A Lazy Sunday Afternoon
When Otto was alive, once a month he would drive to Holland (Netherland) to work on some computers. Sometimes I would go with him. He would work and I would walk around the city. As I walked on the paths and stayed off of the bike paths, which were as busy as the roads, I would look at the buildings. They were older than anything I had ever seen.
The weight of age and history was in the bricks and stonework. I could almost see how someone, much shorter than I, could live in tiny houses that linked the square around the church. The red brown brick steeples rose into the sky.
Holland was wet even in July. I would wear a light jacket to stay dry. It was not the heavy rains I was knew after living in Panama City, Panama. There the rain would hit hard for days at a time. The lightning would strike the hills around us. And it felt like giants were playing around us. We kept our heads down in Panama.
But in Holland, it was a light mist that kissed you and after walking in the mist for an hour or two it would chill you. I loved it. I would sometimes get exhilerated when the light mist settled on my face.
Even though I didn’t understand the language, I find that people are the same. They are busy with their families and their work. Many times they are too busy to see the wonders around them. Those who were born and raised in old old cities, believe that the buildings are just old and something to attract tourists. If there weren’t tourists, I think that they would pull down the buildings and use the bricks to build other buildings. After all that is what they have done for centuries.
The last time we were there, Otto took me to one of the beaches. There were concrete barriers to keep the wind off of the city. I thought it would be a gentle experience like I had had in beaches of Florida, California, and even South Africa. No, it was a wild harsh wind that blew our my bag from my hand. I raced down the beach to grab it.
When we got back to the car I asked Otto if the beach was like that all the time. He laughed and said yes. There were only a few weeks of the year when the wind was gentle enough for anyone to be there. I had wanted to see it and feel it. One time was enough. It reminded me that this part of Holland was built out into the ocean with dikes. Every resident was aware of the danger, but they lived and died there anyway.
It reminded me that humans are resilent and tough. Even if the world falls around us, we will survive and become better than before. I don’t hope this. I know this.
Even though I lost Otto, I am still here. Maybe one day I will be back near the ocean and it will sing to me again.
Linked.