I know it’s a strange name and not well known by most
foreign tourists but it is almost a must visit in Holland. The Geology of the
Netherlands might be flat, but it is not boring at all. The last Ice Age (about
10,000 years ago) created Holland. Debris, dirt, rock, sand, silt, and run-offs
were pushed in front of the (up to 600 feet thick) ice sheets (glaciers) and
were deposited in what we today call the Netherlands. Rivers were re-routed,
deltas were formed, and it was a quagmire of moors, bogs and small sandy hills.
The name veLuwe could mean ‘waste land’, useless land for agriculture. But
because man starting un-mucking the area by draining the water away, agriculture
thrived from the changes made to the land. The area now is actually very fertile. Humans
did such a great job that they became dominant but the native wild life
suffered. On top of that, hunting parties of the rich and the daily use of the
land by locals, mismanagement of resources (chopping up the forests for wood)
etc. and you have what is called veLuwe today.
But things are changing. Man has become aware of their shortsightedness and now Holland is, by establishing National Parks, trying to
restore some areas to their former condition. Again, meet the new veLuwe, the
area is now managed by the State Land Management office and nature is allowed
to return to the way it used to be and restore itself. Keeping people out helps;
and even building fences and having sections totally off limits to visitors is
a great way to rebuild. The idea is to re-establish the fauna as it was before
man interfered. Wild life is re-introduced with some mixed results. I read that
even kangaroos were introduced to bring about a change to the landscape, even though
they are not native to Holland. It makes me wonder if man is still playing
‘God’! Still the area is now very nice looking.
It is an interesting area and I could see how it ‘might’ have been in centuries past. I am sure it is not easy to re-build nature after so many years
of neglect. The Government is trying,
however.
The land originally was owned by extremely rich merchants
from Rotterdam and was passed on to the people with the provision that they return
the land to its natural state. While in the merchant’s care it was used as a
hunting ground, along with a rather elaborate hunting castle but those
merchants finally saw the light and donated the land to the State.
As you can see, Holland
is not just tulips, cheese and wooden shoes, or canals and windmills. Holland
is also art, exceptional landscapes and masterful minds. And all of this costs so
much money that is hard to grasp. What I saw, what I heard, what I witnessed,
the lifestyle and the ambition, all costs tons of money. How do the Dutch do
this? Their individual tax rate’s highest level is 52% of income. (It used to
be 72% before 1990.) Living in the Netherlands is wonderful, but expensive.
Within the DeHoge veLuwe Park, is a museum building; the
Kröller-Müller Museum. There are many world famous artists represented here.
Picasso, Monet et al. Outside the building are statues and pieces of sculpture
in a very large garden setting. It is an art lover’s delight, almost like an
orgy of impressions, of styles, of points of view. We came just to visit this Museum and
concentrate on Vincent van Gogh. I would call this museum the second home of van
Gogh. This Museum has the 2nd largest collection of Vincent van
Gogh’s pieces besides many other artists. It is a fascinating place; a delight
to just wander through, to gawk and be awed. Have you ever really studied
Vincent’s pictures? Don McLean wrote a song about Vincent. Good
Listening! Read the words! Watch the Pictures!
Watch the details of each
painting. Look at the variations, so full of beauty but also of pain, of life
lived, of emotions felt. And now I am at this Gallery, a collection so immense
that the total is incomprehensible to me. The attempts of Vincent to express his
views, his way of looking at what we all call Life, is so impressive, so well
done, so open and at the same time mysterious, that all of the world stops and
admires it. When I am looking at his art, all the other people around me fade
away. I believe Vincent knew, he was able to portray his inner light, his
understanding of human souls and put it forth on a piece of canvas. Yes, he
struggled, he was out of touch with what we call ‘reality’ but never mind all
that, his life is shown in pictures. He painted what he, at the time, thought
important. He looked at an Iris flower in a very specific way, his facial
portraits are always ruled by the eyes, but he never forgot the lines that life
left on his subject’s faces. His brush strokes, his use of colors, his layering
of paint, and his expression of what he wanted us to see and feel is unique. He
used many styles to make it visual. He was an amazing artist. I have looked at
many, many pictures by other artists but very few are truly called ‘artist’.
There is no doubt about it; Vincent was a one of a kind human being. I loved
seeing his collection. Yes, I feel badly that he had such a sad life. Yet,
would he have shown us such emotion in his art without having lived the life he
did?
Are we all not the result of the way we live and have lived?
Each one of us in our own way?
North of
Holland, blocking the waters of the North Sea, is a bulwark so impressive; it
could be called a wonder of the world. Flood control is a daily activity in
Holland. A humongous dam holds back water that could
swamp about 2/3 of the Dutch land. We
drove over a part of those barriers, but the dam we traversed was 20 + KM
long. There are many other installations
covering the entire coastline of the Netherlands. Every minute of the day,
water is pumped back into the ocean. Sand is re-positioned. Scientific estimates
roll off computer models, showing constantly where reinforcement is needed.
Global warming and the rising of the world’s oceans are not games to the Dutch.
They are constantly preparing themselves for the ‘what if’ scenario. I remember
the last storm in 1953, I was a kid but I remember it. After this catastrophic flood, the Dutch
Parliament decided to take drastic action and established a National Program to
fight against any further damages. The money spent on controlling the building
projects was astronomical. The latest estimates going forward, call for the
need of another 144 Billion U.S.$ (100 B. Euro) just to protect the now
established land in the future. No wonder the income tax in Holland is at 50%
per individual.
This Is Part Of The Dam We Drove Over
Not many people
think about this part of life in the Netherlands, and I wonder how many
tourists think of this when they visit. It was mind-boggling to see the work
already done, but even more so to contemplate the work that still lays ahead
for Holland.
The Red Line Separating The Two Shades Of Blue Is The Dam We Drove Over
Does all of
this affect the daily life of people living in the area? Do they think about it
a lot? I just wanted to look at the massive sites, wanted also to visit
Friesland to just look around.
We drove to Leeuwarken and slept in town for one
night, but from what I could see, there was no difference in the living style
or the housing or the way people did their daily chores. Friesland is like any
other part of coastal Holland. The area is flat, canals were dug to drain off
the water, cows grazed, the sun shone. It was bucolic, peaceful. I am not sure
how I would like living there in a severe storm though. One day, I am sure of
it, Holland will have another devastating flood. And what will be flooded?
Nobody knows, no matter the models they prepare now. Mother Nature will reclaim
some ground that the Dutch have worked so hard to wrangle from her
clutches. Time will tell.
