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4
Dec

Back to the Classics 2021 Reading List

  1. It’s back…for the eighth year!
  2. Back to the Classics 2021  reading challenge.
  3. Sign-up  and challenge information
  4. …is available  Karen @BooksAndChocolate

Here is my reading list:

1. 19th C Classic: Iola Leroy (Penguin Classics) by Frances E.W. Harper (1892)

2. 20th C Classic: The Ways of White Folks: Stories (Vintage Classics) by Langston Hughes (1934)

3. Classic by a woman: Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

4. Classic in translation: Palace Walk: The Cairo Trilogy, Volume 1 by Naguib Mahfouz (1956)

5. Classic BIPOC Author: Song of Solomon  by Toni Morrison (1977)

6. Classic by new-to-me Author: Hiroshima  by John Hersey  (1946)

7. Classic not read favorite Author: Nobody Knows My Name  by J.Baldwin (1961)

8. Classic with animal in title: La maison de chat qui pelote by H. Balzac (1830)

9. Children’s Classic: The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton (1968)

10. Humorous/Satire Classic: Pour une nuit d’amour by E. Zola (1880)

11. Travel Classic: Voyage au centre de la terre  by J. Verne (1864)

12. Classic Play: Le bourgeois gentilhomme by Molière (1670)

Lockdown  reading

11
Nov

#First Touch of Winter…

  1. The Netherlands is trying to manage the
  2. covid virus with pragmatic leadership…and keeping a cool head.
  3. The Dutch are smart people and realize we just have to get through the winter.
  4. We closed ALL bars and restaurants since 15 October
  5. …and we are bending the curve of the virus!
  6. They will remain closed until at least 01 December.
  7. We are desperately trying to create an environment
  8. in which some Xmas celebration is possible.

 

UPDATE:  12.11.2020

  1. The Netherlands and USA were  similar
  2. ….of course the difference  in population
  3. …calculation has been made
  4. USA is 19x more than NL.
  5. On Nov 1 2020 the number of hospitalizations were the same (see calculation)
  6. On Nov 8 ….after NL has had lockdown since 15 October (all bars/restaurants closed)
  7. NL:  hospitalizations  decreased and are still decreasing.
  8. USA: hospitalizations increased 20 % !!

Where it started:   30 Sept – 13 Oct

Where it is now: 28 Oct – 10 Nov

 

  1. Great news….NO fireworks will be allowed on New Years Eve 31 Dec – 01Jan.
  2. That is just a harrowing tradition here and the noise goes on until 0200 am sometimes.
  3. People (…like me who enjoy quiet)….all cats and dogs are jubilant!
  4. This is quite a bold decision to reduce the pressure on hospitals,
  5. care givers, police, firemen…
  6. …they have enough to do besides sweeping up all the chaos.

 

  1. I lost all reading-focus during the Spring/Summer.
  2. I took walks, took photos, listened to audio books and
  3. wrote some Covid Journals on this  book blog.
  4. I just had to write about my feelings to process them.
  5. Now, since September I have been able to get back to a reading schedule
  6. thanks to some challenges
  7. #AusReadingMonth2020, #NovNov and #NonfivNov.

 

  1. NL: our R-number is now down to 0,91 (was 1,4)
  2. we still have 20/25regio’s niveau ‘very bad’ and 5 niveau ‘bad.
  3. Masks are worn in all public places (stores visits to medical centers etc),
  4. luckily libraries are still open..that helps people remain sane.
  5. We are feeling the tug toward a time of hibernation,
  6. descending into darkness with Persephone. (FOTO)
1
Nov

#AusReadingMonth2020 Sign-Up

  • I cannot wait to start #AUSReadingMonth2020!
  • @Bornasbooks
  • This day has been circled on my calendar for two reasons:
  • enjoying reading Australian  writers
  • enjoying being physically fit  living in my ‘covid’ bubble!

 

Introduction:

  1. I am going to follow Brona’s lead ….and use her template for a sign-up post.
  2. I am just too exhausted…
  3. …following  USA election coverage 24/7) to create something different.
  4. Brona has put time an effort into organizing this challenge and
  5. …inspiring me yet again to read AUSSIE!
  6. Many thanks, Brona!
  7. This year I was  blown off course by the covid tsunami
  8. ..and lost many reading weeks.
  9. I did write ‘Lockdown Journals’ and review a few books.
  10. I just could not concentrate and
  11. keep my focus on fiction while reality was in my face!
  12. I did manage to read a few books….but not many Australian writers.
  13. I hope to make up lost time during #AusReadingMonth2020.

 

For AusReading Month I plan to finish and review:

  1. I thought to shake a few things up…I’m doing a bingo card
  2. …concentrating on a single genre.
  3. I am trying to do a POETRY bingo card!
  4. Reading poetry…
  5. …takes more concentration and research than a novel!
  6. The up-side….the books are between 60-80 pages!

 

  • QLD – Comfort Food – Ellen van Neerven
  • FREE SPACE – Argosy – Bella Li
  • TAS – Another Love, Another Life – Graeme Hetherington,
  • SA – Ruby Moonlight – Ali Cobby Eckermann
  • NT – Dew and Broken Glass – Penny Drysdale
  • ACT –Things I’ve Thought To Tell You Since I Saw You Last – Penelope Layland
  • NSW – Waiting for the Past – Les Murray
  • VIC –  Empirical  – Lisa Gorton
  • WA –  Nganajungu Yagu – Charmaine Papertalk Green – READING

 

For AusReading Month I plan to finish and review:
  1. I going to try to complete a 2nd bingo card!
  2. I told Brona…I’m going ‘whole hog’  and then some!
  3. My bingo card genre will be non-ficton.
  4. These books will double as options for Non-Fiction November
  5. I will try to read the Walkley Award 2020 longlist.
  6. The winner will be announced
  7. …Walkley website (walkleys.com) from 7pm AEDT on Friday, November 20.  

 

The longlisted titles are:

  • NSW – After the Count (Stephanie Convery)
  • VIC – City On Fire (Antony Dapiran)
  • VIC – Hazelwood (Tom Doig)
  • VIC – Buckley’s Chance (Garry Linnell, Michael Joseph)
  • QLD – Body Count (Paddy Manning)
  • FREE SPACE – We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know (Sophie McNeill)
  • VIC – Fallen (Lucie Morris-Marr) – READING
  • SA – Penny Wong (Margaret Simons)
  • NSW – The Altar Boys (Suzanne Smit).

 

For AusReading Month I plan to finish and review:
  1. Depending on my energy level in November
  2. I may start…a 3rd bingo card!
  3. My bingo card genre will be fiction.
  4. I may not finish this card….I will plan a few books:

 

  • QLD – An Item From the Late News (Thea Astley) – READING
  • FREE SPACE – Pearly Gates (Owen Marshall) – New Zealand

 

  1. Who am I? 
  2. Nancy Burns
  3. Where  do I live?
  4. The Netherlands
19
Sep

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: RIP

 

  1. 6 km done – (06:20-08:00 hr)
  2. I was awake  at 5:40
  3. ….checked twitter and my heart sank.
  4. Justice Ruth Ginsburg dies weeks before election.
  5. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse.
  6. I don’t know whether to grieve or fight.
  7. It has been 84 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was
  8. nominated and confirmed in an election year.
  9. This is a tradition I am afraid Mitch McConnell and Trump want desperately to break.
  10. I’ve decided…fighting is winning out.
  11. We can grieve when it’s over.
  12. I hope out of the deepest fiber of my being that the USA makes the right choice.
  13. Will Republican Senators break ranks and refuse to vote for a justice before 03 November?
  14. This is their opportunity to show us that they do have a soul.
  15. Sorry for my political rant so early in the morning but this
  16. …feels like the book “Alexander and the…Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day“.
  17. But the children’s book leaves the reader with a hopeful message:
  18. …every bad day comes to an end, eventually.
  19. I leave you with a hopeful sunrise!
  20. Leeuwarden, The Netherlands Foto: 07:14

 

Rest in Peace  (1933-2020)

 

 

31
Aug

#Summer Lockdown…August?

August 01

No walk this morning….it was raining at 05:00 hr so that was an easy decision. Temp 21 C and it so humid! I had to turn on airco in bedroom just to flip mattress and put on clean sheets….without succumbing to the oppressive air. Not used to these Florida weather conditions! So busy day….clean house etc and of course Saturday begins with #NeedCoffee + croissant! …oh, here is #Caturday painting by New England artist Serena Stevens.

 

August 02

5.6 km – done (05:23-07:05)…walked slowly…and had many foto opportunities!
Enjoying my coffee on this wonderful Sunday morning…thought we’d have a cloudburst just now…but as Leonard Cohen said: “There’s a crack in everything…that’s how the light gets in!” Sunrise is officially at 05:55 and I just missed it, but nevertheless I still think this snapshot is beautiful. Foto: 06:06 hr

Cat:

Look who sat just waiting for me on a fence. I haven’t see him before! So quiet, so serene….I’ll call him Frits! Foto: 06:35 hr.

I moved closer….but he just sat there enjoying his foto shoot. Foto: 06:37 hr. #NeedCoffee…. een tweede bakje! (second cup)
PS Love the green backround and the calico colors in his fur.

 

August 03

5,6 km – done (05:23-06:53)
No clouds, no rain so time sto slap on my walking shoes. Temp was nice 13 C…but there is a heat wave coming this week.
I was a little late for sunrise at my usual stop, so here is the first light at the duck pond. It looks like a sunset instead of sunrise! Foto: 05:49 hr.

Well, if this cat face dosen’t scare the bejesus out of you…I don’t know what will! Bruno says: “ I iz in da’ house.” Foto: 06:35 hr. Time to head back home….#NeedCoffee

Books:  REVIEW

August 04

5,6 km – done (05:13-06:45)
It was dark this morning…sun is an rising at 06:05 and huge storm clouds are still hanging in the sky. One lonely car parked in Elfstedenhal car park….always makes me nervous to see something out of the ordinary….but bravely walk past it. Full moon….foto 05:45 hr

 

I look over my shoulder to see the sun breaking through cloud cover. Foto: 05:59 hr. Everything starts with a sunrise but it Is what we do before it sets that matters.

 

Heat wave is coming…so this will probably be the last majestic cloud photo for a few days. Love the heat…but boring skies….with few photographic oportunities! Foto: 06:18 hr. I have a cat breathing down my neck on the back of my chair….he want’s his breakfast! #NeedCoffee

 

August 05:  READING…

No walk today…weather is perfect but my grocery delivery time has been changed to 07:00 am. Wah? Time to catch upon my reading…a great Canadian writer Emily St.John Mendel “Station Eleven”. Get the e-book or the paperback…you will be astounded how talented she is.
Written in 2014…..how did she know about a virus then? Spooky!

One snowy night in Toronto famous actor Arthur Leander dies on stage whilst performing the role of a lifetime (King Lear). That same evening a deadly virus touches down in North America. The world will never be the same again.
Written in 2014…..how did she know about a virus then? Spooky!

 

August 06

5,6 km – done (05:15-06:53)
Unbelievably warm this morning (05:30 hr)…and it is only going to get hotter….our first real heat wave of the summer.
I could hear construction behind WTC building at 05:30 …probably they are all on “tropical heat wave” working schedule. No cats or dog walkers today…sort of a ho…hum morning walk. Here is sunrise at the duck pond. Foto: 05:48 hr.

You have to look closely in the sky but there is a “geese flying team“ practicing ‘touch-and-go’ (take off and landing). I could not take a better photo because they sneaked up on me and I still had my sunglasses on. So, this is a ‘hit-and-miss’ attempt at photography.

 

But further in the field…. I saw the group commander (Harry the heron)….literally keeping a close eye on the new flying recruits(geese)! #NeedCoffee …and must turn on the air conditioner. Keep cool, Netherlands!

 

August 07

5,6 km – done (05:23-06:39)
Walks during a heat wave are just 1 hr 15 min long. No clouds, animals are staying in their shelters to keep cool….not many photo opportunities. The duck pond is the place to be for subtle pre-dawn colors. Sunrise is officially at 06:10…this foto is 05:39 hr

Sunrise in a heat wave….not beautiful…just a foreshadowing of the day to come! Foto: 06:06

 

August 08

5,6 km – done (06:25-07:40)
Late start after a terrible warm night….sleep at 10 PM…awake 01-02 AM…sleep…awake 03 AM…sleep etc. I was glad to get out of bed and take a walk! Temp was 22 F (71 F) at 0630 and 24 C…now. Emergency water giving to all plants and pray they survive this week! With a blistering sun hanging in the sky….it has an antiseptic sting. Nothing is moving on land…only on water. Foto today is of my faithful swans. They manage to stay refreshingly cool . I will miss them in the winter. Foto: 06:45 hr

 

#Caturday
Mork!

Mork insists on sleeping in his cramped carrier in 30+ C heat!!

 

Formula 1 ….qualification in UK Silverstone. #Heineken and snack!

 

August 09

5,6 km – done (05:23-07:20)…walked slowly and took many photos. Temp: 20 C….very humid but around 0700 a breeze began to blow. I was never so happy to see some cloud cover to temper this heat!
Sometimes there is nothing to see, but this morning cats, joggers, dogs and cootlings were everywhere! Sunrise was almost a duplicate of the one on 02 August (see foto). I expect a change in the sky Wednesday…..thunder showers always follow a heat wave. Foto: 06:08

As I continued my walk…the cloud cover became thicker….this reflection was stunning but unfortunately the backround is less attractive…solar panels Foto: 06:40

I’ve been walking almost daily since April….and have cultivated some friendships along the way. Remember Kevin and his mother Coot sitting on the nest? Just look at him now…swimming. At times I am speechless to see such love in the eye of a mother Coot…her boy is still having a bad hair day….but he is the most beautiful cootling to her! Foto: 07:01 hr

 

A day without cats? Well….unthinkable! I found this one on the end of my street…with some definite cat-titude. I call her Beyoncé. Foto: 07:17 hr

What a diva….she’s bored already! Foto: 07:17hr

 

Beyoncé…She can shade you with her eyes! She’s trying to get me in a position of weakness…. by not buying into this tired trap of a ‘cute cat photo shoot’!
Beyoncé: ” …we’re done here…and mic drop!”
Foto: 07:18 hr. #NeedCoffee

 

Just because I love photography…I want to share this amazing shot of #MaxVerstappen. WOW!

 

August 10

5,6 km – done (06:40-08:15)
Late start…muggy night and sporadic spurts of sleep made me turn off my alarm clock around 03:00 hr. I’ll walk when I wake up. Streets and bike paths are bustling with “woon- en werkverkeer” (commuters). During this heat wave I’m not getting up at dawn for sunrises..it is just not interesting to see the sun pop up and blind me in the eye! So today…some snapshots of the landscape. Foto: 07:35 hr

 

Mother nature knows how to protect her creatures….this hare blended into the backround I hardly noticed him! Look at that muscular body, rugged fur….a real #ToughGuy in the meadows! Foto: 07:35 hr

 

August 10

Reading…French  Les années by A. Ernaux

#20booksofsummer20 Reading French with best friend in the middle of a heat wave #canicule 32 C…airco full blast. “Les années” by Annie Ernaux

REVIEW  Les années

 

7
Aug

Classics Club Spin #24

I can’t look…..what is the number for #24 CC spin?

 

My list:

  1. Les années  – Annie Ernaux  – READ
  2. Rien où poser sa tête – Francoise Frenkel
  3. Je suis le carnet de Dora Maar – Brigitte Benkemoun
  4. La petit fille sur la banquiese – Adelaide Bon
  5. Et tu n’es pas revenu – Marceline Loridan-Ivens (Prix Lectrice Elle 2016)
  6. L’étrange défaite – Marc Bloch  (French historian, resistance, written 1940…published 1946)
  7. I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey – Langston Hughes
  8. The Tradition – Jericho Brown (poetry)
  9. Nganajungu Yagu – C.P Green (Victorian Premier’s Prize Poetry 2020) (ALS Gold Medal 2020
  10. A Fool’s Errand: Creating the Nat Museum African American History and Culture – L. Bunch
  11. Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music – Archie Roach
  12. The Yield: A Novel – Tara June Winch
  13. Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland – P. Keefe
  14. Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For – Susan Rice
  15. The Sixth Man: A Memoir – C. Wallace
  16. The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to Border Wall in the Mind of America – G. Grandin
  17. Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
  18. Deacon King Kong – James McBride – SPIN!!

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK‘A hilarious, pitch-perfect comedy set in the Brooklyn projects of the late 1960s. This alone may qualify it as one of the year’s best novels.’ The Washington Post

  1. North River – Pete Hamill (1935-2020)
  2. Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaisto (Booker Prize 2019)

 

 

 

What is the spin?

  1. Compile list of 20 books by Sunday 9th August.
  2. Try to challenge yourself.
  3. Deadline:  30 September ….finish book and review it
  4. Hashtag: #ccspin
6
Aug

#Summer lockdown….not over yet

July 11

But before I end my morning walk….discovered the ‘new place to be’ duck pond by the Elfstedenhal (ice skating rink). Social distancing? I don’t think ducks need to bother about that. #LoveTheReflection

 

Politics

Wake up to this news: Trump announces a presidential pardon for his ol’ partner in crime Roger Stone convicted of 7 felony crimes. Cronyism at its best! Trump is absolutely drunk on power.
Roger Stone looks like the best dressed man at the Nuremberg Trials!

 

Ups and Downs

The day started healthy, 2 hour walk, fresh fruit with breakfast….then it all went south! Decided I deserved my toast, jam and butter with my coffee after 3 weeks of diet…then splurged on a dish of pasta with cherry tomatoes and ricotta cheese, cocktail hour: Heineken + cashews while watching Formule 1 and to top it all off…that last dish of coconut rum cream pudding (home-made) isn’t going to eat itself! So I was completely going wild and enjoyed myself. I looked for a cartoon…and this one made me laugh, I hope you like it!

 

Politics:

You tell ‘em, Claire! Former senator Claire McCaskill is on fire!
She is telling Senator Lindsey Graham…..he is a POS! (…piece of s**t!) WOW! ….have a look!
#YouGoGirl

 

July 12

Well, I found another way to reach my destination…sunrise at 05:25. On June 20th sunrise was at 05:09…so as the weeks pass I can sleep more in the morning! High pressure moving in so it was a blast of light (…difficult to photograph subtly) so here is the pre-show…morning mist. Foto: 05:25 CET

Cats

Bruno is back…but very wary of me! Foto: 05:56 hr. CET

 

Swans

This has to be the best foto of the morning….it oozes peace, calm and elegance. Just look at the contrasts: water is like a mirror, reflection and sunlight on the first swan…shimmering water, shade around the second swan. Just breathtakingly beautiful…. #NeedCoffee and hot shower!

Sports

Am I the only one who watches and loves Formule 1?

 

 

July 13

Every morning I ask myself will there be anything to photograph today? I’ve covered just about everything in the past 3 months! But…yes, there is always something new! #JoysOfRisingEarly. Here is a regular friend…..the Dutch start off early to work in the morning mist! Foto: 05:12 hr CET

 

The minutes before sunrise are the most beautiful. It is a matter of timing my walk and listening to the weather report. You can guess what is coming tomorrow….rain! Foto: 05:16 hr CET  (official sunrise was 05:26 and around 05:36 hr I can see the sun above the trees.

Swans

What would the world be without the grace and elegance of swans?…I’m so lucky to have these two (…still thinking of names for them) in the ponds during my walks. I was a bit early so they were still in dreamland… Foto: 05:58 hr

I’ve never been so close to a swan in my life!
Riddle: What is in the water and never gets wet?
Answer: reflection
Foto: 05:59 hr CET

 

Ducks

Nearing the end of my walk I find these two beauties…50 shades of brown! Usually ducks are quick to fly away when I approach but these two were just #Chillin…a state of prolonged satisfactory boredom. Foto: 06:28 hr #NeedCoffee #NeedHotShower ….then I have to get this house presentable….#NeedToCleanTheFloors

 

Politics

Gov Cuomo is on fire….during his press conferences  1 in 5 Americans turn to Gov Cuomo for truthful information about COVID-19. He is the adult in the room these days.…!!  Poster #NewYorkTough

 

Art  ….my favorite Bansky…created art during lockdown in his home!

Yoga

It took me 3 months to get this flexible….even with my new hip!  (October 2019 operation). Must always look on the positive side of a lockdown!

 

 

 

16
Jul

#Summer Lockdown…life goes on and on

 

July 8 2020

  1. I pass this European Coot mother on her nest every day….she’s like a Spinx, never flinching…but today she revealed her secret!  Foto: 05:51 hr.
  2. Have you ever been this close to a Coot?
    I can see mother’s watchful eye….and the cootling having one of his first ‘bad hair’ days!
  3. Compare the cootling’s head with its mother’s head! His beak and head feathers are ……so different! As he grows he will have a nice chic black buzz haircut and prominent white beak. #MotherNature

I think this is the foto of the day…family coot taking the young whippersnapper out for a morning swim. Just look at the reflection in the water….#PerfectSymmetry #NeedCoffee

 

July 8 2020

  1. Chocolate Vanilla – Coconut Rum Cream parfait (..puddng home-made)
  2. ….do you believe it….today NOT ON A DIET !

 

Feels strange…not doing my daily walk but sometimes you have to give yourself a day off! Cooking….that is what I did and this one is a ‘keeper’ : Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes pancetta, garlic, ricotta cheese and fresh mint. I made half the recipe and the rest goes in the freezer. I had to restrain myself NOT to have a second helping instead I had a nice glass of wine…my first in 3 months!
What’s on your menu tonight? Get creative…get into the kitchen!

 

July 9 2020

2,5 km – done
Took the short route today….too wet and windy.
Well, it’s beautiful weather if you are a coot. I met this lady….and she was not complaining! #NeedCoffee and a good book to read in the  my green chair.

 

Book:  The Room Where It Happened

Finished: 09.07.2020 “The Room Where It Happened”
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: F
Author: John Bolton
Conclusion: short review…

I have read John Bolton’s book The Room Where It Happened.
It is like pulling teeth…difficult, tiresome and tedious.
The book was too ‘detailed’ for the average reader:
dates, time of day, and number of minutes for every meeting,
every conversation, page after page.
Is this the book Trump wanted to stop selling?
If you have kept up on the news….
Bolton revealed nothing ‘earth shattering’
….that hasn’t been leaked per-publication.
Trump should worry about his niece’s book
Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump.

The New York Times said,
“…the memoir was ‘bloated’ with self-importance,
even though what it mostly recounts is Bolton
not being able to accomplish very much”.
I rest my case.
#WasteOfReadingTime

 

July 10 2020

Busy planning my 2020 Fall Pandemic TV line-up on Netflix!

Where a mask to make sure you’ll be alive on Nov 3rd #COVID19

 

July 11 2020

5,6 km – done
After a few days of rain and sleeping in …it was a shock to wake up at 04:15 hr this morning. Surprised to see many cars and even 2 people on bikes roaming around at 04:30 hr (start walk).
Here is the sunrise I have been waiting days to see. If I look at that burst of light….I expect to hear the voice of God! #BiblicalScene Foto 05:39 hr

 

First rule when photographing the sunrise…look behind you! Blue creek with some ‘cauliflower’ clouds. Foto: 06:05 hr

 

In a matter of seconds….I looked up and lo’ and behold….my first rainbow during morning walks! Foto: 06:15 hr

 

This is a Bean goose with bright orange beak standing on one leg. Why do birds stand on one leg?
Hint: Same reason you put your hands in your pockets when it’s cold! Because the veins also cool the arteries, the bird’s feet are closer to environmental temperature and thus don’t lose as much heat as they would if they were at body temperature. And by standing on one leg, a bird reduces by half the amount of heat lost through un-feathered limbs. Foto: 06:33 hr #NeedCoffee…..time to walk back home!

 

 

7
Jul

#Summer Lockdown…life goes on

July 3 2020  misty morning walk….

 

July 4 2020 – First real rainy day that kept me from my dawn walk.

 

Time to eat: Omelette, mushrooms, bell pepper avocado and smoked salmon….do you believe it? I’m on a diet!

 

 

July 05 2020

#Caturday just go to the kitchen for a Heineken…to celebrate Max Verstappen Dutch Formule 1 driver starting qualification run in Austria….and there in no more room to sit down in front of TV.

 

July 06 2020

5,6 km – done (walk 04:25 – 05:55 hr)
This was an exciting morning! Moonlight flooded the bedroom 03:00 hr and I saw a Buck Moon in clear skies! (see Google). If that wasn’t enough…suddenly I saw a moving star…it was the Inter Space Station (ISS) making a sweep orbit around the earth and above my house (1 orbit takes 90 min and crew see 16 sunrises and sunsets per day)! Wild and windy this morning with ominous clouds…should I stay home? Of course not…because I would miss this! Foto: 04:52 hr. This shot lasted 30 seconds ….then the clouds covered the moon. Again, I was in the right place at the right time! Song: “Blue moon…you saw me standing alone there, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.”

 

Well, my ol’ friend was out prowling this morning. He found something in the grasses…and luckily did not notice me! I took 10 fotos just to get this one. With a zoom lens…the image is shaky when hand-held. So with some luck I got this snap!
I call him Bruno….so brazen and bold when he looks at me!
This in an example of f/2,8 aperture….de focus is on Bruno/flowers and the path behind him is blurry…less depth of field! Foto: 05:45 #NeedCoffee

 

  • I’ve reduced  the shortist to 2 women
  • I think would be an excellent VP choice for 2020 election:
  • Susan Rice could be Biden’s pick as VP choice.
  • Mother, wife, scholar, diplomat, and fierce champion of American interests and values,
  • Rice connects the personal and professional…..we wait and see.

 

Tammy Duckworth:

  • US senator, Iraq War Veteran, Blackhawk helicopter pilot,
  • Purple Heart recipient (dubble amputee, leg) flew Blackhawk heli in Iraq
  • Retired with rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2014.
  • She is fluent in Thai and Indonesian and has a PhD in political science.
  • She is married and is the mother of 2 young girls.
  • Could this woman be VP….or even President USA, you better believe it!
  • If Biden choses Duckworth it would be a surprise upset!
  • ….we wait and see.

 

I have been trying to read John Bolton’s book The Room Where It Happened….only on chapter 4. It is like pulling teeth…difficult, tiresome and tedious. Is this the book Trump wanted to stop selling? Trump should worry about his niece’s book Too Much and Never Enough  by Mary Trump coming out on 14th of  July.

 

Artist of the future Nigerian-American Toyin Ojih Odutola. This is the portrait of the writer Zadie Smith for the National Portrait Gallery London….#Beautiful…unique style!

2
Jul

Summer walk in lockdown July 2020

YESTERDAY….I’m speechless!  This brilliant pre-sunrise lasted only 4 minutes….

5,6 km – done
Today….drab gray clouds and drops of rain….I thought I’ll never find anything to photograph this morning….but look what I found!
Start walk 04:31 hr with temp 15 C (59 F) and no wind. The sunrise, well, it was nothing really special. After yesterday’s amazing show of colors this morning paled by comparison. Foto: 05:08 hr

TODAY…what a difference in just 24 hours!

 

I used to jog 5,6 km 5 years ago (…before my hip started to hurt)…and I saw nothing. I felt everything, burning lungs, sweat dripping down my forehead and body temp rising. I never saw anything. Now…I walk and see EVERYTHING! This little guy was giving me the ‘over the shoulder look’ and listening with his long ears to hear predators…or photographers (me)!
This is a hare…b/c rabbits have short ears….I did not know that! Foto: 05:20 hr

 

Just look at the intense concentration. This cat stalks the pray …slowly approaches. I was able to catch the ‘pre-pounce’ posiiton! Look at droplets of morning dew… that little white ring on his tail…he wears a collar (has an owner) so this must be the ‘morning mouse run’ pre- ‘koffietijd…and then a snooze @home!

I too stalk…him but he is a experienced hunter.
His clothing (fur) blends into the background…camouflaged.
The points of his ears….semi-shadowed eyes…just waiting in the wet grass…. for me to pass by. This is the best photo of the morning….just beautiful even though you don’t see much! Foto: 05:45 hr

This ‘gangsta’ stopped and said: “We have to talk.” He is not used to somebody moving in on his territory. He looks like he has plenty of ‘street cred’…and we agree that I will just leave quietly. Foto: 05:50 hr

Well, a day cannot go by without stopping by my duck pond. Lighting was strange…but I call it ‘artistic’. Foto: 06:10 hr
Time to head home…#NeedCoffee

 

 

 

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