Christmas crib

Dear reader,

Still my relatives, my wife and myself are dealing with the loss of my father and mother as well. They both passed away this year. On top of that my 47 year old brother had a heart arrest beginning of November. Due to his wife's perfect and very quick reaction (she is a hospital nurse) we saved his life. He recovers greatly and so far there are only signs he will recover completely. Only a matter of time and rest.

Back to the subject, the Christmas crib; my parents bought a ceramic (clay) Christmas crib about 50 years ago and I was privileged to possess it since 2 years. As a tribute I pictured the crib last week and we send it as our internet season greetings e-card.

I add some more pictures to show you how beautiful this crib is and I'm sure the crib will last many more years.


Happy new year, Michaël

Oculus-senior passed away.....

Dear reader,

Lately I haven't been posting anything. Beside many busy hours at work, home, trips, there was very sad news 2 weeks ago. On December 10, 2007, my father Ernst in the age of 82 years passed away.
As death is a fixed and no point of return, it is always a sad moment for relatives, friends and others. However, like my father was really suffering from disease, both mentally and physically, it's a relief for him in the first place and for other in the second place.
At the cremation I held a speech looking back on my personal memories of my father. I picked out some very dear and worth full events he and I participated in. For instance, the fact that I travelled through The Netherlands late 60-ties when my father as asked to take pictures for the annual report of the AKZO company. He and I in a week time from north to south, east to west, 2 locations a day in summer time, waiting for the correct clouds, light, shadow etc, was an unforgettable experience.
As I mentioned in my first post, I inherited some of his passion for language writing and most of all observing things. I’m not as good and experience on the writing part, but I coming quite close to his ability to observe, listen and analyse my environment. That’s why I used his writer name “Oculus”, because his work is continued in some sense and through the eye, people watch the world.
My conclusion was that my father made out the best of his life. After the cremation we had some coffee and many supported me that Ernst lived the live he wanted to live. He experienced a lot, was always busy, never a dull moment, always looking, seeking for new things. He lived his life, and I'm sure he rests in peace, together with my mother, his wife, who only passed away 7 months before him. They would have had there 50-th anniversary last October.
At the end of my speech I took a phrase from a song saying that a person is really dead when people don’t share memories anymore.

Michaël

Ernst as photographer

Trelleborg (Sweden)

Last week I had a course in the south of Sweden. To be more precise in Trelleborg. The course was interesting (indeed and not just because my boss thought I had to go there), but that this of less interest for you blog reader. No I like to tell a bit about the town Trelleborg, the hotel I stayed etc. In this post I start to tell about the place Trelleborg.

Trelleborg is a rather small town at the real south edge of Sweden. Trelleborg is harbour city with several ferry connections to Germany and Poland. There are living about 25 thousand people in the community. The term "borg" as part of the city name means in Swedish "castle". Being at the coast and south tip of the country, it's clear that Trelleborg was of strategic value in history. Already the Vikings around 1000 used Trelleborg for trading and defense.

Walking around in town, I came along the remaining of a old monastery. The monastery was founded in 1267 by Franciscans.




















"Franciscan monastery"

Being and old city there are not many real old buildings left. I came across an older building from 1867. I guess many buildings have been taken down from before.

As in many Swedish town and cities there is a main street (often called "gå gatan" and a street free of cars, only allowed for pedestrians and bicycles) and a main square (called "stor torget" in Swedish). Typically for Swedish houses are the different colours of the facades.















"Main square"
















"Main street"















"Colourfull facades"

Next post I tell you about the place I stayed Dannegården.

Oculus

Oculus

Dear reader,

This is a new blog called Oculus. Oculus is the Latin word for "eye" see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus. I took the name since it was the alias my father used when he was writing articles for his work and for many other occasions, in the 80's and 90's. Right now he is 82 years old. He has dementia and not able to write anymore. Even worse it's very hard for him to express himself by speaking.

As a tribute to him I choose this name for my blog. Like my father is like to make this blog an outlook to the world, even more precise an outlook of what I experience in my daily life. My posts will tackle the issues I like to highlight, give my opinion about, things that strikes me. It's also a document on what is occupying me at this moment. I'm open minded and looking forward to your comments and reaction. On my blog and other subject, you like to highlight.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Michael Hoonakker, I'm a Dutchman, 48 years old. Daddy and grandfather, living an active life full of work and hobbies. I'm married to Bianca. We live in a semi detached house in the north of Holland, officially known as The Netherlands. I work for an international telecom company and thereby do some travelling.

My main hobbies are jogging/running, playing guitar, photographing and taking care of house and garden. Normally I publish in English, however Dutch and Swedish are no problem for me.
My slogan for live is: carpe diem ("pluck the day"). I enjoy today and look forward to the future with a lot of faith. I'm optimistic, some people say even too optimistic, judge yourselves by reading my blog.

Hope to see you seen back on my blog, Michael