August 16, 2026

 Sunday. Left at 9:30. Blacksmith. A new test for the knee. Mild, sunny, but the sky full of stretched out white clouds. Light winds from what appeared to be the northeast. Berenkuil to de Bilt and around Zeist. Under the trees, the pavement still damp sporadically from yesterday's rains. Otherwise, little evidence of that rain, although without it, it would probably have been a lot more dusty in the woods. Sunday riders out in force. Past Woudenberg and Griftdijk, Haarweg. The by now usual picture of stunted corn near the more fully-grown kind, cut fields partially yellow, trees and bushes apparently in survival mode. Not too much motorized traffic on the Amerongseberg. Back up in Leersum, toward and past Ginkelduin. Pretty quiet also, until the Haarweg running alongside the closed freeway, where there was notably more car traffic than usual. Hoogstraat, Ruiterberg, Zeisterweg to the top. No power, but the knee seemed to be holding up. Back around Zeist to de Bilt and Møs. Yesterday's AD, where they don't really cover the world. In other news, reports on various Russian strikes on Ukrainian targets, and Ukrainian strikes on sites in Russia. In greater Ukraine, Russia seems to hit mostly civilian infrastructure, but in the Donbas (Kramatorsk and Slovajansk) the bombing supports military aims, which seem to be coming into view, given that there, too, Ukraine mostly lacks defensive means against Russian air assaults. For its part, Ukraine seems to be hitting all kinds of sites essential for Russia's war, which may explain why the current Russian attacks aren't as large as feared. Today perhaps the largest drone attack on the Moscow region of the entire war, while the Kremlin faces growing difficulty in recruiting enough men for military service (in lots of cases the equivalent of a well-paid premature death). There is growing speculation over a new, national mobilization, which surely will cause a new mass-flight, which for its part could also further weaken Russia's war economy. If Ukraine's strategy is supposed to pressure Russian elites finally to take a stand against the president, his people, and his war agenda, it's perhaps better that NATO continues to respond in a low-key way to Russian drone incursions, as last night over Rumania. A firmer response--against Kaliningrad, for example--could have the effect of rallying Russia's elites around the Kremlin; it would confirm the Russian president's line of being faced with an aggressive, hostile alliance. Hostile, let's hope so; aggressive not so much. In the thirty-odd minutes on the bench, two or three drivers ignoring the do-not enter sign at the Kievitstraat.