Daydreaming

Just daydreaming, the image of a buoy near Texel.
The sea, the sea
I always dream of the sea
she is calling, she is calling
I know she is waiting for me

The cloisterhill on a cold sunday morning

A beautifull morning, sun shining, but very cold wind. Walking with Benno. Here I am standing at the Cloister Hill, on this place stood a Cloister in the middle-ages. Ruinen was then a very important place on the route to Germany through the Drentse moors. It seems that there is a sandy ridge from Ruinen to Germany that forms a path through the moors. On the picture the heather comes to my waist. For Jaap I made the next picture without me to compare the effect.

Carrying the hay from the barn to the stables

Each saturday I carry six bales of hay from the barn to the stables, enough for one week. Benno likes to ride the wheelbarrow and he jumps in like a cat. The bales we had last year fall apart when you get them, very annoying. The barn gets very empty, the haystack contained 600 haypacks. I like this work, it makes you feel like a real farmer, which I am not, but the feeling is okay.

Ten Things I've Done You Probably Haven't.

On one of the many blogs I regulary visit, I found this challenge. Ten things I' ve done you probably haven't, its mighty difficult to think of ten things, all I can think of are things I dont want to mention here, places I swam naked or had spectacular sex (not to mention the things we did...).
But oke, here I go:
1. Caught a Geep (a fish, european, like a small baracuda) while sailing the baltic sea at 5 o clock in the morning after two weeks catching nothing, we (John and I) laughed so hard and long that we ended up steerless with flapping sails and the fish in the cocpit with us standing on the sides, to afraid to get it from the hook.
2. Eat self caught mussels with my kids in the harbour of texel.
3. Got my masters degree in Law just because I wanted to.
4. Got on a horse back in Tunesie, because I didnt dare to get on the camel, I still regret this (not that I didnt climbe on the camel, but the F.. Horse).
5. Faint while having a splinter removed from my finger, everybody thought I was joking and they all laughed while I fell on the tiles. I dont mention all the other times I fainted, that realy would be a sad story...
6. Drink so much berenburg that I fell asleep on the toilet (shame on me...).
7. One summer the only thing I did wear was an overall, at the end of the summer one leg came off but I didnt care and kept on wearing it. In a cabaret they sang a song about the missing leg and the man in the overall.
8. Cooking macaroni on the North Sea while verybody else was ouside seasick.
9. Publishing a book that contained only the first pages of books that where not written or published yet, called 'Promising first Pages'. The readers could choose one off the pages and the winner got his book published, sponsored by Rank Xerox.
10. Okay, the last one, why not, one place we swam naked, we always do, stop the engine, let the ship float in the middle of the IJsselmeer, no land in sight, strip naked and jump overboard, Nicky is always the first, than me, Twan always needs some encouragement and last but not least Hellen jumps. In fact one day we arrived in the harbour of Enkhuizen and while mooring the ship, Nicky plunged overboard. We all said, cant you wait until we are ready and you are undressed, but she reacted indignant: I fell!

Benno in the snow

His ass in the cold snow, looking away to the road where he sees another dog, his friend joepie, a little black dog. A moment later he shows how long it takes for the foto to be taken from the moment of pushing the button until the flash.

snow at last

its snowing, the horses are outside while their stables are cleaned. They are covered with snow as they come from the paddock to their stables. Twan takes the little shetlander 'Pipi' in. She always leanes over her door like this, whe lowered the door a bit so she can see whats going on.

Shit happens

This year I recieved an average of 1,3 letters a day from our tax-collectors office. One day I recieved five letters. Its like an avelange of blue paper(the enveloppes always are blue). Each letter contains a new suprise. Shit happens they say, at least Forrest Gump said it, but he should have said: Tax happens. I am fed up with it. Please dont send me any more money, I dont want it. I'm leaving for a hich hike to Siberia.

Is reading allowed while eating?

We eat together and it is a moment of conversation and looking back on the day. Reading a book while eating is not allowed, the attention should be with the food that was prepared with great care and should also be eaten with love and care. Some of us dont agree with this rule and try to break it whenever possible. So when Hellen is not looking this may happen.

Old fashioned paper and red pencil

I always do the final corrections of a book on paper with a red pencil. Nothing beats a red pencil. The Chinese emporer used red ink for death sentences, no one else in the empire was alowed to use red ink. There should be a law for the use of red pencils, no one is allowed to use a red pencil except Gerrit Bosman!

The Viking Drakar

Twan and I build a Viking Drakar. Twan did the design, he made a beautifull drawing with colour scheme. Together we build it. The rig is not complete yet, but that will be fixed. The first sea trials were made with great succes. Twan was very proud.

The Revenge of Henry Ford

The car I worked on last saturday hit back today. The distribution belt broke in Sneek, on the parking of the hospital where Hellen works. This means that the motor of the car is totaly wrekked, a design team of Ford worked on this for almost two years. After two years they had a very bright idea. Design an engine with a build in destruction feature. Put a belt in it that has to be replaced every 100.000 km. If its not replaced in time(at a repair cost of 400 euro) it automaticaly breaks. To finish their job they found out that to ruin the motor you have to stop the valves of the motor while it turns. The pistons hit the valves, that hit the distribution shaft that bends, the pistons are damaged etc. That will learn the customer to maintain his car properly and not to forget his garageowner who has to have a living. This is the ultimate capitalist way. The car came home on a truck from garage Betten in Sneek. Twan pushed the button that lowered the car down.

Talking about my generation

Playing on my guitar, a song from the Who? Talking about my generation... I dont knwo, or is it the Stones? My amplifier looks small, but the sound is perfect and it produces a satisfying bulk of noise. Making music is one of the earlyest activities of man. It is great fun, so is dancing. I should do it more often. Sometimes I realy feel the urge to take off my clothes, paint my body with clay, take a djembe and go to the brink in Ruinen to see if there are more people with a need to sing and dance. I never gave in to this urge. One day I will...

As the world turns around

There is this feeling of, I dont know what it is, while eating the cake your daughter just backed, or while searching for a poem to put on someone elses blog, or while searching for a blog where you can bring some tension by putting a poem in a comment, or while petting your dog while scribbling in your own blog. You know what I mean.
And then, in the ever going on search for the meaning of life, there is a flash, a spark of light, and you think you have seen the light, and yes, the same daughter that backed the cake that started your mood, took a photo with your digital camera and the flash in your eyes is all there is left.
But then it smashes in your head, of course, SHE is the meaning of my life, and He, and SHE, and HE and all the others. Or is that to simple? Life can not be so simple, there should be a deeper meaning.

Why some bolts never come loose

I try to avoid it, but once in a while a have to repair something on my car. This time I had to replace the glowplugs of the engine of the van. The plugs are placed in such a way that its almost impossible to unloose them. This seems to be a design demand, make it impossible for a normal guy to tinker on this engine. And tinkering it is, I replaced two plugs. The third broke off while unscrewing it and to unscrew the fourth I had to dismantle half the engine, so I let it stay. I think I have to read Robert Pirsig's Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance again. He says the first thing you need when you work on your motor is a clear state of mind. He forgets to tell you that the best way to loose your mind is to work on an old engine. My brother Jaap states that a real gentleman does not work at all. I think he is right.

Boomsma, Sonnema, Weduwe Joustra.

This evening I spent with my special friend Maarten. He served Boomsma Beerenburg. There is a distinct difference in taste between the Beerenburg from Boomsma, Sonnema and for instance Weduwe Joustra. At Krekt Oert Wetter they used to serve Boomsma, and I must say, it still tastes the same and still very good. Naturally the company of a good friend always makes things taste better and time fly by.

Two connected screens

This is my Apple working place. The two screens are connected and the cursor moves from the right to the left screen. I always wonder how, because I never see it jump over. On the big screen you see the book I am working on, on the small screen the document with additional text or improvements. Every week a child in Holland dies because it is a victim of domestic violence. I hope this book will help to prevent at least one of these cases.

Unconditional obedience

Benno, my dog, waits impatiently beside my bike. We go to the postoffice almost every day, or to the local drugstore ore whatever the excuse is to make a little ride with him. He is very obedient to me, as he should be, because he is a dog and I am his packleader. The meaning of his life is to obey, to please. For me its a relief that at least he listens to what I say.

Sleeping in de sun

A beautifull day today, the horses lie sleeping in the sun after their diner. Here they lie all three, usualy one of them remains standing up to keep guard. They eat, sleep, lie in the sun, stand in the rain, eat, sleep. Once in a while someone sits on their back and then they eat, sleep, lie in the stable. Is there a yesterday or a tomorrow for a horse? Or do they know just the moment of now? Sometimes they seem very spiritual, almost like they are meditating. But then you realise that they are just stupid staring animals instead of silent Zen masters. And what is a Zen master in the eyes of a horse?

Mah Yong

Yesterday we played Mah Yong with Frans and Corine. Mah Yong is an ancient Chinese game. At times it was forbidden in China because of the social problems it caused, players gambled so much, sometimes people gambled away all their belongings including their wife, children and farm. Yesterday we just played for points and honour, which was for the better, because I played very poor. Corine had a beautifull score with this Mah Yong.

Star Wars Lego mania

Twan and I worked a day long to create a fleet of Star Wars machines. Twan enjoyed it very much, he loves it when I play with him and the Lego and for me its also great fun. Creating something is fun. Here's the result.

Meanwhile back in Cyberspace

My daughter Nicky caught while browsing cyberspace. She has contact via msn with her former class mates in Mantgum, Friesland, the place we lived from 1988 until 1999. We moved to Drenthe the first of januari 2000. A real moment in time to remember. Her friends in Mantgum still know us, specialy because a lot of them followed horse riding lessons from Hellen.

FEC or Frieslandhal

Today I was in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, a province of Holland. In Leeuwarden you find one of the oldest and biggest animalmarkets of Holland. The big halls are also used for fairs and other markets. Its also traditionaly the startingplace of the famous "elfstedentocht", the skating tour through Friesland that visits 11 old villages in almost 220 kilometers. I witnessed 3 starts, and its amazing to see almost 16.000 people on skates coming out these halls. The first 300 skaters that take part on the race start at 5.30 in the morning. It was realy smashing to see them coming out of the dark with incredible speed in Sneek at the first check point. A stupid wiseguy has got the idea to rename the famous Frieslandhal into Frisian Expo Centre (FEC). Its a shame to steal such a well known and people owned good, as the Friesland hal was, from the people of Friesland. I visited the Boot Holland. The Friesian people seem to be ashame to be Fries, otherwise they would have called it Boot Friesland.

Book about domestic violence

I am working on a book about domestic violence. Its almost finished. I edit the dutch raw material that is written by the author, Gerda de Groot from Leeuwarden. She works as a councelor for people who are involved with domestic violence.
The work is sometimes a bit troubling because the theme makes me sad. This book is the second in the series 'Rechtsom', see also www.rechtsom.nl.

Peeling the apple

Each morning at 6.30 I wake up to help the kids go to school. I prepare their fruit and try to put some love in it. The kids appreciate that very much. The peeling of the apple is something I do with great care. I chose the knife and cut the apple in four parts. The parts are peeled and I put them in the fruit box. I always try to cut the stalk of the apple also in four parts, so that each quarter of the apple has its own part of the stalk. This can only be done with a clear and open mind. The pealing becomes a true practice of Zen. When the fruit is prepared all that remains are the parings of the apple. The parings dissapear in the dustbin. I can hardly imagine something more Zen than this.