My uncle/cousin came to visit. Decades after we last met so with more wrinkles and grey hair. Since my mother (his sister) couldn't make it, I picked him up from the airport/train- or busstation?
I took him to our place where he helped me sort my vinyl records collection to trade or sell later. Quite a few singles from 70s artists I had four or five from, sometimes in different prints. 'Venus' by Shocking Blue was one of them.
My uncle/cousin and I walked around in the neighbourhood which had been transformed to its seventies version: more dirt on the streets, no bike lanes, more homeless people, more independent run shops, some run by squatters spray painting home build beds.
At an outdoor thrift shop I found two similar paintings, as if embossed in green, shiny ceramics. One depicted what seemed like a man's face, with a different look on his face, depending on how the light fell on the piece. I offered the seller €50 for the two. And he looked surprised. Not sure because I was under- or over offering.
Music coming from a few basements and everyone smiling, save for a guy with dog. A black and white boxer.
My mother called (from work?), excited to see her brother again soon and asking me if he could sleep in my double bed because it felt a bit awkward to have him sleep with her in her single bed. Of course!
He told me about the adventures he had in his favourite coffeeshop in the seventies and produced a beautiful grin when I texted him it still exists.
