Today twelve years will go by as in a dream. And they won’t come back.
I thought for a while what it would be, different from me. Nothing came to mind. I didn’t wish to come up with something that would be spectacular but not me, for a change. 😉 Then I thought to provide evidence of the passage of time and acquisition of… experience. Yes. And so the irreversible theme of today was born.
First, the photos. I believe it’s called belly(button)gazing. I have never done it this precisely in this public photo way so it’s certainly different.
Every summer I organise a garden card tournament with my parents in their garden in Ljubljana, my former city. This year will be the 17th already. The game is tarok (Tarock in Austria), a local game played in threes (or fours), a bit similar to bridge. The three flags in the featured photo are, from left: of Slovenia, of the city of Ljubljana, and of Italy which had to be added after I moved there.
Here is a look at the last twelve summers as represented by two photos of me for each year. You can observe all kinds of things: when I stopped smoking (in 2007, three months after the first photo), when I dyed or cut my hair, which outfits were more flattering than others, when I moved to Italy (in 2013 when I look the youngest), when I was the winner (three times: in 2007, 2011 when I won that green mirror, and 2017 when I danced in the rain), when I was working out more (in 2010 when I hit 40) and when I stopped (all the years since).
I don’t grin all the time though. It’s like choosing bestia photos yesterday: I cheat. 😀 I wish to thank everybody else for these photos: father, mostly, but also various friends. We always have a good time, even though with age one participant has started to bitch. I guess he doesn’t win often enough.
After this the poem wrote itself. I loved this challenge.
Challenge 9: “Today, I’d like to challenge you to write your own Sei Shonagon-style list of ‘things.’ What things? Well, that’s for you to decide!”
Things that are irreversible
That terrible film of the same name
that makes you queasy
by way of wild camera rides,
the story told backwards,
and that terrible terrible thing
in the underground passage.
Here we have one just like it.
The ageing process.
The fattening process,
after you stop smoking
or move to Italy.
Especially after both,
with a strict sitting down regime
that helps you connect
instead of exercise.
That ugly
infected
spreading
black spot on his arm
from Requiem for a dream.
Our life is that spot.
Human destruction.
Not only not reversible,
it cannot be halted.
The plastic is not leaving the ocean.
The icebergs are not growing back.
Is Homo Sapiens
on the endangered species list yet?
Because look at him:
there he is,
about to turn into
that underground passage.
***
It doesn’t end there.
More irreversible things:
The ripening process.
The smartening process.
The emboldening.
The consolidation of
the me-ne-frega stance.
Self-esteem blossomed.
Knowledge of all sorts gained.
Lands visited.
Poems read.
Books read.
People encountered.
Maybe even made.
Plants sown, planted.
Poems written.
Books written.
And that paste out of the tube,
that too.
For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, hosted by Tina of travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com: Something Different
and for Day 9 of NaPoWriMo
The more irreversible list made me happy. The last line made me chuckle 🙂
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Thank you very much, Angela! 🙂 I thought to finish the poem after the first part but realised that I couldn’t stop on such a sour note and had to add the upbeat things because there are these too.
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Of course you get to choose smiles! (and they are journeying back through the web…)
That is a wonderful list. Happy, sad, true. (K)
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Thank you kindly, K. This was the idea, I suppose, to share the happy, just what I like doing the most. I’m glad you like my list. And I’m so glad that I added that second part to the poem.
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Wonderful memories and such happy photos. Your mom looks like a lot of fun. 😃
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Heheh, oh yes, that she is. Thanks, Sylvia! 🙂
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What a fantastic tradition MM, I really loved your post and the joy you obviously take in the challenge!!
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Oh yes, I do! Thank you, Tina, I’m glad it comes across.
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A great tradition to keep up! I loved your list as well – it’s life.
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Thank you so much, Leya. Yes, life… nothing much else to do about it but live it.
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♥
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I love the list of your years in the photos. A real feeling of continuity. I think that is important to have in a life.
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Thank you, Claudia. Oh yes, continuity and cycles. We are lucky to have it. For the time being.
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This is such a nice way to make a list Manja. Really liked how you ended it too.😊
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Thank you so much, Smitha! 🙂 Always welcome!
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Just great!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Thank you, Markus. I don’t think there will be many photos of me in the coming posts. 😀 Back to nature!
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Time is relentless isn’t it? And as your poem demonstrates, there are both good and bad sides. Out of time traditions are born … like your card tournament. Your family looks like they know how to have a good time 🙂
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Thanks, Joanne. You can say this about my family again and again and again and it will always be true. 😉
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Such a wonderful memoir of past years.
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Thank you kindly, Rupali! 🙂
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A remarkable list of irreversible things, small and large, individuals to climate–love the toothpaste at the end. 🙂
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Thank you, Merril. 🙂 I’m glad you came here to have a read and enjoyed it.
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Your survey reveals such a happy life. I hope that “black spot on his arm” is not as sinister as it sounds. I must ask, though, what does Cockta taste like? Is it your version of Coca Cola???
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Thank you, Judy, I’m glad that it comes across. Yes, I’m afraid it’s exactly that bad. DO NOT watch that film. Cockta is indeed like Coke, maybe a bit sweeter and the taste of dog rose (briar?) is more prominent. Produced since 1953 when we were still in Yugoslavia.
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Do you think it was made to imitate Coke?
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It certainly appears so! However, Italians were closer and they have since forever their soda drink called Chinotto that is even more like Cockta.
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A garden card tournament. How fun is that?
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Thanks, Bojana. Very fun! Every year I’m sorry that I have to play cards and be a human computer for the tournament instead of chatting with people whom I haven’t seen for a year, at least some of them. 😀
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Haha. You can always lose on purpose so as to talk more.
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No! The system is such that all play till the end, even if you’re losing all the time. 😀
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Shoot. It’s like fishing….never ending.
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How did I miss this??? Love your photos. You have a lovely smile that radiates like sunlight.
Your poem captures the sad state of affairs in our world.
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Thanks, Barry. It is a sad state, isn’t it? Luckily we have had some carefree years because what is coming is something completely different.
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I’m too happy to be sad, but there are some poignant moments in the poem and I appreciate all your SMILES in the photos 🙂
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Thank you, Joey. Smiles go a long way – away from sad. So glad to hear you’re happy!! ❤
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I love this poem. Especially this bit:
” The ripening process.
The smartening process.
The emboldening.
The consolidation of
the me-ne-frega stance.”
And your photos are so joyful. You have some great outfits. Love that blue dress from Greece. And again your mom is just hilarious!
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Thank you, Sunra Nina! I forgot about this one too. Sometimes I scare myself. Also with the photos. 😀 Damn! Time flies. That blue dress is still holding together though. Thank you for coming back to read, this always touches me. ❤
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Oh you are most welcome! There’s always that one dress, isn’t there! Ha ha. The one that weathers all storms. I bloody love dresses like that.
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