AUTUMN WALK WITH MY SON.

My four year old son and me walking in a hilly area in southern Flanders, with a tad of exxageration often called 'The Flemish Ardennes'. One might as well call the real Ardennes the Belgian Alps, but the name got stuck a long time ago. It was coined at the end of the nineteenth century by a man called Omer Wattez, I forgot what his occupation was, a pharmacist perhaps, but anyway, the man was so enamored of (t)his region he dubbed it the way we still call it today.

The photo was taken a week ago, on Sunday, November 20. It was a gorgeous late autumn afternoon, with a crisp blue sky, soft pale brown colors and fresh cool air that made you almost want to drink it.





My boy did quite well, not one moment asking if daddy would carry him. Looking at that photo now, I feel an immense gratitude for having gotten so much. Not much at all in the eyes of captains of industry, career politicians, astronauts and media celebs for sure, but I couldn't care less.

I am a product of my time and age, like everyone, but I think that my idea that we are here in this world to love, learn, and work towards fulfillment of mankinds ultimate destiny towards the stars... is pretty universal regardless of the continent or century one lives on - and in.

On an afternoon like that, it is difficult to believe that there is so much evil in the world. And judging by the news, the entire planet seems to be in turmoil and/or on the verge of a nervous breakdown. As much as I would have liked to just publish this pic and leave it at that, I feel I should add the following quote by Edmund Burke, father of Modern Conservatism:

“A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate.”

Good night - try to live a good life and take care of your loved ones.


MFBB.