Storm is coming over Elba. The storm clouds hunt the ferry down and will soon role over it. It was between the Italian mainland and this mystic island, by the way on a beautiful summer’s day. It is one of those moments in life when seeking shelter and safety for this storm and rain was really urgent and factually last second. It was short but fierce.

It is always on this evening – the 31st of January – when I remember my father’s stories on the evening when the raging storm in 1953 arrived in our hometown, Halsteren. It brought over miles of land the sea (5 meter high) only a few hundreds of meters from his house, taking peoples houses, farms and life’s. He would ride out that night to help and rescue.

On this final wet and windy day of 2022 I remember the summer we spent in Tuscany in 2003. It was harvest time. The landscape between Florence and Siena showed its DNA. What a light, what a collection of gold, orange and yellow.

I know that olives and olive oil are healthy food products and preferred by many in a variety of perfect dishes. Travelling through to this Spanish landscape though what stands out is the almost absurd dominance of the olive tree monoculture. The landscape stretches itself out as a desert, where all other life is banned. Just earth and olive trees. We know how vulnerable monocultures can be. A risky landscape.

The polder can be a mystic place. Here at the Alblasserwaard, The Netherlands, the misty landscape creates a complete silent and highly reflective landscape.