Like an Angel Peeing on My Tongue

   Nuremburg, Germany, market square in March.

Every time we taste something so good we’re sure we’ve died and gone to heaven, Astrid says, “Als of er een engeltje op mijn tong piest.”  Loosely translated, “It’s like an angel peeing on my tongue.”

“How in Sam’s scratch can something so gross mean out-of-this-world delicious,” I asked her the first time she said it.  Her answer:  “Anything ‘angel’ is out-of-this-world good!”

Okay, then.

IDIOMS:  the utterly ecstatic and diabolical imps of language!   When words are combined in such a way that their figurative meanings can never be translated literally, they make the world go ‘round.

   

And that got me thinking about other Dutch idioms I hear almost every day here where I live (translated into English, of course):

You can’t walk on one leg.
(said when you offer second helpings of something)

What’s now hanging on my bike!
(what strange thing is happening now!)

Don’t put salt on every snail.
(don’t be a nag; don’t complain)

She got out of bed with the wrong leg.
(getting out of bed on the wrong side)

He was pulled off the toilet.
(he was talking nonsense)

The best pilots are standing on shore.
(back-seat drivers)

Be happy with a dead sparrow.
(be happy with nothing)

That is far from my bed.
(I don’t have to worry about it)

The sparrows dropped dead from the roof.
(it was so darn hot!)

Running the socks out of your shoes; driving the crease out of your pants.
(when the cars/bikes ride too close to you)

They’ll drive off the dike.
(when they see you looking/acting like that)

High water in the polder.
(pants are too short…”high-waters”)

You can walk over the heads.
(it’s so crowded)

He’s walking with windmills; he was hit by a windmill sail.
(he’s crazy)

He’s looked too deep into the glass.
(he’s drunk)

That person has loose hands; he should keep his hands at home.
(he’s always hitting someone; often refers to domestic violence)

Like pliers on a pig.
(nothing relates to anything)

Row with the oars you have.
(use what’s available)

And then Astrid will sometimes immediately follow with “You can’t say it to the Queen, of course” (it’s not proper Dutch).  HA!  And did you notice that sometimes the English meaning is also an idiom!

Surely you have your own idioms that make you giggle with glee and have one or two to share (with their meanings, of course)…unless you’re up to your ears in alligators and don’t have time?

A day not laughed is a day not lived!
(no translation needed)

The Capacity to See

“Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
--Franz Kafka

Shouting From the Rooftops

Passau, Germany

The one time in my life I could have literally climbed to the rooftops of every building in the whole wide world was the day son Mark, all those years ago, fell out of the car flying at 70 mph and ended up scraping only two of his precious little 2-year-old fingers.  I already told you that story.

It was a miracle, acclaimed by the doctor himself.  If you had said it wasn’t, I would have fought you to the end…and won.

Without thought to political grandstanding or stirring up murky religious or moral waters for some…please indulge me in saying what happened last week (Wednesday, June 26), with the striking down of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, comes in a close second. 

It was a miracle I never expected to see in my lifetime, except for, perhaps, this last year as I’ve watched the marriage-equality ball around the world roll faster and faster, like a whirlwind.

   

It’s not a “done deal” by any stretch of the imagination but the first step is there:  as regards immigration law, I can now sponsor Astrid for green-card status in America by simple virtue of the fact we have a legal Dutch marriage.

With that comes access to over 1000 Federal marriage benefits related to taxes, health, pension, social security, etc., just as with so-called straight marriages.  Sounds like a huge YIPPEE.

However, the glitch happens at the state-by-state level as each grapples with YES or NO to the marriage-equality question.  Why that matters to me personally is because if we chose to live in Michigan (where my tribe lives) or Georgia (where my children and grandson live), we would not have state marriage benefits.  Those states do not yet support marriage equality.  Furthermore, they are not required to recognize same-sex marriages carried out in other states or countries.

Did you get that?  How is it possible to be married in America but not in Michigan or Georgia?  Does that make sense to you?

I’m not a prophet but the handwriting appears to be on the wall that, sooner than we all think, the whole ball of wax will be a “done deal.”  Even Scalia, the most conservative and dissenting of the Justices in this Opinion said as much after Wednesday’s ruling.  He all but threw up his hands in despair.  It’s just a matter of time.  “Argle-bargle,” he said.

When that day comes…in my lifetime, I believe…I will not only climb to all the rooftops again but will surely feel I’ve died and gone to heaven!

Speaking of heaven, it would have been Mom’s 97^th birthday last Wednesday.  I thought of her all day long, somehow sensing her presence.  In spite of being a conservative preacher’s wife, she was always a woman ahead of her time, questioning the status quo.  There was always something sensible about her…once she got all the facts.

So, this is for you, Mom.  This is for believing all things.  This is for love winning and shouting it from the rooftops.

This is also for all of you who stood by our side and cheered us on.  THANK YOU!

LOVE ALWAYS WINS.
Love is love.  Family is family.  Marriage is marriage.