On one of the most photo scenic events on the Dutch church calendar my camera is out of action. I have ordered a new battery charger. Grade school children processed this Palm Sunday through the church with crosses decorated with special baked bread rolls and sweets.
It’s Holy Week and the Saint Matthew and Saint John Passion are performed in many old churches and concert halls all over Holland. I am going to attend the St.Matthew passion this Tuesday in the Jacob Obrecht church in Amsterdam. It’s been a busy week of visits with many friends and family members. And more to come this week and next before departure, April 11. Yesterday I visited family in the Betuwe the land between Lek And Waal where “Fleetwood” passed through on the way to the Rhine, in 2010. In the afternoon I was given the tour of the old city of Leyden, from where the Pilgrims set off for the New World, where Rembrandt lived and painted, and where the first University was founded, in 1574, in Holland. Annemiek, a friend I made on a flight from Chicago, lives in Leyden and was able to show me parts of this city the ordinary tourist never sees. Unfortunately I have nothing to show you, with my camera problem.
The nice warm sunny days we had last week have turned cold but still very little precipitation. The corrections on “The Mastmakers Daughters” are starting to come in and I am busy trying to keep up with blending them in to my manuscripts.