November 28, 2025

 Friday. Left by 10:45. Nikor. Much milder than expected, still damp and gray. Moderate winds out of the west. Gele Brug to 't Zand and Alendorp. Some good colors hanging on in yards, and on bushes, hedges and some trees. Rivierpad quiet. Breudijk to Gerverscop. Some cars, empty fields, save for a few sheep here and there. Looking toward the city, dark gray up high, light gray below, but the sun never made it through, and there was no horizon anywhere. All the cows seem to have been moved indoors. Rodendijk to Hollandse Kade, because Wagendijk closed off. What's not to like. Spengen and Geerkade and Portengense Zuwe--everything the way it was forty years ago, and probably earlier. New living structures, of course, but nothing too obnoxious. Portengen and Galgerwaard to Breukelen. Peaceful again through Gunterstein, Scheendijk, Veenkade. Maarsseveen to Oud Zuilen and Mos. In the paper a story about the disconnect between the daily experience in Ukraine, and the still widespread oblivion about the wider world over here. You do get the impression that, while political support for standing with Ukraine and against the Kremlin regime holds, too many people still believe the war barely has any relevance to their own lives. More encouraging was a letter-to-the-editor urging that national security be made top priority in the current talks on a new government. Meanwhile, also the news that France will recruit up to 50,000 volunteer military to supplement its professional forces. Elsewhere a confused column by a German academic, arguing against reintroduction of conscription, if only as a theoretical back-up to a voluntary scheme to boost the armed forces. Entirely certain, this one, of her own wisdom, as could be seen in her clumsy use of irony. Entirely uninterested also in any serious analysis of the nature and objectives of the enemy. She would reject that term, since all that's needed in the effort to achieve peace, finally, is "detente." Indeed, let's go to Moscow and talk detente. As a professor with first-hand experience with Nazi and Soviet invaders once said: detente to me is the kind of relationship as between a man and a piece of bread. Detente can have its place, but not at a time when one side is waging a war of terror, tied to a shadow war, against the other. The assailant needs to be put in its place before any meaningful relaxation of tensions can begin. More relevant was what came in the mail today: a booklet from the government urging citizens to prepare for an emergency situation. It will be disparaged. Civil defense is hard to do in a way that's credible not only to the enemy but also the population. However, it's part of a credible deterrent, like so many other things, including, indeed, a broad willingness among young people to serve.