September 21, 2026

Monday. Left at 9:54. Blacksmith. Mostly sunny, mild, moderate breezes from the northwest. Not summer anymore, not quite fall yet either. Straatweg to Maarssen, then ARK and Woerdenseweg. Across the ARK at Breukelen, toward Angstelkade. Same illogical puddle on the stretch back to the ARK as earlier; there must be some kind of overflow underneath the grass. Corn still up alongside the Polderweg; elsewhere, the smell of fresh-cut grass. Loenersloot toward Oukoop. Fine views of Vinkeveen from the Haanweg to Demmerik. On to Wilnis, then left along the Wilnise Zuwe. Just before the crossing with the Bovendijk, in a recreational area to the right, an old fat guy standing behind his fishing rod, urinating into the wide open. On toward Kanis, then left to Teckop. Hollandse Kade south, with no evidence of the city in the distance; just some grain elevators or buildings like it to the far right, at Woerden. Laag Nieuwkoop past the carnival at Haarzuilens. The park, the trail, and the Gele brug back into town and Møs. The AD full of sports, but also a timely article on the predicament of the American president with regard to Saudi Arabia. It finds itself at war with Jemen's Houthis, and in spite of the billions and billions spent on military kit from the U.S., it has still gone begging for help from Washington. In the end, the president decided to turn down his friend in Riyadh, which shows the limits of the friendship the two men and their respective families seemed to have built in recent years. Washington has its own deal with the Houthis, and the president really can't use another conflict on top of the disaster he has created for himself and the world with Iran. This emperor has no clothes, and neither does his buddy in Riyadh. Their hubris and incompetence, meanwhile, contiues to create real hardship for people the world over. Nobody ever voted the crown-prince into office, but it's getting high time for people who do still get to participate in real elections to stop plumbing for the kinds of populists now wreaking havoc in Washington--or in Germany, for that matter (or, potentially, lots of other European countries). They have nothing to offer but trouble.

September 19, 2026

Saturday. Left at 9:52. Blacksmith. Mostly overcast, stiff southwesterly breeze, fairly mild--long sleeves not really required. De Bilt and around Zeist toward Woudenberg, but closure at Quatre Bras, so Treek to Amersfoort and Hugo de Grootlaan. Soesterweg not fully open yet, but improved. A.P. Hilhorstweg quiet. Corn mostly down, wildflowers remaining. Soest tower in the distance apparently scaffolded. Baarn and across the tracks at the Torenweg. Eventually Noorderweg to Soestdijk. Past the palace, then left toward Lage Vuursche. Fewer cars than feared. Another detour in Maartensdijk. Tweesporenpad into the wind with the Dom up ahead. Blauwkapel and Singel to Møs and the AD. It's not the go-to place for international news. They are searching for a new editor-in-chief, who should try to do a little more. As the non-tendentious mainstream daily, there's an opportunity to help people who aren't naturally inclined to think much or hard about the wider world about its relevance for daily life over here. In the news the new agreement between the U.S., Greenland, and Denmark, touted by Washington as a great accomplishment. In reality, it may not amount to anything more than what existed during the Cold War, and thus would be the latest example of how the administration time and again manages to waste a lot of time, energy, and goodwill to accomplish next to nothing. The president's signing of the new bill sanctioning those still doing business with Russia is a little better in that regard (but also not an administration initiative). Still, the real test is if Russia's greatest supporter in its war on Ukraine, China, will be targeted by the administration. The AD did have a background story on the upcoming meeting between the president and the Chinese leader, although this issue didn't come up. But it's unlikely that Washington will try to punish China for doing deals with Russia where its own diplomacy toward Moscow has the exact same goal, not counting all the other ways in which the American president shows himself to be unserious about confronting his Russian colleague. 

September 17, 2026

Thursday. Left a little after ten. Blacksmith. Early fall. Partly cloudy, cool, breezy out of the southwest. Private race car driver, or potential killer, on the Adelaarstraat. Westside Vecht to Rode Brug, then Zandpad to Groeneweg. Tuinbouwweg to Herenweg and polder Bethune. Other people busy beating the rain. Breukeleveen parked up for no apparent reason. It doesn't require a lot of cars for there to be too many. Boomhoek and Muyeveld both better, as was Loosdrecht, new and old. Bloklaan, with evidence of a recent shower, to Straatweg. Nieuwersluis, then the wind alongside the ARK. At Maarssen back to the Straatweg and into town. 

September 14, 2026

Monday. Left at 9:54. Blacksmith. Fairly mild, light winds out of the south, mostly sunny, later clouding up with some vague gray cloud formations, then clearing again. De Bilt to the bricks of Bilthoven, then Den Dolder and the new trail alongside the railroad tracks. All pretty peaceful, but people. Amersfoortse berg "beste kant" torn up, but Hugo de Grootlaan wide open. Down Laan 1914 to Zeisterspoor, Soesterhoogt, and the airfield. Under the trees, the pavement still damp from yesterday's rain. Bosch and Duin torn up too, so Ruysdaellaan to the highway. De Bilt, Berenkuil back into town and Møs. The AD was there. It was full of sports, and virtually without mention (let alone discussion) of the Russian strike this weekend on a passenger train near the Ukrainian-Polish border. That's an escalation, though not unexpected, which is why the European response so far has been disappointing. Just to send Moscow a message--about this provocation, but also the armed drone earlier this summer at the Leipzig airport--Germany could change its view that "Ukraine no longer needs" its Taurus missiles. It could say that, while Ukraine remains capable of striking targets deep inside Russia, Berlin will still supply it with Taurus missiles, just to underline that Moscow should be more careful in its approach to Ukraine's European supporters (for starters). Given the recent domestic political developments in Germany--election victory by Putin's allies--we should not hold our breath.

September 12, 2026

 Saturday. Left just before ten. Blacksmith. Fairly mild, moderate winds out of the south. Mostly overcast, with gray cover, but also some woolly white, all of it with sporadic room for the sun. Late morning light beginning to get more interesting this time of year. Koningsweg to Vechten and Achterdijk. Corn being cut. Wildflower borders and fields, with sunflowers prominent. Werkhoven to Dwarsdijk. Pears beginning to come off the trees. Wijkersloot to Irenesluizen, then Lekdijk to Beatrixsluizen. The bend in its entirety, starting at the Beusichem ferry, spectacular: the view of the curve of the dike, and to its left the lower marshland, then the river. The marshland still very dry. Further on, the river also looked low. People out, but on the whole fairly quiet. Schipperspad to Merwedekanaal, where the whole world appeared to be out exercising. Into town and Møs. The AD full of domestic and local news, with some Saturday life-style articles added for good measure. If this, indeed, is how the population gets its view of the world, one wonders whether the government's willingness to assist Ukraine as a first line of defense against Russia will find enough supporters for very long. Fortunately, there was one report on the visit of the foreign minister to the Baltics, to receive the advice not to be intimidated by Russian provocations. Instead, immediate countermeasures are the way to show Moscow that Europe can actually stand up for itself--effective deterrence, in other words. Part of that is to maintain credible armed forces, sufficiently staffed. From other articles it appears that the military isn't confident it can find enough suitable volunteers to make that happen and is now developing ideas for some kind of return to forced recruitment; a draft, in other words. That would not be such a bad thing, because the chance that one, or one's child, can be made to serve in the military will at least place the growing emergency right in the middle of lives of people who, until now, blissfully live their lives pretending nothing that goes on beyond our borders (other than wildfires near your vacation address) holds any relevance.

September 10, 2026

 Thursday. Left at 9:54. Blacksmith. On the cool side. Calm. Very light winds out of the southwest. Mostly overcast. A gray blanket with some sunlit lines traversing through it. Toward the north clearer skies with  cumulus clouds on the horizon. Gele brug to 't Zand and Alendorp. Pavement still damp here and there. Rivierpad magnificent, with some barren fields, corn still up, and a pumpkin patch as if from a postcard. The land very quiet. Breudijk to Gerverscop. A few cars. The view west from Rodendijk and the poppy section on the Wagendijk. Schutterskade empty, workers at the Groote Heicop. Gunterstein, Strook, Bethuneweg--all quiet, save some other cyclists taking advantage. Oud Zuilen and Zandpad back into town and Møs. The paper (AD) beginning to commemorate 9/11, twenty-five years ago tomorrow. Also a report on how the latest war in the Middle East will make heating your home with natural gas expensive this winter. Given that stores are fairly low at the moment, how expensive is not clear yet. Letters-to-the-editor also concerning themselves with tight budgets. One writer arguing there is enough money, if you look at how much is being sent to Ukraine; another making the unhelpful suggestion that the EU should try to stop the war, since that would save a lot of money. By all means, let's just stop the war. Such people either don't understand or don't care about the war's reality since day 1: if Russia stops fighting, the war is over, if Ukraine stops, it ceases to exist as an independent nation. Given Europe's financial, political, and moral investment in Kyiv's survival as an independent, EU-oriented country, the latter outcome would be a major defeat, and it would not be the end of it. The Kremlin has a few other non-negotiable demands with its war, and it would surely be emboldened further to test NATO's (in reality: Europe's) ability to draw a line. Some Europeans would, others certainly would not, and so Russian probing in the wake of a Ukrainian defeat could easily lead to the break-up of the alliance. It is far from inevitable, but it could also happen next year. 

September 7, 2026.

Monday. Left at 5:45. Blacksmith. Still on the warm side, but clouding over quickly. Breezy out of the northwest. To the east still some blue sky visible over the horizon, but opposite already some dark gray rain clouds. Eventually there were a few brief and light showers, not enough to wet the pavement. Blauwkapel en Groenekan to Kooijdijk, then past the angry farmers of Westbroek. Dutch dinner time made for fairly quiet roads. Nedereindse vaart to Molenpolder and back to Tienhoven. Then Middenweg to Griendweg, where, it appeared, two drivers blatently ignored the one-way traffic rule. Strook to Veenkade and Bethuneweg. There the showers were starkly visible just to the west. The rain that fell wasn't even enough to produce a smell. Herenweg and Groeneweg to the Vecht and back into the city. In the news more depressing reports on Ukraine's desperate need for air defense, and more military aid in general. The two American mediators just left Kyiv feeling optimistic, but the Ukrainian president predicts war through the upcoming winter. It appears he listened more closely to the Russian president than the peacemaker-businessmen, since the man in the Kremlin this weekend repeated his standard line that for the war to end, Russia's basic security demands will have to be met. He may be able to intimidate NATO and divide the alliance, but how he thinks Ukraine and its people is ever going to submit after more than four years of terror and murder is incomprehensible. Except that the Russian president probably just assumes that Ukrainians can be intimidated--terrorized--into obedience the way the great majority of Russia's population has been rendered passive and harmless. One could go on wondering what it is the U.S. administration and its higly successful peacemakers (Gaza; Iran) really think they are accomplishing here, but energy is better spent on the factors that matter in this war, which aside from the main players, could still include Europe. At least some European governments are preparing to see what more they can do to help Ukraine, which is a good deal more than can be expected from Washington.