Little men in space

Walking through cities you see a lot of irregular things. Among these are, what I call, the “little men in space”.

I spotted the first one in The Hague. Every summer there is an outdoor art exhibition in the center of the city. It was the little man with hat balancing on the rope.

The second one was the man hanging on the pole. This was in Prague. You have to be very alert to see this one, because he is high up in a street that is not so wide.

In the large park of the castle Rosenborg in Copenhagen there is a man balancing on the top of a pole on his left hand. It was spring and the weather was still a bit cold. He showed me the blue hole in the sky. Summer is coming!

Finally there was this guy flat on his stomach on a chimney of a church. Was he trying to swim in the air? This one is in a little old town called Hoorn, in the province of North Holland.

Now, where ever I go, I keep looking for these “little men in space”…..

A giant guard against the sea

It was late in the afternoon when we visited the Hondsbossche Zeewering. It is a high and barren dike in the province of Noord Holland (North Holland), just south of the little village of Petten. A guard against the sea that casted a large shadow into the polder.

The dunes here were narrow and for centuries people tried to enforce them. But on several occasions the sea broke through. Finally in 1880 the existing sandy dike was made stronger and in 1981 it finally was brought to Delta height; that is 11,5 meters above sea level. In Holland sea level is called New Amsterdam Level or NAP (Nieuw Amsterdams Peil).

It is a windy place. Especially “out of season”.  But look at the beautiful geometric pavement of the upper part facing the sea. Or this line of wooden poles going on for ever between the blocks of basalt.

Standing on top you can see the difference between the water level of the sea and the water level of the wildlife sanctuary “De Putten” in the polder. The name “De Putten” refers to the holes that were left when digging out the clay for the dyke.

We stood there looking at this giant; our shadows becoming part of the scenery.

 See for larger pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/47357125@N08/ 

Egypt: For a better future

The main thing these days we want to know more about is the news about Egypt. Today there is “the march of millions” on Cairo. People are gathering in the Meydan Tahrir, the square of the Egyptian museum. Peaceful people, families, expressing their wish for Mubarak to leave.

I am so happy that until now there was a minimum of violence. 

When going to Egypt some time ago, I tried to take some pictures of what I at least thought to be daily life there. There is so much beauty along the Nile: The fishermen in little boats, the women washing carpets, children herding cattle. There is so much poverty everywhere; the poverty more visible in the cities then in the countryside. People are working for a pittance, needing at least two jobs to feed their families. 

Let’s hope reforms will come now.  Let’s hope there will be less corruption and enrichment by a happy few. Let’s hope this will result in more work. Let's hope there will be a better future for the Egyptian people.

For more pictures see: Egypt