October 12, 2025

Sunday. Left at 8:30. Nikor. Mostly overcast, but some promise of light here and there; gray, white, and yellow-gold in the skies. Mild with light winds out of the north. Straatweg to Maarssen, ARK to Nesciobrug. Light traffic on the waterway, an occasional passer-by on the dike. Discouraging to see the first signs of the city to the northwest even before Loenersloot. North of there, the sun suddenly emerged from behind the cloud cover to the east, casting beautiful low light on the fields and on the poplar trees. In the sun, it warmed up quickly also, but approaching the city it got overcast again and so that did not last. Sunday groups out, also in Waterland. Zunderdorp has been repaved and perhaps humankind isn't completely lost, because they put in bricks, and they put them in well. A motorcycle club found it necessary to travel the Broekergouw, but when they were out of sight, everything else was in order there. Going back, some raindrops on the Popperdammergouw. There, also some water on the road, apparently due to high water levels in the polder. Same after Ransdorp. Waterland looks less besieged by the city when coming down this way, as compared to Uitdam-Durgerdam. Schellingwouderbrug and IJburg, the latter busy, which was not surprising. Same on the way to Muiden. Vecht less busy than you might have expected. Still nothing going on in Nederhorst den Berg on a Sunday afternoon. They are reinforcing the shoreline between Nieuwersluis and Breukelen, which seems like a very good idea. Utrecht people on the last part of the Zandpad, again only logical. In the news more commentary about the peace plan and how only this White House could have brought it about. That underestimates the importance of timing. In the past weeks, Israel had both achieved the weakening of all of its enemies in the region and begun to overreach in a way that threatened U.S. interests. Other factors (Israeli public opinion) played a part. There still had to be a coordinated and forceful diplomatic push, but the time was ripe for an end to the carnage. Let's just hope that's what we have.