“I live by the week. Days tend to pass in the blink of an eye, months and years are too abstract. Weeks I can handle.”

Longer periods of time are increasingly hard to grasp. Just like we have difficulties relating to a number of people larger than about 150, we have difficulties dealing on an emotional level with centuries & millenia.

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Once every two years, Arnhem becomes the centre for fashion in the Netherlands. Last Saturday I was offered a special VIP treatment to visit the Arnhem Mode Biënnale exhibition under the guidance of a fashion expert and with a special introduction by Piet Paris, the man behind this year’s exhibition. I was amazed by the creativity that fashion designers show in their choice of materials and the way this exhibition is layed out. In brief, it’s a must for anyone interested in art and design: Until July 6th, make sure you pay a visit to Arnhem, you won’t be disappointed.
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The past couple of years, volunteers have been working to cut down trees, grass and reeds on a stretch of reclaimed land just outside Zaanstad. Last weekend they held an open day and I took the chance to take a boat tour through the labyrinth of canals and little islands.

Originally a swamp, the area was pumped dry and made suitable for agriculture probably somewhere around 1000 AD. For centuries the land was used by farmers, but over the last century the area was abandoned and nature was allowed to run its course. Reeds grew thicker and higher and bushes and eventually small trees started growing. This was of course beneficial to some species of plants and animals, but other species suffered. Birds, for instance, that prefer to build their nests in an open meadow refuse to breed when there are trees around, because that is where most of their natural enemies live. And so trees and bushes and reeds were cut down by human hands to favor one ecosystem over the other.

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