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Only in spontaneity we can be who we truly are

Although the title of this blog might suggest otherwise, it was definitely not raining this day. In fact it was an awesome day for a walk. The sun was shining, temperature rose above 25 degrees Celsius, and still it was raining. It was raining men; our men, our partners in crime.

So you might say today was a rather special day for a walk, because for the first time a lot of our men joined us. They are not members of MPC, but to us they are very important as they are our partners in crime. We women joined MPC, but we wouldn’t always be able to do all the things we do without the support of our men. Our men suddenly saw different meals served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They saw all kinds of fitness equipment filling the bedroom. Some of us were lucky enough to have a spare bedroom to make a separate fitness room. But maybe it was this one spare bedroom they thought of making their man cave!

Bikes were dusted, hiking boots bought and if the men had had any plans for the weekend, they had to re- schedule them. Throughout the year all kind of activities and walks were scheduled. Every two weeks another walk planned by the Walking Peakers. But today they were invited to join us. On todays walk it’s raining men, for they accompany us in a spontaneous walk of the Walking Peakers.

Only in spontaneity we can be who we truly are

In our schedule we made for this year, there were no walks planned during the month of August. A lot of Peakers are gone for the summer holiday. At least that’s what we thought. But sometimes we need to do a little less thinking or at least let everybody think for herself?  I am glad Jeanette did think for herself. She spontaneously asked if anybody fancied a walk, and within a few minutes a lot of enthusiastic reactions popped up in our app group, and a walk was arranged.

Spontaneous is the one word to describe Jeanette. With a big smile on her face, she’s always in for a little action, a joke or just a nice conversation. I met her less than a year ago when she joined me on my challenge, Walking the Dykes of Flevoland. And ever since we have done many walks together. Seeing her always puts a smile on my face.

Jeannette and her husband Jan live outside a little place called Werkendam, in the region of Noord-Brabant. Their house is built on an embankment, and as far as you can see there is grassland, fascinating skies and beautiful views. The only way to get to their lovely house is just one road. And at the end of this one road you find a gate leading to their property. They live there with their son and daughter, three dogs, a horse and a pony, a lot of chickens and a rooster. I asked other Peakers at the beginning of this year to show me their backyard, and that’s exactly what we did today. We literally walked in the backyard of Jeanette and Jan..

When we finished our coffee and tea, we started our walk by following a path called the “Jannemanpad.” The path is named after Jeannette’s husband Jan. It’s not an official name. To walk in his own backyard, and to keep connected with the regular paths, was only possible when Jan mowed a path. He has mowed that path ever since. He likes to do this, it’s a kind of hobby to him.

Room for the rivers

Not only was walking with our husbands a special treat today, but also the area we walked in. As we walked Jan and Jeanette told us the history of it.

The area is called “Noordwaard” polder and is as large as about 6000 football fields. If you know the Netherlands a little bit, you can find this area in the south west part of the Netherlands, between the Brabantse Biesbosch and the river Nieuwe Merwede. In 2009 they started to de-polderisate this area and it took about five years to complete this project. Part of the polder was reassigned and changed from an inner dike area to an outside dike area. All this was done to make sure that when it is high tide it’s possible to have a flow-through of water to the sea. This will take place when the water reaches a height of two metres above NAP ( Normal Amsterdam Peil). This NAP is a reference height used in the Netherlands to do measurements. Before 2009 most of the area had an agriculture function. After the realisation of the project, the area is no longer suitable for agriculture. You can imagine the landscape of the area changed after 2009. They used a topographic map of 1905 to remodel the area. And today we had the opportunity to walk in this beautiful area. It was quite an experience to walk in an area so full of nature.

Thank you Jeannette and Jan for inviting us on this beautiful day. And we will be back, for you promised us a boat trip and a sleepover. We don’t know when yet but we figure something out for next year.

Thanks to Antonette de Groot, Jeanette Groeneveld en Vera de Koning for taking the pictures.

Believe you can and you’re halfway there

                                                                       Theodore Roosevelt

Just an idea

From one idea another idea was born. Walking the dykes of Flevoland to show other Peakers how beautiful my backyard is was the first step to many more walks. I invited other Dutch Peakers to show me their backyard. All over the Netherlands, 22 Walks are organized by Dutch Peakers, and today we are halfway done. We have already walked 9 out of 12 regions of the Netherlands over 11 walks for a total of 167km (103miles)!

I never imagined this initiative would be such a success! Many Dutch Peakers have walked with me, and every walk is like a little party. I take the garlands and my Peaker sisters do know how to hang them. I am so proud of all of you walking and talking with me.

Hosts of todays walk

If I mention the words curly hair and red lips, a dedicated Peaker from the first moment, I think a lot of you know who I am talking about. She’s also a mom of three kids, and when she not busy being a Dutch Peaker she works as an assistant Office Manager in a Practice for Physical Therapy. Of course I am talking about Gerona, and she and Ella took us through the polder of Zuid-Holland and Utrecht, and showed us amongst other little places, Haastrecht and Oudewater.

Ella is born and bred in the Hague, but has lived in Boskoop for the past 20 years. It was her husband who took her to this lovely polder for the first time, and she has loved it ever since.

I admire Ella for her persistence. She’s the one that pushed way past her boundries when she walked with me in Flevoland, and I have never ever heard her complaining. She’s a tough lady.

Oudewater

Today we walk in the regions of Utrecht and Zuid-Holland. It is our third walk in this area, and Gerona told me today that if you want to have a clear picture of what represent the Netherlands the most, then this is it. The flat landscapes alternate with meadows, woods, little villages and of course, mills.

I drove all the way to Oudewater this morning where Ellen and Gerona were waiting for us  in a parking lot in the centre of the village. A large group of 18 Dutch Peakers took the trouble of getting here on a beautiful Sunday morning in June.

Oudewater got it’s city charters in 1265, and was therefor the oldest city in what we call in the Netherlands, the Green Hart. It is a sparsely populated so called green area, between the large cities of Rotterdam, The Hague, Zoetermeer, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam and Utrecht.

In the 16th and 17th century this city was well known for the production of rope. This rope was made out of hemp, a product that grew in the surrounding area of Oudewater. This rope was specially made for the ships of the United Oostindie Compagnie. A lot of the ancient buildings in the city still remind you of that time, and are on the list of National Heritage.

It was not the production of rope that caught my attention, it was the “heksenwaag” that interested me. I’ve always had an interest in witches. Between the 16th and 18th century, if they found you guilty of witchcraft, they weighed you here. If they thought you weighed too little you could end on the stake. Sounds familiar? Wasn’t it Geillis in Outlander who ended on a hay stake?

According to the Oudewater history from that period, a lot of people were weighed, but none of them were actually accused of being a witch. Although our hosts gave us some nice witch candy in the end, we were not weighed……

I don’t know what it is with these witches, but it always fascinates me. I love reading stories that involve witches and seeing movies with withches. Witches of Roald Dahl is one of my favorite books. I even like face painting them.

But all kidding aside, today we actually walked not one region but two. On the first part of the walk through the polder we crossed the border with the region Zuid-Holland. And as I told you before we began and ended in Oudewater, region of Utrecht. We enjoyed our lunch in the grass near Haastrecht, bought cherries,and cherry ice cream along the way, and crossed the IJssel. All of it took place in the regions of Utrecht and Zuid-Holland.

Believe you can..

Such a large group of Dutch Peakers walking today’s walk. Many of them didn’t know they were capable of walking the distance when they first joined the Dutch Peakers Walking. Most of our walks are between the 10km and 20km, and occasionally a little bit more than 20km.

Most of the time you hardly notice the distance you walk. You walk and talk and before you know it, you have passed another km. Today was such a day. With so many Peakers I do have to pay attention to the environment, because before I know it, the end of the walk is near and all I have done is talking. I will be like those Japanese or Chinese tourists and have to look back at my pictures to see where I walked today!

You’re halfway there

Back in Oudewater, sitting on a lovely terrace with a nice cold drink, I suddenly realize we’re halfway done with our walks. And halfway means my mind is already making plans for another challenge next year. But first things first, this challenge is only halfway so there will be several beautiful walks ahead of us, with lovely Dutch Peakers and a lot of talking.

And who knows who will meet me halfway on the other half of this challenge!

All the beautiful pictures you see are made by Titia Bisschops-Schaar, Jeannette Groeneveld, Linda van den Ham and myself.

A friend is someone

who helps you up

when you’re down

and if they can’t

they lay down beside you

and listen.

When I started this walk I couldn’t have known that somewhere over the ocean way back in Bonnie Scotland our Peaker sister Ellen made a tough decision. She was walking the West Highland Way, with her son and had to stop because of knee problems. That evening I posted our group photo telling everybody that this walk was almost like walking a part of the West Highland Way, totally unaware of her decision.  This one is for you, Ellen. Maybe this way we can help you up if you’re down….

The weather

For a few days the weather has been a little threatening with heavy rain showers and strong winds.

As I leave home for another walk of our challenge, the 10th to be specific, it’s raining. We’re almost halfway through our challenge. But we don’t let ourselves stop over a little bit of rain. We are Peakers after all. This is my tough Peaker voice speaking. You see, I don’t like walking in the rain. When I walk and it starts raining, okay. But if it’s raining before I even start, that’s not my cup of tea. Looking at every weather app I could find this morning,  I saw that my positive thought, it’s going to be better later on, was confirmed. I drove to Rheden, little place in the neighbourhood of Arnhem in the region of Gelderland. And the further I went, the better it got. It was dry when I arrived.

Our hosts for today

Our hosts for today are Nicoline McCarthy and Miranda Kooiman. Miranda lives in Arnhem and Nicoline lives in Elst. They both are Dutch Peakers, and when they came in contact with each other, it turned out that Nicoline is a member of the same triathlon club as Miranda’s husband. It is a small world after all. Nicoline lives with her family of 4 kids in Hummelo.She studied Social Geography and is a self-employed cartographer. Miranda lives in Arnhem with her husband and two sons. She does the administration for three Primary schools and recently started her own business as a virtual assistant. And what I like most about her she teaches nature lessons to toddlers once in a while.

Miranda and Nicole chose to walk in this area because it is a varied piece of nature, through the forest, over the moor, with beautiful viewpoints along the way.

Arnhem is probably the place you remember from history class. The Battle of Arnhem occurred during WWII. It was part of Operation Market Garden in September 1944. Unfortunately the operation failed, mostly because the allied forces couldn’t take over the brigde. The North and West part of the Netherlands could not be liberated, and that caused the hunger winter. Today there was no hunger for us because Miranda and Nicole were waiting in the parking lot with coffee, tea and delicious homemade pie with dates and coconut.

Posbank

The area is certainly beautiful and various. Right from the start it made me remember my walk last year in Scotland when I walked the West Highland way. The moorland we walk through is popularly known as the Posbank but its original name is Herikhuizerveld. The Posbank owes its name to Mr. G.A. Pos, former chairman of the ANWB (AAA). When this Mr. Pos worked for 25 years for the company they built him this semicircular stone bench, located at a beautiful viewpoint. At the site, you are standing 90 metres above NAP (sealevel). For me, coming from 6 metres under the sea that’s pretty high. Compared to climbing the Glen Coe, which I  did last month, it’s nothing. But nevertheless, the view is beautiful and amazing, especially for a country which is almost flat.

Ganesha

Those of you who follow the stories of the Dutch Peaker Walking, know our history with the elephant. It all started with walking the dykes of Flevoland last year. On one of the legs we had Ella walking with us and at the beginnng I told her the distance of the leg would be aproximately 18km. She had never walked any further than 10km. Somewhere along the way, I saw it would be far more km than I told her, and I was hesitating whether I should tell her or not. Eventually I did and that’s when Vanessa started this song about a little elephant. We sang it together to keep Ella walking when it became tougher. Ever since that walk, when somebody is so over it ,we start singing the song, and that is how the elephant became symbol of the Dutch Peakers Walking.

I was totally surprised when I received another elephant today from Pauline. This one is called Ganesha, a Hindu God who takes away all obstacles in life and protects all travellers.

We walkers,  are we not all in a way, travellers? Remember what I told you in Ain’t No Arthur High Enough about Robert Louis Stevenson? We travel not to go anywhere but to go…

Thank you so much for this little elephant Pauline, and may it keep us safe on all our walks in the future. I am not quite sure about the obstacles. I believe sometimes it is okay to bump into a little obstacle in life. I try to learn from it and hope that a next time I have learned enough to do it differently, think differently or react differently. But if this little guy keeps me safe from the big obstacles in life, I don’t mind.

Stowaways

Every now and then we have a stowaway joining us on our walks. Today Pauline’s daughter joins us.         

Jamie studies at the London School of Economics. She is earning a Master in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies. I walk and talk for a little while with her, and I admire the way she is living. She is a young self-aware woman with a purpose in life. There is not much in life that I would do differently if I had the change to do it all over again, but there is one thing. I would definitely go abroad for a Master’s degree, explore the world, and meet other people in life. I can never make up for the time I didn’t, but I do admire our young people who do. They are becoming the global citizens of tomorrow.

Jamie told me she was leaving for Mumbai in India for two weeks, to do some research for the foundation her mother is working for, Khazana Foundation. The goal of this foundation is to provide basic financial skills to children who have no access to the banking system. They provide the Mumbai slum’s children with a saving account, teach them about longterm goals, provide education about the banking system and how money works. But that’s not all this young lady did. In undergraduate studies, she also minored in jazz and singing at the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague. Quite an impressive stowaway!

Thank you for being a friend

Every walk I meet so many new friends and hear so many interesting stories. I have not told you about Stefanie who works as an Environmental Expert for Boskalis. I promise to tell you more about her and the interesting work she’s doing next time she joins us for a walk. For now I lay myself down and think back on yet another wonderful day with my Dutch Peaker Walking group and listen to Thank You for Being a Friend by Andrew Gold.

Thanks to Linda van den Ham, Jolanda Schooneman en Stefanie Ross for making these beautiful pictures.

Be a knight of your goal

And a warrior of your dream!

It was on a Friday evening sometime in March when my love and I decided to join the High Hopes Hike 2019, organized by Bloodwise. I admit we were under the influence of a nice glass of wine and in a moment of madness we signed up for what Bloodwise described as a fun and challenging event which would surely leave lasting memories on the stunning Pap of Glencoe. Well, it was stunning and did leave some lasting memories, but lets start at the beginning, for signing up was the easiest part of the challenge.

Preparation

When we signed up in March, a couple of months ago, I was enthusiastic. Being a MPC member now for almost two years, I have done things I never thought I was capable of. Climbing a mountain? Never done it before. I thought it might be my real challenge for 2019. Besides walking all over the Netherlands, this would be a real personal challenge to me.

For those who don’t know me that well, I am the one who does things whitout having any idea what the consequences might be. I read it, I like it and I dive right into it, 100%, without overlooking the big picture. It happens to me over and over again. Lucky for me, I have a husband who slows me down from time to time. But not this time; he said we can do this. As time went by I started thinking about it more and then one day there was this big envelope from Bloodwise with all the necessary information. All of a sudden I wondered if I could really do this? And at the same time a little voice inside my head said to me, you can’t say A without saying B…

Saturday 25 May 2019

It’s early in the morning, when an über takes us to the railway station in Glasgow. There, a bus is waiting for us to take us to the Glencoe Inn. As we leave the city of Glasgow, we immediately recognized some places from last year when we did the West Highland Way. Again we were struck by the beautiful landscapes and the views of this amazing country, a song of Coldplay came out of the radio speakers singing, “I feel my heart beating, I feel my heart beat beneath my skin.” It couldn’t be more striking. I felt my heart beat beneath my skin, because in a flash of a moment I realized,  enthusiastic as I can be, I signed up for something I had no idea of what’s it would involve. I have never ever hiked a mountain. We did the West Highland Way and we did Arthur’s Seat, but I knew this was going to be something totally different. All of a sudden I got nervous. What if I couldn’t make it? It seemed such a nice challenge under the influence of a glass of wine back in March.

Pap of Glencoe

Before we started the hike, we got a few instructions from some serious Mountain Hikers. Scott, Anna, Kate and James were our guides for today’s hike. At the beginning Scott made the joke that the dangerous part of this hike would be getting us in one piece on the other side of the road. He, probably did it to break the ice, but it did not ease my mind! As soon as we passed a gate, some sort of entrance, the path took us up to the hillside. The weather that day was not going to work with us, since it drizzled and later on even rained. But hey, let’s not spoil the fun! Pretty soon steep uphill work began, but looking back, views opened up behind us. We could look over Loch Leven to Loch Linnhe.

At some point we had to wait for the whole group. The last part should be a technical tough part and the Mountain Hikers wanted to keep the group together.

I think at that point my nerves reached the highest level. I wanted to go back, especially after another couple, who I thought did this with their eyes closed, said they were not going with us to the top. I looked at my love (maybe we should not go any further too) and all he said was; no way, you are not going back, you are going to do this! Oh boy, does this man know me. If he let me go down he knew that I was going to regret it for the rest of my life.

In this last part to the top we had to step over a cliff. The part I stood on was no wider than my two feet. How the hell was I going to do this? And then there was Anna. She stood there to help me cross over and I couldn’t accept her help. I felt so awful, I asked her if it was okay if my husband took her place. To her it was absolutely no problem, but I felt awful for it seemed I did not trust her that much and I appologized. But Anna somehow understood, there was no pushing from her side, no comment, she just stepped aside and let my husband help me.

As soon as I crossed over, the people in front and behind me started to cheer and applaud. And this awesome lady called Claire shouted at me, “well done, Wonderwoman!” It makes you feel so good knowing there is a group that supports you all the way. As we reached the top, tears were running down mine and other faces. Despite the fact that the mist left us with no beautiful views, we all achieved a goal, and that made us very proud. Lots of pictures were taken despite the bad weather.

Going up meant, at some point you have to go back, and going down is not always easier. Anna taught me so much on my way down. She stayed with me all the way and talked me through it.

She taught me to hike with a pole, how to walk sideways, and kept on talking to me knowing I was having a rough time.

When I walk with my Dutch Peakers In the Netherlands, I keep talking to those having a hard time. Now Anna did the same to me. She kept talking even though I said I would have a bad night of sleep because all I would hear all night was her talking to me. She talked about all her adventures, all the countries she visited where she did this kind of work, for more than ten years now. A job at the office was not something for her, although it would paid better, she said.

And in the end there was also James. He helped me on a path with a lot of little rocks which started to roll as soon as I set foot on them. James let me put my shoe against his, let me put my hand on his shoulder and with the other hand on the pole we got down. At some point it really made me laugh because I felt like a blind person, walking with one hand on his shoulder and the other one on the pole. When I told him, he said he had climbed the Ben Nevis with a blind person! Aren’t these Mountain Hikers amazing people?

Anna, unfortunaly we didn’t got the chance to say goodbye, since you had to help somebody else in the end, but to me you were amazing. You taught me, motivated me, encouraged me, gave me instructions and compliments.  Wherever you are, whatever you do, you will be forever in my memories and one day you will be a damn good teacher! James thank you so much for helping the blind and the awesome tip for a good whiskey! Last but not least, thank you Bloodwise and in particulary Stacy, for this fun and challenging event. It was challenging, it was fun, it was hard, it was wet, but above all, it was awesome! I won’t do it again tomorrow but who knows, maybe someday…