I thought I would share some of my adventure to the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany with you. I start with our last day simply because it was so amazing. The windmills built in 1740 were awe-inspiring, the clouds fluffy and domineering, the weather cool and brisk.

Windmills are an innovative method to manage water. Their sails convert wind energy into rotational energy to mill grain, pump water or both. Some convert energy into heat.

Netherlands means “lower country” which is fitting because fifty percent of the country is below sea level. Much of the land, “polders,” was created from oceans, riverbeds or lakes which are preserved by windmills, canals and dikes. Windmills maintain the water level by channeling water from one to the other back into the river.

At one time, there were 150 windmills. Today there are 28 with 19 of them in Kinderdijk, a village situated on a polder at the Nek and Noord rivers. Its name means “Children dike” and is based on a children’s fairy tale, The Cat and the Cradle. After the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, a villager returned home to discover that the polder wasn’t flooded. He also found a wooden cradle floating on the water. As it came closer, the villager saw a cat leaping back and forth across the top of the cradle to keep it balanced while the baby inside was dry and sleeping.

Generations of families have lived in the windmills. Steep stairs that go straight up, provide access to closely confined, multi-purpose rooms that surround the engine in the center of the structure. The living/sitting room also housed the dining table. Bedrooms were open cubby holes along the interior just big enough to sleep in. I didn’t ask but I’d be willing to bet that the stove served as source of heat and kitchen as well.

The sails also served as a means of communication. Stationary sails meant the mill wasn’t working; at a plus sign meant they were open for business and the crossed sign meant closed or not functional. The slight tilt of the sails (top blade at one o’clock) meant joy, sometimes the birth of a baby. Blades tilted eleven to two o’clock or five to eight o’clock meant mourning or warning. These positions were used to signal Nazi operations in World War II. Many of the Dutch harbored Jews – one of them being Ann Frank – during the war.

As we walked back along the canal, I was reminded of Mary Mapes Dodge’s Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates and wondered if he would have skated the frozen canal on a cold December morning.

Wayne felt the long walk would be too difficult for me and tried to talk me out of the excursion, but I insisted on going. The fascinating structures in the distance called to me and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to visit them. Can’t you see that first picture framed and hanging on a wall?