August 9 and 10, 2025

 Saturday. Left a little after nine. Sunny, a trace of white cloud cover in the distance, light southwesterly breeze. Still vacation time, but the students are beginning to return. Nikor. Yellow bridge to 't Zand and Alendorperweg. Rivierpad and Breudijk. Everything quiet, plant life still flourishing, where it is allowed to. Full willow trees, small and larger, in Gerverscop limiting the views to the North. Perhaps one car the entire stretch, perhaps none. Two white herons alongside the Schutterskade, together with a stork. Galgerwaard a little busier, and Breukelen, Gunterstein, and Scheendijk too. Veenkade deserted. Herenweg and Oud Zuilen back to town, with plenty of people heading out along the Vecht. Cycleworks, and home on the Blacksmith.
Sunday. Left at ten. Blacksmith. Sunny, a few clouds, light winds from the northwest. Blauwkapel to Groenekan. Paced by a six-man group to the Soestdijkerstraatweg. Right toward Soest and the Eng: corn and in the middle a different crop, just getting started. Eemweg, Hilhorstweg, and at Amersfoort left at Birkhoven to Soesterweg. Up Utrechtseweg (quiet), down toward the grandparents (save for solar panels in the Lorenzstraat, everything just as it used to be), then up Aruba and de Genestet. All quiet. Zeisterspoor to Mercury to Schaerwijde. Around Zeist to Amelisweerd and Mos. In the news the Alaska meeting. Its scheduling alone is a victory for the Kremlin. The more people during the run-up speak of a new Munich, the less likely we will actually get one. But as is now the rule: whatever the outcome, it can all change again within a few days. What is unlikely to change, are Moscow's ultimate aims or its president's willingness to have his people pay any price in their pursuit (to say nothing of what the Ukrainians have to sacrifice every day to fend off Russia's attacks). We need more economic and financial measures against the regime, more assistance to Kyiv. A dictatorship is strong and robust, until cracks start to appear; then the whole thing can come down fairly fast. Unfortunately, we have a president primarily interested in some kind of deal, one to precede all kinds of other deals with Russia, a president who still needs to show himself capable of confronting the tyrant and follow through. (What he has shown, is the ability to bully weaker, dependent parties). And so, five days before the meeting, the chances we'll get another Munich scenario are far too good.