Simple

Stay Calm

Indian summer. Autumn with its "small" amount of rain, "lots" of sun and its lovely smells and dazzling colors. For me, an inseparable connection with autumn in The Netherlands. More specific with the garden of my mother-in-law - she died a couple of years ago. I took care of her grass (mowing) and hedges (cutting) and all other sawing, chopping and pruning for more than fifteen years. Year after year. Season after season. All that is gone now. The house  has since been sold.

 

I miss feeling the seasons physically in that garden. The smells and colors close. Raspberries, blackberries, plums, cherries, walnuts, sweet chestnut, beech nuts and ... - there must be more. Mushrooms. And I miss the feeling of having a second home. Mostly we stayed for a night on the weekend, every other week, with the kids. The kids playing in the 1.5 hectare big garden. Having dinner and a few glasses of wine when it's dark outside. Sleep well and deep after a hard day work.

In my second home I had three books of my own on a shelf. Only these three - not one more: 

• Gavin Maxwell, Ring of Bright Water (1960)
• Nescio, Natuurdagboek (1950's)
• Virgil, Georgica (around 29 BC), in a Dutch translation

Mostly I browsed in these three books when I was in the mood for reading. Read some lines or a couple of pages. I found out that I only was able to understand Virgil when I read out his lines loud. 

I don't know where I came from but I like simple, calm and basic. Being comfortable with the imperfect = perfect me. Nothing wrong with cities and big cities. But sometimes it feels for me that a lot of (or most?) people in the "cities" lost track of where they came from and how to stay calm. For me the next lines are stating the obvious but I know for a lot of (or most?) people it's not.

 

P.S. Page 'The World' is from Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive (2015). Check out the quotes: here. WOW!

P.P.S. Source Indian Summer picture: here.

Water

Look at this:

Any idea what it is? Answer: a tear under a microscope! To be more specific, it is an "Emotional Tear" from Claudia (source): "An emotial tear of sadness, because she was struggling to get a trough [sic!] time in life".

What a beautiful universe on its own. Things like this make me cry, emotional and ... - you know.

P.S. More on this project of Maurice Mikkers can be found: here.

P.P.S. Did you know that it's not possible yet - if ever - to reproduce the same (kind of) tear? Currently there are too many variables. May be it's not even possible ever because some say, "human consciousness has an effect on the molecular structure of water. So since we largely consist out of water (just like the tear fluid), maybe this human consciousness is also influencing how the (emotional) tears are shaped".

Happiness is Vectored Trust

Work. I am back at work again after four weeks of holiday. I finished my Cape Verde Islands translation (Hessel Gerritsz' rutter from 1628 remember?) and I painted the four windows in the front of the house and the front door.

Next to that I read most days around two hours. I finished Bob Marston's book 'Harrier Boys. Volume Two. New Technology, New Treats, New Tactics 1990-2010' (London 2016).

Lovely read those two volumes. I guess for most readers it will be too technical but if you read in between lines it gives a great insight into the history of the Harrier Force.

New for me:

1. Sites for field operations were, if needed, changed every 48 hours.

2. The Harrier was never perfect. It was a continuous process of evolution of the aircraft, its equipment and the (wo)man inside and outside the cockpit. They always wanted to have the best. And to be the best. In war there is no place for being second!

In 2010 the Harrier Force was disbanded as cost-saving measure in the United Kingdom (UK). Replacement? Yes, the Harrier will (probably) be replaced by the F35B. The Ministery of Defence of the UK took intentionally a gap in their V/STOL (vectored trust) air power. 

P.S. Not for Argentine eyes ;) the English are not able to defend the Falklands since 2010 and will not be able to for the next five years. Since 2010 more militairy power (marines etc) on the islands themselves?

P.P.S. Link to Youtube video 'The Best of Harrier Jump Jet History': here.

P.P.P.S. I wrote on Volume I in blogpost 'The Ultimate CAS' (November 2015).