Daily Image
31-12-2007
Skating into 2008
| Submitter: | Ger de Bruyn |
| Description: | Ger de Bruyn, Sjouke Zwier and Robert Noordam After having risen from the waters like a wet Phoenix (see AJDI, 23-12-2007) we set off to find a more reliable frozen lake. Helped by a coldish night (-7 C), the ice of the Oostvaardersplassen (south of Lelystad) just had to be strong enough to hold us. And indeed it was! The bright sunshine, and the mysterious "Dutch Instinct", helped us to spot the weak parts in the icefloor. The most obvious ones can be seen as dark patches in the background. Although the photograph might suggest otherwise, we were accompanied by many hundreds of other skaters. They came from all over the Netherlands, desperate to make the most of the one place that would hold them before the thaw set in. If the batteries in the camera had continued to do their duty at subzero temperatures, we could have shown you what a wonderful place the Oostvaardersplassen are for what, alas, used to be the national winter pastime 'when we were young' (i.e. even before the WSRT was built). All this will touch a chord with the many astronomers who worked in Holland over the years, especially those who "spent time in Leiden in the 60's". The latter will remember that, however thin and creaking the ice might be, Oort had already been skating the day before. Some of them even endeavoured to learn to skate, in a misguided attempt to further their career. We'll be back! In the meantime, a Happy New Year. |
| Copyright: | Ger de Bruyn |
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