Spending one single day at a child-friendly festival, that was not exactly how I had pictured my summer. But hey, there's no use crying over spilled milk...
I Had To
I didn't want to go, but I knew I had to. After spending the last 8 months as a prisoner in my own house, I had to grab this chance to have a night out with my friends - even though I didn't feel like going at all.
Gitannekes Foor
Every year at the end of the summer, there's a small festival in the village where I live: GitannekesFoor. It's a kind of gipsy-/hippy-/folk festival, with loads of different styles of music. It's not really my kind of festival but quite some friends go there every year.
My best guess would be that they go there because they can bring their kids - it's a very child-friendly festival - and once it gets late they can put the kids to sleep on the campsite and get drunk.
No need to find a babysitter, while still being able to go out and party. Just perfect... for them. Not so perfect for me, because I don't like kids. Never have, never will.
Only Chance
Because I've had two slipped disk-surgeries this year, I have been homebound for 8 months now. The summer has come and gone while I wasn't allowed to sit in a car, let alone drive. Heck, most of the time, I couldn't even stand up for more than half an hour.
The festivals we normally visit all came and went without us. So did the parties.
Since this one festival was only a short bike ride away, it was my one and only chance to experience that special festival feeling this year. So, kids or no kids I simply couldn't let this one pass.
Backyard Camping
Maybe I would have stayed at home, if this couple of friends hadn't asked us if they could put their caravan in our backyard. Their dog wasn't allowed on the festival campsite and since we lived so close by...
They arrived the night before. It was quite a hassle to park both the car and the caravan in between all my raised gardening beds, but some trial and error have never done anyone harm. It took some stress and a lot of laughs, but in the end they succeeded.
Festival Day
In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast in the backyard together. It really felt like we were camping, and I think that was the tipping point.
The weather was nice, we were having a good time among friends, and that's when I decided I would go with them.
After all, if my back would start acting up, we would have either our own campervan on the festival site, or I could take the bike and be home in 5 minutes. In short, there was no excuse left for me to stay home.
It was already pretty late when we left. You know how girls are if they need to get dressed, especially when they haven't been out for months. I guess it was around dinner time that we said goodbye to our friends' dog, telling him he should guard the castle, and left for the festival.
The Festival Feeling
When we arrived at the campsite, I felt at home immediately. One of the coolest things of a gipsy-/hippie festival are the cars and camper vans you can spot on the campsite.
Loads and loads of oldtimer vans with flower power paint or interiors... I must admit I would have been perfectly happy if they would have left me wandering around the campsite all night, looking at those beautiful, colorful cars.
But since the whole idea was to finally meet up with some friends again, they almost dragged me to the entrance.
Which looked actually pretty cool.
It looked like someone had put a giant pink hat on top of a small wooden house.
I was a little impressed, lol, especially when I noticed there was a big slide from the top of the hat all the way down to the ground.
I don't have any pictures of that slide, but there were children crawling all over it anyway, so it would have never been a fun pic to look at. :0)
Fair
Once we had passed the entrance, we arrived on a big field that really looked like some old-school fair.
There was this (fairly small) big wheel, and a sort of merry-go-round in which the seats are attached to the middle with rope. When the middle part starts turning, the seats start moving sideways and it feels like your flying.
All around the field, you could find these 'Alice In Wonderland'-style signposts. How I would have loved to take one of those back home...
Altogether, it looked just beautiful.
Meet Up
We managed to run into a couple of friends, but since it was about time for bed for the kids, we didn't really have the time to connect.
By the time they had put their kids to bed and came back to the festival ground, my back started to hurt, and it was time for me to leave.
I know, it's a bit of a shame, but at least the beer was good. The bike ride back home was really funny. I was so wasted from drinking all the beer, and the small roads through the forest were so small... hahaha, I was just happy I made it home in one piece.
Take Things As They Come
The day after, I was too hung over to get out of bed. Not really a surprise after being sober for 8 months.
Was it what I would have liked it to be? No, absolutely not. Did I have fun? Yes, without a doubt.
So yet another lesson learned:
Sometimes you have to settle for what's within your limited possibilities. You need to stop wishing for things that aren't within reach, and just try to enjoy what you do have...
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Funny how easily we can slip into hermit mode and not wanna go out even though deep down we know it will be fun.. but sometimes I think we also know deep down how badly the hangover will hurt too :D heehee
I'm pretty sure there is a lot of truth in that last statement, lol.
Also, I haven't had that much social encounters for over 9 months. Sometimes a friend came over, sometimes there were a couple of friends, but never more than five. I'm so used to being by myself (except for my girlfriend who's there during the evenings and the weekends), that it was a huge step to go out and face so many people all at once...
I hear you! I also am not a fan of hordes of people- it exhausts me!
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very festive mood in your blogs, love your colorfull photographs, very lovely article...love your style my friend simplymike.
Thanks a lot for your kind words, @ykdesign :0)
That looks awesome! Such a cute little festival!
Well, I like kids... as long as they're not my own. I don't have the patience nor the will to become a 24/7 nanny for the rest of my life.
Thanks for the article, great photos! It's been a long time since I've visited Belgium. A really long time...
I don't even like them when they are not my own lol. Of course thefe are a couple exceptions, but not that many :0)
The Rolling Stones said it best, "you can't always get what you want, but you get what you need."
So glad you had fun; I loved the look of all the camper vans too!
How do you manage to do the gardening at home with your back?
Submitting this to c-squared too :)
And I see you finally made 60!! Congratulations :)
Apparently the Stones were smarter than they looked, lol.
No, that statement is absolutely correct.
How doI manage the garden? Not, actually. By now I can water the plants if Iuse the hose, but that's about it. And pick tomatoes, if they are easy to reach, lol.
The garden is a real mess this year. Everything is overgrown with weeds. My girlfriend has done all the absolute basic stuff all season long, while I have been looking from the sidelines.
Dortunately once you put a plant in the ground, it does most of the work itself, lol
Thanks for submitting to C-squared.
About the rep score: I was so tired of seeing it go to 59.85, 59.89 and so on that I threw a bot at it to get rid of that frustration ;0)
hahaha they don't look very clever, do they?
It must have been difficult not being able to do much all summer, seeing as you love it so much. And if I remember correctly, your girlfriend's not a huge fan of the whole thing?
Good idea with the bot thing. I'm currently at 59.53, but am not panicking yet ... it'll happen when it happens I guess :)
You're welcome re: c-squared too. Your garden journal posts are really beautiful!
Thanks. Those gardening posts are the perfect example of the huge difference I can see in the posts which I write from the heart and which I overthink ... :0)
It has been a pretty frustrating summer indeed. But something good came from it: my girlfriend found out gardening isn't all that bad. She often even enjoyed it :0)
Hey that's awesome!! About your girlfriend enjoying gardening; it opens up a whole new world when you imagine the two of you doing it together, doesn't it?! :) So nice.
haha, still over-thinking :)
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Even a little bit of fun sometimes can go a long way to making us feel better. Hope your back will continue to heal an your endurance will get strong again! 💚
Thanks. After the hangover had passed, I have had a couple of days I felt really good. Let's call it 'after-fun' ;0)
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This is such a great post so I decided to add it to my daily curation of posts from School of Minnows!
Much love!
Thanks a lot. I feel honored :0)
I so glad you had some fun, you deserved it after 8 months 😊 and the lesson we all learn from your story is very good. We must appreciate what we have. True.
True. It is something we forget too often. Most of the time, we're focusing on what we want, instead of appreciating what we have.
It's a though lesson, though. I'm working with it for these last 8 months now, and still I find myself wanting things that are still out of my reach. And then I start to feel bad for all the things I can't do (yet), while I should be focusing on all the things I can do. Less than 4 months ago, I could barely stand on my feet, and although it is too soon to pick up my wall-climbing hobby again I shouldn't feel bad about that. Instead, I should feel great that I can already ride a bike again :0)
Yes hun. Focus on what you can do now and be grateful for it. I know how you feel, I have a double herniation surgery on my lower back years ago and I couldn’t move for 6 months. 😕
I just found out that the English translation for my condition is 'slipped disk', not hernia.
But I guess the result is the same: I'm barely able to do anything and that's been going on since the first surgery in February. And before I decided to get the surgery, I had been living with the pain for more than a year.
I guess you can understand the frustration of being locked up into your own house, not being able to go anywhere and being dependent on others for practically everything...
Did you completely recover?
I learned that ‘slipped disk’ is not the correct word, as the disk can never slip. It is disk herniation or bulged disk and in very bad cases, ruptured disks. I had one disk that bulged on both sides of the spine, and bothered my sciatic nerve so the pain was horrible from back down to my both legs, coudn’t get out of the bed. I was desperate and did surgery. That was 15 years ago. Now they have injections and you don’t need surgery, they say. I recovered but I am still very careful with my spine. I never lift stuff, I never sleep on my belly, stuff like that. My back hurts when it’s bad weather. It sucks.
What you describe is exactly what I have/had. Unfortunately, in my case, it was so bad that injections wouldn't have helped. I was completely against surgery. For more than a year I tried every kind of therapy, but nothing helped. And then I saw the x-rays (scans?) they took, and even I could see surgery was the only way out.
After the scans I had to wait 4 more months untill the surgery, and in the end I couldn't stand up, I couldn't sit, I couldn't do anything anymore, except being in terrible pain.
Two weeks after the surgery, the problem returned, just like that. Exactly the same disk. So, another surgery was scheduled. In those two months between the surgeries, they gave me the heaviest painkillers they had, and they just didn't work. The only effect they had was that my body got addicted to them. After the second surgery, it was like I had to go cold turkey after taking some kind of hard drug. Nasty!
Apparently, I have the back of an old lady. It will probably happen again. That's what makes me very, very careful. And scared to do something wrong.
In two weeks, Ihave a check up scan. I really need the confirmation. I mean, the pain isn't as bad as it was, not by far, but most days there is still (a liitle) pain. I'll be relieved to find out where I stand: is it back, or not...? So, I keep my fingers crossed that the pain is something in my head, because I'm so used to being in pain.
But just like you, I will have to be careful for the rest of my life...
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It’s not going to happen again. Please be careful, like I am, and you will be ok. I promise you. 💕
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TrufflePigIt is a shame you don't live closer. I probably have enough stuff to make stacks of those signs. Not done any woodwork all summer but still have a lot of stuff left that needs to be worked up.
I now have this mental image of you trying to ride home all buzzed out. I would have broke my neck for sure.
It was close lol. There were a couple of times I had to use the breaks on maximum force to avoid driving into the bushes, lol.
We ctually have such poles ourselves. When we got married last year, out theme was 'Steampunkers in Wonderland', so we made those sign posts with arrows that said things like 'Nowhere' or 'Down the rabbit hole'.
I'll see if I can find a picture...
Here's one:
Click image to enlarge
I absolutely love that! Also sounds like a really fun theme. I remember now seeing some pictures in an old post. I remember because I fell in love with your outfit.
Did you save your signs for your garden?
Maybe that will knock the image out of my head. You upside down with you feet kicking in the air and top half buried in a bush. Now there is a cheshire cat moment for sure.
I think I am in love with Steemit just for the creativity nudge it provides. Now I am wanting to go make little sign posts. Or a collage with a Cheshire Cat lol
It looks like you guys enjoyed so much! Thank you for sharing us your experience!
Thank you for letting me share it with you :0)
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This looked like a great time!
I love local festivities.
At least you had some fun. And also I agree, most times when we don't wanna go to an event or party, we end up loving the experience if we just accept to go. Seems I always forget it when the time comes tho. lol
Cheers for the read and wish a fast recovery and crazier festivals in the near future.
Thanks.
What you say is true: it's always the ones you don't feel like going to that turn out to be the best. And I tend to forget it every time again ;0)
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Glad you make it to fair after 8 months and had some good time... I was not aware of your 2 operation....it hurts...i had a small strain in back side during some stretching excercise and trust me it made me cry...for 10 days i could not move out of bed...i use to roll out of bed only when need to use restroom. Uffff...it still made goosebumps......i can imagine the pain you gone through....hats off🙏
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I cân tell you I've been going through hell these lsst eight months. Had my first sliped disk surgery in February. Wasn't allowed to do anything to lie down and do some careful walks around. Two weeks after the surgery, the same problem.occured again. Had my second surgery in May. Another 6 weeks of doing nothing but staring qt the ceiling. Not being able to czrry anything heavier than half a kilo is really frustrating. You need to ask for help for anything.
Finally, it's getting a little better. I can drive a car again - not too far, but it is better than nothing - and I've started some training sessions to make the muscles in my back stronger.
However, I'm still living with pain every day. Since I had been suffering from the condition for a year before I decided to get surgery, that means I haven't had a pain-free day in more than 18 months.
That really gets to you...
Good to hear you are recovering thats better.....18 months of pain is too much...i can feel the pain you went through...
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