The photograph,
a paper wall,
the turning point,
to and from which
the walk takes place.

I leave the house and after twenty metres, I turn left. I cross to the other side of the street where there is a wider pavement. There are leaves everywhere. I walk under trees and past parked cars. On the left are trash cans. On the right is a parking lot with a lawn. Someone is walking down the street while talking on the phone and wearing headphones. There is little actual difference between us as I do more or less the same. I walk around a building to the right. This is a wider street. Over a bridge, over the water. The water is as flat as a mirror because there is no wind. A car passes by. I cross the street, walk a little further on the other side, and then turn left. On the left are new houses. There is a cherry picker in front of the door. A man with a dog walks by. By two bins, I turn right. I walk under balconies, straight to a small park with bushes. A man is taking his rubbish bag away on a bicycle. I pass the bushes, along the road. At the end, I turn left. A dog is eating something. A bird flies away. The road curves to the right. Yellow flowers are next to a blue car. This street ends in a T-junction, where I turn left. I walk straight ahead to the bottom of the dyke. I pass a playground with a climbing frame. A bush on a facade, with tomatoes hanging from it. I turn right, along the dyke. It is quiet here. No one is walking on the street. I turn left and go up the stairs on the dyke. Once at the top, I cross the bike path. Then I go to the other side of the road, across the crosswalk. and again a bike path, and then I turn right on the footpath. The road makes a slight turn to the right fifty metres further. Then the same turn to the left. On the left is a square. Between the square and I is a metal fence. A woman lets her dog sniff around in the grass. Another woman crosses the pedestrian crossing and reads something on her phone. The road turns right again. I walk past the playground, next to a daycare centre. Above it are houses. On the second floor, I see a dog sitting in the window. Inside, I see people moving, like shadows. I pass a birdhouse on a tree. Two red posts with white stripes. The road winds around a small lawn. There are three trees on the lawn. Another slight turn to the left. I’m now walking straight towards a large crossroads. On the ground, behind a fence, lies a felled tree. Plants are hanging from the fence. I walk towards the traffic lights to cross the road. There is a tanker truck in front of the petrol station. I press the button on the traffic lights to operate them. The light turns green. I cross the road. I pass a group of schoolchildren. There is a footpath here again. There is a sign that says Beverroute (Beaver-path). The road continues over the dyke. I pass a small church that is being renovated. The church is called Het Keerpunt. I pass a former school. The building is empty. Further on, to the left there are some tiny houses. Road workers are working on the footpath. They are carrying stones. I go on, passing the bus stop. After the bus stop, there is a large bronze sculpture of fighting children. Past the sculpture, I turn left at the intersection. There are leaves everywhere. I walk on the right side of the road. I see a harbour with pleasure boats. Trees with beautiful colours. Dogs are allowed to run free here. A man is trying to close a gate of a construction site. Over the bridge now. Twenty metres past the bridge is another bridge. A car passes by. You can hear how the sound of the car’s wheels changes as it drives over the bridge. The second bridge. There are a few boats here, not many. There is a small area that probably belongs to the boat owners. It looks a bit neglected. I pass a first path on the right. Then, five metres further on, I come to a second path, on the right. Past posts. There is a rubbish bin here. I take this path and walk into the park. Forty metres ahead of me, a man is walking with a dog. I walk on top of a small dyke, next to the water. Hidden among the trees is a small electric substation. In the distance, I can already see the first arches of the wall through the trees. Far away, the sound of lawnmowers, but mainly the wind blowing through the poplars. The man throws a ball for his dog. The dog runs after it. On the right is a sign saying that there are beavers here. In fifty metres, I reach the wall. There is a climbing frame on the left-hand side. Next to the wall, I see an old tree lying on the ground, sawn down. I am now standing directly opposite the wall.
I take a photo.

I walk away from the wall, across the lawn towards the water. On the path along the water, I turn left. A woman with two dogs approaches from the right. The sun is shining. I walk along a path through the park beside the water. On the other side of the water, I see a maintenance vehicle driving past. A few people are sitting on a bench. All kinds of birds, ducks, swans and geese are standing at the water’s edge, probably waiting for food from passers-by. A woman approaches with a small dog. There is a footbridge on the right. I ignore the bridge and walk straight ahead along the water’s edge. On the other side, on the left, I see a woman running, a jogger in black clothes. I see a sign saying that there are blue herons here. The water is full of duckweed. There are a few small islands, full of trees and bushes. No one can get there except the birds and the beavers. Another woman walks by with a dog that is exactly the same as the one I just saw. The water ends and the path curves to the right around the water. On the left is a workshop and storage area for the maintenance staff. It is fenced off with heavy metal fences. On the right is a field where sheep, chickens and all kinds of other animals roam, fenced in by fences. I turn left and leave the park. I pass a man with a small white dog. I cross the street and then walk into a public garden. To the left of the path is a fountain in a small water basin. There are benches next to it, but no one is sitting there. Past the fountain, I walk out of the garden again. I go up a wide staircase and arrive at a street. Opposite me is a lawn. I walk left along the lawn. I approach a house I have never seen before. The last time I was here, there was a different house. At the end of the lawn is a small statue of a smooth child’s body without arms or head. I cross the street and walk straight ahead. An empty trailer is parked on the pavement. I walk around it and arrive at a main road. I cross the cycle path and arrive at a pedestrian crossing. I cross the street, pass the central reservation and stop a second on the other side. I pass another cycle path. Then I turn left. After a hundred metres, I turn right again onto a path. I walk past a parked lorry. Behind the windscreen is a sign that reads: “Grandpa Paul”. I pass a barrier and walk across a car park, between the cars, towards the water. On the left is a long wall along the gardens of a hotel. When I reach the water again, I turn left. And then right again. I follow the water. The hotel wall continues, now filled with old bricks. Through a fence, I see a maze of boxwood bushes behind the wall. I turn left again and continue to follow the water on my right. I can see far across the water. I see a cinema. I see the bicycle bridge. And many tall buildings. All the boats are still, motionless. There is no wind at all. A pigeon pecks something out of the grass. Water flows from the hotel garden under the path to the water’s edge. At the end of this path, I turn left again. I am still following the water. A man with a dog comes towards me. We greet each other. The wall I am still walking along has become wooden here. After the bridge, I turn right. And again I have the water on my right. The road is closed off with fences and I walk along the grass verge. I am now walking along the water on my right with a metal fence on my left. The path winds its way. Past the fence, I turn slightly to the left, onto the street. I continue walking in the same direction. The road then curves to the left. After twenty metres, I turn right again and cross a square. I walk past a row of concrete blocks across the empty square. On the right-hand side is a car park. A man with a long brush is washing the windows. On the left-hand side, I walk past a large industrial building. All the outdoor lighting is on, even though it is still broad daylight. On the left are poles with a red stripe on them. Past the poles, I turn left and then back towards the dyke. To my right, two women are talking. On the left, a painter is working on the window frames of the building. I cross the street, walk a few metres to the right and then turn left onto the cycle path to the stairs. I go down the stairs and find myself back under the dyke. I walk straight ahead on a footpath. There are houses on the right. The street is very quiet. Full of cars, but quiet. I walk past a rubbish bin and then turn right. I enter the garden in front of the theatre. A man with a wheeled suitcase comes out of the building. On the left are raised lawns and on the right is the entrance to the theatre. I walk on and when I reach the street, I turn right. A man and a woman come out of a house. A door slams shut. They cross the street. On the left are steel flower boxes, rusty steel flower boxes. A man stands in the middle of the street and looks around. He seems to be wondering where he is. An empty coffee cup sits on a windowsill. Men are shouting something to each other. It’s about a bicycle. On the left is a rowing boat on a trailer. Two cars are parked next to it. I walk across a bridge, over the water. Twenty metres further on, I turn left. Up the dyke. I see flowers on the pavement. Geraniums in pots. The lawn, the car park, a rubbish bin. I pass a woman with half a loaf of bread in her hands. Further on, people are pushing wheelchairs. Three wheelchairs. A postwoman is sitting on a high kerb smoking a cigarette. Her bicycle is waiting next to her. I turn right into my street and walk another twenty metres.
I am back at my front door.

The photograph shows the remnant of a shooting range wall on the edge of Wantijpark,
built around 1910 and used by the Corps Pontonniers,
an engineering unit of the Dutch army stationed in Dordrecht.