Just a perfect day

First view of the sea after crossing the dunes (all photos in the article by Alexander Verbeek)

It's getting hot again, and my iPhone gives a yellow warning for heat. But it is still early in the morning; the sun is slowly rising, the sky is blue, and the birds are singing. So I put on shorts and a T-shirt and get on my bike.

When the village is still asleep.

The village is still asleep when I first pass the early 16th-century church and then the castle from the 13th century. I watch a car driving by, the only one I will see on the island for the next hour or so. I can follow the road to the beach from here, but I decide to take a right turn. A small road leads me to a winding cycling path through the forest, where I stop to watch a family of deer. Then, I continue and try to film while holding my phone in my right hand and steering with my left.

The last trees of the forest and where the dunes begin.

I park my bike against a tree, walk through the pine forest, and then through the dunes with soft white sand. The wide beach is still deserted, and I walk barefoot along the coast. The sun is getting warmer, and I go for a swim. The water is cold for the first minute, but then I enjoy the 'warm' swim. From the sea, I look back over the wide beach and the high sand dunes while seagulls fly over my head.

Horses in a dune lake.

I get out of the water, take some video shots, and within minutes, the warm wind has dried my skin like a hairdryer. There is no need for a towel on a morning like this. A bit later, I watch horses and their riders enjoying a walk or even swimming in one of the freshwater lakes in the dunes.

Bakery ‘In de Soete Suikerbol’

I continue on my way back through the village that has awakened by now. Then, opposite the church, I stop in a small bakery that hasn't changed any detail in its design in a hundred years. But they have the best apple turnovers in the village.

It is time to return home, and when I make my first coffee of the day, I still taste the dried-up salty sea water on my lips. It's when I realize that this promises to be the start of just a perfect day.

---

Video

Now that you have read the description, take a moment to forget all that bothers you and watch the four-minute video; imagine you are on this quiet, wide beach and go for a swim.

Please read this too:

If you are a paying subscriber: thank you for your support!

I write this newsletter because I believe that together we can do better on this beautiful but fragile planet.

This newsletter is an independent production. Accordingly, I have never accepted any advertising offers. I also aim to make as many editions as possible available for free.

Support from those who can afford it makes this independent newsletter available to all.

Please join this initiative by taking a paid subscription.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter, you can also support me via Buy me a Coffee:

Walking through the forest on my way to the beach.