Windmill 'De Arend', Wouw

Wouw is a place!  And not 'wow' ... haha!  Actually, 'wouw' comes from 'woud' or, in English, 'wood' = 'forest'.  It does sound like 'wow', though.  You can see how 'woud' and 'wood' would be related.  'Arend' = 'eagle'.  A nice name for a windmill.  Yea, I know, it's the English teacher giving a little etymology-linguistics lecture.

The abyss was even more present today than yesterday, actually.  It felt so real I had to take a nap in the afternoon, hoping some sleep would reduce it.  I went to bed with the thought, and woke up still with the thought, but much less.  It's more than a lack of rest.  It's also a general lack of purpose.  I'll say that everyone will have periods like this, but for every individual it is particularly challenging.  Do you know one thing?  The abyss is dangerous, not because it is dark and scary, but because it is dark and beautiful, and mysterious and intriguing and beguiling, and you want to go there because you think you would like to hang around there and leave everything behind for a while, and not because you want to end it all.  The catch is, of course, you cannot return once you leave.

AW went with me today and he's more important than any abyss.  There aren't necessarily loads of things going for me and all the luck anyone could wish for, but there are enough, just as there are for many others.  Thankfulness isn't something you're aware of only when you're happy and feeling good.  You can also be thankful in the darkest of hours.  It is one of those things, only a handful of things, that are good to hold on to.