Today on this date ten years ago, I had my last full day in Zeist, NL, my home town in which I had lived again since November of 2001. I have written about this here and there, but this year I’m kind of recalling some events intermittently, since it is ten years hence. (I continue with this topic below under writings.)

On Saturday I managed to round out the proto setup for my web site photo gallery. In other words, I now know what I want to do and have the mechanics of it defined. Next will be the implementation of this design13 as I have called. I’ll probably start with reposting a few small and favourite albums, then moving on to the larger and more recent ones.

This reminds me that I went out to the Weasel Head park yesterday, taking pictures from the northern bank of the Elbow river. I made my way long this north side of the Elbow hiking West towards the ‘big cliff and bend’, which has been substantially modified by last June’s flood.

I also have some pictures from the Thanksgiving dinner at Roy and Shirley’s last Sunday and not to forget Annie’s birthday celebration there. Also last Sunday evening Michelle and I celebrated Thanksgiving a little with her Crab Apple wine and my ‘Wiener’ chocolates and Calgary cheese and crackers.

Last Sunday morning was our customary gathering of friend at the Palliser, but I did not phone Els or Derrick. That is planned for this week, as well as some emails and photos for my Swiss friends and some other lucky recipients:)!

The weather for this week looks good and I plan a walk to the book store and around the neighbourhood, before we get our first snow fall. Coming Friday, Herman and I will have our regular lunch and intellectual meeting of the minds, which can include a fair amount of reminiscing.

We share much similarity in our Dutch background, emigration experience and the making of our ways in this New Country, as that was called, that we had chosen. These experiences are quite unique as they differ with the age and date at which this experience occurred. We were both in our early twenties and the time was the 1950-ties; there is much to share here for us, which cannot be done with others.

Continuing after the opening paragraph in the Diary article:
The ensuing months were painful and I said to myself at the time ‘If I still feel this way a year from now, I’ll go back.’ But, a year later I felt different and the sharp edges of that parting had dulled. Over time I came to understand that the emotions I felt in that recent parting of 2003, also were a reliving of my time of emigration back in 1959.

Then, at almost twenty three years of age and all oriented to my new future, there was no time, inclination or even ability to deal with the complexities of changing your country and culture. In that sense the time spent and the experiences gained in the reconnecting with my roots as I mentioned earlier, was very worthwhile.

It has come to represent an important phase in my personal life in which I gained new perspectives and was able to achieve reconciliation with my then late parents by reframing felt criticism into evidence of a caring parent.

Without further elaborations, may it be sufficient to say that even now, ten years hence - this reconnection of mine commemorated again - illustrates the importance of having made such reconnection. I see this as an investment into the making of such a connection, because I did spent quite a few dollars doing what I did those four years between 1999 and 2003.

This type of investing, where I convert money into experience, understanding and memory, makes for an important and valuable investment at that stage in my life. It forms the stuff that you can take with you, in contrast to the physical possessions that you have to leave behind.
<8:59am~