one time i had a dream that my original ancestor in new york, naaktgeboren zonderbroek, arrived in town withouten any clothes.
naaktgeboren zonderbroek washed up from a trans-atlantic shipwreck. he landed at the beach at kingston point. as he was walking up the sand, he saw a group of ladies who were playing volleyball. they were twice his age. he was 14. when they saw him emerge from the cold water they all started to a laugh at him. he approached them and asked in dutch if they could help him. one of the ladies gave him her cotton robe and a pair of plastic flip flops. the robe had blue and white stripes. it was actually quite stylish. he asked if there was a town near by. he needed to find shelter and clothing.
the one lady told him he should walk up the big hill. this would lead him onto delaware avenue toward broadway. that would bring him into town. he walked doggedly up the street. he walked all the way to the stockade district. they opened the gates and let him in.
later that afternoon the lady who gave him the robe was walking to the post office on main street. instead of a swimsuit she was wearing business clothes. she saw him near the church. he smiled. she asked him what he was doing. he said he was sort of lost because of a shipwreck. she told him to come with her and she would have him over for dinner. she sent some texts with her mobile phone. she didn't tell him who she was texting.
when she got to her place, her roommates laughed at him with her robe. they gave him a t-shirt, some underwear, and a pair of jeans that fit him because he was quite skinny. they all ate dinner together. they ate salad and cheese, and bread with raspberry jam.
after dinner they asked him what his story was.
he told them that his name was naaktgeboren zonderbroek. he described his origins in breukelen. he told them how as an orphaned infant he floated into that town in a wicker basket, after a flood, with a black cat that steered the basket. he described his journey, six months ago, into utrecht to find a trade, his journey on the kaanal, his falling off the dike into the sea, his floating on his wooden shoes and navigation with his nightshirt as a sail, his rescue by a dutch ship bound for the new world, and the storm and shipwreck that dumped him on the banks of the hudson without his clothes.
they asked him if he was going to go back to holland or stay in kingston. he said he didn't know yet.
however, you and i, gentle reader, know that he did stay there and eventually marry and begin a famous line of descendants. but my dream ends here at this fateful dinner because the cell phone of one of the ladies rang, and that put a stop to my sleeping.
