Joys of life

No one will deny my strict working routine, but there is much more that makes me whistle. We, my partner Elise and I, like to make long bike tours in the weekends and on summer holidays. Some 80km a day, and not on electric bikes!

Every day, I am in the garden. Taking care of the plants and jumping from stone to stone to reach them. I share the breadcrums of my lunch with all the birds that come over. First the jackdaws come in, then the doves, and after they are gone, the little blackbird takes its share.

Both of my daughters live on a 5 minute biking distance. So I see them on a weekly base. My eldest, Freija, is an independent consultant and speaker, specialised in strategic foresight and futures studies. She comes over for lunch regularly, and we go to the vegetable market on Saturdays. My youngest, Machteld, is manager in a hospital, and the mother of three kids, two boys (Hugo and Joost) and a girl (Katie). She holds a strict schedule for all grandparents who have committed to taking care of the kids for (half) a day in the week. It is great fun to be around them. The boys, they are always in for a little wrestling game with grandpa.