Just another day...

     I really do not know
     which way it is
     or reason why
     Nor just where

     But when there
     we may fly
     and leave our biz
     or onward go

     forevermore
     nevermore
     to return
     or to leave

     for when the sieve
     flows freely
     or encumbered
     Enamored we will be

Fishing

Recently, on my day off, I went with a friend fishing. We pedaled, and I mean pedaled, our bikes up north of Amsterdam a bit. Just outside of the city it is almost like a different place. The highway and constant traffic remind you of the urban jungle though. We had a great time fishing. We did not catch anything but it was cool just to hang out with a fishing pole in my hand.

Intently Gazing at the Crow

     Near the fountain she sits
     and watches as she nibbles a sandwich.
     The pidgeons spread as the crow moves about.
     Vividly her eyes follow the crow as he moves.
     It is as if a dance movement,
     with the crow as the feature.
     The stately pidgeons circle about,
     rhythmically without getting too close.
     
     Through it all the eyes follow the crow
     and the sandwich gets nibbled.
     As I observe,
     my eyes follow the crow too.

Belgium via Rotterdam

I have been wanting to check out Belgium because I had not been there. So, on my 2 days off last week, I went down. Not that I am a last minute kind of a guy, but I could not find a room in Belgium for decent scratch so I stayed in Rotterdam. Which is cool cause I like Rotterdam. I did not get to do too much in Rotterdam other than wander around for something to eat and check out the cool view. A bag of chips along the river is a great way to pass the night. I always seem to go hungry in that city.

I spent a day each in Antwerp and Brussels. I had a great time in both cities. Antwerp is like a typical European city that I have been to. Though it is a bit different than the ones that I have been in lately. There is not a wealth of canals there, though there was once upon a time. I wandered upon a construction site where they had unearthed an couple hundred or so year-old bridge. Also, I checked out the ship museum in a castle that is about the oldest building in Antwerp. The river is a cool place to hang out. There is a second level walkway to check out the view.

Brussels was a bit different than I expected. There are hills in that city. I have not seen any of those since being in Holland. I got to check out a cathedral there; St. Michael and St. Gudula. It is very big and ornate. There is a lot of awe inspiring things in there as well as some inpressionist artwork of the Bible. I really enjoyed the transfiguration. In both Antwerp and Brussels, there are many churches to check out. Also, there are many fountains and statues to check out. In addition to the nice view, Belgian chocolate is quite good as well. The central train station in Brussels is interesting. It is in the middle of the city, underground. It looks like any other building, but there is a train hub under there.

Beverwijk

Last weekend I went to Beverwijk. No Dutch person can understand me when I say that word, so do not try it at home. There is a large indoor market there; about 2500 stalls or so. I was going there to check it out. However, it was such a nice and sunny day. So I said to myself that it is too nice to spend at an indoor market. So I explored the town. It is very nice, does have many shops. But then the sun got to me and I decided to go to the beacj. It was only 10 minutes away by bus. The beach was so nice. I took off my shoes and walked up and down the beach. Also going in the water up to my ankles and searching for cool seashells. I even stopped to watch the hermit crabs play in the tide pools. From the beach one could see ships going in and out. It was a great day. Then I caught the USA soccer game; was not so good but not terrible.

Dans le noir

This poem may make a bit more sense; enjoy.

     there once was a guy who did not lie
     he was rough
     as such people wished he would die
     he stood firm in his ground

     later he backed down
     eventually he laid down
     people said why have you fallen
     why are you asleep on the job

     i worked hard and I changed
     but still you, you cry
     you poke and prod
     and tear my entrails out

     tomorrow who knows
     which way you will go
     for me, nee against
     but for me, I know where i be

Clarity = ∑∂∞i

What to do when the world crumbles away.
A poem in part, apart from me.
When in 2 or 3; what I see is no longer before me.

     I say I saw
     and might I draw
     upon a short story

         a man once said
         about how hard he worked
         he spent his whole life
         did not take a wife
         and then in the end
         looked around

         he did not see
         anything he hoped for
         a life spent hard
         for nothing to show
         he looked around once more
         and down he fell
         dead to the ground

     what crime this man did commit
     what wrong he did to humanity
     to work in strife a whole life
     and nothing left to give or receive
     no time taken to enjoy
     a thing or person
     not even our God

     he did not rob
     nor did he sob
     but as he lay down
     his last breath to draw
     the light he saw

To Exist or Not To Exist...

It has been a while since I have wondered if I exist. Many times I have done this with good reason. I am not speaking of some existential quest for meaning either. Just plain, old fashioned existing in this world that we find ourselves in. Maybe I just long for the old days. When not existing, though hard to admit, meant being neither liked or disliked.But to say I want to go back would send the wrong message. Cause afterall, I do not want to go back.

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a great city with very interesting architecture. There are some older buildings interspersed within the modern and interesting buildings. It has the largest seaport in the world. It is very huge; I took a boat of the harbor. They have humongous ships there filled to capacity with ocean going containers. Far more stuff than everyone in Holland could use. The river was alive with boats. Sailboats sailing along, small boats meandering, taxis zooming, barges flowing, and tourist boats plodding loudly. The Volvo Ocean Race made a stopover in Rotterdam. That was interesting to see. It is the only thing that can peel everyone from the rigors of the soccer being played on the television.

Rotterdam is a wonderful city. It is a great place to just hang out. There are many places to see and things to do. The city has a friendly and inviting atmosphere. There is also much to do for the tourist or fun activities for anyone. There are beautiful parks and a picturesque skyline that you hear a lot about. It is great to sit along the river and just watch the ships pass. There are many restaurants with good food and friendly people.

Something...

I went to Rotterdam this weekend. I had a great time there. The city is very nice to hang out in and beautiful to see. I did see something interesting there. I saw a seagull attacking a pigeon. I thought maybe the guy is really hungry. He would ward off any other seagulls that came along to peck at the pigeon. Again and again he would swoop down on the pigeon. Sometimes a forceful peck and others an attack with his feet. Finally, the pigeon died. Well, I thought it was feast time. But no, the seagull flew away and the pigeon just floated lifelessly in the water.

Where to Now?

I did stagnate for a couple of weeks as far as travel goes. One thing is that the weather is not so good; typical from what I hear. Another is that I have been caught up in work. Should I invest my time and effort in other things? I think that what I am doing is quite worthy, possibly having an eternal implication. But others around me think that they are not even treading water. Well, somebody has to be rowing the boat. Where is the captain and first mate to see that all is ship-shape? Unfortunately, the ship never strikes ground or sinks, so the captain and first mate go about their business, whatever that is.

This weekend I will be heading to Rotterdam. I have wanted to go there for quite a while. But that is another interesting story that I am trying to forget. All I have to say about it is, The Dutch.

Without a Camera

Well, while snapping a few pictures on my way out of the Zaans area, I ran out of charged batteries for my camera. For some reason I did not charge them up before embarking on my journey. Like Zaans, all of the stores in Alkmaar were closed as well. Luckily, my camera has the ability to squeeze out another picture or two after resting for a half hour or so. I was able to get a couple of pictures. However, there were so many great pictures to take in Alkmaar. It was also rarely sunny in the latter part of the day. So I will go back some time to get some more photos and enjoy the city when it is open. There is a cheese market reenactment on Fridays that will be interesting to see.

Windmils and More..

Yesterday I had the day off and hence I needed to get out of Amsterdam. I travelled to Zaanse Schans, a famed spot for catching glimpses of windmills. It was a little more impressive sounding than it appeared to be. Nevertheless, it was still a great place to checkout. There is a museum there and even a some windmills that you can tour and see in action. But me, being the cheapskate that I am, did not want to fork over the dough to see such things. I just enjoyed the view from the outside of the picturesque windmills. There is also an Albert Heijn museum there; it is the first Albert Heijn store. There is a wooden shoe making shop to check out. It is interesting to see wooden shoes made in the traditional way of using an automated power saw. There was also lots of animals about just in case the windmills were not comfy enough. You can buy cheese at high prices as well. The prices are probably high because of the old-timey computerized cheese making machine; which, by the way, makes some tasty cheese.

There is more to the Zaans district than the windmill collection. I did not actually make it there untill about four hours of exploring the town. It is a very nice place to visit. Koogerpark is a beautiful, peaceful place to relax, listen to children playing, and watch the ducks napping. There are some old churches to scope out and nice parks to visit; as is the case in most all of Europe. There is an abundance of wildlife in the area and also some marsh-like fields that are quite picturesque. There were a wealth of factories there as well as a busy River Zan. The stores were all ominously closed though. I recommend a visit there for anyone if you can find a nice day.

inquiète

  as we stagger through life endlessly
  where do we go?
  where are we when we stop to look around?
  was it a mountain vista where we stopped?—probably not
  we probably stopped because something impeded our way.
  which was our way?
  well, the way of business.
  No! listen, busy-ness; understand?

  Sure. but what is the solution?
  plans coming to fruition.
  No! that is more of the same.
  the only stopping point
  is when you actually stop what you are doing.


Crazy to think that one might stop doing something just to see where you are. Heck, you might even look into a mirror to see who you are.

Cotten

Cotton

• two-O's


• two-T's


• one-N


• and one-C

Well, the so-called business language in Europe is English. Here in Amsterdam about 98.9% of the people speak English. So one commonly sees English on a sign or written somewhere. But my discerning eye reveals the grammatical and spelling errors. I will admit that many American born, native English speakers are not the best at spelling and grammar either. A lot of them do not believe it to be that important either. I, on the other hand, do believe that it is important. I believe that things like this (and others) reveal the fabric of one's character and the essence of their being.

To write a word, one has to know a group of letters to write. To write a sentence one has to know how to arrange word-groupings in a fashion to be recognized by people. So one has to remember something in their mind. Why not then remember the correct way? Otherwise, you are filling your head with, well lies. Why not put truth into yourself? Why would you want to fill yourselves with lies when the truth is right there? However, one might say that they just add letters as they go, not knowing the correct grouping. Well, why you want to make up things as you go along? Quite honestly, you would be quite frustrated if everybody did that to their heart's content.

Why not strive to fill up on the truth. Why put in lies, make up junk, or wander through life aimlessly? The truth is not hard to find and it is free. Just remember that there is a test at the end of life, so study hard.