wise or blind
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This post is about a 22km walk from Unterumbach to Merching. I feel listless until I notice an outdoor art exhibition.
When I left Unterumbach I felt groggy and weak. It had been raining almost the whole time while I was at my friend Bower’s place, so staying in and frying our brains with computer games had felt like an okay thing to do.
Now summer had made a surprise return, and I was not prepared for it.
summer 2.0
I don’t even remember how hot it was. Maybe around 30 degrees celsius or so. Or maybe it was just 25 and I simply wasn’t used to it anymore. Either way I thought everything felt weirdly difficult: walking, pulling the Caboose, doing my exercises, stocking up on supplies in a supermarket – even resting and eating was a drag.
It was a day where nothing came easy.
One time I decided to take my daily self portrait on a recently harvested field. It had been a wheat field, but now only a bunch of short, brittle stalks were left of it. I felt like the stalks. They made a crunchy sound when I stepped on them. I liked that sound. Like a mouthful of cornflakes.
the exhibition
When I got close to Merching I finally noticed something that caught my attention: there was a group of trees that had colorful cloths draped around them. Upon closer inspection they turned out to be paintings.
There was a sign that said it was an exhibition of children’s artworks. Earlier in the year, a local nature protection union had taken a group of kids on an outing to the trees. The trees were willows, and there were five of them. On the way there, the kids had been told the “Story Of The Five Wise Men”, and upon arrival, they had painted scenes from the story and hung them up in the five willow trees.
elephants?
I wasn’t sure what “Story Of The Five Wise Men” they were referring to exactly, but I thought I recognized an elephant in one of the paintings. So I thought it might be about the ancient story of the Blind Men And An Elephant.
But I did wonder about one thing: why was the (German) sign referring to a story about five wise men, if actually they were really just blind men?
Was there anything particularly wise about not understanding the concept of improper generalization?
pictures
the walk from Unterumbach to Merching:
the way to walk from Unterumbach to Merching
they got weirded out by me and Boosey
farm ruins near Pfaffenhofen
tractor passing by
I sit next to a corn field.
this reminded me of a photo I took in China back in 2007
Ukrainian colors on a lamp post in a Bavarian village
the Caboose near Merching
kids’ artworks in the trees near Merching
is this about the Blind Men And An Elephant?
not sure which story this is supposed to tell
the Caboose in the evening sun
Merching