Black And White

-English Version, original from 2017

„Life happens in the gray area.“

For some reason I said this to Ira and she was a little upset because she thought it was so „negative“.

I didn’t mean it that way at all.

„Gray“ is a wide range, from slightly dirty white to charcoal to an almost black that glistens slightly in the sun. An innocent, pure white is as rare as a deep, pure black.

Perhaps both extremes do not exist at all, or only rarely, in exceptional situations. Even a hiccup in the morning destroys a white morning of absolute happiness, and a dog wagging its tail paints over any black with a slight sheen.

So life is gray in a positive sense!

I always have two marbles, black and white, in my right pocket. You can use them to play little games with a small child, like who has to fetch the water bottle from the basement.

Boccia with a stone as a „pig“ or who can roll their own marble closer to the wall. She always wants the black one. You can also play with it yourself. It’s usually good to have something nice and smooth between your fingers. Marbles are better than cigarette lighters.

I give the two marbles to friends from time to time. Then, after a day without marbles in my pants, I always have to get two new ones. Sometimes I’ve given them to the artists after a great concert, in short, I always have them with me, even to give them away. Some people are so happy about it that they pick them up, which makes me happy again and brightens up the gray.

Patti Smith and Lucinda Williams have some, for example, and so do Frazey Ford, Andrea Schroeder and Margo Timmins from The Cowboy Junkies. And Hannah Aldridge too, since yesterday, of course.

It irritates men, I don’t even try.

If you ask people where their lives currently fall between white and black, most of them place themselves in the middle, sometimes a little to the right, sometimes a little to the left, the lighter gray. No matter ‚where‘ their life ‚is‘ currently in between, they always look a little serious and thoughtful.

Marc said, „Wait, I’ll have a light beer after the first one, please.“

That’s how the guys are.

And black and white are extremes that only make sense together. After several days of white, the black ball reminds me that ‚black‘ still exists. And when it gets very dark, a little white hope is a great comfort.

Two gray balls would be boring.

And life is not.

😀