Crying on the Beach

It was exactly a year ago that my wife and I visited the Dominican Republic. I do enjoy our foreign holidays and as an English Town Crier, I take every opportunity to do my bit to foster good international relations, as you can see below.

On the boat trip, we struck up a friendship with a lovely couple from the Midlands. During the course of conversations we learned that this was a very day for them as it was their fifth wedding anniversary! Here is a photo of the happy couple with my wife, June.

“Oh, how wonderful…… congratulations”, we exclaimed as we guzzled our way through our third “Santo Libro” (I think that’s what they called it) – a most pleasant concoction of Caribbean Rum and Sprite. Highly drinkable,  I might add. June also insisted that I should “do a cry” for them to mark the occasion, explaining to them that I’m a Town Crier, who does a lot of these sorts of things.  Kim and Phil thought it was a wonderfully novel idea. Now how fortuitous is that – to have a Town Crier handy, on your beach, to announce your fifth wedding anniversary? By this time I was well into my fourth Rum and Sprite and had completely lost all inhibitions. anyway.

So, without any regalia, no bell, scroll or tricorne, I stepped forward, on a beautiful sandy beach, up to my knees in water, wearing only shorts and perhaps, rather appropriately, one of my particularly LOUD shirts. My sun hat stood in for my tricorne. (I love my San Francisco Rain Forest Café sunhat.)

(video excerpt)

With a sharp intake of breath, I bellowed a hearty “OYEZ, OYEZ, OYEZ!” at the top of my voice, startling a good many sunbathers and swimmers, I might add!

(video excerpt)

So there you have it……… an impromptu proclamation, in the blazing sun, on a sandy Caribbean beach, near the palm trees. I tell thee, it doesn’t get a lot better than this!

Incidentally, the video of the full cry is still on my Facebook page……. if you haven’t fallen asleep yet. (Photos>albums>videos).

It’s only that little backwards stagger, at the end of the cry, that gives away just how intoxicated I must have been.