July 26, 2026

Sunday. Left a little after ten. Blacksmith. Overcast, with showers on the way. Not warm, not cool. Breezy out of the southwest. Gele brug to Hermelijnvlinderpad. The first few raindrops there. Alendorp to Rivierpad. Walkers, runners, some cyclists. A few yellow flowers in what seems to be a zucchini patch alongside the Rivierpad. Breudijk toward Gerverscop. Knee doing ok, but entire body still in light recovery mode. The corn in the field at the beginning of Gerverscop has disappeared, and another crop (maybe just grass) is on its way. No motorized traffic through Gerverscop, except for the huge tractor-hay trailer combination at the very end, hogging almost the entire road through the turn. Light rain from the Rodendijk all the way home. The pavement eventually just plain wet. It wasn't a lot of water, but it is very welcome nonetheless. At the Vechtbrug in Breukelen, a long line of retiree vacation cyclists making the turn into town, uttering greetings in Spanish. In the short left-right turn on Gunterstein, flattened, wet manure causing a skid, but nothing worse. The quiet at the Strook, Veenkade, Herenweg, and the rest of the way home suggesting that the rain had begun to keep people inside. In the news, word that, for the time being, the American president is holding off on more intensified air strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure. That's until the next round of threats, possibly some more attacks, followed by yet another shift. And so on, and so forth. Washington's cluelessness and aggression should not lead to any kind of admiration for the fanatical, murderous regime in Tehran and its ability to withstand U.S. attacks. We have to see each regime for what it is and hope that before things really get out of hand, enough influential outside powers that are directly or indirectly affected by this war put pressure on Washington and Tehran to find a way out. They certainly seem incapable of getting there on their own. Unfortunately, before there's any chance of that happening, the Israeli prime-minister will visit Washington this week. The whole military campaign was his idea, and even though it has been a disaster, the man will likely argue for the U.S. and Israel to double down. Using excessive military force is not just his favorite option, it has long been his only option. It is anybody's guess how the American president will respond--and if he responds in one way, he could change his mind again soon after that. Thus, given the people in charge on all sides in this conflict (put there, in the case of Washington and Jerusalem, by voters in a democratic process), it is unlikely that we will see a real change for the better any time soon, maybe not for a couple of years. Meanwhile, the opportunities for an even greater disaster remain plentiful.