You never really understand a person . . .

until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

Ever been black?

Me neither.

What about Jewish?

No, me neither.

How about . . . ?

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi

These boots are made for walking

. . . or at least some of them are. You may remember I swore off high heels some time ago.

I would estimate 99% of the women in Hasselt own at least one pair of boots. And I may in fact be underestimating. I have never seen so many boots. Of course, it's no wonder because not only is it pretty chilly already, it's often rainy as well. So naturally, they are a "must have".

I am now in search of a pair of boots for myself which should to be a challenge with the diameter of my calves rivaling that of my thighs. Many women tuck their pants legs into the boots, but I can only imagine what Stacy would say about that in combination with my pear shape.

And it only makes sense for them to be black, right? But then no wearing them with brown. And buying 2 pair (black and brown) would be ridiculous, right?

So I went looking yesterday for the perfect pair:

black (of course)

stylish (trying to look European is sooooo hard)

low heel (but not too low - I do want to wear them out of the house, but don't want to catch the heel point in a cobblestone and have to sacrifice it)

large calf area (see above)

pointed toe (but not too pointed - no corner cleaners)

and above all, affordable (assuming this actually exists).

I had no idea how difficult this would be. Impossible maybe.

Here are fotos of just 2 winkels (stores), right next door to each other, of at least 25 winkels that carry boots and this is just what's in the window! I came home empty-handed, but haven't given up yet. Wish me luck.

Trifles

I happened upon a website with interesting facts about almost every country and thought these facts were kinda interesting about Belgium.

• has compulsory voting and enforces it
• had the first printed newspaper in the world
• has the lowest proportion of McDonald's than any other developed nation
• legalized euthanasia in 2002 and gay marriage in 2003
• was the first country to issue electronic passports
• negotiates and distributes 90% of the world's raw diamonds
• is the capital of the European Union and home of NATO headquarters in Brussels
• has the highest income tax of any OECD country (OECD comprises 20 countries including all of Europe, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Mexico, . . .)
• has the only man-made structure (the motorway system) that can be seen from the moon at night

and more importantly . . .

• makes over 800 kinds of beer and
• makes and sells more chocolate (at Brussels International Airport) than anywhere in the world

Family Photos

I don't have many photos on the computer here in Belgium because we haven't had this computer very long so all photos are recent.

I don't have any photo albums here so no old pictures of family gatherings or the kids.

I don't have the photos off our other computer still in Jefferson so not even any sorta recent pictures.

I'd forgotten how nice it is to look back at old pictures and how important it is to document all those special as well as ordinary everyday times. Thanks mostly to Randi for these . . . these are just a few recent photos that make me smile :)

Herfst (Autumn)

The bomen are really pretty here now and the streets are filled with colorful leaves. These are a couple of fotos I took while we were wandelen yesterday.

Today, we went to a park just outside of Hasselt and it reminded me of Stanley Park in Vancouver. Very serene. Here are a couple of fotos and videos.

PS No trick-or-treaters : /

PPS Happy All Saint's Day!