When I saw that I was scheduled to work in Alabama this week, I was pretty excited. I had driven from Destin, Florida to New Orleans about 20 years ago, and we had crossed through the bottom of the state near Mobile. We were in and out of Alabama so quickly though, that I really couldn’t get a sense of it as a place.
On Sunday, I flew to Atlanta and then drove to my training location, which is located about an hour and twenty-five minutes west of the city. When I crossed over the state line into Alabama, I saw a welcome sign that read, “Sweet Home Alabama.” The image stirred up long ago memories and instantly brought a smile to my face. When I was a teenager, my boyfriend introduced me to the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their songs were different from anything that I had ever heard before, and Freebird, Gimme Three Steps, and Sweet Home Alabama (among several others) were songs that I had played over and over in my bedroom.
As I drove past the sign, I sang the song at the top of my lungs…
Sweet home Alabama Where the skies are so blue Sweet home Alabama Lord, I’m coming home to you
I wanted to pull over and get a picture, but I hesitated, because it seemed like such a touristy thing to do. As the sign disappeared behind me, I instantly regretted my decision. Later in the week I told my participants about seeing the sign and wishing that I had stopped. They immediately encouraged me to drive back to the sign after class to get my picture. I hesitated for a moment, before realizing that they were right…every day should be an adventure!
Alabama is beautiful, and I’m here at the perfect time. The autumn leaves are in mid-change, and the rolling hills were illuminated with the color of the setting sun as I drove back to snap my picture. Once again, I found myself singing the familiar tune…
Sweet home Alabama Where the skies are so blue Sweet home Alabama Lord, I’m coming home to you
Did I have to drive back and get the picture? No…but I’m glad I did. The words on the sign reminded me of being young, falling in love, and feeling free. Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously. I enjoyed an old memory, and it was fun creating a new one!
I love when my birthday spreads over days & weeks! My friend Debbie is a good little listener….when I went to Portugal this summer, I told her that I had tried White Port & Tonic for the first time, and that I had really liked it. I was gone for my birthday in October.. look what she gave me when I got back!
I wasn’t able to make it home for my birthday, because of my work schedule, so Pierre “sent flowers” to me! He sent the texts in the middle of the night, so I could see them right when I woke up! His sweet gesture set the tone for the rest of the day! It was a great day!
It took me a long time to read, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and as you can tell by the beat-up cover, I gave this book a workout! I was reading it while I had a very busy work schedule, so I was only able to read small sections at a time. With that said, if you only read one book this year, make it be this one!
It is because of this book that I’m finally able to get a better understanding of the news reports that are being presented to us with alarming frequency–obesity, pollution, water usage to raise animals vs. plants, importation and exportation of food products, the treatment of animals, soil conditions, the economy, and the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and hormones…just to name a “few” things.
The author took me on a journey not only through the history of some foods, but he also unveiled some of his own misconceptions about food and food production, which mirror the ideas of the average consumer, including myself. He doesn’t spend time trying to convince his readers to go “vegan,” but rather, he paints an entire picture from the beginning of the food chain until the end. The reader is left with the job of of deciding how to process the information, and then absorb it into their own life, and lifestyle choices.
In the end, he produced a dinner for his family and friends that was grown, hunted, and foraged locally by himself and his friends. He was proud of his accomplishment was surprised by how truly difficult it was, because Americans have walked so far away from growing and preparing their own food. We are now a nation of people who rely on government regulations to keep us healthy and well-feed, and we have no clue how our food is produced, or what’s in it.
We have walked so far away from natural food, that we’re often fooled into believing that industrialized food is healthy. My husband and I recently got back from a trip to France and we noticed that the sign on the prepackaged sweets aisle was labeled in French, “Industrial Pastries.” The word turned us off…we walked away. Interesting, right?
I’m really glad that I read this book–I learned a lot!
P.S. Tomorrow is my birthday, so that means that I read 24 non-fiction books in a year! I was hoping to read a few more than that, but some of those books were thick! LOL! Let’s see how many I can read from now until my next birthday!
I witnessed something upsetting (at least to me) today. On my way to my gate, I decided to get a coffee. I weaved through the lane markers, which in this case, was retractable webbing stretched between poles, until I was next in line. There were about ten people behind me, and I saw an airport employee push an elderly woman up to the counter beside me.
I was just about to indicate to the lady that she should place her order before me, when the woman behind me yelled out, “Excuse me, excuse me—do you see that there’s a line here?” Her tone was loud and abrasive.
The man pushing the wheelchair ignored her. The woman in the wheelchair who was probably in her late 70’s or early 80’s, glanced over at her, but didn’t respond.
You could visually see that the woman in the chair couldn’t control the movement in her extremities, as her legs and arms were twitching and moving. The woman behind me continued obliviously, “What’s the purpose of standing in a line, if you can just cut to the front of it?”
I was burning mad and was deciding what to say, when the woman in the wheelchair looked directly at her and calmly said, “Honey, I didn’t ask him to push me to the front of the line, it’s his job. He’s supposed to get his passengers through the airport as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The woman behind me babbled something that I couldn’t quite hear, but it was clear that her aggressive behavior was squashed momentarily.
The woman in the wheelchair turned to the man pushing her and asked if she could get him a coffee. He declined her offer with a smile.
She looked to me and said, “I’m sorry, I know you were next in line.”
I smiled back, and replied, “Oh, don’t worry about it—go ahead and order.”
She looked at me with appreciation. When her coffee was ready, I handed it to her, because the man behind the counter couldn’t reach out far enough.”
Where is human kindness? Why couldn’t that woman realize how hard it would be to maneuver a wheel chair through the narrow lanes? Does she mouth off when they allow people with disabilities to board the plane first?
Let’s work on being kinder and gentler! I was disgusted.
Hilma & Gerrie’s house–although you can’t see it, a canal is right across the street from their property–one glance at it, and you know you’re in the Netherlands!
We had a quick visit with Gerrie and Hilma and it was so good to see them again. It’s been a couple of years since I had been there, and Pierre had last seen them in 2007 right before we got married. We managed to do a lot of sightseeing in a very short amount of time. We went to a place called, Veenpark, which is a park set up to look like a village from the past, so visitors can see and walk through the history of living in the Netherlands. There was a clog making shop, a sweets shop, a church, a windmill, lots of houses, a blacksmith shop, a radio shop, a bakery, etc. It was an interesting place.
No trip to the Netherlands is complete until I see a windmill!
There was a little train that ran around the perimeter of the park. I thought it would be a quick 10-15 minute ride, but it was more like 45 minutes. It took us across a canal, through some fields, and into the woods.
At one point during the ride, I looked my left as we were going through the woods and I saw very dark soil, and I said, “Look…that’s peat.”
I don’t know that I knew that it was peat, but I just did. That was the last I thought of it, until the train stopped. The driver got out and explained that he was going to take us on a short walking field trip to explain to us how peat was collected in the past.
I know nothing about peat other than the fact that it started off as a peat bog, and that it was used as fuel, but I have to admit that I was proud of myself for identifying it in the woods. I didn’t have long to pat myself on the back, however, because the driver, now tour guide, was already walking toward a field and we were supposed to be following him.
He explained to us that peat is made from the accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. Most peat comes from bogs that formed thousands of years ago after the glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age. Peat accumulates slowly at the rate of about a millimeter per year, so it’s not considered to be a renewable resource. In the past, the people of the Netherlands relied on peat as an important fuel source, as many people from certain parts of the world still do today.
Peat harvesting was back breaking labor performed by men, women, and children, but they all had distinctly different jobs. Using a heavy metal spade, men first cut the wet peat into bricks. As he explained the process, our tour guide demonstrated the process by showing us how to cut a brick from the exposed soil.
Before stacking, each brick is squeezed to extract as much water as possible. Again, he showed us how it was done, and it was messy work! Then the bricks were arranged in a log cabin style of pile, so air can easily circulate between the bricks. He had examples of dried bricks for us to look at and hold, and it was amazing how light they were after the water had completely evaporated.
After the peat bricks had completely dried out, they were much lighter, so women and children were brought out to the peat fields to carry the peat bricks to a wagon, while the men continued to cut and stack the wet peat. It might sound like a easy process, but harvesting lasted for weeks to ensure that enough fuel was cut and stored for winter. In the Netherlands, peat was burned and used for heating and cooking. Peat is still used as a heating source, and it can also be used as a soil additive for gardening.
Invention has always has intrigued me, but it’s hard to imagine how someone in the past looked at mud and thought to himself, “Hmmmm….I bet I can dry this mud out and turn it into a fuel source.”
The hands-on demonstration was really interesting. People in the past had to work so hard every day to find food, fuel, and water, in addition to making their own clothing and shelter. We’re a bit soft now…we get annoyed when the store runs out of something, and we lose our minds if we have to wait more than a few seconds for technology to work. We’re SPOILED!
We also visited a cheese shop in the nearby city of Hoogeveen. Hilma and Gerrie took us to a place called, Breider and they had the most amazing assortment of cheese, meats, jellies, etc. The woman behind the counter (who I believe was the owner of the shop) made the experience so much fun. She spoke to us in English and she encouraged us to try as many samples as we wanted.
Have you ever seen green cheese? Of course, it immediately reminded me of Dr. Seuss. She offered us a taste and told us that it was basil–delicious. We probably tried at least ten different types of cheese, and Pierre and I agreed on our favorite–walnut cheese. Oh my, it was so good!
Her tactic was good for business, not only did we have fun, but we bought a lot of cheese, sausage, and jelly, which we brought back to Germany with us to give as gifts for his mother, brother, and a friend of ours named Claudia.
Green Cheese? Yes!
We WILL be returning to this shop, or at least ordering some more of their walnut cheese online!We had a really nice dinner together, and I tried mustard soup, which is a regional specialty. I didn’t sound too appealing when I first heard about it, but it was delicious!
Mustard Soup
Hilma and Gerrie–we had such a great visit with you! Thank you!
Driving over the Afsluitdijk has been one of my bucket list items for awhile now, so we took a little detour on the way to Gerrie and Hilma’s house. It only added about an hour to the trip…and it was worth it!
The Netherlands has been fighting off the sea for centuries. About 1/3 of the country is actually below sea level. The land is kept dry through an elaborate system of dikes, sand dunes, and pumping stations along the coast. Part of this system is the Afsluitdijk, which is a 20-mile sea barrier that was designed to protect the inland against flooding.
The green arrow shows the location of the Afsluitdijk , which stretches from coast to coast, thus protecting the land behind it.
Looking across to our van…The dedication to this statue was written in Dutch (of course), so we couldn’t understand it. We think this statue is in honor of all the workers who have toiled to keep their country from being reclaimed by the sea.This picture was taken from the car as we were driving. It captures the essence of the Netherlands perfectly–flat land, canals, and now, wind turbines instead of windmills.
We capped off both nights that we were visiting Roman and Sandra by sitting around a campfire. The night air was a bit chilly, but the fire was warm and cozy. Roman played a great selection of music and we had a lot of fun, and the only thing missing were S’mores! I’ll have to bring the ingredients from America the next time we visit!
Notice the sheepskin on the chair–that’s one way to keep your bottom warm!My drink for the night, an early season wine that we picked it up at Hofladen Birken, which is the Farmer’s Market that we had visited earlier in the day.
During our visit, Sandra and Roman took us to see the Altenberger Dom, which is located about fifteen minutes away from their home. The Altenberger Dom located in Odenthal, Germany, is listed as a cultural heritage site. Construction on the church began in 1259 and is built in the Gothic style. The church holds a special place in Roman’s family because his parents were married there.
I’m not sure why there was a giant coffee cup in the parking lot, but served as the perfect prop for a picture. Altenberger Dom
The inside of the church was beautiful, but I was especially fascinated by the stained glass windows. Most of the panels were black, gray, and white, which is very different from the colorful windows that most churches have. Those colors might sound dull and depressing, or maybe severe, but actually had the opposite effect. The simple color scheme allowed a lot of light to pass through, thus illuminating the church and creating a feeling of richness and grandeur. The windows were so pretty.
If you look (very) carefully, you will see that the steeple is topped with a rooster instead of a cross.Do you see the “V shaped” wedge around the keyhole? Of course you can, I circled it in red! Do you know what it was used for? It was a key guide to help drunk clergy unlock the doors in the evenings! Apparently, this is a very common feature on old doors from this time period.
On the way back to the car, I spotted a sign for the Camino, which of course I got excited about. I’ve hiked the Camino de Santiago (Frances) twice, once in 2013 and again in 2018. Both times I began in Saint Jean Pied de Port, France and walked 500 miles (800 kms) to Santiago, Spain. The blue sign with the yellow scallop shell, that says, ‘Pilgerweg‘ is the marker for the Camino.
I also noticed another route with a picture of a witch called, ‘Hexenroute.’ Intrigued, I looked it up and found out that it’s a local hiking trail, not a long-distance trail as I had assumed. The English translation of the trail means “Witches Path.” Although I can’t find much about it, it seems that there were witch hunts in this area throughout the 1600’s.
