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Happy New Year!
Last years' letter ended with Hubert returned from his year in
Washington, and Saskia and Niels back at college in
Wageningen and
Rochester, respectively.
2808 In February,
we went to Holland. Normally, you would not go to Northern Europe
that time of year. It is dark, and damp - but coming from New Mexico, this
has its own charm in measured doses. We started out staying at Hubert's dad's
house.
Deb and Hubert's dad near his home (click the picture to enlarge).
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| But Hubert's sister Sofia and her husband Ed had come to Holland,
a rare occurrence. They live on a boat in Suriname, and they had come
to Amsterdam for the birth of Sofia's first grandchild Jimi. So
we decided to go too, as did other far-flung members of the van Hecke clan.
We all gathered with Hubert's dad in Muiden for a day-long family
get-together.
This is sister Sofia with Jimi.
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| We visited Saskia at her home in Wageningen, where she is now
working on here Masters
Degree at the Wageningen University. Here Saskia is pedaling us (Debbie,
Sofia and Roan) to the weekly market.
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| Hubert's birthday fell in this vacation, and Debbie and Sofia managed
to throw a surprise birtday party, where many old friends magically
appeared.
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| Among the birthday guests were long-time friend Ivonne, Sofia, her daughter Jet (proud mom of Jimi)
and sister Mirjam.
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| We had decided to spend a few days further south, and ended up
going to Rome. This turned out to be a good choice.
There were few crowds, and the weather was mild. We visited the Colosseum, the Forum, the Vatican museums
and St. Peter's Basilica. The Villa Borghese houses exquisite sculptures and paintings. None of these places
was overly busy, making them all the more enjoyable. Needless to say, we spent a
good part of each day walking and enjoying the bustling beauty of this great city, poking
our noses in every church that we passed. The oldest church was from the 6th century and
was a full storey below current street level. Some day we hope to get back to Rome and
visit Florence as well.
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| One of the most amusing aspects of the Rome trip was our hotel. No 5-star, this place, but
well-located for a short trip and very clean. The room was so small that the queen-sized bed filled
the entire space, save a narrow strip of floor for navigating to the door or bathroom. The TV was mounted
on the wall because there was no dresser upon which to place it. And the bathroom was so narrow that if you
needed to retrieve your fallen washcloth or soap you had to step out of the shower in order to be able to
reach the dropped item.
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| Returning to Amsterdam from Rome, we stumbled into a Holland-USA
friendly soccer match. We tried to buy a vuvuzela, but they were banned
at the stadium, proving that there are some things too obnoxious even for Dutch soccer fans.
However,we couldn't pass up this scarf. We figured we'd
need a vuvuzela later in the year during the WK soccer. Luckily Vincent
and Maike sent us a care package with an orange shirt, a flag etc.
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| In Amsterdam, we were fortunate to be staying with our
friends Petra and Willem. Our stay coincided with Petra's birthday.
We were so grateful for the time we spent together.
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| From there, we were able to
launch numerous sightseeing excursions on foot in Amsterdam, such as the
Rembrandt House. Here Hubert was able to practice his artistic skills
at Rembrandt's easel. We also visited the Resistance Museum, the Dam Palace and
the FOAM photo museum.
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| Debbie had her grandfather's banjo restored, which she had found
disassembled in her mother's attic. It is a 5-string open-back banjo
from the 1930's. She signed up for weekly banjo lessons and is slowly
learning to play folk music.
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| For Veterans' Day weekend, we spent 6 days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Hubert
joined a group of men with whom he has played soccer for years for the
over-50 division of Vallarta Classic
Soccer tournament. They played well and we all enjoyed ourselves. The most exciting
activity was the
"Outdoor Adventure,"
where we rode a water taxi across
Vallarta Bay to another town, took an
open truck past agave plantations up to the base, where we donned harnasses and heavey duty leather
gloves. We were trained in zipline basics and then rode mules to the top of the mountain.
Atop a 250-foot platform, we held our breath and zipped to the next platform, and then the
next. Breathe, repeat! We also rappelled several times, once along a waterfall. There were beautiful
birds, insects and orchids to see, as well. The entire experience was exhilarating.
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| Flash Flood! was a
community art action that happened in November, calling attention
to the sorry state of the Santa Fe River, which doesn't have a drop of
water in it most of the year. The water is captured above town in reservoirs on the mountain,
and makes up much of the city's water supply. Below town, the treated wastewater
is re-used in parks, and after that, not much is left.
In this satellite photo,
Hubert is the blue pixel near the center.
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| Niels came home for the Thanksgiving week.
Tent Rocks National Monument, with its picturesque slot canyons and hoodoos, had just reopened to visitors.
We hadn't been there in years, so we went there for a hike. The colors are spectacular and the monument is
worth a visit if you've never been. Such places make us grateful to live in this part of the U.S.
Christmas came, Niels returned for 2 weeks and our long-time friends, Cherry Payne and Bob Howard, moved
back after retiring from the Park Service. The best time of the holidays was Christmas Eve, when we visited
Ohkay Owingeh pueblo for the Matachines dances. We then went to the farolito walk on Acequia Madre and Canyon
Road, stopping to spend time with friends along the way. Christmas is magical in Santa Fe. The holidays brought
much-needed snow as well as severe cold on New Year's weekend. It was actually warmer in Rochester, NY, when
Niels returned than it has been here!
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