La
Licorne
SETTLING in BOKHOVEN
All along from our departure to the tropics, we
had the intention to settle back home after some time. The Director of the Land
Consolidation Service himself had advised this to me. This Ir S Herweijer, who
became Director-General of the Ministry of Housing, Planning and Environment in
a later stage, saw to it personally meeting the fresh graduates of the faculty
put on to him. "For in case you don't want to be traveling all your life,
you have to come back in time for finding a job," he had said. Well, that
made sense, and when time came, it suited us. Despite all advantages and
adventures, we were tired of the job insecurity and looking forward to having a
home of our own. As we wanted to settle in the south of the country the vacancy
of Agricultural Officer to a government service in North Brabant seemed
alright. It possibly helped that a pal of my father from the resistance during
ww2 happened to be around.
So, we started looking for a house in the
renowned middle-class neighborhoods in the vicinity of the provincial Capital of 's-Hertogenbosch. Soon we found out that we didn't like
the houses we could afford, and that we couldn't afford the houses we liked.
Apparently we had been spoiled; or should we have stayed longer to make more
money?
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After days of futile searching, I remembered the outplace Bokhoven from the time that I had been around as a student. Filled with new hope we drove into the village where Mieke's attention was drawn by a house with tower and stair gable, the very place |
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We learned that the object had just been sold
and that -as a matter of fact- the new occupants had already moved in. "Let's go and ask whether they still
like it," Mieke suggested. "No,"
I said, "you can't ask a thing like that,
just because you happen to have fallen for the house." Silence."If people want to sell their home they put
up a sign," I tried again. No reaction. When passing the house for the
third time we saw a lady in the garden; Mieke's head was already out of the
window. Of course it turned out, that I had been right all the time: -yes- the family was living there to
its satisfaction, and -no- the house
was not for sale.
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A House with a French Roof |
What stayed was that Bokhoven presented to us the calm we had been looking for. It displayed character without being pretentious. Here one could be one's-self, which differed from all the snobbish neighborhoods we had seen in the past days. For further investigation we visited the tavern at the other end of the village. The owner Driekske happened to be generous in sharing with us the village news. From this vivid old chap we learned that back in the village, a house with a French roof was for sale. So we turned to have a look at it. |
