The driest anecdote I ever read, from Groningen province. Source: Trouw, Wat doen we, zaterdag 10 mei 2014.

A farm hand has worked for a certain farmer for years. He cycles to work day in, day out. One day he arrives on a moped. The farmer asks (in untranslatable Groninger dialect): ‘bought a moped?” Next day, the farm hand quits. His reason: “too much waffling”. 

Groningen is the flattest of the flat, the windiest part of a wind-swept country. Inspiration for and home of the artist collective De Ploeg  or The Plough.  A land of straightened-out waterways, endless grasslands. A few remaining Wierden breaking the monotony: man-made hillocks that protect home and hearth against floods.

The painters that were members of De Ploeg were not very mobile. They owned a bicycle, or at best a moped. And they were possessed of an earnest desire to be back home in Groningen City every day before nightfall. Which idea quite took my fancy …..