September 10, 2026

 Thursday. Left at 9:54. Blacksmith. On the cool side. Calm. Very light winds out of the southwest. Mostly overcast. A gray blanket with some sunlit lines traversing through it. Toward the north clearer skies with on cumulus clouds on the horizon. Gele brug to 't Zand and Alendorp. Pavement still damp here and there. Rivierpad magnificent, with some barren fields, corn still up, and a pumpkin patch as if from a postcard. The land very quiet. Breudijk to Gerverscop. A few cars. The view west from Rodendijk and the poppy section on the Wagendijk. Schutterskade empty, workers at the Groote Heicop. Gunterstein, Strook, Bethuneweg--all quiet, save some other cyclists taking advantage. Oud Zuilen and Zandpad back into town and Møs. The paper (AD) beginning to commemorate 9/11, twenty-five years ago tomorrow. Also a report on how the latest war in the Middle East will make heating your home with natural gas expensive this winter. Given that stores are fairly low at the moment, how expensive is not yet clear yet. Letters-to-the-editor also concerning themselves with tight budgets. One writer arguing there is enough money, if you look at how much is sent to Ukraine; another making the unhelpful suggestion that the EU could try to stop the war, since that would save a lot of money. By all means, let's just stop the war. Such people either don't understand or don't care about the war's reality since day 1: if Russia stops fighting, the war is over, if Ukraine stops, it ceases to exist as an independent nation. Given Europe's financial, political, and moral investment in Kyiv's survival as an independent, EU-oriented country, the latter outcome would be a major defeat, and it would not be the end of it. The Kremlin has a few other non-negotiable demands with its war, and it would surely be emboldened further to test NATO's (in reality: Europe's) ability to draw a line. Some Europeans would, others certainly would not, and so Russian probing in the wake of a Ukrainian defeat could easily lead to the break-up of the alliance. It is far from inevitable, but it could also happen next year.