Heideweek
The heather is still flowering magnificently, although it is a little past its peak now, and it won't be long until it goes over. It used to flower a little late in the year, but the last few years it has gradually started earlier and earlier. But yesterday, it was cheerfully brightening up our ride.
What is also the case if that when the Ede mountain bike route was first made, the field where the photo was taken was nearly all heather, but now it is more grass than heather. I had to do my best to get a photo with enough heather in it. That is mostly due to the heavy nitrogen deposition from the nearby intensive farming.
It is also the end of 'heideweek' in Ede, which translates literally to heather week (or heath week). That is a week of parades, markets and attractions. It is at the end of the summer holiday, at the same time as when the peak of the heather used to be, and is doubtless intended to intend the tourist season. But it is not just for tourists. I was talking to a colleague last week who lives in Ede, and he was enthusiastic about it. Perhaps that was in part because he grew up there and has all sorts of fond memories.
The interesting thing is that Ede is famous for being full of strict Protestant churches, and celebrating the heathland is a pretty pagan activity. The English word 'heathen' comes from heathland.
But regardless of the anthropological interpretation of the festival, and the grass coming up through the heather plants, for the mountain biker, the flowering heathland is a glorious sight.
