October 2, 2025

 Thursday. Left at 11. Recovery day. Nikor. Cool, overcast, moderate breezes out of the southwest--Fall. Coffee roasting on the way to 't Zand, then Lint to Smalle Themaat and Haarzuilens. Hollandse Kade beautiful headed north, reeds on both sides and beyond, the fields. Going away from the city into the green, it is still as if the city isn't there (but go too far north, and Amsterdam begins to rear its ugly head). Teckop calm, Kanis to Woerdense Verlaat equally so. Hollandse Kade without the gates even better than it used to be. Then de Meije, quieter than on a Sunday. Bodegraven, south side of the Oude Rijn to Woerden (missing the turn to the Rijndijk). Oude Rijn back to de Meern and beyond. At Mos in the autumn sun with the newspaper. A small EU step on the way to using blocked Russian assets in the West to help Ukraine; an apparent interest in Washington to provide a wider range of intelligence on Russian targets, and maybe the missiles to hit them with. Elsewhere reports on how Ukrainian society and its democracy is creaking, indeed slipping, after three-and-a-half years of war. Histories of this war, whenever they can cover it from the beginning to some meaningful end point, will have to give prominent place to the impact of the West's piecemeal approach to helping Kiev. Eventually, most if not everything that's requested and required is made available. And while all assistance helps, the impact is diminished by the timing. This was especially the case during the first year of the war, but it continues to hamper efforts to force Russia to reconsider its objectives.