We're on a 6+ month sabbatical to Amsterdam! Look through our eyeballs at Dutch art and design (contemporary to 700 years old). Topics include art, footwear, ecological sustainability, windmills, traditional handcraft, train travel and snack food discoveries. Though art is our interest, we are reporting on a wide range of things - our only rule is it must be FUN to write and FUN to read. xo, LeBrie and Bill
Dutch Treat: The grass report
Hi there! We're Bill and LeBrie. You're receiving this email because you signed up for Dutch Treat, our twice-monthly newsletter of discoveries while we are living in Amsterdam. If you enjoy the newsletter, forward it to a friend. And if this email was forwarded to you, get your own. 📫
Notes on Landscaping
Hi Friends,
We're noticing a pattern, one that feels really good to our mammal bodies living in an urban location. There is a wildness permitted in the landscaping of the city parks and public spaces in Amsterdam. One example of this is a phenomenon we'll call the Unmowed Grass Patch (UGP). Below is a textbook version of this phenomena. This picture was taken at a very fancy gated historical building near the zoo. The place is heavily funded and landscaped - this isn't neglect, it's intentional.
Readers of this newsletter don't need us to point out that this will benefit pollinators, and the entire ecosystem who depend on them! But how about the human inhabitants?
Another grass phenomena here is under the tram (streetcar) tracks. All new trackways are greenscaped because it cuts down on noise. This surface isn't possible inside the historic canal ring, of course, but it is very common in the rest of the city center.
We can only surmise that there is a greater tolerance for wildness in the urban landscape here. Spaces aren't unkempt, just looser.
Until next time,
LeBrie + Bill
LeBrie + Bill - Dutch Treat
We're on a 6+ month sabbatical to Amsterdam! Look through our eyeballs at Dutch art and design (contemporary to 700 years old). Topics include art, footwear, ecological sustainability, windmills, traditional handcraft, train travel and snack food discoveries. Though art is our interest, we are reporting on a wide range of things - our only rule is it must be FUN to write and FUN to read. xo, LeBrie and Bill
Hi there! We're Bill and LeBrie. You're receiving this email because you signed up for Dutch Treat, our twice-monthly newsletter of discoveries while we are living in Amsterdam. If you enjoy the newsletter, forward it to a friend. And if this email was forwarded to you, get your own. 📫 A Collection of Hands During our last trip to Amsterdam in 2019 Bill began photographing details of hands in paintings. He's continued that as an ongoing project. These are from from the Rijksmuseum in...
Hi there! We're Bill and LeBrie. You're receiving this email because you signed up for Dutch Treat, our twice-monthly newsletter of discoveries while we are living in Amsterdam. If you enjoy the newsletter, forward it to a friend. And if this email was forwarded to you, get your own. 📫 This Dutch Treat is a rebroadcast of an email LeBrie wrote to her personal list. We both thought you would enjoy it. Now that our summer of adventure is slowing down, expect to see more frequent missives from...
Hi there! We're Bill and LeBrie. You're receiving this email because you signed up for Dutch Treat, our twice-monthly newsletter of discoveries while we are living in Amsterdam. If you enjoy the newsletter, forward it to a friend. And if this email was forwarded to you, get your own. 📫 The Infrastructure of Play Common pallets are the raw material for a week of Huttendorp. Friends, We were enjoying the Zuiderzee Museum, when beyond the museum walls we heard the most beguiling sound. It was so...