The Hague

The other day the news had a story on the Netherlands' health system and it got me a bit nostalgic. Not because I miss their health system, but because the piece was filmed in The Hague and I lived in The Hague on and off for a year when I worked for a company that manages container terminals. The Hague is a beautiful city, and the Dutch are a wonderful people!

I lived in 3 different places that year. A hotel for a month, then another hotel for a month, and then an apartment in what's called the Centrum, near the Grote Kerk, or big church. (In between those three times, I spent time in other countries.) The above picture shows the Binnenhof (parliament building) and the steeple of the Grote Kerk.

The Centrum is a walking, shopping, eating area. Here, you can see the Grote Kerk from closer than the previous shot. I am standing in front of a movie theater, looking over some restaurants to the square where my apartment was. The below picture shows the entrance to my apartment building at the left. I walked and took the tram to work, when I was in town. The Hague's tram system is world-class.
I look at these pictures I took less than 2 years ago and am just amazed at the life I am leading now in comparison to then. Before I bought this 25 acres of woods and rocks I'm calling the homestead, I was much more a city person than a country person. Before this year, I'd never planted a garden, split wood, used a wood stove or a chainsaw - everything this year has been a first for me.

Last night was incredibly windy and I did some work to seal the loose windows of my old house in preparation for the coming cold. Sometimes I don't know what possessed me to follow my dream to this cold, old house in the north country, and I can't think about where I want to be in 5 years, compared to where I was 2 years ago. It seems too big a task. All I can do now is hold on to the dream, but focus on today. Tomorrow, I'll think about tomorrow.