Was ist Gemütlichkeit?

For the few of you who have been reading this, some of you may not know what Gemütlichkeit is. Here is the Wikipedia link: Gemütlichkeit . But for me, this is how I have known or experience gemütlichkeit.

• It is being rocked to sleep in my mother's arms in the middle of the night after being awake for a long time due to the pain of numerous ear infections;
• It is going for a hike to Gent's Creek(sp?) in the early spring as a 7 or 8 year old, with the snow just beginning to melt. On the hike back it startedto rain gently , so I sat inside someone elses "fort" with a transitor radio playing "Listen to the rythm of the falling rain"
• Sitting at a hillside cafe one late summer evening in Würzburg, Germany, having a glass of wine while the city lights slowly begin to turn on as the evening gets darker:
• Standing outside a house in the Tyrolian Alps on New Years Eve, listening to a family singing the "Schnee Waltz" on a cool, crisp clear winter's night;
• feeding seagulls pieces of bread by holding them up and having them snatched out of our hands at Pemaquid Point;
• listening to my daughter when she was a preschooler singing for me a Christmas carol on a tree stump, with a sincere and sweet voice;
• playing Scrabble with Will and Terri (and actually beating these language geniuses!);
  
• holding Terri's hands and hugging her to sleep;
• sitting on our deck, watching the sunset and listening to the Indians (lose yet another game!) or just watching the sun go down and listening to the birds and insects and watching the fireflies starting to appear.

I've learned to slow down over the years, if that is possible. I learned from various experiences that I am often like a spoiled child who recieves too many presents and rushes through opening each one, but not really enjoying any of them. I've learned through my MS that I may not have all the senses that I enjoy now, and that I should learn to cherish simple pleasures such as sight, touch and hearing. I have learned that time is the only real "thing" that we possess in this life and that instead of trying to accomplish many tasks to "obtain" something, I need to use it more wisely and enjoy what time I do possess and spend it more with family and truly enjoy what God has given us. When I first became a Christian, we took a jeep ride up to the top of a mountain in Colorado. On top of that mountain was a cross, with Psalms 46:10 on it: "Be still and know that I am God" To me, that is somewhat the essence of Gemütlichkeit, being still and Living what life should be like and enjoying the greatest treasures around us that we often ignore , rush by or take for granted. Life is truly a gift from God!

Sherm and I are "kindred spirits""

as in relation to my first posting...

Sherman's Lagoon

Where have we gone wrong?

Will got in from Japan last night, late and sans luggage, but, sob, he's got a "monkey on his back"!!!!
He did manage to get some Chipotle in however. Maybe that will cure him?

Hello

Well this is a test of new waters for me. I finally have some time to try this out and see what happens. Hang in there folks. I'm getting old.
The first secret out, is that if you really want to know me, you must know that I would love to be a conductor. Not a train conductor, but an orchestra conductor. I think it began when my parents took us to a 4th of July concert in a near by village when I was an early elementary school-age student. They were playing Sousa marches and I was hoping to be picked to "conduct" one of the songs. I didn't get picked, but I have always wished I could have the oppurtunity to conduct. Mind you , this comes from someone whose college flute teacher finally said to me one day out of exasperation, "Ken,(with a Texas drawl) try to make it sound musical!"
After hearing Karl Haas one evening state "how there is a first time for everyone to hear a classical piece, such as Beethoven's 5th", I realized what a thrill it would be to conduct a youth orchestra or I imagine being Beethoven and conducting that piece for the first time. I was exposed to classical music by a friend of my brother, who had Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" on a record. He let me borrow it and I have always loved that piece.
So that being said, welcome to HeartlandGemutlichkeit and make yourself feel at home.