Categories for Rotterdam

Difficult

A day has past since i made my decision not to move in with a friend. I’m happy with that, thinking about it now.But i have put myself in a difficult position. I need to find another place this week.

I still have some money, so i’m not thrown out on the streets. I can take care of myself for the first two years.

Today i made a walk. I sat for a while in the center of town, at the Westersingel near the small canal running through it. Trying to clear my head, trying to get a grip on all the feelings running through me.
I’m meeting some of my best friends this evening and tomorrow morning to have a talk with. I will post a message on Facebook. Posting this here. And i have subscribed to several anti-squad organizations who have rooms and houses available in Rotterdam for a small rent.

I will manage!

Published on June 3, 2020 at 6:00 by

A walk, something to eat and a good talk

A bike with flowers on our way to the forest
The clematis growing on the street leading towards the Kralingse Bos.
The nest of a little bird whose name i forgot of course.
Decaying trees
The sun!
Edible plants Nitai had picked. I have put them in a booklet in my bag. For me to find in years to come. 🙂
A spider's web
A moorhen with two young ones
Published on May 6, 2020 at 6:00 by

A walk around

Today i made a short walk to the Vredestuin Noord and back. On my way over there i walked past the canal. I love the month of May. Exquisite!
The sun is shining bright. The shadows are deep and dark.
Besides the bike path there are many flowers. Mainly daisies here.
A borage
I went to the Vredestuin Noord. This path to the greenhouse is lovely this time of year.
This field of magenta flowers is lovely too.
A majestic tree on the Noordsingel. Or is it the Bergsingel here?
Published on May 5, 2020 at 6:00 by

Many questions

This afternoon i went out to get some groceries. I needed salt, which i got from the Gimsel. I also bought there peanut soup for a lost day, a seitan sandwich and a raisin small bread. I met someone i knew there. We had a short talk. I walked on to Harolds, the shop for painting and drawing and all that stuff, close to art school. It was open, but you could only pay with your debit card. Which i had forgotten. So further on to the HEMA.

I wanted to buy some new pens. Just before i walked out i had found out a close friend has become a father over the weekend. I felt so happy with that news! So i checked the toys in the HEMA and finally decided on a small thing to give him one day. Elin is the name of our new world citizen. Lovely!

Going on. I saw the news on the big board at the Beursgebouw, Stay healthy, stay safe! At that moment i felt i was in some kind of dystopian movie. Next two keepers of the peace walked by. Another sign.

It felt so strange. The silent city all around me. Hardly any people on the streets. Everything so bright and sunny. But empty.

And i know, i understand. I do! I get this disease. I get it it is very contagious. But so far – as of today, Monday 20 April, in the Netherlands, the official death number today is 3.751. Two years ago in 2017/2018 there was a surplus of 9.400 influenza deaths in the Netherlands. That is a risk we are used to. That is a risk we take in life. We take it we can die when we step down a stairs, when we drive a car, when we enter a train, when we drink alcohol. Whatever! We know this and we accept this. An accident sits in a small corner. We accept this. We know our environment is not that healthy for us, but we take it.

But this, this corona, this COVID-19, this is too much. It endangers our most vulnerable people. The old, the sick. It is dangerous. We need to close everything down. We need to stay away from each other. The one and a half meter society is upon us. We are scared. Scared to death!

I’m not saying that we should accept this risk as it is. I’m still half convinced that we are doing the right thing. But i do realize there is a limit to this. There is an end date. Definitely.

I have read the post written by Karel Beckman called Nu stoppen met de lockdown – anders raken we onze vrijheid voorgoed kwijt (Stop with the lockdown – else we will loose our freedom indefinitely). It states clearly that a society without risk is a totalitarian society. Risk is a part of our free society. This is a statement i wholeheartedly agree with.

I follow the current situation with utmost interest. And a healthy dose of distrust. And many many questions.

Published on April 21, 2020 at 6:00 by

A spring walk in the Kralingse Bos

16.276 steps

A long walk today, all around the Kralingse Plas. I enjoyed the singing of the birds, the wind through the young leaves. The bluebells in some parts of the forest. Glorious. I hope someday i know more names of plants. Today i learned the name of the bluebells, boshyacinten in Dutch. It is their time right now. Blossoming in the shady parts of the forest.

Bluebells - boshyacinten

And more bluebells 🙂

One of the few places the wild garlic is growing in the forest

Published on April 20, 2020 at 6:00 by

Eastern

Today's walk. The same road there and back. At the Eekhoorn i bought an icecream 🙂
This afternoon just for my walk i shuffled the tarot cards and picked one for today. A heart, pierced with three swords.

The kievitsbloem, the fritillary
The kievitsbloem, the fritillary

Fluffy 🙂

Published on April 13, 2020 at 6:00 by

Two walks

This Saturday and Sunday i made long walks. Saturday one with 10.039 steps, Sunday one with 14.670 steps. Both times i went to the north part of Rotterdam, Hillegersberg and Schiebroek. I just checked to see if my plugin to draw my walks is still working, but it didn’t. And really, i’m too tired to invest a lot of time into trying out new plugins for this.

So i will leave it with one of the three photos i made in both walks.

The weather was lovely, one of the first real spring days here in the Netherlands.

Added these images on monday. This morning i thought, why so difficult? I can simply draw the walks i made. No fancy plugins needed at all!

My walk on Saturday 4 April
My walk on Sunday 5 April
Published on April 6, 2020 at 6:00 by