Happy 2016, Everyone! And may it be a good year.

Whilst I am writing this, I am watching the BBC News from the corner of my eye, and my heart goes out to all of you in the flooded areas. As a Dutch Wetlander I can relate, believe me (have a look at that photo below).

In the meantime I gather those of you in the South and Midwest of the States are having a rough time of it with tornadoes as well... So my heart goes out to you too.
No idea if there are natural disasters at this time in Russia, we get no news like that, but...
My heart goes out to all of you. Where-ever in the world you are. Period.

The thing about natural disasters is that there is absolutely no-one to blame (most of the time) - I mean, an avalanche coming down a mountainside may be due to some idiot having made a wrong environmental decision at some point in history, but right at the moment the avalanche strikes, there's usually not one particular person to point the finger to. 
The same goes for the flooding in the UK. Yes, decades of bad water management may be at the heart of all those communities now having to deal with polluted river water sloshing through their houses, but who can you blame, name and all? Nobody.
So it makes it easier to pull together and help each other out. No-one to blame, just people suffering and needing help.

Could that concept be at the heart of the reluctance many of us feel at helping out all those thousands of refugees hoping to find shelter in our safe (though perhaps twister and flood-prone) countries? For there is definitely someone to blame and name there. And thus it's easy for us to say okay, that guy or that group of guys (they are always guys) are the guilty one(s), he has driven his own people out of their own country, so let him solve his own problems.

Contrary to the 500.000 refugees our Mr Wilders had predicted would overrun our tiny country in 2015, we have come to meet 45.000. That's 45.000 souls, as far as I'm concerned.
Perhaps we will need some flooding of our own, and then the refugees helping out filling the sandbags, to change our minds about them?

I wish you all a wonderful 2016. May it be a peaceful, happy, prosperous year for you.

Be Thankful!

Good afternoon to you, where-ever you are.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

This drizzly afternoon me and my two almost-grownup-offspring took ourselves to...

(okay, if you suffer from a Christmas allergy now skip the following paragraph!) 

the local Christmas decorations show.

In October! Yes...I know.

For Wetlanders like us this is almost unheard of. We used to have a guy called Sinterklaas for the last couple of hundred of years or so, and it was like swearing in church if you so much as mentioned Christmas before Sinterklaas had safely left our country on December 6th. But due to hassle and bother to do with his (presumed) racist tendency to surround himself with black helpers called Zwarte Piet, a lot of people have had it up to their eyebrows with all the hullaballoo. Including me. 

So...we went to our local garden centre Aralia which is renowned for its Christmas decorations. This is a family tradition (only we usually went around Dec. 15th) which always cheers us up.

And it was when we were walking slowly along the beautifully decorated aisles that it dawned on me. Or rather, it cloaked me slowly like a veil falling gently around my shoulders.

I watched other ordinary women like myself (no men in sight except for my 22 year old) making their way towards "the festive season", their faces relaxed, their eyes lit up with wonder and admiration (okay, okay, and with greed for some of them) whilst looking at the gorgeous displays. And I realized we are having it soooooooo good. 

Even women like me (money too tight to mention right now), but definitely those women who were loading their carts and baskets with festive stuff. We have it so good!

We live in proper houses, heated houses, with running hot water and a fridge and washing machine. With all kinds of appliances to make our work lighter and easier. Most of us with some sort of job to put food on our tables and fags in our pockets (not mine - but you get the drift I'm sure).

We do not have to bribe border guards to let us pass. We do not risk our lives and loves in leaking overloaded boats in the Mediterranean Sea. We do not walk for days on slippers in freezing temperatures.

I know many of my pampered and slightly-less-pampered fellow Wetlanders view these human rivers making their way towards our small country with trepidation. Cynics are quick to point out to me that many of these refugees do have the latest iPhones and post on Facebook.

It confuses me, I have no easy solution for this problem.

But what I do know, is that we Wetlanders should be thankful that we can visit a garden centre and buy ourselves some pretty lights.