Not only are we getting ready for a family wedding, but my husband and I are going on another river cruise to the Netherlands and Belgium. We planned the trip months ago; it is what you have to do in these cases, but since it was planned, we’ve watched the water levels in Europe decrease to record low levels – mostly this has been on the Danube and Rhine Rivers. Fortunately, it does not look like water levels near where will travel are affected.

Our last river cruise went from Budapest to Amsterdam over fifteen days. It was in September of 2023. This time we start in Amsterdam and travel to several ports in the Netherlands but will also visit Germany and Belgium. The cruise ends in Belgium, where we will disembark and spend three days in a hotel in Bruges.

As we did not see anything in Amsterdam on our last trip, since we had to disembark at 5:30 am and go to the airport at the end of the cruise, spending two days there at the start of this trip will be welcome.

I went to The Hague, the City of International Peace and Justice, in September of 2016 with my eldest son. We were five days while he presented at an international conference as an undergraduate student from Iowa State University. The Hague is a beautiful city with many museum offerings and the Dutch Parliament buildings. But it is not one of our stops on this cruise.

One of the stops I’m most excited about is going to Flanders Field in Belgium. The poem, written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae during WWI, is probably familiar to most poets and laypeople. It is in the public domain.

Here is the copy from the Poetry Foundation:

In Flanders Fields

By John McCrae, 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place; and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

        In Flanders fields.

You can read more about McCrae here. As a physician, he treated the fallen in Flanders Field for seventeen days during a battle in Ypres. McCraes’s poetry was not gathered until after his untimely death from pneumonia at age 45. However, he wrote several medical textbooks while he was alive.

All photos are taken by the author, Carol Labuzzetta, 2016.

At heart, I am a pacifist and abhor the atrocities of war. I know I’ll be moved by visiting Flanders Fields.

Other news:

I was able to tag a wild monarch in my yard this week. I was very excited about that and wrote a Medium post about it.

Wednesday, we were without power for several hours. I used the time to edit some of my poetry. But I was in desparate need of caffeine! I made it through but it was a good reminder of what we take for granted. The power outage included the nearest town (coffee cafe) and was out from 6 am to 11 am.

Carol Varsalona has the Round Up this week at her blog, Beyond Literacy Link. Please visit for more inspiring poetry and stories. Carol has a great appreciation for the natural world. Thanks for hosting!

Medium links if you are interested. Both stories have the Friend Link embedded in them after the first paragraph. You should be able to access the whole piece if you click on that link. Thanks.

View at Medium.com

View at Medium.com