What will 2024 bring us? The further development of the “war machinery” initiated by an “enlightened despot” for “a piece of land” that costs thousands of innocent lives and unbearable suffering!
At the “turn of the year,” we nostalgically let our thoughts “wander” over what once was and is now part of the history of our “memory book.”
There were wonderful times before the Millennium for the pigeon sport, with over 16,000 enthusiasts in East Flanders in 1996 alone… now we still have the same number “nationally.”
The younger generation of enthusiasts can hardly imagine it… national Bourges with a car to be won for each province, donated based on participation coupons from the feed company “Elite”… the “world championship” Versele-Laga with hundreds of thousands in free money… the “Entente Belge” with a car to be won for series 1+2+3 in Brive in 1990 and their well-endowed championships… the “Travel Pigeon” from Oosterhof with its legendary champion day gifted with free drinks, spectacle, and giant raffle… “Belgian Pigeon Sport” at its peak in “Groot-Bijgaarden,” with the enthusiasm of the Vandenbossche family… the “East Flemish Derby Association” with its car to be won during the registration of a limited number of “derby rings” (well, 18,000 is still a nice number of rings I remember in the nest)… “The Pigeon Messenger” in West Flanders… “The Pigeon Newspaper” from Geerts… I could go on for a while.
It’s not easy for the “older generation” of enthusiasts to adapt to the strong “changing times” in our sport. A sober evaluation… “that time” will never return, but we still have “enough” to make something beautiful out of it for the future, thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who continue to dedicate themselves daily “in word and deed” for the sport.
And let us not forget that these last ones desperately need the support of the enthusiasts to persevere in their diverse tasks for the benefit of the sport.
Megahouses, rankings, satellite lofts… the average enthusiast was there and watched… will have to learn to live with it… pigeon sport from a different dimension I’ve already written about here on the net.
The main thing, however, remains to experience “pleasure” in your “little kingdom” here on earth… there in your loft, you are “lord and master,” and we can take a moment to “unwind” from the hectic whirlwind of life.
The everyday interaction with your winged athletes… for many, as I write this, it brings new life out of the shell… brings us the greatest satisfaction. No matter the season… pigeon sport is never “still”… hardly is the racing season over, and we are soon busy with breeding… new life brings hope in these “dark, anxious days.”
And don’t forget… a young bird dead in the nest… the founding father with unfertilized eggs… don’t make a “drama” out of it… AS has repeatedly written in his works: “As long as the “misery” is limited to the loft!” I couldn’t put it better myself!
I would like to conclude with the words of the late Jean Gabin: “We never know the noise or the color of things. Now I know that we never know… that’s all I know, but I know it. The day someone loves you, the weather is very nice! I can’t say it better, the weather is very nice!” Beautiful, isn’t it… take “care” of your loved ones and try to stay “healthy”… that is actually all that counts!
I would like to say “enlighten” your heart as well by wiping away grievances caused by the circumstances of life beyond your control… you will see that it does “good” and makes room for positive rejuvenation of “mind and body”… give it a try! The “hourglass of life” empties faster than one thinks.
Wishing everyone a prosperous but above all “healthy” sports year 2024!
Luc