Author Archives: evilrooster

The Long Ride, Day Four

Posted on August 31, 2015 by evilrooster

Well, I’m home. I’ve worried about this day’s cycling the whole trip. The forecast was rain, or thunderstorms, or maybe both, with the wind blowing into my face. I’d lucked out on the weather so much for the rest of … Continue reading →

Posted in Things Dutch | 6 Comments

The Long Ride, Day Three

Posted on August 30, 2015 by evilrooster

I’m writing this under a tree in the Noord-Hollands town of Onderdijk, watching the late afternoon sun and listening to the waves of the IJsselmeer break behind me. Today’s ride was shorter than the last two—63 kilometers—but it contained the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Long Ride, Day Two

Posted on August 29, 2015 by evilrooster

Tonight my bike is parked in Makkum, a lovely tourist town in Friesland. The day started well: a beautiful sunrise painting the skies as I got up, then a Dutch breakfast of bread, cheese, meats, and egg (a double-yoker, even! … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The Long Ride, Day One

Posted on August 29, 2015 by evilrooster

I’m sitting in a hotel room in Urk, Flevoland, typing this.  I know the town name sounds like some kind of interjection, but if it were then the place would more accurately be called Aah, or perhaps Ooh. But I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

The Long Ride, Day Zero

Posted on August 27, 2015 by evilrooster

This morning, I got up, got dressed, and got on my bike. I cycled south from my village into Amsterdam: right turn, left turn, right turn, cross the river, get to work. It took me about half an hour. Tomorrow … Continue reading →

Posted in Things Dutch | 14 Comments

Planting beside the water

Posted on March 15, 2014 by evilrooster

Behind my house the terrain runs in stripes: a stretch of grass, a narrow road, another stretch of grass, a canal, more grass up a slope, the elevated main road into our village, then the local business park. For some … Continue reading →

Posted in Things Dutch | 5 Comments

Peter Quince on the Polder

Posted on November 15, 2013 by evilrooster

Just as my fingers on these keys Make music, so the self-same sounds On my spirit make a music, too. Music is feeling, then, not sound; And thus it is that what I feel, Here in this room, desiring you, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Things Dutch | 5 Comments

…For What We Will

Posted on November 10, 2013 by evilrooster

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.— Luke 12:34, KJV Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.— American labor movement slogan from the 1880’s For Mother’s Day last spring, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Things Dutch | 6 Comments

Windmills and Pylons

Posted on October 17, 2013 by evilrooster

Autumn has come to the Low Countries, and with it, heavy rains. The ground got good and soaked last night, and as the temperatures dropped, the wet land breathed fog. Urban areas, with all of their hard landscaping, still had … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Things Dutch | 17 Comments

Unnecessary

Posted on September 23, 2013 by evilrooster

She sold everything after her mother died. There wasn’t much to get rid of, just ordinary furniture, drab clothing, cheap kitchen things: all the accessories of a life endured rather than lived. During the cleanup, she’d found no books, no … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | 13 Comments