Reflections

A perfect desert rainbow

It's been 22 days since I said I would write about what we learned in our six months of boating in The Netherlands.  Yes, there's been a slight delay but then I've been busy.  I hadn't seen my grandchildren in 6 months.  I needed to visit with them and I'd forgotten how tall a 13 year old boy can grow in that amount of time.  Our house was thick with desert dust, our backyard plants had grown wild because of the heavy monsoons this year and I, quite honestly, just wanted to sit and stare for a bit.  Now it's time to think and type.........  

Even my small front yard cactus grew up this summer

Our number one lesson was that lots of bicycling reduces waistlines.  As our only form of transportation, our much loved Dutch bikes, provided us with enough exercise to drop a noticeable amount of weight. I dropped a whole size, so did Dwight.  Pleased?  You betcha!

I'd thought that my bicycling days were over.  My U.S. mountain style bike tips me forward so much that it pains my old arthritic hands to ride it.  My Dutch bike, an "omafiets" (grandma's bike)  lets me sit up straight which makes for an easy comfortable ride.  No pain with lots of gain. 

No more mountain bikes for me..this one's for sale now

We learned that age really doesn't matter.  We are in our 70s, so what?  We can sit at home waiting for the undertaker to ring our doorbell or we can do.  Doing is infinitely preferable.


I learned that in the Netherlands, my height at 5 feet 9-3/4 inches, is practically short.  Boy, they grow 'em tall.  I am used to being about the tallest woman around, but sometimes in Holland I felt short.  Didn't like that feeling at all.

We both learned that Dwight's idea of the perfect boat is certainly far from mine.   Dwight was the one who went to Holland, hunted down the boat and convinced me that I would love, love, love it.  Boy, was he wrong.  This boat is going to take some work to reconfigure the inside and lots of painting on the outside before I will become just slightly fond of it.  

A boat in need of TLC

We learned that the weather in Holland is stinky.  We are heading south next year.  'Nuff said.


We learned that the world's most accommodating people live in Holland.  Nice folks.

We learned that sparkling clean windows, exquisitely kept gardens and litter free streets do not ever make up for the bad habit of leaving dog poop all over the ground, everywhere.


We learned canal water in The Netherlands can sometimes kill your garden.  I watered my plants with canal water for 3 seasons in France and always had beautiful flowers and herbs.  Something in the water in Holland killed my garden this year.  I will be more careful next time. 

I learned that I like having company on the boat.  We make more of an effort to get out and see and do than we would if it was just the two of us.  We argue less, too. 

One of our picture-taking guests

We learned that having an elderly cat on a boat is lots easier than having an energetic little dog.  Never mind Yogi, we love you anyway (but we still miss Captain Kitty).

Yogi taking the sun on the foredeck

We learned that six months on our boat is abut 1 month too long.  Next time we'll stay, max, 5 months.

We learned that we miss the company of other cruisers.  Almost all the cruisers in Holland are locals, out for a weekend or, at most, a month or so.   While very friendly and helpful, understandably, they are not really interested in comparing cruising notes with foreigners. 

A Union Jack in Holland

We will do a little more thinking about our time in Holland.  There must be a thousand more lessons we learned......or are we just too old to glean new knowledge.  Hope not.