Romancing Alone
"The engines roared. The boat broke the grip the tide and the dock had conspired to keep them bound to land, to their mundane life. They headed across the river that danced with the last glimmering rays of light the sun could manage to shoot over the horizon. They could see the silhouette of the bridge and the old city coming into view. Sitting at the back of the boat, he placed his arm around her shoulder and gently stroked the curls in her long brown hair. It had been awhile since he had felt this close and this at peace with her. Slowly she turned to him. He turned his head slightly to meet the gaze of her big blue eyes. He noticed that they hadn't changed in over twenty years of loving her. She carefully moved her lips near his ears and yelled, "DAMN! THE ENGINES SURE ARE LOUD RIGHT HERE! WE SHOULD HAVE SAT SOMEWHERE ELSE!"
Had my wife read this paragraph in one her romance novels I'm quite sure she would have found it somewhat romantic, save the last line of course. Living it however, she failed to appreciate any romantic qualities the situation seem to present at all.
This past weekend I took The Wife downtown for some much needed "us" time. I booked us a room at a nice hotel overlooking the river. I tried to be as romantic as I know how but seemed to miss the mark more times than not. We had a great time, a fabulous time to tell the truth. God knows we needed it. Still, the weekend left me wondering if the romance so many women seem to be seeking isn't right under their noses more times than they recognize? Or is it some unobtainable action that can only reach it's true potential in the bleached white pages of a romance novel? And if that is the case, do we men really stand a chance of turning fiction into reality? I wonder...
3 comments:
Great post, David!
It was really sweet of you to plan a romantic getaway... and don't think the effort goes unnoticed, because I'm quite sure it doesn't.
Romance novels are a great escape because they have absolutely NO basis in reality. Other than that, being a Girl School failure, I can't speak to any of the other concepts because the thought of MSU trying to incorporate ANY kind of bodice-ripper "romance" into our daily lives makes me shudder with horror. Good God, what a clusterfuck that would be. Why? Because men don't act like that. That's why the books are so marvelous - they're written by women and they're all about escapism. If men REALLY acted like that, NONE of us would ever get anything done. If men REALLY acted like that on a regular basis, trust me when I say we women would round you all up and store you safely on some remote island, just to get you out from underfoot. Romance is nice... constant "romance" is a pain in the friggin' ass.
True to my ADHD nature, have you tried dressing up as a pirate? Pirates seem to get ALL the nooky in the cheesy romance novels.
"Good God, what a clusterfuck that would be. Why? Because men don't act like that. That's why the books are so marvelous..."
-Daughter.
Yeah, what she said!
I suspect what your wondering is also true, RT, even if the action is under our nose, it's easy to miss the romance in it.
I think it's great that you went out of your way to do something special for her. Your a sweet husband. (Can I give James your number?!)
LOL! I've thought about the pirate angle... but that damn eye patch ruins my depth perception, which might be a problem and I shudder to think of what kind of kink would be considered with a man that has a wooden peg for a leg and a parrot on his shoulder. :0
Romance for most men is awkward because we have to ACT romantic and that's just how it comes off, fake. For us being asked to "be romantic" = "please make a fool of yourself so I can laugh at you."
At least I can say I know two women in the world that recognizes the farce of manufactured romance.
Jen: I'll do one better for you. I found a list of 101 romantic things a guy can do. I'll publish it for you to show James. Though you might be surprised at how many of them he already does. ;)
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