01-V-1977.

As has become customary, by springtime we'd go to Zajač for some kind of picnic - in part to be seen visiting, in part so that dad would keep abreast of the goings on in the village, as people would walk by and engage in conversation, and in part to sit on our property without obliging anyone with a visit, may they come to us. Like this time auntie Janja came with her little daughter.

This time the occasion was the mayday, she, dad, mom and I. The deal was that I'd drive to there, dad back, so we two could have a few drinks. Which we did, indeed, we hit the bleda mara [pale Mara] i.e. bloody mary, made from materials from Romania - canned tomato juice (properly washing the cans before packing, I don't get it how do they manage to get them so lousy, and it's not even proper banatian dust, it's more of some kind of dried scum) and soviet votka (водка), probably stoličnaja or moskovskaja, the better ones never reached Temišvar, or we simply weren't connected. And of polish, there was just viborova when there was, the žitnija or žubrova never. For pepper we didn't carry the grinder, something from a bag instead.

Dad fired up the barbecue, the same little fartgun of eight years ago, works like real and we weren't gunning for any large amount. To differ from the other series of shots, down by the karaula*, this time we were up in the acacia forest, or by it, it's what was providing the shade, what we planted last year. The camping table and chair also fit in škodilak's trunk, so we sat like proper.

We two had nice fun, made daisy chains and decorated our heads, some with flowers and some with votka. My folks were maybe casting unsatisfied looks but kept mum, it's still better if we play it out here than at home, and whether auntie Janja will gossip, we don't care, she'd invent something if there was no meat to the story, so why pretend to keep the appearance, radiomileva must have its fodder. Or we did it when she already left, I guess she also had to serve her holiday lunch.

----

* border guard's house, in this case about a kilometer from Sava, built before 1918 when the river was the border to Austrohungary.

---

Mentions: auntie Janja, radiomileva, škodilak, Zajač, in serbian

27-VII-2025 - 27-III-2026