemed to have known one another forever, which was the down side, but i enjoyed the lovely food, the several litres of water, the delicious cakes, dancing a bit, singing a bit, and the gorgeous ambience of that place. late at night, sepp and i walked down a little path away from the house to go star-gazing. after about ten minutes i got what i was waiting for, a shooting star! i almost always see one when we are out there. :)

here are some pics:








daniela, hannes, and their daughter patrizia

i was quite happy that for once, and despite the heat, my hair looked alright pretty much throughout the event, i did not get things in my eyes every other minute, and my mascara did not run (i had not worn any in about, um, 15 years, except at my wedding). sepp looked dead gorgeous with his brand-new specs on. even if he does not believe it. (let's see what others say, shall we, sepp? *G*)

we got home around 2.30 am, and of course we slept in on sunday, though i did wake up when the cock crowed early in the morning! we had a lazy day, and took the 4.30 train back to vienna, where our parched plants were waiting for us.


morning glories, today

it's been so hot for too long now, but there is no end of the heatwave in sight. i hate it. it is getting muggy now, especially in vienna, which is so unpleasant. i am always tired, and get lots of headaches. people are becoming aggressive and impatient, and everyone's slightly brain-dead, too. i really have no idea how i manage to keep writing poetry.

i am on day 11 of 30/30, writing my greek letter series, but i have my doubts i can finish this round. we shall see. i hate giving up. *grrr*

anyway, here is the latest (until i submit it somewhere):

the secret meanings of greek letters: lambda (Λ, λ)

deep in the belly of eve, seed in the shape of a dragonfly
sleeps until one morning a crimson drop announces a flood.

thirty days pass; thirty times the warm hands of summer
smooth wrinkly flowers, pluck them at bedtime – shhh.

seaweed grows among the rocks where eve's bare feet
slip, urge her into mad waves where she'd be a mermaid:

fish could teach her how to wash away the faded red
of loss. she'd learn silence, the freedom of black depths.

every day the wet cheeks of apples remind her; every
day, the snake criss-crosses her path, triumphant, cruel.

there's a wind that lives for weather vanes, the crazy
swirl of technicolour meadows; it sings into hollow hearts.

eve listens; lilting voices pull until strings snap. sunset
draws a window on the far horizon, a drake takes flight.

stones do not grow softer over night, do not sprout
rivers or plants. eve kneels, sacrifices a fistful of time.

she gathers cotton for a bed. at new moon, she will join
the goddess, press her head against that empty womb.

song of the day: eleni mandell - he thinks he's in love