Oops, my foot almost slips away. I quickly take a big step to regain my balance. It’s tricky with Y. dangling between my outstretched hands. He is suspended above a pool of mud that reaches my ankles. The backpack on his back doesn’t make it any easier. It was his idea to bring it with …
Building a home
A suburb doesn’t seem like a very logical location for the development of an eco-village. Living in harmony with nature while putting up some terraced houses, can you imagine it? Y. and I step out of our back door and into the mud. Zuiderveld is located in a swampy area that was traditionally used for agriculture. …
A move by moonlight
The big delivery van races across the sea bed. The little boy turns the wheel with shiny eyes. With his arms outstretched he can just reach it. Far too soon he has to go back into his car seat. It is only when we get out of the Eurotunnel that we can fully believe it: …
Dreaming in the dark
The lights are always on. The Christmas tree outside the shopping mall, the laptop on my desk. But tonight I will leave the lights out and visit the darkness. Even the moon won’t show her face this night. Darkness. An uncomfortable word. A word waiting for Light. Away with the darkness of our ignorance and evil. …
The flowing river
“Look, mushrooms!” The tiny rental car hiccups to a stop. The moving boxes slide dangerously, but we manage to squeeze past them and out of the car. Freddy is already on his knees at the base of an ancient pine tree. Everywhere we look, we see mushrooms popping up from among the fallen needles and …
Talking to a tree
I hurry along the narrow path. The rain has finally overtaken me, here in the relative wilderness at the edge of Reading. I know there will be a place to shelter around the corner. There it is, the plane tree. Knobbly, lopsided and with branches that almost reach the ground. Hugging it would take four …