A single letter - or just a comma - can make a world of a difference, yes
I kind of like the "old fart" version of you, keithhenry, with the higher blood percentage in your veins. No need to drive a Corvette when a Pacifica (it sounds like 'pacifier') is available.
And I have a feeling that e e cummings will be another of life's mysteries for me, too. I intend to go for his "Erotic Poems" and his "Fairy Tales" and when the library has finished its 5-year plan of updating their system, I'll order Konstantin Simonov's "Friends and Foes" poems as an antidote.

I like your country's highest natural point called Møllehøj, almost thinking it is a molehill (Dutch: molshoop), there seems to be a millstone (Dutch: molensteen) lying there. My father was a miller and we had millstones that were being driven electrically.

Lingual fun here.
Dutch:
Friezen - the inhabitants of the province of Friesland
vriezen - the verb that means to freeze (weatherwise)

Yeah, I have been in all 12 Dutch provinces through the years.

The Netherlands lie for more than 50% under sealevel. The Delta Works are the largest storm surge barrier in the world. You already know that in 1953 the North Sea waves wiped a big part of the Dutch province 'Zeeland'. This largest post-war natural disaster in the Netherlands urged the Dutch government to build the Delta Works. In 1953 the dikes were in poor condition and too low. In those days the chance of flooding was once in eighty years. Thanks to the storm surge barrier, this risk has now been reduced to less than once in 4000 years.
Let's not forget that - apart from the 1836 Dutch casualties - there were also victims in the UK (307), Belgium (28) and 224 at sea, of which 133 when the English ferryboat Princess Victoria sank.

And they named it 'DeltaDuin' (DeltaDune)!

It depends on where you live, even in Dutch cities streets can flood nowadays due to heavy rains and poor water management.
The area where the big rivers are flowing was evacuated in 1995 because it was feared that the dikes weren't stable enough, so 250,000 people and the complete livestock were evacuated. A few days later when it was safe, all returned.
The Dutch dikes are being permanently checked. We even have an IJkdijk (mind the capital digraph IJ), an experimental dike to learn about burstings of dikes, where dikes are being built and destroyed in a laboratory, controlled and checked by sensor-systems. (ijken = to calibrate, dijk = dike ⇒ ijkdijk = calibration-dike)

Well, it has been my pleasure, too, little mermaid.

Second installment – second chapter
- why sniff glue when you can get high on grammar and digraphs!?

My goodness! I always thought my eyesight let me down when I saw the ’IJ’ capitals in IJsselmeer, and now you lead me into a field that is entirely uncharted territory for me. Tell me, please, are you a language professor? One who likes his job so much that he brings it home with him after hours?

I have to take another look at the cross-over of Dutch and German which you so elegantly put into a table as a support to the naming of the waters in and around the Netherlands. And I realise I lost my way some installments back swimming in salt water as a meermin when I was merely splashing in a fresh water lake.
Dutch | German | English
-zee- | -Meer- | -sea-
-meer- | -See- | -lake-

The North Sea is a constant, whereas the Zuiderzee (how logical when explained this way) was transformed into a ’meer’. But you certainly have to have a firm grip of the zee-Meer-meer-See part. Thus the river IJssel (my ”Word97 doesn’t accept this digraph and autocorrects!) must be the source for the IJsselmeer. However, it seems as if the name ’Zuiderzee’ sticks, doesn’t it?

Digraph! Living and learning

All right, we agree on the Waddenzee, Wattenmeer, Vadehavet (’v’ is pronounced as a ’w’ in Danish – no ’f’ sound. It’s a truly fascinating area. Have you done any mudflat hiking yourself?
In the Danish section we have Vadehavscentret that informs of how the nature is in this area – tides, birds, reclamation of land, what have you. You can go by tractor by low tide to Mandø – the southernmost West Coast island, go on a seal or an oyster safari, too, and they also have mud flat hikes. Besides they guide "black sun" excursions.

Yes, Zeeland. I had read about Delta Werke, and went the entire length. Only thing: you had to keep going – no stopping for a closer look.

And, yes, although the spelling of New Zealand is the same as for my island in Denmark, Zealand (Sjælland), I am willing to let your Zeeland have the copyright for that one.
- to be continued ………

Fourth installement – second chapter
- I think that's what it is …..

The Danish Alps!
I should have consulted the experts – Geodatastyrelsen who are measuring these things. For years and years it has been a latent discussion which ’mountain’ was the highest, and it turns out that the big shots set out with their transits out to settle the matter once and for all some years ago. And, indeed, it is Møllehøj – a mountain I never heard about.
How embarrassing.
And what a coincidence with that name and the millstone: your father was a miller! That is almost überDutch. Did he actually grind grain into flour? And owned his own mill? How did you generate the electricity? Water or wind?

Frisian Islands
I take that ’Friezen’ and ’vriezen’ is pronounced the same way. Right?
Where does ”Frysland” enter the scene?

Yeah, I have been in all 12 Dutch provinces through the years.

Which part do you like the best?

Deltawerken
Yes, I’m aware of you living below the sea level which poses huge challenges – and requires a huge bank account. On the plus side it has made you world famous experts on water construction, which should generate some income for that bank account. Yes, I know about the disasters wrecked by the zee. We have had those in Denmark too on the West Coast of Jutland as well as on the South coast of Lolland, an island South of Zealand, but though they have been bad enough, they do not compare to what you experienced.
Once in 4,000 years. Well, I would feel pretty secure, but nobody knows. And statistically it could be in ten years, but hopefully not.

Hondsbossche Zeewering

even in Dutch cities streets can flood nowadays due to heavy rains and poor water management.

Happens here as well. A special treacherous variety is the one hitting from the Bay of Bothnia. Water may be pressed up there by the wind, and suddenly is decides to return and creates flooding. A few years ago The Viking Museum at the bottom of a narrow fjord and many homes along that fjord suffered severe damage from such a ’backlash’ combined with stormy winds. We also routinely have floodings of neighborhoods where the sewage systems are indsufficiently dimensioned.

The Dutch dikes are being permanently checked. We even have an IJkdijk (mind the capital digraph IJ), an experimental dike to learn about burstings of dikes, where dikes are being built and destroyed in a laboratory, controlled and checked by sensor-systems. (ijken = to calibrate, dijk = dike ⇒ ijkdijk = calibration-dike)

I would expect no less from a smart people the Dutch. And yes, both I AND my spellchecker notice that peculiar ’IJ’
- to be continued in one more installment

My fascination isn't that far from your conclusion, little mermaid, my profession is computer programmer at a Dutch dictionary company and nowadays I'm compiling colourful reference books from the 'Nederlandse Top 40' charts (containing all songs from 1965 till now that ever entered the charts) each two or three years.
Talking about 'uncharted territory' ... You won't find uncharted songs in these reference books. But you will find one song in the book with a digraph at the start of a word, namely "Geef mij maar Holland aan 't IJsselmeer" (Just give me (or: I prefer) Holland at the IJsselmeer lake).

Not that I know. There's not a strong need to do that in my opinion.

In Dutch we call it Seeland. (wipes forehead) Whoa. Phew!

I prefer the more modern Lorilee (sorry) ...

The word 'meerman' exists, yes, he's more of a man (joking here: the English word 'more' means 'meer' in Dutch, so you can say 'hij is meer man dan meerman': he is more of a man than a "meerman").
'Zeevrouw' also exists, in the sense of 'meermin' and also meaning "female sailor".

I don't understand; why does it sound nice? (It's so normal in Dutch, that I don't realize why it's so special.)

Well, 'meerminnen' is the plural of 'meermin' and to make matters even more complicated, 'min' means "love" and it also means "minus". So, if there is more love ('meer min'), than I'm convinced that men won't stop falling in love with mermaids, because (after changing 'meerminnen' to 'meermin') there are 'minder minnen' (less minuses). Now that is pure logic!
We could also talk about the degrees of comparison (bad-worse-worst) of 'weinig' (German: wenig) or a 'worstkaasscenario', or the alliterating 'met man en muis vergaan' and 'met twee maten meten', or palindromes like 'maandnaam' and 'meetsysteem'.

Grind grain: yes, own mill: yes, and the electricity was delivered by the power company. The sails/vanes were removed before or during WWII (World War II).

There is a difference. The 'f' and 'v' are pronounced like you would do in English. So, you can (and should) hear the difference. The 'f' is soft and the 'v' is hard (firm).
The correct Dutch spelling for that province is Friesland, but the 'Friezen' have a language on their own, 'Fries', and they call their province 'Fryslân' in their language: 'Fryslân boppe' (long live Friesland).
Drenthe, 'cause it's quite quiet. It resembles a sitting dog, don't you think? So there is the 'Hondsrug' (the dog's back). And you'll appreciate that there is a village called 'Vries'. And the 'hunebedden' (Deutsch: Hünebetten; English: megalithic tombs). And the river Aa. (Friesland has the river Ee.) And the longest name in one word for a village in Nederland: Gasselterboerveenschemond. Sounds a bit like Boerenkoolstronkeradeel, or the Danish Jante (famous for the Law of Jante), so come pay a visit to Schubbekutteveen.