Winter in Amsterdam

May 2023
May 2023
March 2023
The Gouden Speigel and the Zilveren Speigel are two of the oldest buildings in Amsterdam. this is how they looked in 2009. they are located by the Stromarkt just behind the Luthernse kerk. A good way to locate is by going to Google earth.
Knollendammer Vaart van de brug Spijkerboor richting Oost knollendam
52Deg32’06″N4Deg49’33″E
2021
Ontario, Georgian Bay by Killbear Park.
Canadians have the fortunate opportunity to acquire a summer cottage.
This is used to get away from the hustle and bustle of their regular city lives; to get
back to the nature we Canadians are so lucky to have at our door-step.
My wife and I have good friends that have chosen to have a cottage. They have many
a time offered us to come up to visit them. The beauty of the nature, the seclusion and
ambiance is to behold. From the lunes diving for fish, the hummingbirds dashing past to
take advantage of the contents the bird feeder, to the rattle snakes sunning on the gravel
roadway, to the black bears making their visits known to all who live there. At night the sounds of
the many insects come to life, but most of all the dancing northern lights (Aurora Borealis).
Sitting in a lawn chair on the front deck you hear the lapping of the water on the shoreline
of granite and sand. Yes, the visual is amazing, but to close your eyes and listen to the life
around you, brings a peace that never tires.
This nature is no longer available to many parts of the planet. Through greed, necessity, global
warming many unique ecosystems have been lost. Humankind has to make a decision, now!
We all have step forward, and say,” Now we must work together to save our planet. Now we
must address hunger. Now we must stop polluting. Now we have to make all those leaders
accountable for their actions. ” These are the issues we need to address, now.
In past years I didn’t realize what was happening to our world. As a child We played outside in nature.
I remember climbing trees, running through fields, drinking water from a spring bubbling through the
ground. I remember the property behind a Sunoco gas station Piled high with empty oil cans, leaching
the left over oil into a nearby creek, we swam in and fished. At the land fill stations we called the dump,
so appropriate for we all dumped everything and anything there. This was happening everywhere all over
the world. We would burying, it was out of sight, we didn’t have to worry about anymore. Ah, not so,
for years later the dumps became parks, residential areas, and yes even schools were built on them.
There was radon emissions and other gasses and the aquafer below became tainted forcing us to
shut down our wells. Our children must pay the price of our ignorance. Those who are motivated by
greed will never concede. There is but one answer and that is we must be on the side of the earth.
It’s all we have and we know what we must do. Support those in government who are willing to take
on the challenge.
We start out in life finding our place, in what we believe in, what person we want to become.
The journey could be a long one and for some short. In youth I found that I had blinders on
looking forward but forgetting the peripheral. Too focused on ones self. In reflection, taking time
to focus on what is really important. Once you lose those who were dear, the ones who affected who
are to become, those who were there to support you when needed a helping hand, were there to
share a moment, to laugh, to cry. Yes, too late to be with them as the person you have become, but
not too late to be that person for those who are to follow.
My thoughts on inequality in the world. How much money does a person need? Human beings born
into poverty having no control over their development as children. Subjected to an environment consisting
of violence and hunger. It is up to the more fortunate to share and to provide opportunity for those. The
challenges are to get that help to those who really need it and not those who seek to profit by intercepting
the good intentions of others. There are true living saints in our world and I feel blessed to know such a
couple who give it all, in their case the people in Haiti