HappyDays – Week Forty
Wrapping up WHY2025 and enjoying a week mostly childfree as our son enjoys his own summer camp.
Taking time Saturday afternoon sitting in the garden in the lovely afternoon sun. We are supposed to be at a family BBQ that we have been trying to organize together for TWO YEARS and we just cannot make it work. I am bummed, but making the best of it. David woke up not feeling great (yay first week of school!). So, I cleaned up a vertical pallat garden project from the previous owners in our front garden that had gone bad (looked like termites had infected the wood) and now things are much nicer. I didn’t see any termites, but I did see a fricking HUGE centipede which made me shriek.
Week Forty of HappyDays started off at WHY2025 in North Holland. This festival reminded me strongly of my experiences at BurningMan back in 2003, 2004, and 2005, with some obvious differences. The main focus of this Dutch festival was exploring the limitations of technology, its strengths and weaknesses and how to best to think about protecting society from these issues while having a fun week together. The main focus of BurningMan was more artistic expression and building a collective temporary bartering society and while tech was involved, that festival wasn’t as educational or organized. In fact, I found BurningMan to be semi-structured chaos, whereas WHY2025 was very structured and organized educational semi-chaos. There was a system of “Angels” where participants signed up for volunteer shifts so that the whole experience ran smoothly. If you volunteered, you would get a meal-ticket and if you volunteered enough hours you got a t-shirt which gamified the system to encourage people to sign up for enough shifts that pretty much everything was covered and it mostly ran smoothly.
I kept on expecting to see my friends from BurningMan and the BayArea and while I did run into people I knew, I was missing “my tribe” from 20+ years ago. The makeup of the population made me feel “at home” - geeky, fluid, open, introverted but social and highly online and very smart about many different things. People always ask if I miss living in the States and the answer is usually some form of “The US as a country? No. I do miss my friends and family and the ocean.”
August 11 – Day 275
Monday was networking and volunteering day! I gathered a group of people who were affiliated with the various Internet Archives all together so we could meet in person as we are scattered so far away from each other and never in the same space. That was fun to meet in person and find out what each other is doing and working on.
I volunteered to work as a “Signal Angel” for various talks, so I would sit at the mixing board table with my computer and pass along any questions that were received from people watching the livestream. So I got to attend the various fascinating lectures and be helpful at the same time - win/win! One lecture was on menopause and while I didn’t learn much (have been reading a lot) was glad to see this taboo topic being talked about more openly.
August 12 – Day 276
The last day of camp was spent exploring a bit more in the morning, but mainly packing up and driving home in the late afternoon. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Pica - who complained that we had abandoned him but eventually forgave us and snuggled come sleep time.
August 13 – Day 277
While we were working at home and taking care of our neighbors’ poofy fluffball kitty for the next week, David was having a blast at his gaming summer camp. We got updates every day with photos. Wednesday, they had to figure out an escape room and had an hour to figure out all the clues and “escape!”
August 14 – Day 278
Santi and I went to Amsterdam to visit the new office and get to know a friend of a friend who could help the Archive out with managing the place. That afternoon Santi bought some honest-to-god real Dutch wooden clogs! Why? 🤷♀️ They make him happy, that’s the most important part.
While we were working, David was climbing up trees and going through obstacle courses in mid-air. It’s a very Dutch activity - there are many many such Klimbos routes throughout the country - and I’m just glad I wasn’t there to watch in person. He said that it was scary as he almost fell twice, but he was clipped in and he made it through (mostly) unscathed.
That evening I went to the spa with my friend, and of course no photos allowed. It was so so so so nice to float around in the water and relax and catch up.
August 15 – Day 279
I went into Utrecht center to meet up with a friend for coffee and just check in in person instead of texting (what a concept!) and to get my first dose of Shingles vaccine. So very much do NOT want to experience the pain of that disease thank you very much.
While walking through the city center plaza, I saw “Club Mate” for sale at a coffee truck. The drink is an 80+ year old German soda drink based on the extract of yerba mate. It was SUPER popular at WHY2025 and I was happy to see it for sale here as it’s not easily found in the Netherlands. Hopefully it’s a growing phenomenon.
August 16 – Day 280
I started off the day driving to pick up David from summer camp and bring him back home. A “quick” 200km round-trip (about an hour each way) and then left the boys to hang out together while I went to “English high tea” at an IWCU member’s beautiful house. We all brought something to share and had a lovely time. Each month Santi and I get one day (usually half-day) to do whatever we want without any responsibilities and this was my afternoon.
August 17 – Day 281
Getting ready for the new school year included buying a NEW bike as he’s old and big enough to have full-size wheels (26 inch!!!) and to get new sneakers at size 41!! (I’m size 42 which is about women’s size 10 in the US). He’s almost 10 years old and wow! I have a sneaking suspicion that he will dwarf his parents once he’s fully grown. I have always found second-hand bikes for him as he only uses them for a quick year and then needs a new one, whereas this one will last him for years (as long as it doesn’t get stolen).
While I was writing this letter sitting in the garden, I had the bluetooth speaker on and I was listening to k.d. lang ingénue and this song “Still Thrives This Love” out of the whole album pulls at my soul and yet I cannot tell you why. I think it has something to do with the disharmonious harmony. I just wanted to share the beauty, I hope you enjoy.
k.d. lang ingénue - “Still Thrives This Love”
[Verse 1]
I often wonder
Is it so?
All I am holding
Wants let go
How could I manage
I don't know
[Verse 2]
I often question
Is it so?
Life's contradictions
Tend to grow
Spawning the choices
And the woe
[Chorus]
But still somehow thrives this love
Which I pray I'm worthy of
Still somehow thrives this love
[Verse 3]
I often worry
Is it so?
The lessons of patience
Are learned slow
And earnings of labor
May never show
[Chorus]
But still somehow thrives this love
Which I pray I'm worthy of
Still somehow thrives this love
Just lovely - so wonderful to read about these summer weeks and months. MXM