7~(Magic) Leon

Meeting new people can be great, meaningful and enriching. Amsterdam has been a place that has held some really special people in my life. There has been a real hub and interwoven worldwide links here. One of the weekend visits a year ago made this apparent. Fee (now living in Hull where we originally met a few years ago), delivered me to the Overtoom to spend the Saturday with Eve. Eve and I then went to Sally’s (now in Morocco, originally from Australia, met a few years ago at a wonderful yoga retreat, lived and worked here for many years and shared some Magical Moroccan memories just recently!) yoga class and then the four of us girls grouped together for a coffee. Very cool.

 

Eating with the girls at a fancy restaurant.

It is always nice to meet new people too that are not new to your friends. So a dinner with Eve’s girls at a fancy restaurant one night and seeing her circle of people is lovely. The people you choose to have in your life reflect and tell so much about you.

Leon, the chair provider and scrabble contender on Doorstep, Overtoom 32, is someone that Eve may end up sharing a new apartment with. He is a pretty compelling character and worthy  of a blog entry alone. His manner, how he sees the world made my think of a book that we used in Year 3 Literacy: ‘Leon and the Place Between’.
Leon is from Russia and has lived in Amsterdam for over a decade. He was actually passing through here on his way to Canada but ended up staying- he says he loved the city, the cycling, the vibe of the place. His English, like Eve’s is amazing and he speaks four languages. Dutch, Russian, his local dialect from Russia and English. How he constructs his English is pretty perfect but coupled with his accent and manner, I find it entertaining. At some point Eve enlists his help for the kidnap of myself. We can not let her leave Holland. "Sure, sure I will help you with this, Eve," Leon says casually as if the act of kidnapping me comes as no surprise. Later, that day when they begin to speak in Dutch, I suspect they are hatching the plan. Whenever Eve speaks in her native tongue, I wonder whether or not she is a spy (how can it be that this entirely different sounding language flows so freely from this girl??). When I mention this, Leon has a fantastical thought that we could all collaborate and start afresh as a trio of agents, a small network. We would combine forces and utilize our skills- he would feign ignorance and speak disjointed English with a heavy Russian accent. Eve and I both impressed and very amused with his improvised sketch demonstrating this. Eve would use her looks, intelligence and language skills to ensnare. I could perhaps cook dangerous recipes spiked with poisons; laying traps using an innocent demeanour as decoy. These two impress me endlessly with their language skill.

Leon's first ever game of scrabble (played in English because my Dutch does not stretch very far, although he did teach me to say: ‘There is a bee in my pocket.’) and he and Eve lay play easily, only occasionally running a spelling by me. I liked the way Leon saw the board. Noting the words that went together- IQ and nerd. Eve and zen. Wanting to make beautiful words, contemplating whether there should be a winner by points and a winner from beauty. New to the game, he wanted to make the words go backwards, to the side and it all seemed very creative and abstract. Leon is vague, gentle and looks for the beauty in things. He is a gentleman, a capable manly builder but in touch with all the loveliness in the world around.

He joined us intermittently on the doorstep, between jobs and breaks. He talked about how he could build a little pool, sheltered by bamboo where we could relax. His vision seemed pretty out there as he gestured to the nearby drain that was covered in leaves and a few cigarette butts. Or we could have a pop up restaurant, with tables and chairs and pass the food from the basement windows- he did have the keys for the place. Maybe we needed a umbrella, extending from the restaurant next door to shade us from the midday heat.

 

Leon took me and Eve to the beach with our 1000 piece puzzle (we had deliberated on buying it the previous day as we had no space in our not so palatial sized princess apartment). He supplied us with the perfectly sized board on which to puzzle the day away. As we walked with our picnic to the beach, a beach new to Eve, he talked about the beasts. Two beasts which lived on this land, that we must not disturb. I was thinking of ‘The Gruffalo,’, a little bit of BS on his part and this great ability to see the world in a different way. He talked about meeting the beast last year, the fact there is two of them, they are surrounded by flies and one time he even approached the beast and attempted to stroke him. He said if we saw the beast, we must not show fear. Hmmmmmmm, okay, then. Leon, you are a funny storyteller. We deliberated where to sit. Magic Leon discovered the perfect spot and helped us up the steep and sandy hill, where we could set up camp in the sheltered grasslands, with a perfect view of the ocean.

Our unicorn puzzle, it turns out, is actually a picture of a horse. Galloping on a beach during sunset though gives it a unicorn feel. And we had to get it after I relayed the story to Eve of a very drunken Steph, cuddling into me and banging on about how she could do the splits in Mama Wolff’s unicorn slippers (Fee pointed out that there was absolutely nothing unicorn about these slippers and that they were in fact rather plain and ordinary; Steph swears even now that there was something unicorn about them and they will aid her to perform the splits). As we began to puzzle, the conversation became very limited. The edges took us over an hour and I, at first doubted Leon’s puzzle skills. His abstract brain and approach didn’t seem to be getting the job done! Concentrating again on a beautiful piece, finding the unicorn’s eye and noting it a special piece- Leon, the edges!!! But, he achieved more in one corner of the puzzle than me and Eve who flitted from one part to the next. It was thrilling to find after many seconds, sometimes minutes searching, a piece that was right. This is a REALLY hard puzzle. Stephanie and Lydia Wilson, the last time I puzzled was with you and you two do not look at the picture…I am sure this would take us years if we did not!

 

Dialogue  (or more like three different monologues) went as follows: “Blue, blue, blue with a little yellow…Where are you? Ocean pieces. You have the ocean pieces. This is a very beautiful piece. Unusual. Horse. Horse hair. The nostril of the horse. The nostril of the horse…”. Our utterings, should anyone have been around in this deserted location, would surely have been deemed very strange. Eventually, edges complete we packed up our belongings and I noticed the moon was watching over us.

Leon, entrusted to carry the puzzle, ensured us that if the beasts (apparently heard by him earlier as we were puzzling) approached, he would not sacrifice the puzzle. He would indeed distract the beasts as we ran to safety. Uh huh, do not under any circumstances let ANYTHING happen to this puzzle. It had taken us three solid beach hours to complete the edges. I did not care how dangerous these (imaginary) beasts were. We walked along the path and lo and behold: the beast on the hill, watching. As if by magic. The rabbit that the magician promised pulled out of the hat. “I believe it is from Scotland, Jess. So perhaps if he approaches, you can speak to him in some native language?” said Leon laughing. So the beast was really a beast. A bison that roamed this patch of Dutch countryside.

We almost were out of petrol and in the distance a petrol station appeared. Later, after we got back in the Dam just in time to eat and make our yoga class, we ambled on our bicycles home. Amsterdam looked so beautiful and the moon was prominent, canal waters glistening. Our minds felt so empty and our bodies quite surrendered: the fresh beach air, puzzling and yin yoga had quietened down all the usual chatter. A cyclist sped by, overtaking our snail pace. Eve, was that Leon?? Same hair, bag, jeans?? “Leon does not move that fast so it really cannot be.” Yes, you are right. We mused on: Does Leon even have a bike? Nooooo, he has to. How could you live here with no bicycle. But then again, what planet is Leon on anyway? (This is meant as a compliment, if you are reading, Leon).

 

Here in Amsterdam, you have to apply for a parking permit and must own your vehicle before you apply. It can take two years to come through and you then have to find somewhere to park it out of the city before you get the permit. Sort of awkward! The following week we are waiting for Leon to head to a Zouk dance class. We miss him on the street. He was driving, so one of use would croggy on our bikes. He is heading to the centrum, on foot, to meet us there. Eve doubts for a moment he will find it. Oh no, I am sure he will. Somehow, the universe, slipping through time and places, he will be here. Turns out he had been practically in Germany the day before, collecting special parts for a new building project and he has been racing (well, more moving, transcending through time and place) around and working this morning, pushing to make it in time for Zouk as he promised. He appears with seconds to spare only to find our class is cancelled. “This is so sad.” His reaction has me creasing up. He croggies Eve home as his car is back at Overtoom. He does in fact have two bikes. Maybe not so extra-terrestrial, after all.

 

While we bike home, I think of the story a story on our drive home from the beach about driving home to Russia a few years back. He likes to drive and has done many long drives across countries in Europe. Driving home that Christmas though to Russia was particularly memorable for Leon. He describes the change in the radio, hearing the sounds of the Russian voices and language, the below freezing temperature outside, the snow covered forests and mountains bright in the light of the moon and how he felt like he was being transported, back in time. That these beautiful landscapes were frozen in the moment, like a beautiful winter wonderland fairytale.

 

Zouk for the moment will remain frozen in time, maybe chance to try this dance again another day. Well, more time for puzzling. The next stage in our game. Conspiratorially, as Eve negotiated other dance classes, he tells me there is a terrible problem and our puzzle is missing. BAD NEWS.

The puzzle is found (Eve had a feeling it could be under the bed in the flat where we had left it, moved by the owner when photographing the property) and our euphoria and motivation to puzzle was spurred on, accelerated, by the momentary thought that it could be lost. When did you discover this, Leon? When did you think it may be lost? ‘Well, days ago and my heart was broken. The puzzle, you know. Our amazing puzzle and works, gone. But I could not break the hearts of two girls too.” So these things work out. But that is the kind of magic about him… Reminding me of that book we studied: ‘Leon and the Place Between’. Not everyone can see the magic, but Leon can and that opens up all sorts and casts beautiful ways in which to see the world around and also the places between.

We puzzle on and make incredible progress, over a full afternoon and evening. Leon notes that sometimes you find a piece and think it might not be quite right, but you want it so badly to be and suddenly it miraculously, magically slots together. A conversation ensues with a brief and loose understanding of scientific theories. Quantum physics says that everything is energy, so everything is influencing each other. As humans, we are looking it and changing it and it does the same back. Like the power of intention. So our vibrations and intentions are working together and are pulling this monstrous jigsaw to near completion. Within the next minute though, Leon has no longer got the magic pieces that slot so satisfyingly together, but meditates in the search for a singular piece for at least 12 minutes. Bedtime, 11:00pm. Where will we put the puzzle? Shall we not leave a note on it in case? Leon assures us if anyone returns that they will see the progress and leave it well alone. Have you not got a pen and paper in your bag of tricks, Leon? He suggests we leave a knife on top of the puzzle and that, rather than a note, will speak for itself.

My obsession with a section of the ocean will not allow me to retire. Just this one piece will complete the row. “You want that piece? I will find this piece for you. Yes, I will. I can do that,” says Magic Leon. “We will, girl,” says Eve. And  then, as if by magic (team work, intention or Quantum Physics) the piece is found. Slotting perfectly into place. Thank you (magic) Eve.