March 21, 2025

 Left around 9:45. Spring. Southeasterly winds. Blacksmith. Off to Amerongen: de Bilt, Zeist, Woudenberg, Griftdijk, Haarweg with some rough, farm-to-nature fields signalling progress. After Amerongen, Lekdijk. Storks on the nest, one farm with baby sheep. Faint, green buds in more and more places, Forsythia yellow not far behind. Wijk glorious on the approach: the two church towers, the castle, and the windmill. In the news the report that on a global happiness index, the Dutch rank fifth. One explanation may be found in the recent vote in parliament, where three of the four parties participating in the current government opposed the country's participation in the envisioned EU borrowing to boost the common defense. Lame, disingenuous justifications boiled down to a denial of how the world has changed in recent years and especially this year. How do you maintain a healthy level of happiness? Easy: head in the sand.