Pasen the Dutchie

So we rented a car this morning. Even in a Ford Ka, I like to drive. I like the open road. I like the "I can stop this moving vehicle if I damn well please" - freedom - of driving myself around. B- doesn't drive. Its scary and anyway his license just expired.

Get your motor running... If Are Seven were here, he'd send me a kick-ass driving play list for my iPod... head out on the highway.

"So, where ya going?" you ask.

Well, you see in Holland we get Good Friday off as well as what I like to call Good Monday, making for a Damn Good Four-Day Weekend. And actually we don't know where we're going. We tried to book a few places in Belgium, down near Luxembourg, but everything seems to cost more than we want to pay or is booked on Saturday. So we'll wing it. See where our travel bugs lead us. Love it.

After even my limited exposure to the Dutch language, I'm becoming fascinated with its affect on the English language, particularly American English. I'm convinced that bad American English grammar is a direct result of Dutch influence. See, what sounds like bad English is actually good Dutch.

Take for instance the phrase: "You were rich." In Dutch you'd say, "Je was rijk." If you've ever been to any 'back woods' then you might have heard something along the lines of, "well yew was rich, but now yer just 's po' 's may.

To tie this all back to pasen, or Easter as we English-speakers say, our beloved Easter egg-dye, Paas, was specifically marketed to Pennsylvania Dutch. Well, I'll be.

Happy Ees-tuh! Bock! Bock!