Where oh where Wednesday: Geleen

We work in Maastricht, the capital of Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. We also live in Limburg, the easternmost province of Belgium. Last week we drove through Limburg in Germany as well. But today I would like to tell a little bit about another city of Limburg in the Netherlands. 

Although Maastricht is the capital, the city of Geleen is also quite important. Most of the cities in this province were mining cities. When the mining dried up, other possibilities had to be sought. Just down the road from Maastricht (or “up” the road, heading North), Geleen is in the middle of the chemical industrial “city” of DSM and Chemelot. 

Ever since 1979 this chemical company has been making special fibers in Geleen. Dyneema is considered the world’s strongest fiber. It is 15 times stronger than steel but tight enough to float on water. It is based on polyethylene (technically a UHMWPE = ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. Try saying that 6 times in a row!). Wikipedia tells me that this fiber weighs 0.97 grams per cubic centimeter. I am not quite sure what that is, but it is quite light. 

This fiber is used in competitive cycling, fishing line, repairing ligaments, protective gloves and bulletproof materials. It is used as a replacement for the steel cables which launch gliders, protects ice skaters (like recently during the Winter Olympics and the many Dutch skaters), anchoring Oil platforms in the sea (steel breaks, Dyneema doesn’t) and all sorts of uses in archery or climbing. 

We drive past the chemical towers regularly, but had never realized what kinds of things can be made so close to home. Geleen has in the meantime merged with the city of Sittard nearby to become Sittard-Geleen. 

Video calls

Getting to talk to family is a blessing. We both grew up in a situation where we were separated from family for longer periods. In those days, that meant air mail letters or long distance phone calls of very short duration. These days we can send video messages, songs, pictures and more by our phone or computer. And we are thankful that we are able to connect with our boys, their wives and our granddaughter via the computer on video calls. 

We were able to talk to Sean for quite a while yesterday, checking in with his life and sharing ours. Everyone has a busy life. When we were younger and starting our life together, we were sure that our life was full of busyness. Of course now that is exactly where our children’s lives are. Which is why it is so nice to be Abel to “drop in” on a video call. 

We can hear the fire engine sirens screaming by our son’s window as they race to a fire on a snowy day in New York City, while we sit comfortably on our couch in the closing of the day in Belgium. Or we can show our midday snow to our granddaughter who is just waking up 6 hours away. It is always a bit of adapting, but it is good to see one another. 

It is even better to hear one another. The cadence of speech reminds us again of times when we were together. The laughter we share warms our hearts. And it is sometimes much better to share things “face-to-face” than in an email or letter. 

Of course it is also nice to be able to show off anything new in the house, or let the dog say hello. Most of us are used to being on video while talking these days. We use it for our weekly study with the members (which means more people can join the study). We also hold a video study with the younger people who are English-speaking - and spread to various places in Europe. Whereas some might turn off the camera (we don’t, since I am teaching, but others do) to avoid video weariness, we are thankful to be able to see one another, especially on these family calls. 

But in a few months we will get to take the next step and actually hug our kids. We are looking forward to being with Stephan and the family in May and Sean and Jill at the end of our trip in June. Along the way we will also be able to see others in our family with whom we do not have video calls - although I guess that would also be possible if we all wanted it. 

We are thankful for technology, for mobility and for possibilities to gather together in various times and places. 

Whensday: January 2, 1994 - Blender

In January 1995 a Dutch guy named Ton Roosendaal and his software company released version 1.00 of an application called “Blender”. The software had been released internally the year before, was publicly released in 1998 and was distributed as shareware (does anyone remember shareware?) until 2002. When the company holding Blender went bankrupt in 2002, Ton Roosendaal changed course and made it into free open-source software. 

This software is perhaps best known for its 3D modeling capabilities and what it has been used for. It is an extremely capable and useful application used for various forms of modeling. It can simulate smoke, dust, rain, fluids, hair, clothing and rigid bodies. The files are forward, backward and cross-platform compatible. 

The software was used professionally for Spider Man 2 for the storyboards. The French-language film “Friday or Another Day” was the first 35mm film to use Blender for all its special effects on Linux work stations. Most recently Blender was used entirely for the 2024 Latvian film “Flow” (assisted by a Belgian company). This movie received two nominations for the 97th Academy Awards and won the Best Animated Feature.