Easter(n) bunny.
Few
years ago my parents sold our summer house. My mother is no longer in any condition for gardening and my father does not even know what gardening means. And gardening was the biggest purpose to this property's existence. Sure,
there was also a tiny triangle shaped house with no running water, heating or
shower but there was plenty of land where my mother used to care for flowers,
fruit and vegetables.
When I was a kid we used to go there pretty often, especially during Summer holidays. I didn't really have any cousins worth visiting or any other relatives who could take me in for a week or two just to provide the opportunity to be away from home. I also never went to any Summer camp.
My mother would announce she wants to go to the Summer house around mid- week so that my father could get crazy ideas, just as doing nothing during the weekend, out of his head. It would also motivate my brother to make more exciting plans in advance which were disregarded by Mother anyway. My sister was there to make sure we will not kill each with my brother and I had no voice at all. If it was up to me I wouldn't go at all. I was and always will be a city rat. Don't get me wrong, I love going on getaways, outside of the city, into the wild, as some would call it. But besides mouth- watering food from the barbecue, there was not much I liked about visiting our summer house. I enjoyed the atmosphere of going on a trip, though. My mom would prepare sandwiches, buy some sweets and snacks to take with us, make sure we have tea and coffee. We would get in the car and talk on our way, listen to some music and fight over which music radio station should we be listening to. The village that the Summer house belong to was a perfect destination for a day of relaxation away from the city’s noise and heat. I have to admit that harvesting fruit, especially plums, blueberries and cherries was something out of this world (not to mention mother would make home- made jam out of them). Never again in my life did I come across such good tasting plums.
The things that I disliked though, was being forced into digging in the ground, planting veggies and flowers, watering whole bunches of bushes and constantly walking into spider nets. I hated it that wherever you would turn there were spiders and other insects. Oh, the ball landed between the trees in the corner of our field? Hah, be sure it fell right into a spider web! Oh, Mother granted me with a doughnut? Be sure there will be a bee following you for the next hour (if you manage to eat the doughnut without biting into that bee, naturally). Oh, you're going to the toilet? Be sure there will be lots of weird insects crawling around but you won't see them because there is no light in that so- called toilet. Mosquitos, ah! They truly loved me and I never found a way to defend my body from their bites.
The house itself wasn’t what you imagine. Like I have mentioned, lack of running water was truly annoying. The whole structure wasn’t strong so I would constantly be worried about the house folding if the wind was too strong. I couldn't get over the fact that we call it a 'house' while it wouldn't be possible to actually live in it or stay longer than one night.
What I also disliked very much was the fact that my very first bike, a BMX my brother got me from a friend of his, has been stolen from that house. I loved that bike. It was a gift. I never forgave my fortune for playing that dirty trick on me.
The worst thing that has ever happened to us there was a flood. It was year 2001 and we were paying a regular visit at Juszkowo (that is the name of the village). We were just about to leave when it began raining. At this moment we didn’t know we will spend the whole night praying to all available Gods to make the rain stop. My father and brother were busy with making sure our car won’t sink into the soil. They would be digging in the ground, under all that water, in the pouring rain putting bricks under the tires of the car so the rain wouldn’t flood the engine and that we would be able to drive away when it’s all over. We were up the whole night and I have never felt more scared in my life. I will never forget how concerned I was about my family and the whole situation. We were speechless. At first my dad was angry with my mother, blaming her for getting stuck there as she couldn’t leave the dirty dishes for some other time to clean. But after an hour of fighting for the car my dad understood how helpless we all were in that situation. If we would have left on time we would get stuck somewhere else, in the middle of the highway or so, which would be even worse.
It stopped raining around dawn. We opened the door of the house to the realization that the water level was about 1 meter high. We had to wait until it lowered. The whole area looked like a post- apocalyptic scenery. It seemed to me we were the only people around as all other neighbors left on time the evening before. We didn’t speak. We were happy we survived it all and even happier when, after the water went down, discovered that the engine of our car was fine and we could safely drive away. And that wasn’t such an obvious thing since our car was a Dacia, sedan, and the water has been pouring from the sky for 10 hours straight.
The only time when I really enjoyed the hell out of myself at that Summer house was when I was 20 and invited my friends over to spend a weekend there together. Things we did during that trip I will not reveal unless tortured but what I can say is that we had a great time. Fun, music, alcohol, barbecue, bonfire and much more resulted in my neighbors calling my parents on me but I wouldn't change a thing about that trip if I could go back in time. It was worth it.
Juszkowo was a nice place to spend a day away from the city. It was a great place for fresh fruit and veggies. Nice ground for a family barbecue.
But it had its mysterious inhabitants, too.
To finish this entry let me tell you a story in the spirit of upcoming Easter.
It was a hot summer day that we all spent together at the house. I was about 11 and couldn't wait to get home to wash all the dirt off of me. My dad told us to get in the car and wait for him there as he wanted to check one more time whether or not did he turn the electricity off.
After he made sure it's all fine he got in the car himself, turned the engine on and both head- and rear lights went off. I was looking at the world through the rear window when he did that. And as he did that I saw a huge ugly rabbit standing on its back feet right behind our car! I swear on my record collection that it was massive and maybe even taller than the vehicle itself! I held onto my brothers’ sleeve and shouted 'Look!' but the rabbit was gone already. It was such a scary sight to me, the rabbit was a size of a small kangaroo and I was afraid no one would ever believe me. But my brother did. He explained that he had seen rabbits like this one before when he used to come and stay at out Summer house alone. It put me at ease that he didn't think I'm a kid who's making things up but until this day I can't get that image out of my head.
I do not believe in Jesus Christ a.k.a. God's son, but since Easter is a pagan holiday anyway I guess this story about the wild rabbit is as close to the Easter spirit as I will ever get!
Nevertheless, make love, stay positive and see you next week!
When I was a kid we used to go there pretty often, especially during Summer holidays. I didn't really have any cousins worth visiting or any other relatives who could take me in for a week or two just to provide the opportunity to be away from home. I also never went to any Summer camp.
My mother would announce she wants to go to the Summer house around mid- week so that my father could get crazy ideas, just as doing nothing during the weekend, out of his head. It would also motivate my brother to make more exciting plans in advance which were disregarded by Mother anyway. My sister was there to make sure we will not kill each with my brother and I had no voice at all. If it was up to me I wouldn't go at all. I was and always will be a city rat. Don't get me wrong, I love going on getaways, outside of the city, into the wild, as some would call it. But besides mouth- watering food from the barbecue, there was not much I liked about visiting our summer house. I enjoyed the atmosphere of going on a trip, though. My mom would prepare sandwiches, buy some sweets and snacks to take with us, make sure we have tea and coffee. We would get in the car and talk on our way, listen to some music and fight over which music radio station should we be listening to. The village that the Summer house belong to was a perfect destination for a day of relaxation away from the city’s noise and heat. I have to admit that harvesting fruit, especially plums, blueberries and cherries was something out of this world (not to mention mother would make home- made jam out of them). Never again in my life did I come across such good tasting plums.
The things that I disliked though, was being forced into digging in the ground, planting veggies and flowers, watering whole bunches of bushes and constantly walking into spider nets. I hated it that wherever you would turn there were spiders and other insects. Oh, the ball landed between the trees in the corner of our field? Hah, be sure it fell right into a spider web! Oh, Mother granted me with a doughnut? Be sure there will be a bee following you for the next hour (if you manage to eat the doughnut without biting into that bee, naturally). Oh, you're going to the toilet? Be sure there will be lots of weird insects crawling around but you won't see them because there is no light in that so- called toilet. Mosquitos, ah! They truly loved me and I never found a way to defend my body from their bites.
The house itself wasn’t what you imagine. Like I have mentioned, lack of running water was truly annoying. The whole structure wasn’t strong so I would constantly be worried about the house folding if the wind was too strong. I couldn't get over the fact that we call it a 'house' while it wouldn't be possible to actually live in it or stay longer than one night.
What I also disliked very much was the fact that my very first bike, a BMX my brother got me from a friend of his, has been stolen from that house. I loved that bike. It was a gift. I never forgave my fortune for playing that dirty trick on me.
The worst thing that has ever happened to us there was a flood. It was year 2001 and we were paying a regular visit at Juszkowo (that is the name of the village). We were just about to leave when it began raining. At this moment we didn’t know we will spend the whole night praying to all available Gods to make the rain stop. My father and brother were busy with making sure our car won’t sink into the soil. They would be digging in the ground, under all that water, in the pouring rain putting bricks under the tires of the car so the rain wouldn’t flood the engine and that we would be able to drive away when it’s all over. We were up the whole night and I have never felt more scared in my life. I will never forget how concerned I was about my family and the whole situation. We were speechless. At first my dad was angry with my mother, blaming her for getting stuck there as she couldn’t leave the dirty dishes for some other time to clean. But after an hour of fighting for the car my dad understood how helpless we all were in that situation. If we would have left on time we would get stuck somewhere else, in the middle of the highway or so, which would be even worse.
It stopped raining around dawn. We opened the door of the house to the realization that the water level was about 1 meter high. We had to wait until it lowered. The whole area looked like a post- apocalyptic scenery. It seemed to me we were the only people around as all other neighbors left on time the evening before. We didn’t speak. We were happy we survived it all and even happier when, after the water went down, discovered that the engine of our car was fine and we could safely drive away. And that wasn’t such an obvious thing since our car was a Dacia, sedan, and the water has been pouring from the sky for 10 hours straight.
The only time when I really enjoyed the hell out of myself at that Summer house was when I was 20 and invited my friends over to spend a weekend there together. Things we did during that trip I will not reveal unless tortured but what I can say is that we had a great time. Fun, music, alcohol, barbecue, bonfire and much more resulted in my neighbors calling my parents on me but I wouldn't change a thing about that trip if I could go back in time. It was worth it.
Juszkowo was a nice place to spend a day away from the city. It was a great place for fresh fruit and veggies. Nice ground for a family barbecue.
But it had its mysterious inhabitants, too.
To finish this entry let me tell you a story in the spirit of upcoming Easter.
It was a hot summer day that we all spent together at the house. I was about 11 and couldn't wait to get home to wash all the dirt off of me. My dad told us to get in the car and wait for him there as he wanted to check one more time whether or not did he turn the electricity off.
After he made sure it's all fine he got in the car himself, turned the engine on and both head- and rear lights went off. I was looking at the world through the rear window when he did that. And as he did that I saw a huge ugly rabbit standing on its back feet right behind our car! I swear on my record collection that it was massive and maybe even taller than the vehicle itself! I held onto my brothers’ sleeve and shouted 'Look!' but the rabbit was gone already. It was such a scary sight to me, the rabbit was a size of a small kangaroo and I was afraid no one would ever believe me. But my brother did. He explained that he had seen rabbits like this one before when he used to come and stay at out Summer house alone. It put me at ease that he didn't think I'm a kid who's making things up but until this day I can't get that image out of my head.
I do not believe in Jesus Christ a.k.a. God's son, but since Easter is a pagan holiday anyway I guess this story about the wild rabbit is as close to the Easter spirit as I will ever get!
Nevertheless, make love, stay positive and see you next week!
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