I was born in Holland and emigrated to Canada at the age of 6 with my family. Certainly the Dutch, as many European immigrants did, assimilated quickly into North American life and culture. However, like many immigrants, there were always little ties back to 'the old country' as it quickly became known. Some of these were related to food (you wouldn't believe some of the things the Dutch put on their bread!), or customs, language, or expressions. But for the most part, you'd be hard-pressed to pick a Dutch immigrant out of a crowd of Canadians (until the World Cup is underway perhaps).
While my feet are firmly planted on this side of the big pond, I've learned a lot about, and take pride in, my heritage. Today's photo is of a little reminder, that we have hanging by the front porch, of that heritage. Known as 'klompen', I can still recall wearing them as a young lad in Holland - they weren't fancy like these though.
(70-200mm f11 1/40 sec ISO200)
