May 26, 2025

 Monday. Left around 9:15. Nikor. Shorts-and-long-sleeves-mild. Breezy out of the West, so the shelter of the Straatweg to Nieuwersluis. Then ARK, the water highway. An old motor barge, loaded down and still at work. It looked small amid the ever bigger recent models, and yet so much better. Many have been converted into house boats or tourist vessels, but since these barges can navigate smaller waterways to reach customers there, some are sticking around. Utility, esthetics, and nostalgia rolled into one. Bridge at Nigtevecht and on to Ringdijk and Javaplein. In the paper a response from the White House to the attacks on Ukraine over the weekend. Who is going to say if "crazy" really is a condemnation, or whether it leads to some meaningful action. I'm not holding my breath. Also a column by an old, level-headed acquaintance warning against becoming wedded to doom scenarios. After all, the 2026 or 2028 elections have not been cancelled, hence democracy lives. The argument was a little richer than this, but it is still a naive definition of a functioning democracy. When you include other crucial elements, you can, at best, speak of a hollowed-out democracy, or one being captured by a hostile conspiracy. When the people at the top reject any accountability--and act like it, aided by a expert crowd of selfish, cynical ideologues-- you can also speak of a democracy speeding down the slippery slope. When resistance grows, as surely it will, they will have their excuse for proclaiming an emergency and cancelling the mid-terms--and will you still have a "democracy" then? They are all-in, with much to lose, so let's keep these doom scenarios front and center. From Javaplein to Bushuis. Back by way of Plantage, Oosterpark (short detour past Kastanjeplein, but I missed spotting the Little Titans), Watergraafsmeer, Diemen. Then the widened, 21st century bike paths past Driemond, Weesp, to 's-Graveland. Not all change is bad, especially with a tailwind. Detour at Kerkelanden, then the usual, sheltered way home: Noodweg/Einde Gooi, Hollandse Rading, Maartensdijk, Groenekan. Hard to decide if the wild rose along the bike path after Maartensdijk is struggling, or if it has taken life after our recent, most welcome rain showers.