daze
If there is a word to describe my 2023, it is "daze". Most of the months moved by like a haze, dysfunctional after boring months. Troubled by a rogue thyroid, lost weight, lost direction, time consumed by social media, most days is a snafu.
Then a stay of a month and a half in Amsterdam and the Netherlands somehow brought back some order. Ah, Amsterdam, the city of canals and bridges, bicycles and cyclists, cannabis and museums. The city woke me up to the beauty, and ugliness of this world.
From there, I followed the routes that Vincent van Gogh took in the village of Nuenen, where he stayed for some months at his mother's house, where he painted the watermills, windmills and people. Later I will visit the new, sleek museum in Amsterdam where most of his paintings are.
I made trips to the battlegrounds of World War 2, to Arnhem, to Groesbeek and Nijmegen, to look at mangled pieces of metal, to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, where a teenage girl just wanted to live a normal life, to try to understand the inhumanity of man to man.
I underestimated the cold in Amsterdam during November/December, coming from the tropics, and had to get extra warm clothing. I saw the homeless sleeping on the sidewalks, underpasses, and understand how cold they must have felt.
On the day I was leaving for home, at the airport, I saw heavily armed police and military personnel around. Discreet, yet visible, they are there because of a terrorist threat. There is more or less the same presence when I landed. The world has changed, and has not changed much.
01/01/2024
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from a wall mural in Amsterdam, Netherlands
photo by dsnake1
daze
"I will do it today."
"Tomorrow, it will be done."
And so, another year passes...
01/01/2024
**********
We do not cherish the hours until we worry about the nanoseconds. - dsnake1
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2024
Then a stay of a month and a half in Amsterdam and the Netherlands somehow brought back some order. Ah, Amsterdam, the city of canals and bridges, bicycles and cyclists, cannabis and museums. The city woke me up to the beauty, and ugliness of this world.
From there, I followed the routes that Vincent van Gogh took in the village of Nuenen, where he stayed for some months at his mother's house, where he painted the watermills, windmills and people. Later I will visit the new, sleek museum in Amsterdam where most of his paintings are.
I made trips to the battlegrounds of World War 2, to Arnhem, to Groesbeek and Nijmegen, to look at mangled pieces of metal, to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, where a teenage girl just wanted to live a normal life, to try to understand the inhumanity of man to man.
I underestimated the cold in Amsterdam during November/December, coming from the tropics, and had to get extra warm clothing. I saw the homeless sleeping on the sidewalks, underpasses, and understand how cold they must have felt.
On the day I was leaving for home, at the airport, I saw heavily armed police and military personnel around. Discreet, yet visible, they are there because of a terrorist threat. There is more or less the same presence when I landed. The world has changed, and has not changed much.
01/01/2024
**********
photo by dsnake1
daze
"I will do it today."
"Tomorrow, it will be done."
And so, another year passes...
01/01/2024
**********
We do not cherish the hours until we worry about the nanoseconds. - dsnake1
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2024
Labels: Amsterdam, ennui, New Year, the Netherlands, travel
posted by dsnake1 at 1:00 AM
15 Comments:
I'm glad your daze lifted! I thinkhaving a sense of purpose is important. Maybe you make plans to produce a book (or a few) of your poems and artwworks? Just a thought.
I'd have liked to visit Holland, as my second husband, the father of my children, was born there and lived there until his parents migrated to Australia when he was 15. We were together 27 years, and he sometimes thought of going back for a visit and taking me to see the country too, but it never happened. However our sons have been.
I very much enjoyed traveling vicariously with you. I would love to follow Van Gogh's path, see some of his originals and then visit Ann Frank's house. To arrive back home and realize nothing really ever changes.
Happy New Year! May the thyroid stabilize.
I like your rendition of the year passed. Nice to leave the humdrum of daily life by travel. We have driven about all over, but stayed a week in St Remy, Provence, France. I blogged about our visit of the salutatorian where Gogh commited himself after cutting off his ear. It was beside the olive grove that he liked so well. I matched his painting of the grove with a real nice matching photograph of the grove itself still standing.
You may have gone there also?
..
and so another year passes So true We keep repeating this
You went to Nijmegen. That's were I went to school I am from Wijchen, a village near Nijmegen
I have family in Groesbeek as well and have been there many times
I love Vincent I was in the Netherlands in May this year and went to the kroller Muller Museum close to Arnhem. There you can see his Cafe Terrace painting.
Rosemary,
I like your thought about a sense of purpose. With the purpose comes focus and discipline, which I think I am lacking. Perhaps I am not ready for a book yet, (maybe a collection of some of my poems from my blog), I don't know.
I am thinking of going for an acrylic paint art course but the fees are rather hefty. Let's see, maybe I can move my butt this time.
My one and a half months in Holland is a real eye-opener. It's pretty expensive there but if you planned it well with transport cards and museum cards and cooking your own meals at your service apartment, you can save a ton. Plus, English is spoken widely there so the language barrier is almost non-existent. And yes, there is so much to see and feel for a guy coming from the tropics. I am glad your sons have visited the country.
Yvonne,
Thank you!
To have visited all those places, it must have felt like a bucket list. It is a really different feeling, to see an original van Gogh, Rembrant or Vermeer on a museum wall than a print on a book. :)
Priscilla,
Thank you, and a Happy New Year to you too.
I have an appointment with the doctor next week about the pesky thyroid. Hope it's not misbehaving. :)
This is a beautifully composed and fascinating post! So happy you were able to escape the 'haze daze' and explore a place of beauty and interesting sights. Wishing you a really good 2024! My thyroid has two nodules we keep an eye on ......
Jim,
Thank you!
During this trip, I didn't go to France. I would like to visit St Remy if I have the chance. Also Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, where he spent his last days.
Thank you for your kind comment. :)
Marja,
Thank you!
Oh, so you went to school at Nijmegen. It's a quite modern city now but so much has happpened to her during the War. We visited the Vrijheids Museum and had a picnic at Kronenburgerpark. :)
Helen,
Thank you.
I think if there is an opportunity to travel, just go for it. It certainly opens up my eyes. :)
My thyroid has a couple of nodules too which we are keeping an eye on too.
Have a safe and happy 2024!
I would love that exact trip. Sounds wonderful!
Thank you, Sara.
It was indeed a wonderful trip. :)
P.S.
I was unable to leave a comment at your blog "purplepeninportland" so I guess I will paste it here.
" These are wonderful promises. I like the idea that we can place past years on a shelf to look at now and then. Maybe to rejoice on the good ones and reflect on what could be done better on the missed ones. :)"
Hi Marja,
Let me add to your comment.
I was wondering where van Gogh's Cafe Terrace painting is. Now I know! I missed seeing it. And I visited Arnhem too. :)
Your 2023 sounds like the world--wonderful and devastating. I love that you can remember the good without the bad swallow the wonder.
Magaly,
Thank you!
Like the mural says, Stay Positive! :)
Have a great 2024 Lee :)
Thank you, Ashok!
Have a wonderful 2024 too.
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