Journey Through Myth, Memory, and Mild Misadventure This particular incursion unfolds years after my first, and this time, I arrive with my own expeditionary force: my youngest daughter and her father. The occasion? In her infinite wisdom (and with grades to match), she selected Leeuwarden as her academic hunting ground. Early acceptance, no less—her scholastic…
Category: phaedrasfables.com
“Bat, Bi, Hiru, Lau Bost, Sei, Zazpi”
The Long Game of Witches (and Outsiders Like Me) Sometimes I wonder if I speak a language that no one else hears. I’ve sat at tables thick with history-Valencian, Frisian, Sicilian, Euskera-where words are more than communication; they are vessels of memory, dignity, and belonging. At first, I was the outsider, attuned to the music…
Feasts, Flags, and Fictions
“Rather Turkish Than Papist” Of Orange Crowds, Thanksgiving Birds, and the Art of National Mythmaking and bullshit artist. When I was a child, every April 30th, the Netherlands would dissolve into a sea of orange. Queen’s Koninginnedag was more than a holiday; it was a national permission slip for exuberance. Streets became rivers of laughter,…
Duchess of Defiance
The Ebb and Flow of Oerkracht: A Journey of Generosity and Self-Discovery Oh, delightful – another tale of self-discovery dressed in Dutch vernacular (after all I am Dutch). My ‘oerkracht,’ they say – because apparently ‘life force’ wasn’t quite exotic enough. This term, with its unique Dutch force, resonates deeply with my personal journey of…
Facts through Fantasy 1.0
“The Riddle of Time” In a small coastal town where history sleeps beneath cobblestones, a wooden tablet emerged from lake mud like a whisper from the past. They called it Dispilio, and its markings – older than Sumerian cuneiform, dated to 5260 BC – sent ripples through the academic world. I remember how her eyes…
Silence of the Toads
Swamp Drainage for the Soul: How I Decluttered My Mind with Mental Bentō Boxes and Mortal Storytelling Let’s wade into the swamp of my inbox, where newsletters multiply like amphibians after rain. These anachronistic toads (yes, that’s what I’m calling pundits now) sit on their digital lily pads, croaking the same recycled crises with all…
“Of Protestants, Private Planes, and Pearl-Clutching”
From Tom Sawyer to Leo Sayer: A Journey Through Memory, Family, and Identity I was about 8 or 9 when I first read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It was an English copy, and though I was just a child in a small Dutch village called Voorthuizen—nicknamed the “Hill of the Bible” for its staunch Protestant…
From Islands to Butterflies
No Need for an Island, Darling: Life Lessons from a Cold War Party Girl Last night, my youngest daughter and I had one of those conversations that start somewhere mundane and end up exposing the layers of generational anxiety we all share. It began, of all places, with real estate prices and her dreamy musings…
Beyond Linear Living: Life’s Layered Landscapes
I’ve learned that life isn’t a straightforward journey but a series of profound, interconnected experiences.Each period of my life has been a distinct lifetime, rich with its own emotional texture and transformative energy. The span with my eldest daughter was adventurous—full-on, taken to the chest, hazardous and fun, yet profoundly searching.It was a time of…
With Arms Wide Open
The Unsung Symphony of Grandparental Love: A Rock and Roll Paradox In the vast landscape of rock music, where love songs reign supreme, there’s a curious absence that speaks volumes. The profound, multifaceted love between grandparents and grandchildren – a love that exists in its own unique dimension – remains largely unexplored in the realm…
