Het Stepelerveld

Yesterday end of the afternoon, I suddenly needed to get outside. Every now and then I get the feeling that the walls are closing in up on me and have then this very strong urge for fresh air.
So I grabbed my bicycle and went for a small ride. The weather was not too bad. A bit windy, but for the rest it was a nice autumn afternoon.

Without really thinking about it I went in the direction of the town of Boekelo and ended up in the area called “Het Stepelerveld”. Although for a large part cultivated (in use by farms) it is owned by the “Natuurmonumenten” foundation, who owns, preserves and maintains many natureal areas in The Netherlands (I am member of this foundation, because they do a lot good work).

In “The Steppelerveld” you will find lots of grassland, forests and peat pools. Some of the areas are not open for visitors to preserve them better. But I do know how it is there, because this in this area I used to play a lot as a young boy and over then it was still open for everyone.
The farmers who use land in this area are not allowed to use it very intensive. This means limited numbers of cattle, limited fertilizing and not intensive harvesting. The number of big farms (which are more factories to me as farms) in this area is very low.

Even when it is not a very big area (14 Ha), it is very wonderful place to be. There is not that much traffic, people are mostly very friendly. When I am in such an area I often hate things as my cell phone and to be honest. I often turn my cell phone off at such moments (the company I work for called twice. The calls were justified, but the moment was just wrong).

But the fresh air, the wind around my head did me well. I am not the person to sit all day inside. I like to be outside. And riding around on my bicycle is very good for me (due my health problems almost all the weight I had lost is back again. I really want to start working on that again).

Feeling a lot better again, I returned home. My good mood was fully back again :)