Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Abisko - A Third Memory



人生天地间,忽如远行客


The lodge I lived in was next to a train station. Every day I walked along the railroad in order to leave the village and go hiking or do groceries.

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(engineering truck at railway)



One afternoon, I merely escaped torrent rain at the national park information center and walked back in the sun-rain. Houses, rails, flowers, grass... everything is glazed in the sun and rain.

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I passed a small station, Abisto Ostra. An old yellow bench somehow raked over old ashes. I cannot recall the memory clearly, yet it's reminiscent of my childhood. I used to live close to railroads on and off till I was about 7 years old. I remember walking on the rail, sleeping in the click-click sound, climbing carriage to avoid jammed train in order to go to school on time, etc. Those images seem so far away from my life now. Yet at this way station I felt the connection to the past.
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When and when again
this heart will comprehend the
distance of time
years of land
-- Huiyin Lin (林徽因)

A Chinese writer ever said (in translation), "homeland is not limited to a particular land, but rather is an extensive mood unbound by space or time. Once the mood is awaken, you are already back to homeland."


Anywhere could be my home...


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“人的故乡,并不止于一块特定的土地,而是一种辽阔无比的心情,不受空间和时间的限制;这心情一经唤起,就是你已经回到了故乡。”
--- 史铁生


Next Stop: Tallinn, Estonia



Photographed by Jennie Bai.
Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.



Related articles:
          Abisko III - A Third Memory
          Abisko IV - Alpine Flower
          Abisko V - Epilogue


1 comment:

Jenny Shaojun said...

So true. It is a feeling of being connected.