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