This week I made not my first kayak trip of the season, but a long train ride (2.5 hrs one way) to file my American taxes! UGH!
I don’t like doing taxes. I have to complete two sets of taxes. This never puts me in a good mood. Reading tax code, checking and double checking that I can still claim or not claim items.
Then what does the Dutch taxman want? I don’t read the Dutch tax code. Thank goodness my Dutch hubby does and when we file it is a simple process. In many ways I wish the American IRS would get a clue and make our filing a bit less complicated.
The arrival of the blue envelope today in our postal slot at the house is just the reminder that the Dutch filing season is going to start. Dutch tax season starts 1 March. One of those blue envelopes at any other time of the year with my name on it throws me into near heart attack mode as it mostly means I have filed something wrong. Never a good feeling!
Now that I have my US taxes off my desk… I go back to my Spring kayak/camping planning… not when the day looks like this!
A rare clear blue sky in February. Who can stay inside on a day like today?
I did a quick internet search to see if my local greenhouse (where I can pick tulips) was open for the season. Not yet!
I needed a reason to motivate myself to ride my bike in this wonderful weather. Today the motivation was to check out kayak launch sites. Kanoroute had listed a site in Lisse close to where I live. I had launched from the site years ago and I now had the feeling it was no longer in existence. After a 15 minute bike ride I found out I was correct. The launch was where the old Lisse canoe club was located on the Ringvaart. The canoe club has moved, but the launch is still there with warning tape blocking the water access. The tape is what my hubby would call a suggestion (meaning most Dutch would use the launch anyway). I think it means it is not usable.
Lisse Canoe Club launch on the Ringvaart. Would you launch here?
On to the next location, Hillegom. Kanoroute has a launch point in the park but I had researched online and was hoping to find a better location.
Hillegom is an old harbor town. Before the mid 1800’s, Hillegom was located on the edge of the Haarlemmermeer. The Haarlemmermeer was the large lake that existed just south of Amsterdam. In the mid 1800’s, the lake was drained and tamed into the current 60km Ringvaart (canal). Hillegom has soul, charm and history. Where we live in the polder (the middle of the old lake), not so much charm, soul, or history. I always love biking in the town of Hillegom as I always find something cool that I have never seen before.
I was lucky today!
Boat dock in Hillegom
As I was checking out the launch area I found that a local flower shop had set a nice display of fresh flowers on the bridge. It reminded me that the Spring flower season is only weeks away.
Fresh flower display in Hillegom
This bridge has a date listed on it of 1724! That is older than the United States as a country. Perfect place for a future paddle.
Bridge in Hillegom from 1724!
A funny thing that happened while I was looking over the bridge at the water. An older couple walked passed me and the lady must have thought I looked depressed and was ready to jump.
She told me in Dutch “Don’t jump, the water is very cold today.”
I responded back that I wouldn’t and to have a nice day. Silently laughing to myself I took a final look around, jumped on my bike and headed back to the house inside the polder.
A 7.9 mile bike ride in the sun is not like kayaking in the sun, but it is better than any day I have spent this week reading tax code and filing taxes!
- Flower bike wagon in Hillegom. Denk aan Lente!
Doing two tax returns for the IRS and one the Dutch tax man must have been quite a pain. It must be great comfort for you to have a husband to do one for you. Exploring kayak launch sites in the sunshine must have been fun. The boat dock in Hillegom looks very inviting and safe to me. How could have looked depressed. I believe the lady was only joking. Greetings from distant Canada!
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Yes, never fun those taxes! Yes, I do believe she was joking, but I was very focused looking at the water, flow, depth, etc. I am sure she was surprised when she headed my reply and my accent that I wasn’t Dutch. Today I am a bit sore from such a long ride.
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I like to look at the tax envelope as the sure sign I am still alive! Always good to have that annual reassurance. That shot of the flowers really picked me up. It’s all dreary and wet here in the Midwest – still a few months away from the Spring flowers breaking free from their winter confines to brighten up the place. Just occurred to me, looking at all these waterways, that our idiot announcer Katie Couric had to recently apologize to your resident country.
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Yea, I am always apologizing for stupid comments my fellow country people make. The most common is calling Holland – Denmark! Really? I don’t even try to correct them anymore, just a waste of time. The flowers were amazing! I had to touch them to see if they were real as it is a bit cool here still. Thanks for stopping by!
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My husband is an accountant, and even he says the tax code is far too complicated! And considering that if we make a mistake and pay too little, we are not only charged for the extra amount we were supposed to pay but interest and penalties as well, it seems more than a little bit unfair to make filing taxes so hard. You have my sympathies!
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Thanks Ann again for stopping and commenting on my content. I will also take your sympathies on filing taxes. These always give me stress. I got simple the last few years, downsizing helped. They can’t tax what you don’t have! Plus- let’s face it at some point we all die and why not clear out some of the things now and spend the money so Mr tax man doesn’t get it? The pure fact that two countries want a piece of my hard work is even more of a reason to live simple, to simply live.
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