back in 2003, tom & i cycled the rhine from holland up through germany and france. tom made it to switzerland, but i turned around a day early and went to a folkfest in france... but that's another story.
yesterday i completed a pilgrimage which we did not manage to do (whether in ignorance or lack of time i canna recall): i cycled up to leiden where rene desCartes (who is called "cartesius" in dutch) sat by a fire and thought a thought which led european philosophy astray for centuries. i found the address where he was lodging: there is a placquard to the blackguard there which says simply: rene descartes 1640. i spat at the name and felt better for it. i felt like a haji throwing a stone at the devil!
today i might return to leiden to hear an organ concert and mayhaps to photograph the blackguard's placquard just for inclusion is a few other forthcoming photos "homages hollandaises aux philosophes". most will be kinder. (more kind? more of the kind kind?) not kindertotenlieder, fer shure.
here in the swamps of holland i am cycling hours daily, longing for a hill, any hill! and i think of my dear friend nancy perched high atop a tuscan promontory littered with renaissance castles and fabulous gardens.... sigh....
bright blessings
miko
oh, OH! i also found a brand-new windmill in the neighboring town of schiedam: it was built to grind grain for "ketel one" products. schiedam's wealth was once based in the alcohol trade: dutch folks drink a curious liquor called jenever, which is neither gin nor vodka nor raw whisky, but it is what it is, dammit. they have decided to save money by using an old-fashioned windmill to directly harness the wind power rather than using a diesel engine like most distilleries do. there are two modern windmills in schiedam: one just opened up three months ago! and of course there are old windmills all over for tourists to gawk at and for mad knights-errant to serve as enemies at which to tilt... but there are few knights-errant roaming about... i suppose they are in spain or italy... and they all seem more like friends than enemies....
