October 1st, 2022 *Today is my youngest birthday and it is also the first time that one of my birthday children goes out on this special day and even without me. It's hard to believe I was giving birth after midnight. This child of mine I recognized. I know you, I said. The child looked like me.* It's not a birthday party, but the event just happened to be today. My two youngest got up at 5 a.m. to travel to the city and from there to take the train to the capital with…
Eczema Eczema, as strange as it may sound almost everyone has it. Eczema is sometimes clearly noticeable, but often not or we just get used to it. Those flakes on the scalp, for example, are eczema. Also, the flakes in eyelashes, eyebrows, and between the eyes are eczema. Were you ever told as a child to wash behind your ears too? Behind the ears, in the corners of the mouth, but also the hollows of the knees and armpits are classic places where you see eczema. Often, this…
No native food It depends on how far back in time you go, but I don't think the Netherlands has native food. Of course, there are certain foods that the Dutch have become known for thanks to art (think of the painting *De aardappeleters* / the potato eaters) or because all kinds of stories circulated (eating tulip bulbs during the Second World War) or what about the ship's rusk (the food for Jan, Piet, Joris and Corneel who wanted to sail hundreds of years ago). Although…
My first cup of coffee I would say it was at the age of 15 but it isn't true. More likely it was two or three years earlier. No idea who offered it but I guess it was the housekeeper. Indeed it was a cup. Back then we used cups not mugs (bekers). That first cup might have been with cream, not sure if it contained sugar since we hardly used sugar in our drinks. As a toddler, it was tea with milk but soon that changed into black tea. Black coffee was what I drank too and I…
Awareness Why, oh why am I always itching? It's an allergy says the doctor but he doesn't know how to cure me. He shrugs and says it gets better when I'm older. How many more nights of no sleep from the itching and pain does that take? Another 1000 or maybe another 10,000? The doctor doesn't know and laughs. He can always smile but I can't anymore. I am tired after the endless night of pain. I start the day exhausted. Back to school, doing chores again, being laughed at…
Food security Good, bad, healthy, unhealthy. When it comes down to it, pretty much everything we put in our mouths has been called unhealthy. What is unhealthy depends on the food industry. The disc of five, in some countries the food pyramid, has nothing to do with what is actually healthy, but what the food industry wants us to eat. The food industry is owned by only a few people and what it wants is to sell. Your and my health is not important, because if you get sick you…
Pets keep me (too) busy It is not always easy to have and care for a pet. I've had many and sometimes I wonder if I enjoy them or if keeping pets isn't a burden. Hours a day I am busy with care and regularly I have the feeling that I am missing out. I've already scooped up so much poop, mopped up pee, cleaned out lofts, and fought against ticks, worms, ear mites, and fly larvae that it makes me tired. Tired but also despondent at times. I would like to do something else or…
Writing not scheduled No idea how long ago it is I subscribed and unsubscribed to Jerry Jenkins but I receive his e-mails again. His tips are stimulating and always made me think and still do but I'm too tired to write at the moment. I can make writing not my first priority or schedule it into my life at this very moment. It's autumn and I need to clean up the house and prepare for the winter. By the way, inside it's colder than outside which means I am frequently outside. I…
Stay original instead of being a copy Before I got out of bed this morning (it wasn't even 6 am I decided to check some (you might say certain) news channels. The army of freedom and peace mentioned a demonstration in the capital city with a speaker that might be rejected by the mayor. It's not said the mayor will (I know her and it wouldn't surprise me) but a certain group ordered her to do so. It's an order, not a request. I read the comment line and people's opinions…
How do they know? So far, so good. I manage, we manage and hopefully, the youngest will start with the driving lessons tomorrow. The driving school and its teacher don't seem to care if the passed exams expire. My child doesn't seem the only one who waits, and waits, and waits. I know if Indo does not keep asking and my children do not keep calling, or stopping by that teacher won't contact us. He is not a kind man. Two weeks ago he canceled because a student canceled. He…
How about that! Don't **interrupt** me while I speak! Get out, shut up! Can't you see I'm busy! I need to study. Later I will make time free for you. Later I'll explain. Later our life will be better. Just wait and see. There's no need to know, to switch **on the radio**. What we say is law, is true. Obeying is all you need to do. It's for your own good. Shut up, do not question, you are too little to understand! *Grandmother, she listens to the man on the radio though. His…
Taking care of clothes If there's one thing we don't have in our house its wardrobes. You know one of those closets where clothes hang. We never had many clothes. What we wear is washed and as soon as it is dry we put it back on. So two or three sets of clothes are enough for us. We no longer distinguish between summer and winter clothes. This is different from when I was growing up. Small children grow up and there comes a time when they get more clothes or start buying…
Fender bender *A message to my English teacher: Sir you didn't teach me English very well. Again a prompt I am provided with that doesn't ring a bell!* U wonder if my old teacher is still alive. Perhaps he's not, got into a fender bender (still don't know what that means), or has been jabbed into the other world. He might not have been the greatest teacher to each student but I liked him, and he liked me enough to not discriminate, to not treat me badly because of my lousy…
Rice - this is brutal I used to eat a lot of rice but in recent years I hardly did. Back then my youngest said rice is food mom eats. Indeed you can wake me up for a bowl of plain rice, but it is no longer my daily meal. There is so much to eat plus I hardly eat these days. Last weekend, I was cleaning up and found a bag of rice. To my surprise, there were bugs in it. The bag is unused and to throw it away now. I just put it outside on the windowsill. For the next few days,…
Extra dose of me-time I guess me-time is no longer an issue. Did you notice people are no longer mentioning it since the last hoax? At least **woke** turns out to be good for way more than what many of us thought. Do you remember the lockdowns? As they were announced some of us felt happy. I was one of them. Finally more time for me. More time to sleep, no rushing, no driving up and down, and waiting for my children's arrive in a cold car in the freezing cold. I never felt…
GMO Is it a craft, a good deed perhaps? Who benefits, takes all the credit? It feels like a fender bender to me. As quick as a hiccup, it's accepted to be. The new norm(al). GMOs The change of Mother Nature's DNA. A world that shouldn't be like this. Genetically modified organisms Disturbance of the balance of life. Spreading diseases, starting plagues, killing. GMO This is brutal! Did humankind go to sleep without knowing? I don't think so. Looking the other way just makes…
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