for lf
I once helped a friend of mine move his stuff to Amsterdam, we piled a Futon and the whole kit kaboodle into a car and away on the Ferry. He was moving into a room on the Waterlooplein, or Nieumarket, or one of those other wonderful Dutch squares
a beautiful if not slightly decrepit 17th Century house. Like the Dutch themselves it was very tall, about 4 floors high and extremely skinny.
It had one of those warehouse doors on the top floor, and a hook and pulley, for hauling stuff on a rope up up and away to the upper floors. sadly this was now broken, as we discovered why they perfected such a system.
trying to get the Futon around and around the narrow staircase was nigh on impossible.
PG Tips Chimps with a Grand Piano!
A Shove, a squeeze and a push, we hurly burly, willed it all the way up. pure exhaustion. made it in the end.
Once the work was down, we spent the rest of the day just sitting, gawping out the window.
A beautiful picture window, with a traditional Dutch view, a tree lined canal, a large square and a seeming dream of a Fairytale castle opposite.
We just sat there contendly for hours, a bottle of duty free whiskey, the occasional spliff.
Making up stories for all the things happening below.
A woman would come cycling across the square, she’d meet someone she knew, stop have a chat, then they’d make off in a new direction.
Not linear stories, but more like all these things happening at once, just as in the way, ‘Wheres Wally’ is not a linear book, but a hodge podge, smorgasboard of just stuff happening and… obviously owes a huge debt to Breughel!
Oh you know what i mean…
then we saw someone fall into a canal…. oh no that was in Auden Breughel