August 1, 2026

Saturday. Left by ten. Blacksmith. Warm, not hot. Light winds, clouds visible on the northwestern horizon. Merwedekanaal to Jutphaas. At the bottom of the bridge the ugly outcome of a bicycle collision or crash. Ambulance, police, two buses going nowhere. One woman, oxygen mask and all, flat on a stretcher, being prepared for the ambulance, another, dazed, sitting on the ground, her back against a traffic pole. Police apparently canvassing bystanders. One bicycle still on its side in the middle of the road. On to Vreeswijk, then Lekdijk. The wetland areas close to the levee drying out, but the shipping channel seemed ok. First a half-full fuel-barge, then a container barge about half-full, then a smaller barge apparently fully loaded--all headed west. Later also a fully-loaded smaller barge coming east. Light traffic on the levee, its grasses a mixture of yellow and green. Lopik to Polsbroekerdam and Oudewater (bridge up). Snelrewaard peaceful, as was Montfoort. Harmelen, de Meern, de Meernbrug, and into town to Møs. The first of the month, but the new subscription to the Volkskrant doesn't seem to have started yet. AD with lots of reporting on the migrant situation at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The political upheaval all over Europe in response to this crisis is one of the more sordid aspects. Just like the general discussion in this country of asylum and migration questions, it seems mostly detached from the wider realities. What may move people to risk their lives (67 confirmed dead so far) by wading into the ocean and swimming fully clothed from a relatively peaceful country such as Morocco to neighboring Spanish territory--that question rarely gets asked. It remains far too easy to mobilize people behind the idea that none of the problems that cause people to flee are of any concern to us. Just keep 'em out. It is not that we should welcome all comers, not at all. However, by pretending that in a globalized world we can just pick and choose which aspects of interconnectedness and interdependence to accept (avocados year-round; must-make trips to the far corners of the earth; cheap foreign labor to perform unpleasant tasks; the ability to order cheap stuff from China; the opportunity to ship our waste abroad), and act as if the rest might as well not exist--in that posture, we're part of the problem--and causing a significant part of it. But what politician is going to campaign on that message. In the thirty or so minutes on the bench at Møs many fewer people cycled by than on a regular Saturday, and two or three cars ignored the do-not-enter sign.