Got some great pictures of the Netherlands from Andy. Him, the children and his wife moved to a nice country house. I think I'd enjoy living in Europe, but not sure. The novelty would wear off, but at least I wouldn't have as much TV to choose from. What a pretty back yard...

The neat part in Amsterdam are the canals, they divide the city into small islands. It's fun to walk the streets and see buildings over 30 years old. Many very, very old. There are a lot of stories there I saw where Anne Frank hid from the Nazis for all those days and nights. They had lived well in Amsterdam until the Germans started to decide Jews needed a solution. That would have been a frightening experience. As you go through the little rooms they occupied in the attic and walk through their halls, you can picture their life. I liked looking out into the backyard and thought Anne probably did too. There are carvings on the walls the hieroglyphics of the Holocaust. It is Hitlers birthday tomorrow with all the bad events that seem to occur lately in association with it, I think it is just the perpetual bad kharma.

I noticed the Dutch have a real sensitivity to the German invasion and the Nazi occupation. It has a connection to the bikes you see all over Amsterdam. Evidently, the people there are still very upset over the Nazis stealing their bikes when they fled Amsterdam. I was told they took most of the cities bikes as they were trying to flee from the allies. I think my friend Shawn would understand the way resentment can simmer when someone messes with your bike. He's had repeated problems with someone vandalizing the light on his bike.

It is off to the Copper Boomtown festival in Miami AZ this weekend. Some fun events, like lugging my butt 13K with a 1200 ft elevation gain. The good part though is the pancake breakfast afterward. Pancakes are my favorite and it ties back to Amsterdam, because they have the best pancakes. Except they should not be called pancakes, more of a cross between a crepe and a pancake. And they put regular food on them, like chicken, cheese, veggies and all sorts of great stuff.