Windmill 'De Wielewaal', Beneden Leeuwen

'Wielewaal' means 'oriole' -- lovely name for a windmill.
Beneden Leeuwen is a village in the province of Gelderland.
The Leeuwen ('lions') is a local river.
'Beneden' means 'below', so the area is situated along the lower part of the river.  There is another village, Boven Leeuwen, along the higher part.  Looking at Google maps, though, the only river I can see is the largest one in the area, the Waal, which would mean that the Leeuwen is no more.  This means that the villages are very old.  The windmill, though, is fairly new -- 1857.

A lot of rain, but suddenly there was a wide stretch of blue sky, so I set out for Plan A, which wasn't very far, a mere 30 km. away.  25 km. down the road, everything was going just fine, sun was out.  And then, 5 km. further, everything suddenly turned grey and I knew Plan A was going to be a wet disaster, so turned right onto the N3 along Dordrecht, and thought I'd go straight to perhaps Alblasserdam and Molenwijk, but that was a no-go, too, so turned right on the A15 and told myself to keep going until I had some sun.  I ended up going almost as far as the A50.  The clouds were still grey but everything was still dry.  Did not want to go further, so turned left after Tiel and ended up in Beneden Leeuwen, where I knew from past visits to a cousin of AW's that there was a windmill.  It was fairly easy to find.  In the minute I needed to get out of the car and walk the few meters to the mill, the clouds arrived and I had a bare 10 minutes, maybe less, to take my shots.  I didn't expect it to be a very tall mill, so that was a nice surprise.  Afterwards, on the way back home via the A2, guess what... sunshine and blue skies!

Despite the hunt, still felt somehow strange about yesterday.  And then, later in the evening, AW tells me to 'accept it' because it is reality.  That set me off.  I had to endure decades of 'accepting reality', of being unable to do anything about my situation, of having nothing to say.  After I emigrated and found out that AW could not sustain employment, I had to do something about that, too.  It is good to face reality and look it squarely in the eye, and if you do not like it and you can do something, then it is also good to see what you can do to change it.  The case is not something I can do something about that I haven't done yet.  The Viking and I have done our best and now we have to wait for the system and for the wheels of justice to turn, but it does not mean that I will simply shrug off a delay without turning a hair.  Anyway, AW and I came to the conclusion that 'acceptance' is the wrong word, at least the way he said it, as in my case it functions as a brainwashing trigger and I associate it with defeat, among other things.  I'm not accepting the delay as a 'loser' but, rather, as an active participant in the process, which is something else.  Things aren't going quite the way yet that I would want them to, but I haven't 'lost', and I do not intend to.  To think that this is a fight I didn't even want to start.  I had to face these demons sometime, though.

Our life now is one big Plan B, but it is a Plan B that has worked for the past 32 years.  The world wants winners all the time.  Well, we are not (any more) of that level.  The opposition is hopping mad because I am already too low down the ladder to tear down, and I do not give an eff.  Does that make any sense?  The idea is making me smile.

The weather gods predict more rain tomorrow, and I can take that.  There is enough to do here at home.