There are two prerequisites that are obligatory for every blogger – we lawyers call these kind of prerequisites conditio sine qua non. These conditions are a working imaginative brain and pictures of things we do. For the last week or a bit more I have been having bad headaches that are mostly connected with some teeth issues I have been having. At times the aches and pains get so bad that I can barely keep a lucid thought. That basically makes it difficult to form a nice and coherent story. The picture condition is mostly for those bloggers that do not have the superior ability to command the written word or the exceeding mastery of the language to entice the readers to their blogs without colorful pictures to distract them from a shitty story we are telling. Yep, that is why I need pictures on my blog – the perfect distraction to elevate my blog to the level that is not a complete waste of time for those who stumble upon it.

Due to the complete absence of both necessary conditions this week, I kind of struggle to sit down and write. While the above is completely true, it may not be the absolutely sole reason for the lack of a one-per-week post. Yea, the missing ingredients, coupled with the binge-watching of The 100 are kind of the whole reason of the missing post(s). That and maybe the goalless existence made possible by the absence of our kids in our lives and Bob´s your uncle.

So for the past week and a half we (my wife and I) have done so many interesting things, but I only have a couple of pictures to prove it. Somehow, doing things without the kids to share in the experience does not seem to have the same levity to it, despite the fact that we enjoy our moments without kids. It is just that there have been too many of those moments. Also, our kids that have been spending their last three weeks of holiday´s at their grandparents house in Croatia, do not seem to share our sentiments of longing – meaning, they do not miss us at all. Nope, not at all and they are not shy about telling us that. Still, I really enjoyed seeing them last weekend when we visited them. But by mid-Sunday they were anxious for us to leave, so that they could go back to their daily dose of playing games and then other things.

We, on the other hand, had no other option but to get back to our life without kids. So this weekend we tried some more SUP-in on the Kočevje lake, which is one of the cleanest lakes in the country. I have gotten much more comfortable with the SUP and have been able to enjoy it to the full extent. Sliding across smooth surface of the lake watching the horizon almost makes you feel like you are walking on water. But during the highlight of my self perceived holy experience I spotted something in the water. First it seemed like a patch of mud or debris, but this “water debris” suddenly started to move on my approach and soon it separated to reveal a pack of alarmingly large catfish. And when I say alarmingly, I mean my legs started to shake just by looking at them and it wasn´t the exhaustion of the stand-up-paddling. The fish were huge, biggest I have ever seen. So, I rowed the boat to the shore (the speed dictated by my need to get out of the territory of the man-flesh eating catfish – they had to be catfish from hell, no other thing would explain it) and did not go back to the deep water again. The same day I got to help a really good friend do some work in the woods. I think myself a strong person, but after four hours of hard labor it took me a whole Sunday to regain my strength.

But as I said, I have almost no pictures to prove the story. I have some pictures from our afternoon outings to Iški Vintgar and Draga lakes near Ljubljana. And one picture of me going crazy with a saw in the woods.

This is the last week without kids and I confess, I miss them plenty.