Spring forward

Good morning from Amsterdam where we changed the clocks last night and the light has returned. Thank you all so much for your kind words of condolences and support on my last post about my dad passing away. I didn’t have it in me to respond to all your loving comments, but I read every one and appreciated them all. Thank you.

Spring is so funny in Amsterdam. This past week we got all four seasons, every single day. Any time we left the house we’d need a parka, an umbrella, and the ability to strip down to the lightest layer. I don’t mind though, we made it through the darkness. We went to Keukenhof botanical garden on Friday and it was so beautiful it made my tender heart sing. It’s still early in the blooming season, but the early-to-mid-spring flowers were all in bloom, and we didn’t have the crowds, so it was perfect. The hyacinths smelled amazing, the flowers were so vibrant, and there was birdsong and the sound of flowing water everywhere. We ate applecake and wandered through the perfectly manicured gardens. It’s so cool that leashed dogs are allowed in the gardens — I met several fantastic beasts, and it was just what my spirit needed.

I’ve spent the weeks since my dad passed away grieving, writing his official obituary, and coordinating with my siblings on plans for his funeral, which will be in mid April in California. I fly out there next week to spend some time with my mom, and James and the kid will join me the week of the funeral. I am dreading the travel. It’s bad enough that my dad died, but it’s so much worse because I’m worried Trump has destabilized the world to such a degree everything feels incredibly dangerous. I don’t want to leave my home, or be separated from James and the kid for even a moment. I don’t want to get on this plane and fly for 11 hours. I don’t want to go. But I have to, and I will.

In better news, the construction in our new house is coming along. We hopefully only have a couple more months until it will be finished and we’ll be able to move in. We’re in the thick of choosing all the specific details — tiles, faucets, wallpaper patterns. It’s overwhelming at times, but also nice to have something to focus on besides grief. Last week James and I went to an amazing salvage/antique warehouse to choose ginormous doors for our fancy new bathroom. We’d like to add a transom above the doors, too, and we’re negotiating with our current landlord to sell us a panel of stained glass from our current house to slot in above the doors. We hope he agrees — he’s essentially tearing this house down and everything will eventually go to the salvage yard, so there’s no reason for him not to sell us the glass except for the fact that he’s Scrooge McDuck and not especially accommodating, but hopefully it will work out. It would mean a lot to us to have a piece of this house that we have loved so well for the past 7.5 years.

The antique doors we chose for the bathroom. They are enormous and so heavy.

I’ll return home to Amsterdam in time for King’s Day, and Shrimpy should be up and running for the big day. When we get home from California we’ll finish cleaning her up — she needs some paint and we’ll oil her wood and refresh her cushions and get her all ship shape. We had her motor serviced — last year we had so many problems with the motor, and this year we don’t want any hassles so we are making sure we get it all sorted. We experimented with an electric motor that our friends gave us when they moved to Ireland last summer, and we liked it, but it’s very small and doesn’t have enough juice to get us off our main canal and back home (we spent a lot of time rowing her home last summer after the electric motor ran out of juice), so we are going to have another year or two with the gas motor until we are ready to invest in a good sized electric motor. I hope we have the best summer ever.

Xoxo

The tulip fields in the south are just now starting to bloom. I should be home in time to catch the end of the peak bloom, which makes me happy.