Today we ventured out of Amsterdam; up to a park they call Zaanse Schans. An area where they have collected and preserved old houses and windmills. It was nice to get out of the crowds of Amsterdam and into the country. We discovered that the guidebooks were totally wrong about the bus number. “Especially “Lonely Planet!” For the record its bus number 91 you take in front of the station on the East side. You buy your ticket right there for 2.50 Euro on the bus and relax for the 40 minute drive. Maybe I should write a guidebook!
Once there you can walk around on nature trails for several kilometers. I felt like we did that anyways looking for the right angles to view the windmills. The first painting didn’t turn out so good for me. There was no place to set up in the shade and the sun soon gave way to flat grey skies. Yup, just like the weather report predicted, at three in the afternoon I was feeling rain. I finished off this one as best I could.
For some odd reason the area was alive with oriental tourists. Rick and I would both notice how a couple would just come in very close to look at you paint, almost pushing you aside. Then the woman would stand next to the painting as the husband or boyfriend took a picture of them. I mean what are they trying to say, that she actually painted the picture, because she is standing next to it? This happened so many times I lost track.
I was also asked to stand next to the painting and smile with brushes in hand. Why do they always come in busloads? The parking lot was filled with busses.
It started to drizzle a little, but I was determined to get two done today. So I walked over to the field and set up in the grass to capture a view of the windmills with a ditch in front. The clouds were really starting to move in and I felt like doing one of those moody works would be just the ticket after that depressing first one.
The water was alive with fish next to me. Every few minutes I would hear a splash and the remains of some poor moth’s wing floating by. Then I really heard a loud splash. It was a blue Heron diving into the water to pull up a thrashing fish. Soon he was flying with it over the field. The food chain was alive and well here in Holland!
I’ll update you on the weather here tomorrow, the forecast is for rain.
Richard Boyer
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