Everyday heroes - Kristina Chetcuti
A couple of weeks ago, I was in grey, drab and rainy Brussels but, lo and behold, one Saturday morning, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. And. It. Stayed. There. The sun shone brightly and happily for the rest of the day. Which, of course, changes the mood in a way that can never be appreciated in countries where grey, drab and rainy is the exception. It’s almost sinful to stay inside in a land so deprived of natural Vitamin D, so it was decided that we’d go for a stroll in the woods of La Hulpe. For some reason, this name evoked images of wolf packs running around in forestry land. As it turned out, not one wolf was to be seen but cub scouts were out in packs. With their scarves and caps and badges on their shirts, hundreds of laughing and joshing kids were following their leaders on trails, to put their motto to practice: be prepared. Anyway, it was here, as we walked farther and farther away from Baden Powell’s crowd, that we stumbled upon a tiny old farmhouse which nestles an artistic treasure trove: an exhibition of the illustrator Jean-Michel Folon. I confess, I had never heard of him but the themes of his watercolour works – mostly from the 1970s and 1980s –...