In this century (also in my lifetime) I returned by airplaine to the Netherlands 11 times. Never before have I had such a beautiful view during the landing. And not only has this photo turned out exceptionally well as a picture (thanks to the sunset and the clouds), there is also a lot of interesting to see for those who want to know something about the Netherlands and how the Dutch dealt and deal with sea and river water.
The reflection of the sunlight exactly hits the ‘Ketelbrug’ (‘brug’ = ‘bridge’). That bridge connects the second and third great polders won from the former sea: ‘Noordoostpolder’ and ‘Oostelijk Flevoland’. Recognizable as polders by the absolutely straight lines of the dikes.
The closer island is primarily just a ‘shell’ for the perfectly circular lake. Funny: if you look at it with Google Maps, the software doesn’t seem to ‘believe’ that a lake can be so perfectly round: so in the standard view the shape is actually changed to a polygon!
That lake is much deeper than the rest of the former Zuiderzee. Truly a phenomenal product of what is called ‘Rijkswaterstaat’ here: the government agency that deals with water management.
Also funny: the English wikipedia entry about IJsseloog is more up to date than the Dutch one.
Not funny at all is the reason why I decided to devote a small article to IJsseloog on the site of the Old Dutch Painter: recent statements by the climate tsar of the EU, Mr. Timmermans. Timmermans is a fat, filthy rich social democrat with the same first name as me.
This person stated that he wants one or more memorial days for ‘climate victims’.
As examples of this victim-type he mentioned people in Belgium and Germany who drowned as a result of floods of rivers, canals and all types of reservoirs in 2021.
For any other failed politician from an EU country who is promoted to an EU position, such a call would be dubious. For an EU Commissioner who comes from the Netherlands, it is downright scandalous. Excellent measures have been taken after the near-flood disaster in early 1995. As a result, no people drowned in the Netherlands in 2021 – unlike neighboring countries Belgium and Germany. Instead of fueling the fear, the man should have wondered why it turned out so different. By giving priority to fueling climate fears, he is essentially raising a middle finger towards the grandiose water management efforts of his compatriots.
https://www.climatechangepost.com/netherlands/river-floods/ ..
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