THE NARRATIVE ARC
Half-a-Century of Shoreline Memories on a Warming Planet
A personal journey on this island’s climate-altered shores
The vast mounds of sand, arranged in neat lines to fortify our coastline, resemble an enlarged sand castle made by the kids of giants during a relaxing day on the beach. As a Dutchman, I get excited by anything resembling mountains in our flat country, but I don’t expect to see them when stepping onto the beach to enjoy a tranquil sunset.
Island home
I was about eight years old when I first walked on this beach. My best friend’s parents had asked my mom and dad if it was okay if I could join them for the summer in the village on this island. Decades later, I decided to make it my permanent home someday. I’m back here now to make that dream a reality.
That was a different Netherlands and a different planet. Environmental concerns were mostly local, just like everything was somehow more local. Paris felt like a world away, reachable after a full day of travel. Flying was a unique experience, so America remained a mystical paradise where everything was better.
Holidays were usually in the next province rather than the next continent. If a classmate moved to another city, his one postcard with…
