August 2-3 Vecht to Hay Barn
All good things must end and on Monday we loaded up and pedaled on to our next stop in Eemnes. The ride started out with a lovely ride along the Plassen (Lake Shore), pleasant rides through parks with fields of heather, then a rather congested ride through Hilversom, past the trail station where we met our daughters for a week cycling in north Holland years ago. Hilversum has become even bigger and busier, but after that we rode through a lovely park with shaggy cows (pronounced shaggy coos in Scotland). We arrived safe but tired at our next stay at Hooischuur Wakker in Eemnes. The converted Hooischuur made for a really interesting stay.
A Hooischuur (Hay Barn also called Hooiberg or hay barrack) is a traditional agricultural structure native to the Netherlands used for storing and drying loose hay. The roof is supported by pulleys on four poles so it can move up and down. As hay was stacked higher inside, the roof was jacked up higher. As the hay settled or was fed to livestock over the winter, the roof was lowered step-by-step so that it always rested directly on top of the hay pile, protecting it from rain and sun while allowing air to circulate. (This is a different technique than our silos which are sealed, airtight vertical containers designed to store fermented high-moisture crops like chopped corn, grass, or alfalfa. The lack of oxygen forces anaerobic fermentation, which pickles the feed and preserves its nutritional value for months without needing to dry it out first.)
In our Hooischuur the foundation and poles still support the roof (locked in position) and underneath they created a compact well-designed and lovely little cottage. It was a bit hot but cooled toward evening and we enjoyed dinner outside.
In the morning we were enjoying tea in the roof’s shade when Gaby came over to chat. She was staying long-term in a tiny house nearby. The chat turned into a very long conversation since she was a well-traveled woman from Belguim/Gemany/Holland who had worked on cruise ships for most of her life, speaks 5 languages, so we had many experience to share including the Maldives that few people even know about much less visited. We are 30 years older, so she was curious to know what we would do differently – so of course that lead to a long conversation about adventures and commitments and how to balance work, family, and personal goals. She also told us about people she knows who actually live full-time on cruise ships traveling the world for years. Interesting ideas but … probably not for us since we are such independent cusses used to setting our own pace to our own whims.
After a while the “cleaning lady” arrived with tiny twin girls in tow. She joined in the conversation adding a young-person’s perspective to the best way to live life. She told us the girls go with her to all her ‘clients’ and help with the cleaning – they looked to be less than 2 years old so we wondered but she assured us they had begun helping early and enjoy polishing and scrubbing. She is already expecting another girl. She is also multilingual and is planning to continue with her “8 businesses” until the family has saved enough to return to Spain to live.
Such interesting people one meets when off the beaten path.
