Trustworthy
The street where we are staying in Den Haag only allows pedestrian traffic and is lined with small shops. Right next door to our apartment is a coffee shop across from the store pictured below. While I was sipping my morning cappuccino, I watched the sales woman in charge leave without closing, much less locking the door. I thought, hmm, around here there’s no need to smash and grab, you can just grab, sort of nonchalantly, no hurry. She returned a few minutes later. (I was so caught off guard by her abandoning the premises I didn’t think to grab a quick shot before she got back.) I didn’t observe her swiftly checking the inventory so I guess this is what one might call a trustworthy neighborhood.
So this is a parking garage!
When we were leaving the Delft train station I saw a sign that indicated an Exit with a big “P” next to it. Okay, I think, we’ll just wend our way through some parked cars and find Esther waiting for us in by the taxis. Instead I found ourselves in a garage packed to the rafters with bikes! For a moment I thought I was in some kind of warehouse selling second-hand gear.
Esther’s pond
Across the street from where Esther lives is a pond where a gentleman my age was fishing. I watched him hook a fish and flop it into his net. The next thing I know, he’s throwing the fish back in. Then he sits back in his chair and somnolently stares at the water. We walked with Esther around the neighborhood. When we got back to her place, the old gent was still sitting there, staring into the pond.
We were talking today with some Swedes and they were recommending walking trails where they have huts along the way where you can stay. The huts have food you can take and leave payment for. Along the Camino there are frequent stops where you can get water and snacks and you just leave payment. It is nice living in a high-trust society. Indeed, without trust you hardly have a society at all.
I love the feeling of being trusted and trusting others. I like living in such a democracy.
Mom