February 2, 2026

Monday. Left at ten. Nikor. Sunny with hardly a smudge in the sky until the very end. Moderate, chilly winds out of the southeast. Warming up over the yellow bridge and through Leidse Rijn to Alendorp. Old Dutch Reformed church building, redone as a residence. Change is inevitable, but like so many things in this area, it could have been a lot worse. Rivierpad flat, abandoned, open. Two large trees (willows?), starkly green but mostly bare, towering over the land. Kortjakjespad with its alley of trees and the railroad behind it. Gerverscop quiet, though not abandoned. Koots and sheep seemingly aware that it's only early February. Breeveld (broad fruit trees on the left), to Geestdorp and Hollandse Kade. Lots of willows have been pruned since the last time. Just two walkers on the way to Teckop. Spengen to Geerkade and Portengen. Weekday mid-mornings are nice and quiet. Galgerwaard to Breukelen, Gunterstein and Scheendijk. Wind. Veenkade, Herenweg, Oud Zuilen and Mos. In the paper a report on how Iranian elites reportedly are moving assets out of the country in anticipation of a possible U.S. attack. Apparently Dubai and other Gulf locations are happy to let them park their money, the way these places seem happy to accommodate all selfish, self-dealing comers. Globalization has many benefits, and many of its elements are near-inevitable thanks to technology. But the drawbacks can be severe, especially the myriad ways in which the rich and powerful can distance themselves from any kind of restriction on their ability to earn and keep their money. No surprise that ordinary folk trying to play by the rules sometimes can be mobilized by anti-globalist populists. Not that the latter have any serious proposals for addressing these inequities, but it's still hard to refute those who argue that, on balance, globalization without accountability does more harm than good. We are, of course, moving ever further away from a world in which countries work from the same rule book, and so the strong do what they want, and the rich grab what they can. The losers, self-perceived or otherwise, will continue to fight back.