Reunion Walk near Willebroek, Belgium
The family reunion went really well today. The weather was overcast and threatened rain all day. We felt a few drops but that was it. Temperatures were around 8C (about 45F). For this time of year, it was ok.
Gaby had several walking paths ready to go. We chose the 5.6km walk (3 1/2 miles). Those who wanted to do the walk, met at 4PM and the rest for dinner at 6PM. It worked great! We had a pleasant time talking and enjoying the fresh air. It’s nice to get together twice per year for happy occasions. In the last year or so we had to meet for several funerals, so this reunion was welcomed by all. Gaby was praised for organizing it and taking initiative! She did a great job!
Reunion Walk Path
Ducks and freezing weather
There is a lot of water around Willebroek and we passed some ducks who were apprehensive of our being there. I always wondered as a child why ducks, or other birds who hang around in the winter, don’t freeze to death in the winter. I know this is a bit off topic, but this is pretty interesting if you haven’t thought about it. Birds have a few tricks up their feathers to help their feet from getting too cold:
- They don’t have any sweat glands in their feet so there’s no moisture (also why they don’t have a problem standing on frozen metal objects)
-
Ducks on our walk
They have scales covering their feet. The scales aren’t living tissue so it’s not very susceptible to freezing
- The legs are mostly bones and tendons. Not many muscles, blood vessels or nerves to freeze.
- If they get cold, they can retract one leg into their feathers and warm it up. Kind of like putting it in a blanket
- If they get really cold, they can squat to heat up both feet. I think this is probably something they don’t like to do as their bodies would be touching the ground and dissipating heat. If I were a bird, I’d rather fly and retract both feet. [I'd rather fly than sit on the ground anyway even if I wasn't cold
Dinner at Sacchetti's
Sacchetti's in Willebroek , Belgium
We had twenty one people at the dinner out of twenty three planned. Gaby’s cousin put the wrong date on the calendar. He was really mad at himself for messing it up as he wanted to be there… 
Gaby did a lot of planning for this. Everyone pre-ordered what they wanted (from a limited menu of three items per course). It worked really really well.
Gaby was talking to the chef about our plans for Paris and Le Cordon Bleu. He said there are some books by Le Cordon Bleu.. that one? With the school in Paris? He said “Wow… you’re not going to come here after you’ve been to that school”. Gaby said sure she would. It’s always nice to get a break from cooking! not to have to cook
It was interesting that people at the dinner table who found out about Le Cordon Bleu had the same reaction. I guess we’d never met a real chef who had been to the school either. I suppose there’s more mystic about it as most people just dream about stuff like that and never actually do it. It’s just lining up for us but I can perfectly understand it. If I had met someone from LCB last year I’d have the same reaction!
Credentials and Le Cordon Bleu
Gaby’s aunt said she didn’t need to go to Le Cordon Bleu. Her cooking was really excellent already. Gaby thanked her but we talked about it in the drive home. Graduating from the school gives you credentials as a professional chef. In my opinion, there are two three things that give people trust in you (Monty Python fans will appreciate the joke in that last sentence):
- They know you from a personal recommendation
- They know you through a recommendation from a recognized authority
- You have some kind of authority through training and education.
Gaby could start a restaurant now but she’d be missing many experiences of having worked in a professional kitchen. She also wouldn’t have the credentials. It would take much longer to gain trust from people.
Gaby’s getting a Dutch recharge at the moment talking to her parents and sister so I’m helping out today. Tomorrow we travel to Gent, Belgium to drop Gaby’s sister off at her home and have dinner with another option trader and KLM 747 pilot! The last time Manu and I got together we spent half of the time talking about 747 fuel burn rates, gross weights, etc etc.
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Until tomorrow!
Tom
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