Lifting lockdown in a special way

It's been an odd couple of weeks. I'm struggling towards the end of the academic year and have to admit to feeling tired. My inclination to mark assignments, motivate students and keep the smile going on camera is fading, as is my enthusiasm for producing the articles I write for the university's language centre blog. All this means I've been a bit backward with my own blog.

To catch up then, I'm just going to do a kind of picture post of the last week's highlights, which included some new experiences for me.

The first of these was when during a walk last Sunday, we stumbled across the airstrip for a local gliding club. We approached with some hesitation because it wasn't actually open to visitors but no one seemed to mind. In fact, they weren't strictly open at all except to members of the club, but we were told we were welcome to watch and we were both fascinated by this wonderful way of lifting that lockdown feeling.

The VW camper van above is their clubhouse. I loved the ‘control tower’ on top of it. They had everything they needed on it, but reception was the table under the umbrella. It had a wonderfully 'cool' air about it all.

This was the little John Deere tractor that pulled the gliders into place once they'd landed.

And here is a glider that was ready to take off. There were two people on board and we watched them go through the pre-flight checks. There didn't seem to be all that many; just a few flaps to wiggle and they were ready to go. I would love to try it sometime, and I know Koos would too. I used to have an ambition to go sky-diving, but this looks just as much fun and distinctly less terrifying.

And here is the same glider just before it left the ground. It's amazing to see them being launched by a single cable drawn by a winch somewhere at the end of the field.

Later that day, I went on a ride around the dykes and saw these gorgeous babies in one of the nearby nature reserves. The one in the foreground looked very new to the world.

During the week, I like to cycle to the shops and this is my sturdy steed. I took its photo while waiting for the bridge to close after the two coasters below had been through. Funnily enough, we nearly always have to wait for the bridge one way or the other, but it's never a hardship when we can watch these stately sea-goers passing through.

Then on Thursday, it was back to Rotterdam again for some more examining. This time I went by bus and train, so I had to don one of the disposable masks I'd bought for just such occasions. I've seen some very fetching, nicely fitted masks around, but I'm afraid these twenty per box types aren't designed for beauty. It was strange to be on public transport with everyone covered up. Luckily it wasn't busy and as there can only be one person per pair of seats, the space was marvellous. I don't mind how long this 'distancing' goes on if I can have that much elbow room, I must admit.

The last photo below is one I snapped on a walk today in Belgium. We celebrated the newly open borders by going for a verwenkoffie (treat yourself coffee with advocaat and ice cream. Sinfully yummy) at an outside terrace in Zelzate, after which we walked along the canal to enjoy the Belgian side of the waterway again. This pusher was 'parking barges, so of course we had to stop and watch the action.

So that's a snapshot of the past week up as far as today. The lockdown is lifting and it's great to be resuming some kind of normal life. I hope you're able to do so too!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, allemaal and keep well wherever you are.