^{_{Some people wonder what everything means; others just go on living their lifes.}}

France is on fire, due to humanity; billions of non-human animals die in the wildfires in France and elswhere. Which on it’s own leads to the conclusion there is no all-powerful good god. It’s a pity, but alas.

Life comes as it comes, they say. Yet, we send fire-fighting planes to fires and still “we stand up against cancer.”

Every now and then, we eat at a restaurant called “the Herbivore”. One of the few restaurants in Northern Netherlands where I can relax. It is, after all, a vegan restaurant; the name already suggested this. Although, according to the Dutch Vegan Society, ‘herbivore’ mainly refers to animals that have not made a conscious choice for plant-based eating. This means: not doing so based on ethical considerations. However, we don’t know that; we don’t know the first thing about animals. So, the vegan/herbi dichotomy is kind of based on assumptions.

Speaking of “Assumptions”. In the province of Drenthe where I live, it’s a bit like Alabama; we have a famous racing circuit called the TT. They refer to it as “The Cathedral of Speed”.

Well, I’m no nitpicker: You can call anything a cathedral if you like. I won’t lose sleep over you calling your bathroom a cathedral. But calling a race track a cathedral is stretching it ofcourse.

People have always felt the need for devotion. I’m more of a Bach fan myself. Also, I love to be in christian cathedrals, even though their evil history, but because of how they smell and how they look and because of the acoustics.

Other people like to drink beer and eat dead animals while they look at men producing noise and exhaust fumes. Apparently that is their place of worship.

Not only are their motor races on the TT site; “we” also have a gathering of trucks every year. Oh joy, diesel toy.

So every Holy Last Week of july, people used to marvel on the roadside of the highway at the trucks heading to the Truckstar festival in Assen. That is no longer allowed though, as it’s dangerous. The government has launched a campaign urging people to watch the trucks from “safe places.” Meanwhile, I wonder if we should even be holding fossil fuel festivals in “cathedrals of big” at a time when climate change is hitting us in the face. However, I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness with my pleas for sustainability and virtue. The general public continues to party like it’s 1999, to go on vacation in distant lands—those that are becoming deserts. Everyone keeps eating meat. It all seems permissible. Personal freedom and all that.

Of course, the freedom of one person should end where that of another is compromised, but this principle is applied to very few matters. That is to say: the law books are heavy reading. But it is about things like not being allowed to stab people (good). Stabbing a pig, on the other hand, “is fine” (not good). Eating a pig “is fine”. Having a private jet and thus poisoning us is also “fine”.

For my 55th birthday, I wanted a tattoo of the Vegan symbol on my arm. My partner found it funny because I have often expressed critical views about tattoos, particularly about people who get something like the Chinese character for “soup” tattooed on their bodies while drunk. This joke comes from The Big Bang Theory; Penny has a tattoo of a Chinese character on her body that she believes has a meaningful significance. When she is in need and Sheldon helps her, he notices this tattoo. He asks why the word “soup” is on her body. Penny is, of course, not happy.

Didn’t get the tattoo in the end. Amy forbade it.

If you add up the alphabetical position of the individual letters of the word “soup,” you arrive at 55. Yes, I’m not a physicist, but I do have a thing for numbers.

Interestingly, I have also been vegan for 5+5 years.

Speaking of soup: I love soup. And I love possibilities!