Category: General

Many days nothing extraordinary might happen, but it can be little things that leave an impression. The sky was beautiful tonight at sunset, due to an impending storm. We drove along Katwijk on the way back from the restaurant, taking in the scenery. After coming home from dinner, I was paid a…

On 6 April 2014, my mother died. This loss was a total surprise, one that our family could not anticipate. Within hours of finding out, we booked tickets back to Chicago for her funeral. I spent the first week arranging her funeral with my family. Most of the second week…

For 123 years, the Netherlands celebrated Queen’s Day(Koninginnedag) in honor of their monarch’s birthday (even if they were born on a different day). Queen Beatrix stepped down from her throne last year, handing it to her son (King) Willem-Alexander. Since the establishment of the holiday, there has never been a…

Long stretches of protected dunes lie north and south of Noordwijk, sprawling along the coastline next to the sea. I’ve only been to the dunes north of town, but they were very quiet and nice to visit. Today hit 20 degrees C (68-70 degrees F), making it the perfect weather…

The beautiful spring is going strong, along with the onset of flower season. All of the daffodils and hyacinths are outside on the fields, and  the tulips are about to arrive. It’s one of my favorite times of year, though only my second flower season. At a balmy 18 degrees…

The hint of better weather has evolved into actual spring the past two weeks. Daffodils and early flowers are already out and the is weather hovering over 10 C / 50 F degrees or higher. Today it leapt to 18 C/64 F  and all of us Netherlanders came out to…

Northwest of Amsterdam lies the Zaanstreek region, full of quaint traditional architecture, windmills and lovely waterside views. One of the hallmark features of the area are green houses with white trim and pointed roofs. It is a very tourist driven area, but it’s a very nice place to visit. Our…

Our fellow photographer friend J continued his stay with us this week. Every visitor needs to stop in Amsterdam and visit the city, so we took him along today. I have not fully walked around Amsterdam in awhile, and it was very special to see it as a “local” Dutch…

After my sister-in-law’s wedding, it came time to return north to Noordwijk. We took our friend J back north with us. Along the way from Belgium, we stopped over in Zeeland for a tour. We visited my parents-in-law and stopped by nearby scenic areas, such as Katseveer and the portion…