Empty Nest Syndrome

Have always laughed this off. ENS. What nonsense! When your children are children no longer and fly the coop, you simply start doing 'fun things' again yourself. ENS is a silly 'oh look at poor old me' attention grabber for menopausal  women.

Or is it?
There I was, Saturday evening. Son was playing a tennis game; ETR not before midnight. Daughter was with her lover; ETR not before Sunday afternoon (when I was expected to pick her up from the next island over - did I mention we Wetlanders live on islands?). Husband was having a middle-aged snooze above his accounts.
And there I was. Alone (well, with Gina and Viggo, but they didn't say much) in a suddenly deadly quiet room. Thinking that this ENS lark wasn't as ridiculous as I'd thought.
So I shook myself, lit some cosy candles, put on some cheerful music, poured myself a whiskey (I drink Jameson these days) and despaired.

Usually I can entertain myself (and aforementioned cat and dog) by practicing my singing, but this would mean waking up my husband, so this was a definite no-no. Also, it meant practicing my guitar was out of the question, especially as these days I try to play slide. (Helped by a wizard on YouTube called Matt Smith).

So. What to do? The only thing I could do. Write.
I wrote a Haiku.

Empty silent room

both kids in pursuit of love

empty nest syndrome

It didn't help.

Help! I believe this ENS is here to stay...

Photograph by Wibe Koopman Photography