Tag Archives: travel

Miracles still exist

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End-to-end rainbow from one river bank to the other, against a dramatic sky threatening with rain. A long tow-path runs along the river.
Along the river Dender

This image does not look anything like Pennsylvania, and that’s because it’s taken along the Dender near where my mom lives. Just under four weeks ago I finally managed to make my escape from the US, and touch Belgian soil – first time back since 7 Jan. 2020. Miracles still exist, because the very next day after I got home, the news of Omikron (Omicron) broke. We all realised how just one small thing can throw off the plans that were in the works since mid-October, when the US government first gave a firm date for reopening its borders, allowing me to return after a potential visit to Belgium. The borders have remained open, but I feel the need to add “so far!”

I’ll need a few more miracles: as a Belgian citizen registered with the New York consulate, a Kafka-esque situation has developed around my e-ID. I was extremely lucky a friend extracted the piece of paper from my flat in the US with the PUK code. The alternative was to send the codes to… the US consulate where my ID is issued. But (see final paragraph below) I won’t be in the US for months and as a Belgian citizen I need the e-ID: to have my test results delivered before I can board a plane! Fortunately, that circular nightmare was avoided and after a trip to a nearby town hall the chip is activated. Now I need to find out where to correct my birth date for the Covid-safe ticket, because there’s no online option to do that. At least I’m not in a hurry to go out dining and wining. It’s also still a mystery to me how I can register in Belgium for my booster jab: the online registration sites don’t even allow me to register, because my domicile is not in Belgium.

Cockroach in bed meme, text "Another day of sorting out covid-related paperwork in Belgium"
Not feeling like a full Belgian citizen when confronted with bureaucracy…

But for now, I can enjoy a well-deserved break on home soil. After our fourth pandemic semester I can feel my batteries recharging, courtesy of the exquisite care from “the mothership”.

simple drawing of a person sleeping on a couch with above them a battery loading to full.
Recharging ☺️

I don’t quite know when I’ll be back in the US, thanks to a borked immigration system that takes ages to deal with my visa, something that used to be a 2-week process. But mom and I are enjoying our time together, and for once it’s ok to have bureaucracy grinding to a halt.

Newsletter 2 from Backyard Wildlife College

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“More than just fluffy bunnies”

(Backyard Wildlife College, Allentown PA, est. 2017)

Newsletter 2 (July 2018)

Hello all, and welcome to newsletter 2!

The College has lots of exciting news about new arrivals spotted on campus!

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Ms. (or Mr.?) Fox was seen walking through the back alley about a week ago, and again a week later running across campus pursued by the Crow Airforce Acrobatic Team. The College has not received further news about Fox’s intention to join the Division of Furry Creatures, but we are open for negotiation. We realize that increasing species diversity may bring tensions, in particular when carnivores join the faculty or will serve in functions already occupied by current members, but as our motto makes abundantly clear, we are not in the business of enhancing the “fluffy bunny view” of nature.

Speaking of fluffy bunnies, a Visiting Assistant Rabbit has been appointed! Following several early morning campus visits, Continue reading →

Assorted pics from the Badlands | Allerlei foto’s van de Badlands

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Food in the Park Lodge: Sioux Indian Taco, with Indian bread and buffalo mince | Eten in het Park: Sioux Indiaanse Taco, met Indiaans brood en bison gehakt
Badlands various

Different type of pedestrians crossing | Andere soort voetgangers steken over:
Badlands various

Panorama pictures: click on them to go to Flickr site for bigger picture! | Panoramafoto’s: klik erop om naar de Flickr site te gaan voor een grotere foto!
Badlands various

Badlands various

Badlands various

Badlands various

Pano badlands

Tuesday: And on the seventh day, she thought she’d have a rest | Dinsdag: en op de zevende dag, dacht ze even te kunnen rusten

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*But this is America, and we do everything by car here! So I still clocked up just shy of 80 miles, but at a very sedate pace. *Maar dit is Amerika, en we doen alles met de wagen! Dus was het toch nog net geen 130km voor de dag, maar aan een gezapig tempo.

Song of the day (does not bear any connection to the geological formation) | Liedje van de dag (zonder enige band met het geologisch verschijnsel)

My desire to hike through the landscape was considerably curtailed by the heat, and these signs. Mijn drang om door het landschap te wandelen werd gekortwiekt door de hitte, en deze bordjes.

Beware Rattlesnakes!
Added to this was proof of their presence, though fortunately this one was not very dangerous anymore. Voeg daarbij nog hard bewijs van hun aanwezigheid, hoewel deze (gelukkig) al onschadelijk was gemaakt.
Dead snake

The Badlands show some amazing geological features, and in this case, “show, don’t tell” is probably the best strategy. Find your friendly neighbourhood geologist to explain what happened to create this amazing landscape. S/he will know, this is textbook erosion. All pictures are also on Flickr, just click to get through to a higher resolution and even more images. De Badlands zijn een geweldig geologisch fenomeen, en ik denk dat ik in dit geval liever het woord aan de foto’s laat. Mocht je meer willen weten, zoek dan je dichtsbijzijnde geoloog voor meer uitleg over hoe dit wonderlijke landschap tot stand kwam. Ze zullen het wel weten, dit komt zo uit het lesboek erosie. Alle foto’s staan ook op Flickr, dus klik gewoon op de foto om door te gaan naar die site waar je nog meer foto’s vindt.

Badlands window trail

Moonscape Badlands

Badlands Door Trail

Mellow Badlands

Badlands circle

green in the Badlands

As far as the eye can see...

Neapolitan icecream Badlands

Yellow and Pink Badlands

Badland crags

Curtain of Badlands

classic Badlands

tufts of green on Badlands hills

Monday: slow internet day | Maandag: trage dag op het internet

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I’ve arrived safely in Interior, SD, at the eastern end of the Badlands. I would love to show you pictures of all I’ve seen today, but the internet connection here is not powerful enough to cope with that… Hopefully better luck tomorrow.

Ik ben veilig aangekomen in Interior, South Dakota, aan de oostkant van de Badlands. Ik zou jullie met plezier allerlei foto’s tonen van de mooie dingen die ik vandaag zag, maar de internetverbinding is daar niet krachtig genoeg voor. Hopelijk meer geluk morgen.

Hello again, dear Chicago | Hoi Chicago! (Alweer)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpCoidxg6Ek

No blog the past two days, Thursday I was knackered and needed the extra sleep, yesterday was busy with catching up with friends! Geen blogje de afgelopen twee dagen, ik was stikkapot donderdagavond, en kon dat uurtje extra slaap wel gebruiken, gisteren de hele dag vrienden bezocht!

Five months ago I was in Chicago. It was cold, but at least not snowing anymore.  Well, not really snowing, just a flurry of flakes one early morning.  Thursday night conditions were rather more clement, and I sat outside the Emerald Loop an “Oirish” pub. They also had this on tap. Vijf maand geladen was ik voor het eerst in Chicago. Het was nauwelijks lente (=temperaturen weer boven het vriespunt) en we hadden toch nog een paar verdwaalde sneeuwvlokjes. Gisteren was het weer veel aangenamer en dus kon ik een terrasje doen bij de Emerald Loop, een “Ierse” pub waar ook dit te vinden was. 

Compulsory food picture | verplichte foto van het avondmaal:

And as a PSA: this label is incorrect| boodschap van algemeen nut: deze mosterd is niet uitgietbaar, zoals het etiket nochtans beweert:


I had it upside down a good ten minutes and the mustard hadn’t even moved. Just so you know. Ik had de fleS zo’n tien min. op zijn kop gezet en die mosterd bewoog geen millimeter. 

Before getting to the Windy City, there was another day of chewing the miles, along the I-80/90. The landscape was not very compelling, a lot of it reminded me of Flanders, except there was more of it. If you drive three hours in Belgium you’re waaaaay out of the country! Here, you’ve not even made it to the next state.

Voor ik in Chicago was, waren er weer een hoop kilometers te rijden voor ik aan al dat lekkers toe was. Het landschap was niet spectaculair, maar deed me bij momenten wel denken aan Vlaanderen. Met dat verschil dat je in België na drie uur rijden het land uit bent en al lang een ander landschap rond om je hebt. Hier ben je nog niet eens de staat uit!

Pictures from my March visit | Foto’s van mijn bezoek in maart

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And some from this trip | En enkele van dit bezoek

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Coming up next: Wisconsin! |Volgende aflevering: Wisconsin!

test test

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Ok folks, if you can read this, I inadvertently found a way around the Great Firewall.
China is pretty cool as always, and the northeast (Manchuria, Dongbei 东北) has confirmed its top status with grace on my list of personal favourites. I am currently in Mudanjiang, and I will be visiting Jingbo Lake tomorrow!
I’m afraid I haven’t got pictures for you today, but I will make up for that when I am reunited with my usual IT set up. Meanwhile, enjoy googling images of Jingbo Lake, Bohai (Balhae) state (medieval kingdom of the area), Mudanjiang, and Yanbian to get some impression.
As Facebook and Twitter are, just like Google, inaccessible to me, feel free to post links on your site/profile/timeline, and for as long as I can I will keep you up to date.

Ok mensen, als je dit kan lezen ben ik per ongeluk over de Grote FireWall van China gesprongen.
China is zoals altijd geweldig, en het noordoosten (Manchurije, Dongbei 东北) heeft weer eens zijn positie als favorietje bevestigd bij reisbestemmingen. Ik ben nu in Mudanjiang, morgen een bezoekje aan het Jingbo Meer. Helaas geen foto’s zolang ik zonder mijn gebruikelijke apparatuur op de baan ben. Maar je kan wel even genieten via een google zoektocht voor plaatjes met de termen “Jingbo Lake”, “Bohai (Balhae) State” (middeleeuws koninkrijk in dit gebied), “Mudanjiang”, en “Yanbian” om een idee te krijgen.
Net zoals Google kan ik Facebook en Twitter niet gebruiken op dit moment, voel je vrij om de links door te geven via jouw eigen site/profiel/tijdlijn. Ik hou jullie op de hoogte van mijn verdere avonture zolang ik kan!

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