Close to my place is a little town with the name "Kinderdijk" .
The name Kinderdijk is Dutch for "Children dike".
During the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed un-flooded.
It is often said that when the horrendous storm had subsided, a villager went to the dike between these two areas to inspect what could be salvaged.
In the distance he saw a wooden cradle floating on the water.
As it came nearer, some movement was noted, and upon closer investigation, a cat was found, trying to keep it in balance by leaping back and forth in such a manner that water couldn't flood the cradle.
As the cradle eventually came close enough to the dike for a bystander to pick up the cradle, he saw that a baby was quietly sleeping inside it, nice and dry.
The cat had kept the cradle balanced and afloat.
This folktale and legend has been published as "The Cat and the Cradle" in English.
That's how this little village got the name "Kinderdijk" now famous by many tourist because of the 19 Windmill's that keep the lowlands dry by scooping up the water and transport it to canals from where it is scooped up and transported in to the river to flow to the sea.
That's how we keep our feet dry :-)

Close to my place is a little town with the name "Kinderdijk" .
The name Kinderdijk is Dutch for "Children dike".
During the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed un-flooded.
It is often said that when the horrendous storm had subsided, a villager went to the dike between these two areas to inspect what could be salvaged.
In the distance he saw a wooden cradle floating on the water.
As it came nearer, some movement was noted, and upon closer investigation, a cat was found, trying to keep it in balance by leaping back and forth in such a manner that water couldn't flood the cradle.
As the cradle eventually came close enough to the dike for a bystander to pick up the cradle, he saw that a baby was quietly sleeping inside it, nice and dry.
The cat had kept the cradle balanced and afloat.
This folktale and legend has been published as "The Cat and the Cradle" in English.
That's how this little village got the name "Kinderdijk" now famous by many tourist because of the 19 Windmill's that keep the lowlands dry by scooping up the water and transport it to canals from where it is scooped up and transported in to the river to flow to the sea.
That's how we keep our feet dry :-)