2023-10-20 20:00:46
I walk from the Middelburg theater in the direction of Veere. Because I think it’s such a beautiful place name, yes, but especially because by taking this route I’m going against the wind, and that’s always a good idea if you have to go back. And because the sixty-year-old body is a bit tired, sometimes, here and there.
My mind blows back to the past, holidays in Vrouwenpolder, sometimes a day trip to Veere (or Middelburg, or Vlissingen), long days on the beach where any temperature above 24 degrees really felt like high summer, a holiday home that smelled like all holiday homes smoke, in the seventies.
When I’ve had enough of the provincial road right next to me, I turn off, it turns out to be the Poppenkinderenburgseweg. I walk a little sheltered behind high bushes, behind which are vast fields, above which the aforementioned wind has free play.
To my surprise, I find autumn leaves at the edge of the asphalt. Are they early, or have they been there for about ten months, question mark. Of course, the wind in this province is above average, but trees, branches and leaves must be used to that, right?
Anyway, the leaves on my path appear to have been filled with sand everywhere (I assume from the Zeeland coast, about 6 kilometers away. Or from the Zanddijk settlement, a little closer…). That combination, leaves, sand, just gives me a soft surface, soil that normally requires me to go into the forest, soil that is so nice for the somewhat tired runner. Ground that makes me walk a little better.
Every now and then I am caressed by the branches, the sun sometimes shines full in my face, when the bushes give way a little I have beautiful views of the Walcheren countryside, I even think I can smell the salty smell of the sea in the distance. can smell a little.
A day earlier I walked around Amelisweerd near Utrecht, a day later I will race from Ogterop theater, Meppel, towards Belter- and Beulakerwijde.
Of course I walk quite a lot, for an artist of my age, but what really matters to me is: that nature, it is there, almost everywhere, and it gives so much. The smells and the wind, the peace and space, the freedom to stay or choose a different path, the memories, the joy.
It could well be that I am a bit more emotional than average, because of all the misery we have received these weeks, because of the wars that seem hopeless, because of the anger between people and groups and countries, but I also think that we should respect nature ( now!) more than ever, places where it is not about struggle, about who is right or wrong, that as humans we always need places where we don’t have to do anything (okay, running, possibly) and cynical geopolitical considerations for a moment can let go.
Places where we find that peace, that space, the view. And who knows, sometimes, just like that, the insight.
Dolf Jansen is a comedian and writes a weekly column for Trouw. Read his columns here.
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