Thursday, june 29, 2006

Empty House

As I said the house was empty, but our house can always be more empty. Now there is stern white light on the ceiling, in the living room there is a rickety kitchen table of one of our neighbors and echo everywhere where where ere ere. Very cozy.

Last Sunday Daan and Rob came to pick up the last items. A fast up and down to Espalion, just as easy. Daan on the left behind the wheel, Ruud on the right in sleeping position and Rob in the middle with the gear clutch in his crotch and his nose folded against the windscreen. How they survived the trip, God only knows, but I just received an sms message they have arrived. Well if Rob is out of order for a while after this trip, it’s not me who is to blame. But well, Daan "the indefatigable" was going to drive on to the beach o minor 150 kilometers further, that must have made up for things in full.

What ever the reason, my paintings are standing acting sadly in Espalion, as well as all the other stuff. And even now the shed is still full. I know for sure I'm never going to get rid of all this. Things seem to multiply like mould in a leather trouser. And when I find it in my hart to throw away a drawing of a child, they come home with six new drawings. Or worse a canvas pasted and painted so I cannot roll it up.

This can't go on like this. I have decided that everything that doesn’t fit in one go with Ruud´s fathers car to Waddinxveen is put with the bulky refuse. That’s one of the advantages of living in an antisocial neighborhood, because here you only have to ring the ROTEB (garbage collection) and they will pick up the refuse. They know like no other, one only needs to put a flowerpot in the street, or in a blink of an eye it will be surrounded with all household effects of other neighbors. And no need to look for something useful, because the most usable is probably an old lounge suite that has been used for years as scratch post and/or cat litter.

And we keep on buying lottery tickets for more stuff. Innumerous, how often have I sworn not ever to participate in a lottery, but it draws, because deep down inside you still hope the big benefactor up there has something better for you then the rest of the world. And if I'm so lucky that I win the jackpot tomorrow, then I'll chear: "Today is party time... and tomorrow to" just like another co-lucky-fellow shows on the window of his house at the Kop van Zuid.

And still I wonder, what did the seven year old Stacy and the ten year old Nathalie think about that before their mysterious murderer crowned their insignificant children’s lives by squeezing their throats and threw them in the sewer afterwards. Why should God favor me and punish the unlucky ones? Or is the earthly God after all a devil in disguise who rewards the lucky ones and punishes the unlucky ones? I hope that Stacy and Nathalie and all those others can cry to their hearts content and find consolation in the lap of a heavenly mother. But the facts give me little reason for so much optimism. Still I keep on hoping.

posted by Ruud at 2:15 AM

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