July 27, 2025

 Sunday. Left a little after ten. Blacksmith. Overcast, but gray in a varied way. Mild but virtually no sun. Light winds. It had rained overnight, and here and there under the trees it was damp. Toward Amersfoort, mostly via the new, rapid bike connection "F 28." De Bilt, Bilthoven (the bricks of the Julianalaan). Walkers, riders, and more, all out enjoying the day in the woods. Throughout the day an above-average number of smiles and greetings, not just from other riders. Up the Abraham Kuyperlaan, down the Utrechtseweg (bricks), Westerstraat, up the Vondellaan, down the Hugo de Grootlaan. On the way to the Arubalaan spotted by German and partner. Up the de Genestetlaan, down Laan 1914. Next to Konijnenbos, and along the back of Soesterberg (Mercury) and freeway to Schaerwijde, Huis ter Heide, and eventually Amelisweerd (lush, with some very nice Loosestrife along the Vossegatsedijk). Summer in the city, everything low-key at Mos. Yesterday's paper with a story on the recall effort targeting some KMT parliamentarians in Taiwan. They are, according to the petitioners, too accommodating--maybe even subservient--to the PRC. How to deal with a patient, but determined Beijing, how avoid the fate of Hong Kong in an era where it's anyone's guess what Washington will do tomorrow, and the day after, and then next week? Over the past century, the U.S. has made itself an inevitable power in the world; perhaps we're discovering today that Madeleine Albright's "indispensable power" was accurate after all. It's no surprise that the people of Taiwan are wondering about their options now that they may be on their own.