This is not the way I wanted to begin my new blog. Really I have a beautiful template going - sections, order, bulleted areas to fill in describing various sections of my first three weeks here. But that makes it hard. And really, I just want to write.
So, I've broken the ice.
[UPDATE]
Rode out to Zandvoort. It was supposed to be a 2h10m ride but I was in no hurry and happy to indulge my desire to follow my psychic white rabbit down whatever path, lane or street that felt warm. Hard to explain. Have you ever just felt beckoned? In a gentle way? A concise explanation would include the words "a sense of wonder".
After years of work-school-work-school-work-work-work I am in no rush while riding my bike around the Netherlands, with no homework due and no shift to get up early for. Though it's not quite a vacation. I'm now on a grad student budget and that is better than OK. My appreciation for things increases the less I have and my resourcefulness and creativity go through the roof. It's always the getting and not the having that I cherish the most.
So, a bunch of pics from my three hour journey to Zandvoort, which I think translates to Sanford. Included are rather functional pics just showing what the paths look like, or an intersection, or a boring ol' street. When I am interested in checking out a place I want to see what the every day normal boring parts are.
Something about large cement structures e'er draws me in. Underpasses, bridges, old military forts. I think it is the angles. So much potential for coloring. I'd like to make a Freeways coloring book.
I said, A FREEWAYS COLORING BOOK.
This is what the bike roads that traverse the country look like. Actual roads. In the Seattle area there were sections of I-5 that permitted cycling, briefly, and only until the route re-gained an arterial road.
Flowers!
More flowers! (you should leave now. It does not get any more intelligent than writing Flowers! over pictures of flowers).
Um...
Oh, okay!
Maybe a calendar instead featuring this one shot in 365 different color schemes.
These red and white directional signs quickly shot up the priority ladder of my internal navigator. They are cycling path signs and are extremely well thought out. After just a couple of days I was able to start finding my way around using them. OK,three weeks.
Hi. I am an over-excited sunflower. It reminds me of Bill the Cat from Bloom County
Nearing Haarlem. Having been to Haarlem via train on my first trip here I knew right where I was. It sounds like a small thing, but let me add that it took two long days to really nail down how to get from which elevator in my building to my apartment. So knowing where the nearest free public toilet in Haarlem, Netherlands would be is a goddamn comfort.
The lone figure sitting on this bench is why I preserved the image.
As I neared my goal (as evidenced by everything around me suddenly become sand) I stopped to snap a pic of this graffiti...
...when out come a' rushing this train of horses!
I love graffiti. It's enduring presence should, in my view, keep art theorists on their toes.
On closer look this appears to be the work of a school or some other legitimate body. Although it is pretty, and I love anything colorful, getting permission to spray paint a public area disqualifies a piece from being graffiti.
Zandvoort: Ventura on The North Sea.
This magnificent white house.
I ride around a lot so we go from beach to streets to beach etc.
This tiled house.
The Vegas style residential complex for beach lovers. I think it's the tallest building in Holland.
Estrima.com if you are interested. This electric car has a 60-mile range, a fact which stunned the passenger, who it turns out had no idea that he had been riding since Belgium in an electric car. That's what I love about being in a country where pot is legal. Well, one of the things. That and the soundness of it, from a social policy perspective.
The car goes for about €13k if you are so inclined. My phone died before I could get pics of the interior. It really is a compact little deal. They are permitted to drive anywhere cars or bikes can travel.
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