Oh no...

Today is the celebration of Queen's Day in the Netherlands. The Royal family was visiting Apeldoorn. Their open bus was making its way to the Loo palace. Suddenly a black Suzuki Swift breaks his way through the crowd crashing into "De Naald" monument.

It's not clear if this is an accident, an act of terrorism or something else. Fourteen people are wounded, the rumours talk about four deaths. The Royal family was not hurt in any way, but they are shocked. Queen Beatrix has expressed the sympathy of her family to the victims and their families.

The Mayor of Apeldoorn announced that the rest of the activities are cancelled and more cities in our country are following that example. Queen's Day will never be the same...


13.45 - Two deaths are confirmed...
15.45 - Press conference. 4 deaths, 5 seriously injured, 8 minor injuries. it happened on purpose. 1 male suspect, 38 years, native Dutch, in hospital at the moment. no suspicion of terrorism.
20.19 - A fifth death was announced.

May 1, 8.40 - The perpetrator has died from brain injuries tonight before he could explain why he did what he did.

TT #98: random stuff

Thirteen random things It has been a while since I did a TT, so here's a new one. Just some random stuff I'd like to share with you. Today is Koninginnedag (Queen's Day) in The Netherlands. You can read more about it here. Queen Beatrix and her family will visit Apeldoorn, but there are activities throughout the country. I especially like the freemarkets on the streets in almost every town or village, where mostly children (or so it should be...) sell old toys, books, stuff! Last weekend Ron and I went to the Elf Fantasy Fair in Haarzuilens, a medieval / gothic / fantasy / pagan festival on the grounds around Castle "De Haar". I'll post about it later and add my pictures. Ron is still recovering from his surgery. The pain afterwards is worse than expected; they really should have told us about it. It's slowly getting better and his armpits and hands are still dry. He is a happy man! The last few weeks I was a member of the application committee that was interviewing people for the job of coordinator of the pool of voluntary people helping others with their own experience. As a member of the pool I was added to the committee. It was very interesting work! Maia has been neutered today. She is still a bit woozy, but everything's okay. She is almost two years old now, but she remains very little. That poor little body with a big cut on her tummy... I spoil her rotten! ;-) This is my 98th Thursday Thirteen. I want to do 100 and then it's time to quit. Time for a new meme, a new challenge. Do you have a tip? Let me know! This coming weekend Ron and I will go to a pagan forum meeting in Hengelo to celebrate Beltane. I hope the weather will be nice, so we can have the ritual outside and make some great fires! I have finished the fifth and last book in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles. I simply love this series and now it has ended... The heroine can be described as "Buffy in regency-era London", a brilliant setting with unexpected plots. Don't know it? Lucky you, because you have 5 great books to read! Colleen Gleason is an amazing author; on her website you can read all about her and the series. Around this time I would have been initiated with the other Ara-girls, but it wasn't meant to be (yet?)... We are very disappointed and consider our possibilities. I'd still love to be initiated in the Ara tradition, but there are some issues that have to be solved first. This year around Midsummer Ron and I will go back on vacation to the lovely cottage near Lier in Belgium where we stayed last year. We are invited to stay there for two weeks while our friends (the owners) are away. Although I'll miss the cats very much, I really look forward to spend time in this little paradise again! I am busy organising a walk in the dunes near IJmuiden with a guide that has been a ranger there for years. He knows a lot about everything that grows and lives in the dune area. The walk will have the focus on herbs. Have you seen the video of Susan Boyle in Britains Got Talent? She has a fabulous voice. Looks can deceive... Everyone was laughing at her, until she opened her mouth. Wow!! I hope her dream comes true, she deserves no less. A new Star Trek movie is coming! I have to see it of course. I'll have to get used to new faces with familiar names, but that doesn't have to be a problem. Did you watch the trailer already? The release date is May 7. ~*~*~*~ The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted Unfortunately the original TT website doesn't exist anymore. There's a new hub : Thursday-13!

Earth Day 2009

Today is Earth Day, a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries around the world every year. I support Earth Day, but in fact every day should be Earth Day..! On EarthDay.gov I found this explanation:
"Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet." Hear hear!

Back home

Thank you all for your candles, thoughts, etc. It has worked: his hands and armpits are completely dry! The surgery went well but they forgot to call me, so I was waiting downstairs getting more nervous by the minute. I decided to go upstairs and asked a nurse. Finally I heard everything was fine. Half an hour later Ron returned to his room. He felt okay. During the night he had pain and tightness of the chest as a result of the deflating of his lungs one by one. He says it feels like having bruised ribs. He 'just' has to breathe good and deep, the pain will go away after a while. He has two stitches on every side (about 10cm under his armpits); those can be taken out in two weeks by our own family doctor. He has to call the clinic next week to let them know how he is.

I had a reasonably good night. I was very very tired after a long day, so I slept before my head touched the pillows. I was awake from time to time, because I missed Ron. We hardly ever sleep apart. Somewhere in the middle of the night I was wide awake and felt restless. I think that must have been when Ron had his pain attack. In the morning I checked out and drove back to the hospital. Ron had to wait for the doctor to give permission to go home. The nurse gave him a painkiller for the drive and a prescription for more painkillers. I drove home in 2 hours. Ron is resting and hopefully sleeping upstairs and I'm catching up with my (e-)mail and other stuff.

Surgery Ron

Last week Ron got a message from the Sudor Clinic in Almelo. He has to check in tomorrow morning for his thoracoscopic sympathectomy (the link leads you to an animation), surgery in which the nerves that cause hyperhidrosis (excessive perspiration) under his arms will be partly cut/burned. He is nervous about the operation itself, but also looking forward to finally getting rid of this problem. He has tried everything there is to overcome it, but nothing really helped. This procedure is drastic, but the only option left for Ron. It is performed in other hospitals in the Netherlands too, but the Sudor clinic is specialised and has the highest success percentage (98%!).
We'll leave early in the morning to be there in time. Ron has to stay one night for observation. I have booked a simple hotelroom nearby. If all goes as planned he'll be released from hospital on Thursday and we can come home. I wish we were that far already! I'm at least as nervous as Ron is. Please think of him, pray, light a candle, anything you want; all support is welcome!

Planetary Magic

This weekend I attended a workshop of the Olympia group with Marian Green. The subject was "planetary magic". I hadn't been feeling very well the week before, but this was interesting enough to be present! I didn't know very much about the theme, almost nothing to be precise, but thought it would be interesting. And it was!

We learned about the planetary correspondences, symbols, colours, meaning and lots more. Like always with Marian not only the facts, but also understanding what's behind it and why. She told us about the origin of the planetary symbols and how they are built out of the same elements (a crescent moon and a cross mainly). I could never remember the symbols, but now I can. The word planet comes from Greek and means "wanderer", because for the ancient people the planets seemed to wander along the sky. Just to name some things I learned. :)

On Sunday we had a ritual to get acquainted and connect with the planets. I represented Mercury, dressed in orange. Saturday evening I had done research on the www. Some of the members had made a planetary talisman; those were purified and blessed in the circle. It was a wonderful ritual. The group is awesome. Everyone can do their own thing from the heart within the structure of the ritual. There is trust, so each person can feel at ease.

It was a very interesting workshop. Marian has so much knowledge and she shares it freely. In between talking about the theme I always pick up a lot of other stuff. Olympia rocks!
I'm going to explore the subject of planetary magic further. So if you know any good books or websites about it, please share!