Sunday 4 May 2008

Forgetting

Maybe it was all the driving,
Traffic jams to get OUT of Holland on their national holiday are just ironic enough to make them bearable

Maybe it was the fresh air.
The countryside smells of animal excrement, unlike Amsterdam which smells of human urine.

Maybe it was the secluded surroundings.
In other words, the nearest human was 15 miles away.

Maybe it was the fun company.
Irish, Welsh, American, English and Spanish, making it like some sort of AA rejects meets United Nations gathering.

Maybe it was my brain rejecting attempts at digging up the remains of my secondary level French to spit at the locals.
Saying it in Dutch, but with a French accent does NOT make it correct or help matters in any way.

Maybe it was the hideously inexpensive yet delicious and plentiful wine and champagne.
Christ my head hurts...

Probably it was the sunburn.
You can now add pinky-red & peeling skin to my long list of unfortunate physical traits along with short arsedness, uberchubbiness, and bebracefication.

Whatever it was, for the first time in a year I went significant periods of time, HOURS on end, without thinking about what we don't have.

It felt great, being young and carefree, hindered neither by responsibility nor weight of thought.

Now, back home, tired from another long drive, I'm sorting through photographs of our trip.

Lots of pictures of group toasts, laughter, and smiles.

8 pair of eyes sparkling as much as the glasses of champagne they are raising in toast in the evening sun.
Except, upon deeper examination, 2 pairs lack some of that sparkle.
Look even closer and you see 2 pairs of eyes that are never quite in the moment.

Two pairs of eyes that, no matter how much they think they fool the onlooker, they can't hide the fact that they can never really forget, not for one moment.

At least the break gave the chance to see a cock really doing it's job, right before my very eyes.

23 comments:

Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] said...

Glad you got away and had some time to have fun.

I'm not the best person to tell you to stay positive, but that's all I got for ya.

Anonymous said...

Forgetting for at least a while is such a good thing.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE a good vacation. Ok, you can leave me again :)

Anonymous said...

That's a big cock...you know what I mean. ;-)

Glad you had fun with friends forgetting about everything else going on - we all need a break more than we tend to take them.

Anonymous said...

Welcome home!
We missed you but glad to hear that you had a lovely time.
It's so hard to forget, in fact, i don't really think you did...good to be distracted for a while though.
Hugs.

Ed (zoesdad) said...

Saying it in Dutch, but with a French accent does NOT make it correct or help matters in any way...

Maybe you should have said it LOUDER! That usually helps, right?

Anonymous said...

Smiling. I am smiling very much.

:)

Anonymous said...

Ah the good old cock gag.

And the good old cock gag gag.

Anonymous said...

It's so great (and so hard) to forget - glad you managed it a bit.

Putz said...

i will tell you the way to get lost in the moment, go into a french movie house and smell the garlic, underarm oder and bad breath from all tha french food and that will put you off...it is all those people together in close proxcimity...welcome back

Jess said...

I hope it's a wonderful weekend!

Tara R. said...

Good to have you back. I hope the weekend was relaxing and gave you two a much needed break from routine.

Jenni said...

your vacation sounds fab - i'd kill for too much champagne, but I'll settle for too much ice cream.

Anonymous said...

Welcome Back! The time away may be just the thing you and the Mrs. needed to close this deal. French wine has been known to impregnate many a female throughout history.

justmylife said...

Welcome back. Saty positive and maybe the time away helped relax everything a little.

Mama Smurf said...

Good for you!

Heather said...

What the heck is bebracefication?

Hilary (Maya Papaya) said...

Sounds like some time away is just what you needed.

Welcome back.

Kori said...

I am glad you are back; and this post made me feel sad because of the four eyes that didn't have all the sparkle. I have no advice; I personally HATE it when people keep telling me to look on the birght side, relax, whatever, because the yare not in my shoes-and the same goes for me. Can't say it anymore. Just know you both are SO in my thoughts. I would be a surrogate for you if I lived closer.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back. I completely love your blog and wish you and your wife the best. When you do have a child, it will be very lucky because you both wanted him/her so much.

Joeprah said...

Recharging the ol' battery is crucial. Glad you're back! Next time save some wine for me.

Momo Fali said...

Aw. I'm happy and sad all at once. Damn the conflict!!

Martin said...

@A whole lot of nothing - I'll take that...

@Veronica - it is. absolutely.

@Nola - You SURE about that?

@Jeremy - thankfully, I do know what you mean!

@Tiff - probably correct, a case of being distracted as opposed to forgetting

@Ed - It doesn't really mater how loud you are when the recipient is a 400 year old french man and his ducks.

@maggie, dammit - in a good way I hope.

@Dan - the second I saw it I made a mental note to do that...

@Fiona - It was nice to forget. But then you have the guilt when you realise you forgot and on and on and on....

@Putz - Thank you sir, that's quite an image there!

@Daysgoby - it was indeed!

@Tara R - it was really nice, a good break, thanks.

@Jenni - 5 bucks a bottle!

@Nukedad - so has magners cider and alcopops and hopping over the graveyard wall, none of those worked for us either...

@Justmylife - my favourite saying, stay positive!

@THopgood - thanks!

@Heather - it's best explained HERE

@Hilary - a wee battery recharge indeed!

@Kori - you hit the nail on the head. sometimes there is just no more to say, no more 'just relax', no more 'try to forget about it'. Sometimes sorry is more than enough. thank you.

@Karen - very kind words, thank you, they are much appreciated.

@Joeprah - a wine man like yourself would have LOVED it. There are a few bottles of reisling sitting waiting for a sun kissed evening in the back yard...

@Momo Fali - visiting here is like a trip to 6 flags eh?