By Tim Valbracht 23:30 – Lake Michigan

Ten years ago I met a lady in Halifax who, since first laying eyes on her, I have never been able to forget. It started innocently enough as a blind date that my cousin had arranged for me. Having travelled together for three months they were able to get to know each other quite well.

Starting in Amsterdam they had sailed to South Hampton before heading along the western edge of Europe to Cadiz. They crossed the Atlantic via Tenerife and Bermuda before turning north along the eastern seaboard of the US, making stops in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and finally Halifax where I would be awaiting their arrival.

I was anxious to see him again and was equally curious about this lady he talked about all the time. In fact I was so excited about it all that I showed up at the port the day before they were due to arrive and, wanting to stay close by, I slept in the back seat of my rental car that night. In the morning I met some of her friends who were already in town preparing for the weekends festivities. I did not know anything about this tall Dutch girl but if she was anything like her friends then I knew I would fall for her in an instant.

When they finally arrived around noon and I saw her for the first time I was certainly not disappointed. She was a lot taller then I had imagined her to be and I spotted her long before I saw my cousin. I was awestruck by her beauty and quickly realized that I was not the only one who took notice of her arrival. People stopped and stared at her with a star-struck gaze as if she were a visiting Hollywood legend. When some one is this good looking and knows it, they often can be pompous and act with an air of indifference - but not her.

She took it all in stride and seemed not to notice all the attention she was getting. She was very much in her element and looked the part.

Reuniting with my cousin is always a special occasion and this time would be even more so. He was very keen for me to meet this Dutch lady that he cared about so much and he knew I would like her. Introductions were made and as I expected, I fell in love with her. We spent a glorious weekend together before I had to leave her behind to return to the realities of every day life back home in Toronto.

Since that weekend so long ago we were barely able to keep in touch save for a few brief visits in Amsterdam a month after we first met. I did manage to see her several times over the years when she would drop by in Montreal or Toronto but nothing ever came of it.

Recently that all changed when I found myself in a book store shopping for a gift when I spotted something interesting hidden on the bottom shelf. The book in question had what looked like a picture of her on the spine and when I opened it to a random page I discovered that it was indeed about her.

Yes my dear reader, as you probably have guessed by now, this tall Dutch lady that I fell for all those years ago is no other than the ‘Europa’ and, thanks in part to that book, tonight she is now rocking me gently to sleep as she idly slips south on Lake Michigan.

Together at last.