Saturday, January 16, 2010

Miffy and the End of the World

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I. Miffy
I'm that close to being done with the Netherlands ms.
Today I found my favorite Dutch thing yet: Miffy (left), by author/illustrator Dick Bruna.
Like the Netherlands in general, she doesn't charm me quite as much as Finland's weirder Moomin; but she's pretty OK!

Her dress signifies that she is a member of the royal House of Orange. Or else she has dyed it in carrot juice because the Dutch cultivated the sweet, orange carrot in the 1600s.

Before the 1600s, carrots were mostly white or yellow, and tasted bitter. You can look this up on the World Carrot Museum site.)

II. The End of the World

[I had written here about my work changing, but it was edited for legal reasons. Suffice it to say, I am no longer going to be writing geography books, as I have off and on for the last 6 years.]