Els van Wijlen has been living for more than 30 years with her husband 'de Kuuk' in a small village in Brabant. In 2006 they visited Thailand for the first time. If possible, they go on holiday there twice a year. Their favorite island is Koh Phangan, which feels like coming home. Her son Robin has opened a coffee cafe on Koh Phangan.
Finally it's done, the shell curtain
I picked up hundreds or maybe thousands of shells. Very beautiful, very ugly, big, small, broken or very cool, shiny and dull shells….
Walked along the beach and over the pier for hours, searching the (pebble) beach for shells with a sharp eye. The loot is collected in a plastic bag, the handle of which cuts my fingers nicely at the end of the mission. Then home on the scooter to wash them, then the Kuuk drills a hole in them and I thread them on a fishing line. When there are enough strings, they are tied around a bamboo slat and hung. A beautiful shell curtain is the result.
During those hour-long shell collecting walk along the beach, I actually got a philosophical highlight. I think that life is actually like a curtain of shells. The opportunities in life are like the shells on the beach. You have to go out and grab every opportunity. Pick up anything you think could be anything. Sometimes it's not too bad, sometimes it's disappointing, sometimes a wave comes along that takes what you want.
And you have to bend and bend a lot and bend your knees, because the closer to the ground, the better you see things. And then sometimes something comes up; the one time all sorts of profound thoughts, another time the netmates lunch.
You burn your shoulders, sprain an ankle, you get a stiff neck, and after an hour you're crazy. But don't give up, just keep picking!
Because all those collected shells eventually form your own shell curtain. And if you take a step back and look at the whole, you see that all those shells, the beautiful and the ugly mixed together form a beautiful whole.
Or something.
Well… I'm not a philosopher, of course.
Nice piece Elsa. Where is your son on Koh Pangan? Then I visit his coffee cafe.
Beautifully written and yet also a bit philosophical 🙂
Nice story Elsa. We spend the winter in Hua Hin every year. There I also walk along the beach every morning and I also collect dozens of shells every year. Also a nice idea to make a curtain out of it. Regards, Jeanine.
Wonderful story, beautifully told.
Still a bit philosophical.
If all those shells that held so much life could talk about what they've been through, you'd be amazed. All those shells are grateful to Els for giving them a second life from her.
Nicely done Els.
Nico B
Good story.
You can get inspiration from that.
Not just about shells.