June 3, 2025

 Tuesday. Left around ten. Focus (test for next week). Mild, sky filled with little gray-white clouds, with an occasional gap for the sun to come through. Southern breezes. Voordorp to Beukenburg. Just before leaving the wooded part, a small squirrel on the road. Contrary to their normal behavior, it didn't move and so I almost rode over its tail. In the meadow the Lakenvelder cows, and two donkeys being very social with each other. Prinsenlaan to Maartensdijk to Eikensteeg to Lage Vuursche. Then around the back to de Kuil and on toward the Hilversum golf course. Going into the woods on a weekday morning does get you away from the world, even when the weather is good. Northwest and over the freeway to Einde Gooi. I had forgotten about the canal alongside the (semi-legal) Huydecopersweg, since you can't see it from the asphalt through Egelshoek. It is not just shielded by the reeds, today it was littered with white waterlilies. Tienhovenskanaal logically was next. People, but mostly focused on being away too. Not too much waterfowl, but the colors near the trail and the canal were spectacular. Also spectacular: the tall rapeseed alongside the Dwarsdijk to Tienhoven. Nedereindseweg to Maarsseveense Plas (nobody on or in it) to Gageldijk. Traffic and a stoplight, but the Klopdijk works. Vecht all the way to the Singel and Mos. The newspaper still talked about the possibility of a collapse of the government, which in the meantime had happened. The best friend of the likes of Orban, Netanyahu, Putin, and Trump has decided the conversation needs to be about migration, and migration alone. It's not surprising, since he essentially announced his departure from the governing coalition a few weeks ago, and it has also become clear that in terms of good governance (professionalism, give-and-take, respect for expertise and institutions, and understanding the consequences of globalization in our time) he's had very little to offer. When the next election comes some time after the summer, we'll have to see if all of his voters will stick with him. It is not impossible, and he may also take some votes from his current coalition partners. But it would seem that his opponents, all the way to the social-democratic/green combination, have an opportunity to put him in his place. You can run on anger for a long time, but eventually you have to get something done.