Hillegom – The Cedar Journal

Hummm… June 2021

The Cedar Journal June 25, 2021

I will start with a random act of kindness. Yes, I believe those people still exist in this crazy world.

Someone in Hillegom placed this ice cream on my bike.

Thank you universe for this wonderful random act of kindness. I asked people who were close to my bike if they had seen who had placed it there. Nope. Hummm… an ice cream angel. We all could use a few of those.

This hummm… happened in my back garden a few days ago. Butterfly love.

Hummm… Butterflies and dragonflies landing on me is nothing new. This one in our back garden landed on me several times while I was working. On my arm, my hat several times, then on a ladder with tools. Upon a closer look I noticed it had a damaged wing. Most likely at the end of its short life cycle. I was happy it found our garden as a resting place.

While on vacation we saw plenty of Hummm… although our cameras were not always available to catch the moment. As always clothes that have been dislocated from the person seemed to be a theme in our Hummm… finds.

A hat in a tree along a canoe route. Not uncommon.

Hummm… a belt in a tree along a canoe trail? That is a new one for us! It does take a great deal of effort to lose a belt in the woods.

Then the birds are adding to the already thick June Hummm… digital file.

This is a multi purpose house as a bird found a way to make a nest here. Hummm… was she successful?

While at the local strawberry farm… I got surprised when I went for a nice ripe strawberry and a bird popped up in my face.

A beautiful nest hidden in the strawberries.

Disclaimer… we find some things to make us think and ask hummm…. The following pictures may not be appropriate for some of my readers. I thought I should warn you first!

Hummm… I wonder what you can get at the last town listed on this sign? Maybe… Sex… Beer… Rum…?

This next photo was taken on a day trip out to IJmuiden to watch ships coming into the Amsterdam canal.

When we started to drive out of the parking area heading on our way home, the Hubby slammed on the brakes! I thought we had forgotten something.

“Did you see that?“ he asked

“What?“ as I scanned the grassy area for some rare bird.

“Look at that building we just passed!”

“OMG! That is a Hummm… for sure!“

A building off the beach in IJmuiden. We found it actually had a name.
*Man in Conflict with Nature*

So we have come to the end of the June 2021 Hummm file. Once July starts we will be fully vaccinated and will on the road a bit more so I am sure we will collect more of the items that make us wonder hummm…

Stay safe everyone!

Liberation Day 2020

The Cedar Journal May 5, 2020

75 years ago today the Dutch citizens danced in the streets to welcome the Allied Forces, their liberators after more than four years under Nazi rule.

Each year flags are hung to remember that day and to celebrate freedom. This year the national day off was, well less than normal.

We took the opportunity to head out on our first canoe ride of the year. We both needed to be on the water, to flex our canoe muscles, to free ourselves of the four walls of the house. I am usually on the water for weeks by May. Either in Minnesota or here but the last two years have presented some challenges. This year I am guessing most of my readers can relate to the cabin fever syndrome.

He travelled to Hillegom, NL to a place we have paddled before in the Spring. The canals lead through the tulip fields and usually are filled with color and scents of blooms.

The Bulb Canoe Route starting in Hillegom, NL

This was the first time we have had to place Cedar on our new (to us) VW Caddy. We were worried about how we would lift her to the much higher roof of this van. In fact we talked about it most of the winter, tried to watch videos of people who lift canoes onto higher profiles vehicles (no luck on that!), and finally came up with a system that seemed to work for us.

We love the fact that the VW Caddy has so much more room for our gear.