How far are you ever from water in Amsterdam – the Rhine delta? As rain pounded the metal roof of our hotel last night, I was reminded of the very thing that will occupy us for the next week: the force of water.

Water is precious in our part of North Central Texas. But when rain comes, it’s usually in ferocious storms that electrify the earth and shake it with thunder.

The rain is softer here in Amsterdam. It comes, it goes. After all, the whole town is floating. Boats serve as buses. And Amsterdam is just miles (kilometers, sorry) from the huge seaport of Rotterdam.

But did I think of Holland as the end of the Rhine River? I confess, I didn’t. To me, the Rhine was wedded to Germany. And, in particular, that famous stretch castellated (littered with castles) between Koblenz and Bingen.

Preparing talks as the Smithsonian Speaker for this Rhine Journey has turned my thinking upside down. First, I had to get used to saying “up the Rhine.” And I needed to rethink the Netherlands as the “Rhine delta,” which, of course, it always has been! But whenever we probe a new subject, don’t we usually find “ah-ha” moments? This was mine.

My first talk will concern the “History of the Rhine River.” I’ll cover military history, for sure  (Caesar, the Huns, Napoleon, Remagen). But more importantly, I’ll focus on the Eco-History of the Rhine. The story of the river itself and its massive re-engineering over the last 200 years with the resulting consequences for biodiversity and more.

Pretty trendy for Professor Carol, don’t you agree?