Canon EOS 5D
ƒ/8
35 mm
1/320
100
pumping all that water uphill
8 responses to “Kinderdijk”
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This is a wonderful scene reminiscent of more simple but difficult times. Beautiful!
I have a few favourite contacts from the Netherlands (les Pays-Bas, means low or low-lying country,always plural) and I always enjoy learning about their culture. One thing, they are known to be the neatest people, their homes are always clean and very organized and uncluttered. I suspect that they are also very determined people, ready to never let the sea take over their land, their livelihood and their lives. For this, they need to be ingenious too.
Imagine how so many people co-exist in such a small state. I have been told more than once by Dutch people that there is so much space in Canada (while speaking of Québec) and that in the Netherlands, there are no large expanses, that there are people everywhere and that it feels much more crowded. Europe in general is like that. Europeans have also to contend with the problem of the crowding of animals in their cities. There are so few places for wild animals wander and inhabit.
I often notice in photos of certain countries in Europe that all the hills are cultivated. Here, except for orchards and vineyards that thrive on hills and small mountains slopes, and some sky hills carved into the forest, all you see are trees, rocks and lakes, and sometimes a few chalets, on hills and mountains. We have thousands of them but generally all undeveloped.
These are just some examples of how geography molds a people. We are spoilt in the Americas, in particular in my country with so much land and so few people.
So, Steve, this is an aspect of foreign culture that you could compare in the future, if you have not already done so. Sometimes, we learn much from books about others cultures but often, we learn from keeping are eyes open, paying attention to the details and comparing with an open mind. I travelled little, unfortunately, but Montréal has always been rich with its multi cultures. Meeting people from other origins is easy and learning about their culture from them is very interesting.
BTW, no Google search was done prior to writing this! 😉
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