Putting Green Omerta

One of my undisputed favorite books as a boy was 'Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt', written by the North Frisian author Boy Lornsen. The book is about a boy named Tobias (=Tobbi) and a little robot (=Robbi), who embark on a journey together with a vehicle called 'Fliewatüüt' (which can fly like a helicopter, hence 'Flie', can float on water, hence 'wa', and can drive on the road like a car, hence 'tüüt'), invented by Tobbi and built by Robbi, where they must face adventures and solve puzzles. And along the way, they meet the Happy Matthias.

The Happy Matthias is a lighthouse keeper. He has lived in his lighthouse (with 177 steps) in the middle of the sea for thirty-five years and invites his surprising visitors to fried potatoes with fried eggs. He is also good friends with the Fast Fridolin - a dolphin who pulls the two with a rope to the North Pole. The Happy Matthias lives a simple life - with fried potatoes, grog, and his lighthouse - and is so happy in that very simplicity. The sea. The wind. The sun. Pickled herring for the Fast Fridolin. And occasionally perhaps a visit from a little inventor and a little robot.

Omertas Putting Green would be the scent for someone like the Happy Matthias - if he even wore one. Friendly and masculine in an uncomplicated way. Light-footed, but not trivial. Fresh, but not insignificant. Unexcited, but present. Extremely affordable to acquire and very economical in use - so there is more left for a bottle of rum and an extra herring for the Fast Fridolin. I will skip the parallels to that scent from France, which it indeed resembles quite astonishingly. That has already been said, it’s all true - but still, Putting Green deserves its own comment - and a friendly one at that.

Conclusion: a scent like a man alone on a dike, the sun at his back, and the sea breeze in his hair. And for the Happy Matthias, as he looks back from his lighthouse at the Fliewatüüt disappearing on the horizon.