Sometimes I sit at a location and just want to write something smallish about it. This one came up in my mind when attending an event in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

The marching band comes. They play the Dutch national anthem. It is the start of a concert of André Rieu in his hometown Maastricht. People are dropping at 8 while they still have to wait for another hour.
Picollos do their best to host people to find their seats quickly. They look quite. All smiles around Oscar. There are so many beautiful people around him. A lot somewhat older people, but in the bloom of their life. Also an elderly lady on a scooter. With her smile in her face, she radiates to be 10 years younger. She looks at every picollo with an intensity that Oscar has not seen yet.
She takes a picture of most of them.

Back and forth they walk with much enthusiasm. Smiling to everyone. They must be sweating a lot thinks Oscar as he sees some of the throwing more and redder in their face every time they pass him by. Oscar estimates there are 60 picollos supporting. By the looks of the lady, she enjoys them all and wants to hug them all or at least speak to most of them.

The crowd gets in a better mood now the marching band walks by.
The clock of the St. Servaas church watches it all with content. Overseeing the large picture of all the good things that are happening here. He wished it was like this inside the church every Sunday! Well, there are of course those coming from the Netherlands, but a large crowd is coming from abroad. Most likely they visit a museum in Amsterdam. A canal tide and then southwards to Maastricht to see the man with the violin that wants to put the waltz back upon the dancing and entertainment map. Oscar notices that one of the picollos names is Ilse as per her tag. Once asked, she replies the picollos are all members of a student club in the city.

The lady wisles as Ilse walks by. The clock turns nearly nine. Every minute Andrè can come in. The majority looks at the stage. Not Oscar, he looks at the lady that he sees taking picollo Ilse and pushes her in her bag. Like Mary Poppins! Oscar starts to should, but André comes on stage and the screams of joy overwhelm the shouting of Oscar.
Oscar has never learned what had happened to Ilse.

Steve
Written: July 2018