Windmill 'Nieuw Leven', Oss

'Nieuw Leven' means 'New Life'.  I think one of the magical aspects of windmills is the fact that they get their energy from an invisible source, the wind, and somehow the amount generated is enough to feed a small village.  Every time they turned, it meant either more food, or less danger from flooding, or more work opportunities, or all of these.  500 years ago, it also meant success in war.  Today, they are still beautiful, albeit less functional.

A lot of clouds, but still just enough sun for a lovely drive to the east to shoot one of the two windmills in Oss.  Actually, I shot both, but the other one is smack in the middle of a series of low-level blocks of flats, the closest one to it being under renovation at the moment, and the vanes were facing precisely in the direction of the construction work, so I will leave it for another time.

This one is pretty much all by itself in its little space and looks okay.  If one looks closely, though, one might notice the scars of past neglect, including possible remnants of graffiti.  It has obviously had a good clean-up, and the square it's standing in is being maintained.  Paid parking in the area (ugh! ugh! ugh!) so I temporarily put the car in the only free space available.  While I was walking to and fro trying to get a good angle, a couple who live in the same street cycled by, and the man called out to me: 'Are you shooting my beautiful windmill?'  His wife asked, 'Really? It's yours?' 'Yes,' said the man, 'of course it's mine.'  So I could tell the residents feel some pride for this beauty.

Back home, AW showed me that he'd sawn off the rest of the higher branches of the willow tree.  He used a regular saw this time, and not the electric one the neighbour lent him.  We have a particularly good neighbour, but then, we are also good to them as they are allowed to pass through our backyard if they need to transfer building materials to their backyard.  50 years ago, the architects forgot to add alleys between some of the houses, and since our backyards are bordered by water, unless you own a barge, it can be highly inconvenient for some DIY backyard activities.  We live in a corner residence, so we have a generous path to our own backyard.  In any case, I am glad there was no risk of AW falling into the water with the electric saw.  Our green bin is stuffed again.

While I napped, AW went to his appointment to have his hearing aids checked, and the evening was spent playing online bridge and some geneologic research again.  The rather late night last night did lead to my going to bed earlier than usual