In Simcoe, Ontario, I stayed with a cousin I hadn’t seen in forty years. That was possible because all the children had left and there were plenty of beds to sleep on and I only needed one.

Canada has made an amazing impression on me. This nation with its big lakes, big forests and high mountains is a very impressive country for someone coming from the flat Netherlands. I don’t think it’s pleasant living in mountains. You cannot cycle there, unless you already have a bike with thirty gears.

Opa Dekker. Eighty and still fit as a fiddle. A bit stiff in the bones in the morning, but by ten he is still resiliently walking around the block. A lifetime of hard work has not spoiled his body.