Arrival in Holland

We arrived in Holland yesterday.  Our house (it is listed as a cottage but it is definitely a bungalow house) is located beside a conservation area.  We have neighbours on one side but the other three sides of the house are surrounded by woodland.  It is a haven of calm and peace.  The woodland surrounding us saw fighting in WWII.  Apparently, the trees still have shells in them and local people do not like cutting them down as it wrecks their chainsaw when the chainsaw hits a leftover bullet.


Last night we went for a brief walk in the woods just as dusk was settling in.  This morning we enjoyed our breakfast on a patio that surrounds three sides of the house.  The weather has been hot and humid...so hot that it was difficult to sleep last night.  It is so humid that you are immediately drenched just by sitting. Apparently, this is out of the ordinary for this region.  Anyway, this morning we were enjoying sitting and chatting after breakfast, when I heard rustling from the woods in front of us.  There was a young male buck (deer) ambling through the bush, grazing on the fronds of ferns that he came across.  I had my camera close by and managed (with the zoom setting) to get a beautiful shot of him.  He looked fit and his antlers were not very big yet which makes me assume he was young.  What a beautiful start to the day.


As I sat on the patio this morning, I could imagine the ghosts of soldiers flitting from tree to tree and quietly advancing through the forest.  My imagination was probably enhanced by the fact that we visited the Mook War Cemetery last night.  This is a Commonwealth cemetery and I felt a heaviness of heart as we looked at all the stones with the names, rank, age and regiment listed.  It is so sad to think that these men died so far from home and so alone.  The Dutch look after the graves so well.  There are lavender bushes at each end of the rows.  I couldn't help but think that lavender is used to help us rest well.  There are flower gardens all along the row of stones and are tended regularly as there are no weeds to be seen.  There was a guest book to sign.  I was so overcome with emotion that it was hard to put my thoughts into words.  I thanked "them" (the Dutch) for looking after our men so well.  This was especially important for me as I realized that none of these men have family nearby who would be able to come and visit regularly.  LEST WE FORGET.


This trip to the Netherlands is not just a vacation but an opportunity for me to be close to where my great-uncle battled and was killed in 1944.  I never knew him but my grandmother and my mother made sure I knew about him.  My mother and her brother do remember him.  I'm looking forward to seeing his grave, the memorial that is in place near where he died and the various museums in the area.  I'm not a huge history buff but I do feel emotional when I think of my great-uncle.  I must confess to feeling that my grandma, my great-grandma (who I did know) and my great-uncle are close with me in spirit.  I felt their closeness before I even left Canada.