Gregor
The day I met Gregor, I remember like it was yesterday. Our paths crossed somehow, and that meeting yielded a great job. And great mutual affection. I do not know what it is with women – we fall for weird things. On a witty note, on uniforms, to speakers of the language in which the “l” is soft. Gregor is Slovenian. So, a member of the last group. Besides, he is also endlessly witty and cheeky, and handsome so it can easily belong to the first group. He is an actor by vocation, so even a uniform is not a problem. In our society, he fits as a long-sought piece of the puzzle. He became a friend, a buddy, a pal. If it had not, who knows.
Some things should not be touched. Some water should not be riled. Everyone at least once found themselves in a situation that, upon termination, caused a headache on both sides. I firmly believe that we should be wise and know how to recognize them and bypass it. But it’s not always easy. Butterflies flutter in our bellies, the day is painted with incredible colors, our ears are filled with an Ode to Joy. The world is at our feet! So how to resist? How to get rid of the deception, the illusion, how not to get into that ingenious magic trick?
Better safe than sorry – the experience spoke from our old people. Of course, the devil never sleeps. He sneaks in like a thief, in a non-dangerous social gathering. All of a sudden, they begin to look at each other with a special glance. Tremble under the table due to the accidental touch of their thighs. The magician scattered silver dust from his hat, and the world goes out like a burnt-out candle. Eyes meet eyes.
I wonder what your solution is. Most often, without letting silver dust to settle on the ground, I run for the hills, no matter what! Maybe cowardly, but I’m like that, and it’s over!
And so it was with Gregor. The story ended before it began because Gregor is a friend, a buddy, a pal.
But if by any chance it would have turned out differently, maybe we would have breakfast today with a hot cup of coffee, fresh pastries coated with homemade apricot jam that the women in my family have been cast a spell at their men for decades. Thus, sitting alone in bed, I tuck the sheet under my chin and smile, lifting my coffee mug. Let it all go up, my dear Gregor! (For breakfast, he’ll be taken care of by his wife.)
TEXT – Karmela Vukov Colic
PHOTO – Robert Blaskovich
Grandma’s jam of grandfather’s apricot
Carefully peel ripen apricots and remove the seeds. Add a kilogram of sugar to the kilogram of peeled apricots. Stir and allow to come together overnight. Put them on the fire in the morning and bring to a boil. When it boils, reduce the fire (because who burns fast, burns out quickly). Remove the foam that forms on the surface (foam breaks every story). Cook apricots until they start to fall apart from pleasure. Now they need to be empowered with an unsprayed sliced lemon. Toss it suddenly, along with the peel. It will give the apricots a special taste. Cook for another 15 minutes, then pour the jam into the hot jars. Wrap them and warm them with a blanket and leave them until they are completely cool. This spell should be given time and space, like lovers. When the jam is cold close jars with the lid. Keep the jam in a cold place and consume in moments that seek strength and passion.
