Wild Wonderful Wednesday: Wild ones

This is a 5th Wednesday, so we get to go to places wild and wonderful. This time I would like to take you to some of the wilder things we can remember doing (that we are willing to share). But actual locations (cities) often have little to do with the wild wanderings we have made. These wild places and situations could be found in many places.

Although I remember living in and visiting places as diverse as Germany and Greece, some of the wildest moments I remember were when we had moved to Colorado. In those days parents didn’t worry too much about where their kids were (or at least we were allowed to be out of the house, on our bikes as long as we were back for dinner time). My brothers and I were always discovering new places. 

Maybe it was more my oldest brother who made the plans and me and my younger brother followed. Whatever it was, we had good fun and we are glad that our parents didn’t know until later. One of these times was when we took our bikes to the floodway on a rainy day. A floodway in Colorado is designed for rainy days. It is meant to take the quickly rising water safely away from residential areas. Usually the floodway is simply a concrete river, empty of water. Perfect for riding your bike or skateboard or whatever. 

Of course once the rain starts coming, the floodway can turn quickly into a raging river. Not too long after this adventure I heard of a classmate of mine (in Junior High) who was drowned in a floodway. But that was after our wild adventure. And we were young and unaware. 

We rode our bikes to the floodway where we had often gone. This time there was a bit of water running along the bottom. The challenge was to sit in the water and then stand up. But when my younger brother sat down, he began to be swept away. We jumped in to help him stand, but one of the bikes now went in the water and started moving along the water. We were able to get everyone and everything out of the water (which was maybe 6 inches deep at the time), but it woke us up to the dangers. 

In that same floodway were large pipes which took the water from the streets into the floodway. On dry days these pipes, large enough to walk in while standing, were a great challenge. Were we brave enough to walk up the pipe without a flashlight, touching the walls as we walked, perhaps touching some insect or worse? The pipe ended after a turn. If you looked back, the tiny dot of light that until then had encouraged you was suddenly gone. And now, to return, you had to walk back in complete darkness. Exciting. Adventurous. 

These days our adventures mostly take us along the canal behind our house. You might think that is quite bucolic and simple. But in October the winds start and the walk along the canal becomes a risky adventure. We have frequently had parts of trees (and whole trees) fall across the pathway. We noticed this past week that there are even 6-8 trees which are marked to be removed - hopefully before they fall on some poor dog walker or jogger. 

What brings adventure into your daily life? And what kinds of wild adventures have you experienced? 

Whodunit Wednesday: Mark Rutte

Yesterday, Mark Rutte was sworn in as the new Secretary General (or SecGen) of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO is headquartered in Brussels, right down the street from where I used to have to bring my Sony videocamera to be repaired. Rutte takes over the reigns of NATO at a very serious and difficult time in the world. 

Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician known for being able to bring people together and keep his own job at the same time. Some in Dutch politics consider him a slick dealer. Others consider him an accomplished politician. He was able, in any case, to remain prime minister of the Netherlands for longer than any other, lasting 13 years until last year. 

Rutte is not married and was known in The Hague for riding his bike to work, even as Prime Minister. He is always ready with a smile and a quick handshake, but knows how to throw out a sharp one-liner as well. At one point he bit off the words “Doe gewoon” (Act normal) in response to a political leader. At another time he was not ashamed to tell young people who were being rude to “Get out” (“Pleur op” in his own dialect) if they didn’t like what was going on. 

It will be intriguing to see how his form of politics and diplomacy work with the various countries tied together in NATO. He becomes SecGen as the Middle East is once again heating up and as the war in Ukraine and Russia seems to be growing even bigger. 

Whatsit Wednesday: Traffic innovations

Traffic is everywhere. As we are traveling in the Midwest we are thankful to have the use of a good car to make our way around and the travel in each of the cities we visit. Most cars in the US are automatic whereas most cars in Europe are “standard” where you have to be able to shift, using a clutch. 

In northern states in the US it is quite common to see cars with whole sections rusted out - and the cars still taking part in traffic. In Belgium and the Netherlands yearly inspections make it impossible to keep driving cars with so much rust. This also means that much older cars are less likely to be part of daily vehicle traffic. 

While we were driving in Minnesota we noticed a few things that are quite common in the Netherlands and Belgium. In many neighborhoods in the US a 4 way stop sign is common. This means that cars from each road stop at the intersection, yielding to any cars which arrived earlier. In Europe, and especially in the Netherlands, this type of intersection is solved by a roundabout. Traffic remains flowing at an efficient  and safe rate. We saw several of these in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. 

An innovation that was innovated by the Dutch and is extremely helpful are links in the road in front of a stoplight. These links are pressure sensitive and send signals to the stoplights which then regulate the traffic based on how much is coming from which direction. This means that, if you approach a stoplight and there is no cross traffic, the light automatically turns green. 

Another innovation from the Dutch is perhaps less-desired by most drivers: the red-light camera. This is of course used to catch any cars traveling through the intersection after the light has already turned red. Although no one likes to get a ticket for running a red light, people who have experienced the shock and disaster that can come from being hit by a red-light runner are happy that such an innovation has reduced the number of drivers running red lights. 

Another thing we saw plenty of in Minnesota which is quite common in Belgium and the Netherlands was bike paths. In the Netherlands the bicycle is a major way to take part in traffic 

Wild Wonderful Wednesday

Today is a 5th Wednesday so I want to take you on a different kind of trip. The Netherlands is a country where the bicycle is more than welcome. Bike paths are everywhere in the cities and kids ride bikes from very early ages - even goin on their own to school across town. 

Admittedly, where we live in Belgium is not as bike friendly, but it is better than many places in Belgium - maybe because so many Dutch people live here. And although there is plenty of infrastructure for the bike, I must admit that I do noot use it as often as I might. But on a Thursday, I like to take the bike to my colleague, Ruud’s, house for our Bible study together. 

Ruud lives in the village on the other side of our “town” which population 13,500. Our village has about 1700 people. Ruud’s village is bigger with 3200. From our village to Ruud I can bike along a whole section free of the major road running North/South. Right out my driveway I simply bike to the paved road running along the canal which runs behind our house. 

I pass by two locks along the canal, passing a building supplies company on the right and a cellulose factory across the canal on the left. The road on the canal ends as I approach the local paper making company, Sappi (a South African company) where I have to turn right and climb a hill to join the main road. Thankfully I have a pedal assisted bike. Otherwise I would be walking this part of the trip. 

Up on the road I am able to bike on good bike paths, crossing the Albert Canal (which leads to Antwerp) on a bridge with plenty of space for cars, bikes and pedestrians. From this point I have a nice ride up a slight incline until I can coast all the way from the plateau into Ruud’s village. The journey takes me about 20-30 minutes (depending on how tired I am or how sweaty I want to get). 

After the study (we are looking at the book of Acts with E who is considering what it means to be a Christian), I can bike home, climbing the long hill I previously came down with such ease. But last week I decided to get some things done in the “city” - in Maastricht. 

From Ruud’s house I can bike right across the border, which is not really even recognizable as a border. You cross a bridge (crossing the Albert Canal again - this time the section going South to Liege) and bike along a mountain on the right. This is what some might call a mountain. I am from Colorado. It is a hill. Still, they have a ski hill on it in the winter. There is also a golf course here. 

Biking further into the city I pay attention to the right-of way. I am on a bike path, but just like any other traffic participant, I have to follow the rules. At intersections there are clear signs for who has right-of-way. “Shark’s teeth” (a line of triangles with the points toward the rider) painted on the bike path show that I must yield. At other points along this route, the red brick color of the bike path continues without any signs and the cars have the shark’s teeth. 

After passing the hill and golf club I come to a stoplight. There is a light specifically for the bicycles as well as pedestrians and cars. At this intersection there is also a light for the bus. Moving on when I get my green light I next approach a very large roundabout or rotunda. I have to yield here and also pay attention to the many “brommers” or scooters taking the bike path with me. 

These days there are all sorts of vehicles on the road. Back along the canal we always have top be aware of cyclists who are training. You know, Tour de France types on very skinny wheels flying by. They often do not have bells - and when they do, they do not always use them. So you have to simply be aware and be ready to get out of the way. 

But there is now also every kind of electrified vehicle. “Speed pedelecs” are VERY fast electric bikes. They can easily pass you going more than 50kmh. Then there are “scootmobiles”, used usually by older people out for a jaunt in the open air. Most often four-wheeled, they also silently sneak up on you with their older driver enjoying the speed of the electrified motor vehicle. 

Besides all of these vehicles, you may also end up with a mother pushing her baby buggy, or simply some pedestrians not wanting to walk on the sidewalk. But it seems most people get along just fine and the traffic is much safer than I have ever experienced in the States. During this trip I easily made it to my destination in downtown Maastricht. 

I needed to stop at the store, so I quickly parked the bike at the bike rack, fixed the lock and putting the key in my pocket (and taking my battery with me) walked into the store. You ALWAYS want to lock your bike in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, there is a sort of saying: Lost your bike? No worries, just take the next one. While not everyone does this (and locks have gotten better), it is always good to keep your bike locked, even If you are quickly running into the store. 

As I leave the store, I walk my bike among the many pedestrians, listening to the many languages of the tourist who have come to Maastricht on this sunny day. I next want to visit an acquaintance in a nearby nursing home and afterwards turn my bike homewards. 

The whole trip will only cost me 30-40 minutes. It would be about the same if I were to take the car, because of traffic. I have often passed a bike only to have them pass me by as I am stuck in the traffic jam. This time I am the one passing the waiting cars. I bike back along the Meuse, amazed at how low the water is these days. You could probably cross the river on foot. 

This route takes me between the river and the canal. I cross the border back into Belgium in Smeermaas (another village that makes up our “town” - there are 7 of them) and ride further along the river. This section is beautiful - riding behind our local castle, past the wild cows that live here to keep the shrubbery in check, past the nests of the blue herons in the tops of the trees along the river. 

I get back home and haven’t even broken a sweat. Then I climb off my bike and realize that I have been exerting myself. That slight breeze always helps. But now the heat hits. Time for a cool glass of water and a sit in the shade before going into the house (where it is a sweltering 90 F). But it has been a good day and I am glad that it is so easy to get around on a bicycle. 

To give an idea of what it is like along this ride, here are a few video’s which are already online. 

This video is a walking tour, but it shows you the area along our canal. In fact, from 00:37 - 1:17 you can see our lock and the church in our village (our house is just down the street fro this church building). 

In this video (TURN OFF THE SOUND to skip the rude music) shows you the border crossing in Smeermaas, what the bike paths look like and what traffic is like along the canal and in Maastricht.