May Hashing...

In honor of The Hague H3’s 40th anniversary, there was a special hash with 40 beer stops, on a Saturday in mid-May. I must confess that the idea sounded disastrous, but the beers were thankfully tiny and it was really fun. We learned a lot of interesting hash trivia at each of the 40 stops. And the long trail itself was quite good, starting in a park that I didn’t know well. Here’s a few of the things we saw along the way: a swan who misunderstood that sitting on all of the eggs was the goal... 

…some urban art...

…a non-hasher that looked dressed to go to a Red Dress Hash...

…and lots of folks enjoying the sun at the Hofvijver. 

A great time was had by all!

Two nights later, we had sunny skies and a good turnout in Leiden to celebrate May’s super flower moon with another trail live hared by Opee. It was great that DogShit, the FILTH’s previous RA, was visiting from Hong Kong with his girlfriend.  

Comes Too Soon couldn’t resist stripping down to take a quick dip in the canal in front of the beer stop. 

She swam across the canal and back.

 

More Views Over The Hague...

Jim invited us back around and this time I brought my camera when we visited his penthouse apartment in Scheveningen with its bird’s eye view over The Hague. 

Most of the dozens of photos I took were lousy, but these seemed worth sharing.

The moon showed up early.

Can you spot the Man in the Moon with two eyes and a circle mouth?

It was great to watch the sun set...

…and the city lights rise.

 

Back to the Farm...

There were several changes at the farm while I was away. Veronica was especially excited about the new trampoline (there was no safety net since it was placed flat on the ground), although it took more than one visit to get the timing right so there were no little kids jumping on it.

It was great to see the lambs outside, with or without their moms.

The piglets were starting to grow into their ears...

…while the pigs were getting bigger as well.

We also managed to walk along the smaller dyke in the field (it had been completely unpassable for months and was again impossible to get through just a few days later) to get a quick glance at the foals...

…and a quail. 
 

Foolish Girl...

The following day, I grabbed the boots that I had been wearing in Scotland and had a shocking realization. 

Not only were the sole of those boots completely falling apart...

…but they weren’t even mine! They were the same brand and color, but were purchased in 2007 for Jimmy’s first trip to Afghanistan, which is why the sole had deteriorated. Needless to say, I felt like a total fool when I realized that I had walked around in Scotland in shoes three sizes too big without realizing it. 
 

Forest, Dunes and Water...

On May 7, Terri drove us north so we could do a nearly 21-kilometer (13-mile) walk through Zuid Kennemerland National Park, where dogs aren’t welcome. It was a lovely walk through forests, with wild garlic as ground covering...

...by lakes, the above one we have hiked and hashed around before...

…and dunes, this one along the North Sea. 

We were following a tract that Terri had found on a hiking app, but part of the path was unpassable due to flooding. 

Since the path looked drier ahead, I led us cross country, like any good hasher would. 

However, we encountered a surprise once we made it back to the main path...

…two swans swimming on the path ahead. Since we were unsure we would actually be able to get around them, we opted to turn back to meet up with the trail at a different point. 

Later we spotted more swans swimming...

…and flying.

We also spotted some deer, West Highland cows...

…and fluffy caterpillars...

…that were quite devastating to the hedges.