Ahhhh... this week, the Netherlands is seeing some very nice weather! Sunny, no rain and not at all windy! This isn't always a regular occurrence, and it means that it is a nice reason to ditch the car for the school pickups and dropoffs in favour of the Electric Bakfiets (Cargo bike).
Normally, the kids will complain about the bakfiets as it is exposed and it can be a bit windy when sitting in it... but we will just usually ignore them and do it anyway... however, in this weather, the girls are much happier about sitting in the open and feeling the wind to cool them down! The alternative is the car which turns into a bit of an oven on these days...
Of course, the best solution would be to live closer to the school like most of the Dutch do... but, the school that we have found for our kids is in a pretty affluent part of Den Haag, and there is no way that we would be able to afford any place that was nearby! So, like it or not... schools in rich areas do have a sort of resource advantage, even if people like to try and ignore that.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to enjoy most of the good weather as I'm stuck inside in rehearsals for most of the days... I was hoping to have a barbeque sometime this week, but it just doesn't fit with our family schedule... and by the time that we are able to do something all together, well... the weather is gone!
There is something quite relaxing about biking in the Netherlands... the infrastructure is incredibly well set up for cyclists and motorists are always trained to be on the look out for bikes. That said, there are some complete arsehole cyclists who push things too far and ride pretty dangerously.
Mostly, I would have to say that it is much more relaxing to not be stuck in traffic lights and jams, with every car trying their best to get that one position ahead... even if it screws everyone else up. Much of the time, I do wonder if it is a bit of an microcosm of human society in general. There are various traffic rules that are mostly designed to get traffic from one place to another in safety and with efficiency. However, the system seems to deny the baser human impulses that means that some people just want to get ahead... even if it means that other people are put out. Of course, most of the time, the people that think that they need to get ahead rarely look in the rear view mirror and see the consequences of their actions...
... often it appears that the jams and delays are caused by the actions of the "getting ahead" that interrupt the smooth block flow of the traffic. Plus, I do wonder why it is so important to expend so much energy (both mind and physical) to get to the next traffic light 10 seconds ahead (or sometimes behind) of another car... is it an innate human desire to "win"... even if the win is meaningless?
So, riding a bakfiets away from the traffic is a nice way to observe the behaviour of drivers and society from the outside. I'm constantly amused by the entire thing... but then, I am constantly baffled and amused by what people do in general...
... is it important to win? What is winning? Does it come at the expense of things that are actually important? Who actually cares when you win?
I think we all know the answers to those questions... but for some reason, we all seem to work against our innate knowledge and chase things that don't actually give us meaning. To do what? To give us the opportunity to find meaning after a life of chasing meaninglessness? Odd...
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