Tag: tulips

Spring in Europe

March 8, 2022

Spring here is usually a time of joy. Flowers start to peek out of the warming soil. Tourists fill the restaurants and our roadways. People make money and enjoy life.

For the last two years, the flowers still peeked out of the soil even when we were in COVID lockdown. we could enjoy the spots of color in the natural World. Life continued although altered in masks, vaccines, bogged down with protests and conspiracy theories. But, life as we experience it still remained.

Now in the last eleven days the reality of life as we know it has come into sharp focus. There is a thin line between life and death. What we do each day will determine how we view the next day or the day after next or next year or the years of our children and grandchildren. Carpe Diem!

War is not anything new.

Horrific and brutal.

Destructive and violent.

The human race has never lived without war…but we could!

WE as collective of humans can each enjoy the Spring flowers, the fresh air, the smell of laundry coming off the clothesline without the fear of attack, without worry that our neighbor might shoot us. Without the need to have a weapon in order to “protect” our property. But, we must stand and say enough violence is enough!

I was so moved over the weekend when so many thousands of people marched to ask for NO MORE WAR! In support of the Ukranine people who have suffered from this brutal attack from the Russian President.

No matter what you feel about how the American or European leadership or NATO is responding to this situation we all should step back. Look at the human toll.

As a collective of humans should we allow this to continue?

My answer is NO! I feel (after three combat zones of experience) that as a human I want to let other humans experience peace! No more blanket bombs, weapons of any sort! What a nice friendly World that would be…

No, we won’t be able to change human nature of being pissed off when the chickens you have in the your yard make a bit more noise than necessary, or being pissed off at the guy on Sunday who runs a chainsaw thus destroying the peaceful day everyone was having but… we could move forward in a more peaceful way without weapons. Hard to accomplish, yup it sure is.

Are we there yet as a human race? My guess is that we are not, but I can sure try my best to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Spring will come no matter what to us here in Europe.

Flowers will bloom.

Tourists may or may not come.

I will survive and so will my will to be a better human through kindness. Carpe Diem.

© The Cedar Journal, 2021, all rights reserved.

Overnight Camping

April 26, 2021

Sometimes living close to everything has advantages, like going camping on the whim of the moment.

We have a small nature camping 11 km from our house that is close to the beach and the North Sea. I have been wanting to test out our new tent we purchased for longer canoe trips. Last Monday the weather cooperated although a bit cooler we packed for our trip.

A test of how much of our gear would fit in our bike wagon. 😳

Since it is so close to home, we decided to use the bikes on this trip. Good exercise to kill a few COVID kilos we have gained and good for the environment as we peddled instead of using the Caddy.

Fully loaded and starting our Monday adventure.
After weaving through Lisserbroek we stopped along the ringvaart canal before going into Lisse

As we entered Lisse, instantly it felt wrong. In April, in years past I have rode this same route day after day to my seasonal job at the Keukenhof Garden. This same route was crowded with traffic, even in the early hours of the morning. This year, with COVID closing everything it was devoid of traffic, tourist, and the normal bustle of an April tourism season. It just felt weird, other worldly.

As we got to the cycle path next to the Keukenhof Gardens, it was a bit busier with elderly cyclists and walkers but the gardens were like a ghost town. Sad, as this time of the bloom season brings over 35,000 tourists per day through the gates with thousands more coming to the area to look at the patchwork of colorful fields in bloom.

One of the fields in bloom just outside Lisse.
Arrival at the camp ground.

We arrived at the camp ground to find it busier than we would think for it being a Monday. The RV area was full, and we were not the only ones braving the cooler temperatures to tent camp. I had already been warned by a friend who has been out several times this year camping that areas are full. We also have seen that when we have gone online to make reservations that many places are nearly booked for the summer.

We pulled out our gear and set up our new tent. A Kelty Night Owl 3.

The Kelty Night Owl 3 all settled for the overnight camping.

This location had plenty of room between tents and is located in a wooded area next to the protected sand dune natural barrier from the sea. We could hear the wooded area was alive with bird activity. We were not able to capture any of it on film as we didn’t have space enough to bring the larger camera.

We cooked a very nice meal of chicken/rice/mushroom soup.

Still loving my Sea to Summit cooking gear and my Jetboil camping stove.
Bundled up for the cool night.

We had a reasonably good night of sleep. I could hear all the night noises, traffic, airplanes, but also nature, foxes yipping in the sand dunes, owls hooting from their roost and we woke to a multitude of birds singing.

In the morning we reverse packed all our new gear in under a half hour and were ready for our return trip.

Last minute packing of the bikes for our return trip home.

We said our goodbyes to the campground help and headed for home. This time through De Zilk between the flower fields.

Stopped to take pictures while in De Zilk

Within an hour we were back at home for a coffee and apple pie. Gear was cleaned and repacked for our next adventure. Our spirits were renewed and refreshed.

Until our next posted adventure… stay safe and remember to “Leave no trace” when camping in nature.

© The Cedar Journal, 2021, all rights reserved.