Innocence and The Creation

Picture by Google Maps

When you are a little puppy you are unaware. Unaware of what goes on or what you pass when you are being taken away, going on a very long ride in the dark rainy night towards the surroundings of Amsterdam. Across the Afsluitdijk (Enclosure Dike) that separates the North Sea from what once was the Zuyder Sea. Forever an impressive master piece of the Dutch Delta and Zuyder Sea works. Driving on this dike it gives me the feeling of being connected with the vast world out there, stretching out from the North Sea towards the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea.

As a puppy you are totally aware that something is not OK at all and you start to tremble the moment you leave the farm. Despite the fact that your new boss is holding you tight. Unlike you, being completely over the moon because you are so cute, being the promiss of a wonderful time of endless friendship and togetherness. In the stormy rain you leave behind this beautiful Frisian farm, the breeder, whom’s voice you recognize immediately over the phone a few days later. You leave behind the mixed population of the parrot Coco, the Beagles, the Bassets Artésiens Normands, the Nubian goats, the Ponies, the various breeds of Dachshunds and what is the most difficult thing: your mother, your brother and your sister. Your mother, who was sweet and affectionate, all of a sudden watching this drama from a distance: trust was being betrayed, we were taking her puppy.
You end up in a bench at your new place, that although it is warm still is strange. The sounds are different, there are so many impressions to take in. Softly you start to cry a little bit because you are lonely, but in the end decide to go to sleep. No more nest warmth, no more playmates.
But then, the next day! You are taken out for a first walk and then it happens. I automatically think he will be just as free and independent as the previous dachshunds, but no, this one is insecure and precautious. The moment we leave the door step there is a determined ‘no go’. The world being full of strange movements, roaring sounds, kids going to school, parents frantically taking them there in zooming cars, you hear trucks and traffic, and you say once more: no thank you!, I decide to sit down and will not move one inch! Nothing resembles the world he was brought up in.
A lot of time, effort and patience was needed to sozialize him.
He was unaware that he had ended up on the beautiful other side of the Zuyder Sea.

River chart by Stopendaal - 1719:
'Carte qui fait voir Les Lieux et Maisons depuis Utrecht à Muyden'

Fantastic walks in freedom along the river, meeting plenty of other dogs. Endless party time puppy training and playful encounters made him free, independent and happy. There is no other more fantastic moment in the day then when the leash is being taken and he is being invited to go for a long river walk.

On occasions things happen that make the puppy think: hmmm-hah, what is this?! Along the river all of a sudden three sheep appeared, each having exactly two little lambs. You could never arrange such a setting, it was extraordinary.

As days passed by more sheep arrived and the mother sheep really wanted to get to know our puppy. She came close to the gate to introduce her little lambs.

It is so beautiful to see how the little lambs swing their tails when they drink, how they stretch out in the grass for a sleep in the sun in complete innocence. Such an abundance of the Creation.

Yesterday we went to new surroundings. Eye in eye with three big horses. During the first puppy training lessons at a riding school he looked up in amazement into those huge big eyes above him, but now these were walking around in the meadow and coming towards us, a stream separating us. There are times I wished I had my camera at hand all the time. He hid behind my legs, peeping his nose around my right leg. His very long nose taking in all the scents of nature and the horses. So adorable and so sweet!

In the evening I read a copy of my church chronicle, which cited a column from the Frisian Daily Newspaper, on ‘The Creation’ by Haydn. Good Friday and Easter are the hinge between the old Creation to the new Creation. If Haydn’s music so expresses the glory of God, how magnificent will the music sound when the new Creation has come?!
The splendour of the Creation is all around us, everywhere.
I see and experience it every day.

Just listen to Haydn's Creation (1798): 'The Heavens Are Telling', Nr 13 of part 1, and Nr 15 of part 3 'Singt dem Herren alle Stimmen!'
Beautiful music, it gives me goose pimples when I hear it.
Youtube gives you a wide choice of performances if you do not own the music yourself.

Happy Easter!