March 27, 2026

Friday. Left around ten. Blacksmith. Overcast, but not solid, interesting-looking layers of gray with space for the sun occasionally. Fairly chilly winds out of the south. Koningsweg to Wayen. Langeweg around Heemskerk and the golf course, then Plofsluis. Some golfers, some riders. ARK on the bricks. Schalkwijk spire up ahead. Bricks are good, bad bricks yield even less traffic. Nobody until the turn-off onto the Elpad. Colors on the Kaaidijk toward Schalkwijk, then right toward the Achterdijk. More colors, some traffic. Groeneweg to Lekdijk. The dike quiet, the river even more so. Lots of lambs at a farm past the fort. Strijpweg, Waalweg, Beatrixsluis, and Vreeswijk. Tailwind alongside the canals, all the way to the Gele Brug. Into the city to Mos. In the news the latest ultimatum before Iran's energy infrastructure will get hit. Another delay, which could mean that bombing, or some kind of invasion, could happen any day now. Lacking interest in expert knowledge on the country and the regime, and with partners urging you to do their bidding, how could we not get an outcome soon heralding a more benign future for the region and the world? 

March 26, 2026

 Thursday. Left ten minutes to ten. Nikor. On the cold side, with sun and showers. Moderate winds out of the northwest. Blauwkapel, and by the side of the road a goose with five chicks. Ruygenhoek, and past the swimming area the stark line of small trees on the driveway to the farm on the right. There and all the way to Egelshoek the interaction of the white and gray clouds, the blue, and the light. In Westbroek, people still feel victimized. On the extension of the Korssesteeg a dark gray cloud over Nieuw Loosdrecht with a lighter, dome-shaped area right over the church. Rain and hail after Egelshoek. Maartensdijk wet asphalt, but the sun coming back. Turning onto the Lindenlaan, the bricks have been leveled out. Groenekan to de Bilt. The colors and the light on the Kerklaan glorious. Berenkuil into the city and Mos. In the paper a discussion of the NATO secretary general's juggling of European misgivings and U.S. expectations of support, and a report on how in Spain the German Chancellor has been criticized for not criticizing the U.S. president's criticism of Spain's criticism of the war. All that needs to, and can, be managed. One has to hope that the same can be said of those other bits of news, regarding Ukraine: increasing U.S. pressure on Kyiv to cede territory to Russia, and a potential dearth of supplies for Ukraine because of the war on Iran. Ukraine, and Europe, is mostly on its own. The good news is that Russia's new spring offensive seems to have stalled the moment it was launched.

March 23, 2026

Monday. Left 9:45. Blacksmith. On the chilly side, somewhat hazy, but sun. Light winds out of the northeast. Through the city to the Merwedekanaal. The world busy with the working week. Schipperspad to Vreeswijk and Lekdijk. Beyond Klein Scheveningen everything peaceful. Birdsong. Lopik to Polsbroekerdam and Oudewater. Lambs along Snelrewaard, and maybe a baby goat. Early spring coming into its own, with blossoms, forsythia, and more and more light green everywhere. Weeping willows especially beautiful now. Montfoort, Harmelen, and de Meern back into the city, to Mos. In the paper election news: populists failing to break through in large French cities, and in Slovenia, but gaining significantly in Germany. Interesting report on an emigration fair over here: all kinds of people (a growing number coming from two native-born Dutch parents) not liking it here any more, for example because the government keeps sending our money to wars that don't concern us. Imagine that: you can't or won't stay in your own country anymore, and another country lets you in, also if you're just looking for a better life. If your favorite populist turns out to be a snake oil salesman, the lucky people in this part of the world still have the option of going elsewhere. 

March 21, 2026

Saturday. We left Swift/Leiden by 9:30. Blacksmith. Chilly and damp. Some lingering fog, light winds out of the northeast. After a bit alongside the Vliet, the route led south to Stompwijk, Benthuizen, and the Benthout park. Then zig-zag to Boskoop and its growers. When it was still gray, the blossoms and light green, not to mention the forsythia, stood out very well. Past Alphen toward Papenveer and the break. Joop. Then Nieuwkoop, Noorden, and the Achterweg to Vrouwenakker, now with the sun warming things up. Tailwind alongside the Amstel-Drechtkanaal and on, back to Papenveer. Woubrugge and the north side of Alphen--narrow and crowded, all the way to Hazerswoude-Rijndijk. Back to Leiden just south of the freeway in full spring weather. In the Gulf, the enemy keeps fighting back, as so many scenarios the past decades have predicted. The commander-in-chief is flailing wildly, now that his recklessness and the incompetence of his team are on broad display. Israel keeps getting hit too, three weeks into this. The air campaign is inconclusive, a ground operation spells quagmire. It'a quagmire regardless, and it seems a good deal worse for just about everyone than the containment of the previous decades. Not that the boss will ever own any of the bad news. He could still double down again. Thus, the best outcome seems to be a declaration of victory that leaves the Islamist regime in place, although now probably fully determined to build a nuclear device and test it. Nothing connected to the Iran challenge was ever simple or without risk, but the past three weeks have shown that it was certainly possible to make things worse. Also unmistakable--and far from new--is that depending for your well-being on petrostates, wherever they may be located, is a bad idea. Perhaps more Europeans understand this now, although some of the talk of reconciling with Russia makes one wonder. At the very least the obfuscating, so-called "realist," warnings that we'll be depending on fossil fuels for a long time to come may be seen as the recipe it has always been for doing too little, too late on an energy transition. 

March 18, 2026

 Wednesday. Left at ten. Blacksmith. Mild already, blue skies, moderate winds out of the southeast. De Bilt past Zeist, toward Woudenberg. Just before Woudenberg, the first three little lambs in a yard on the right. More and more bushes and trees beginning to look light-green. The woods still mostly barren. What looked like hyacinths in a few places. Light traffic on the hill. Right in Leersum and very quiet toward Ginkelduin. In the open on the Ginkelseweg, a crop well on its way in a field on the right. Hoogstraat, Ruiterberg, Maarnse Grindweg, then back toward, and up, Zeisterweg. A weekday morning, but people; as time passed, a growing number in shorts. In the news a report on the Belgian prime-minister's plea for some sort of normalization in European relations with Russia, so that Europe can resume natural gas purchases there. This man is not stupid, but apparently he's without principles. He sees no way for Ukraine to prevail, or, he has difficulty seeing how Russia can lose the war. That, surely, is not easy to see. However, to argue, essentially, that instead of continuing to pursue an outcome along these lines Europe should turn its back on Ukraine and become dependent again on a regime that since 2021 has included it in its declarations of war is both cynical and short-sighted. Perhaps the Belgian prime-minister is not as intelligent as he sometimes appears.

March 15, 2026

Sunday. Left at 9:54. Blacksmith. Pavement not completely dry after yesterday's rains, but the sun and moderate breezes out of the south were making good progress. Small gray-white clouds, and when one of them blocked the sun, it was chilly. Merwedekanaal to Vreeswijk. Runners, lots of runners. Beatrixsluis to Irenesluis (new segment) on the dike. Traffic fairly light, although the motorcycles are reappearing. River empty and calm. Birdwatchers. Little activity still at the farms. Wijkersloot to Cothen, to Hollendewagenweg. Achterdijk full of cyclists leaving the city. German stop at the Marsdijk, and home. A comment from the president which should not surprise, but still does: well, yes, Russia is probably helping Iran target American troops, but then again, we're helping the Ukrainians a little, and China is probably doing something similar. All these wars involving third countries, it's little stuff. Nothing, it appears, can come between this president and his Russian colleague. It's hard to think of a tougher challenge for U.S.-Russian relations than Moscow actively helping the country Washington is at war with, the country that's trying to kill American soldiers. But what would anger a normal person for this president is just small potatoes. In order to be outraged, one has to have principles; as a commander-in-chief sending service people into war, among one's first concerns should be to minimize casualties. But principles are for suckers, or hypocrites; and this commander-in-chief can do as he pleases. Leaving aside the rationale for this American-Israeli war on Iran, the immediate response to those actively aiding the opponent would be countermeasures, at least sanctions. Instead, in the face of Russia helping Iran this president has lifted sanctions on Russia's oil trade, a reward, in other words. To emphasize, this is not more of the "normal" behavior where Washington chooses Russia's side in the talks with Ukraine, this is Washington rewarding Russia for helping Iran target its own forces in the Gulf region. That the president doesn't care about what happens to ordinary Iranians (or Venezuelans) he has made clear already; he has now given irrefutable evidence that he doesn't care about American military personnel either. A barren wasteland where basic decency normally resides. There may be another, or additional, explanation besides the moral one, namely that of cowardice. In spite of all their bluster, bullies tend to be cowards. The president simply does not have the stomach for taking on other major powers. Beat up on small countries, certainly, but those themselves capable of inflicting damage, the "strong" leaders he admires so much? No thanks, we'd rather obfuscate, evade, accommodate. 

March 12, 2026

 Thursday. Left at 9:50. Blacksmith. Cool, with stiff breezes out of the south. Sunny, but with some stretched-out white and gray clouds around. Pavement still damp in places from yesterday's rain. Leidseweg chilly in the shade. De Meern brug to Zandweg. Over to the Rijksstraatweg halfway down toward Harmelen. Apparently we're getting new asphalt where the pink kind now ends. On the Zandweg, one yard with rose bushes in what seemed full bloom, one red bush in particular. It seemed out of place, or time. Still the detour through Harmelen, then back along the Oude Rijn toward Woerden. Pink blossoms now, next to white, more forsythia in various stages of blooming, more buds on more bushes and trees. At Woerden right toward Kamerik and Kanis, then right toward Teckop. Wide views, first toward Zegveld and Meije, later Hollandse Kade and Kockengen. Wagendijk to Kortrijk, all pretty quiet. ARK to Maarssen, then Straatweg back into town. The wars go on. It's depressing to consider that after Moscow, four years ago, Washington now also has plunged ahead driven mostly by wishful thinking or some other kind of delusion.