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Posts Tagged ‘Europe’

Open de Deur

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , on March 25, 2024| 2 Comments »

Three weeks ago I made a note in my calendar: “fish doorbell.”

What is it? A clever way for the people of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, to help migrating fish navigate the city’s Weerdsluis boat lock.

The Fish Doorbell

Every spring fish migrate upstream, in search of places to spawn. They swim through the centre of  the city of Utrecht. Unfortunatly, the boat lock is closed during spring. You can help the fish.

Do you see a fish? Press the Doorbell!

I planned this post for March 1st but when I checked the feed, no fish were to be seen. I decided to wait a few days until the migration was well and truly underway but then… forgot. 

Sorry fishies!

Thankfully, I saw a recent cartoon in The Guardian and remembered. Here’s the cartoon: Constant bad news doing your head in? Why not read about the fish doorbell instead.

Excellent idea. So excellent, in fact, that the livestream is often full. If you can’t press the doorbell, you can still watch the livestream or check out select archives at the Fish Doorbell News Report.

And please, little fishies. Do come in.

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Photo by Jack Gardner on Unsplash

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My People

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , on March 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

One of the side effects of growing up mixed race and adopted is the (often in-your-face) realization that a lot of how we divide ourselves into “us” and “them” is a matter of choice.

Like so many of you, I’m watching the war in Ukraine and hoping the news will improve.

I don’t know any Ukrainians (or many Russians). They aren’t Americans or Canadians or African Americans or Swedish Americans or Italians or Germans or French or Irish or any of the other categories that I might reasonably be expected to claim as “my” people. But they are people.

And that’s what matters. 

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Background & Links

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“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, Author and Veteran

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Photo by Michelle Francisca Lee on Unsplash

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Unicorns and Strangers

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on January 30, 2021| 1 Comment »

In general, I like being home but these days I’ll admit, at times my thoughts stray to travel. As in, “Oh yes, once upon a time we used to go places and see things” and “There was a whole world out there, remember?”

And then I ran across scans of an old travel journal and had the fun of paging through the journey. Visiting the Swedish royal palace, discovering my brother’s previously hidden talent as a navigator, outrunning a swarm of mosquitoes, champagne in Stockholm, eating fish cheeks, taking tea in a converted windmill.

It was all lovely, even the insecty bits. And I’m pretty sure I’m not just saying that because travel has become one of those mythical ideas, like unicorns and shaking hands with strangers.

At the very back of the journal I rediscovered my father’s bird list. I think it was made after the trip, and there’s something precious about our layered handwriting, anchoring our shared memories to the page.

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Female European Marsh Harrier
Female European Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), Paco Gómez, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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