May 28, 2025

 Left around 9:45. Nikor. Mild, breezy out of the northwest, overcast with some moisture. Eventually some clearing. Classic Dutch spring weather that keeps the fair weather folks away. Merwedekanaal to Nedereindseweg. A pair of ducks mating on top of a concrete wall in the underpass. Marrepad to Noord IJsseldijk, and Benschop. There, what looked like a rat sniffing around by the side of the road, right after the turn-off. On to Polsbroekerdam, then left to Lopik. Approaching the Lekdijk, some baby ducks. Hares also visible from time to time. Tailwind back toward Vreeswijk, with the sun improving the views everywhere, as if that was necessary. Some baby geese alongside the Sluispad-Noord. Back by way of Wayen and the Oude Mereveldseweg (first time in years) to Mos. In the paper a report on an exchange in parliament, with a socialist representative asking the government how we can spend billions extra on defense while some poor kids still can't be provided with something elemental as a pair of glasses. Reportedly, the government's response had been that, surely, poor kids also benefit from enhanced national security. I'm all for the extra defense spending, but that's a ridiculous, even obscene, response. If this really was the trade-off (I'm sure it doesn't have to be) you could be justified in asking what it is we're really trying to protect.