Modern, Southern Sedir

Welcome, and Thanks for stumbling onto my little place on the Dam.

When I was 26, my partner took me to Europe for the first time in my life. There I fell in love with The Netherlands, Amsterdam, and the Dutch people. Never before had I been anywhere else in the world and felt right at home, or more welcomed. A place so diverse, where all people’s differences were not only welcomed, but celebrated. The Dutch were charmed by my turn of phrase ‘Ya’ll’ just as I was charmed by their frankness and sincerity. I was warned they could be a ‘rude’ people. I found them to be the opposite. They were hospitable and leisurely. I was clearly American, but not a type of American they commonly encountered. I said Ya’ll and spoke Spanish. More importantly I stayed out of the bike lanes.

By the end of my two weeks in Amsterdam I knew I had found the city of my heart.

But Amsterdam had one more trick up her sleeve before she would let me leave.

Deep in the night, a city that never sleeps, I had a dream where I met the Goddess of the River Amstel. I knew it was her by her flowing hair and gauzy robes. She embraced me in her arms and kissed my forehead. I cried heavy tears on her shoulders, knowing that I would never be complete once I left. ‘Amstel,’ She said, and pulled the hair from my face. ‘Your name is Amstel.’

From then on, I knew I had found my name.

 ‘Like the beer?’ People say.

I smile, a beer I drink when I’m homesick. ‘No, like the river,’ I say

And so here I am, Amstel on the Dam. Modern. Southern. Seidr.