September 7, 2026.

Monday. Left at 5:45. Blacksmith. Still on the warm side, but clouding over quickly. Breezy out of the northwest. To the east still some blue sky visible over the horizon, but opposite already some dark gray rain clouds. Eventually there were a few brief and light showers, not enough to wet the pavement. Blauwkapel en Groenekan to Kooijdijk, then past the angry farmers of Westbroek. Dutch dinner time made for fairly quiet roads. Nedereindse vaart to Molenpolder and back to Tienhoven. Then Middenweg to Griendweg, where, it appeared, two drivers blatently ignored the one-way traffic rule. Strook to Veenkade and Bethuneweg. There the showers were starkly visible just to the west. The rain that fell wasn't even enough to produce a smell. Herenweg and Groeneweg to the Vecht and back into the city. In the news more depressing reports on Ukraine's desperate need for air defense, and more military aid in general. The two American mediators just left Kyiv feeling optimistic, but the Ukrainian president predicts war through the upcoming winter. It appears he listened more closely to the Russian president than the peacemaker-businessmen, since the man in the Kremlin this weekend repeated his standard line that for the war to end, Russia's basic security demands will have to be met. He may be able to intimidate NATO and divide the alliance, but how he thinks Ukraine and its people is ever going to submit after more than four years of terror and murder is incomprehensible. Except that the Russian president probably just assumes that Ukrainians can be intimidated--terrorized--into obedience the way the great majority of Russia's population has been rendered passive and harmless. One could go on wondering what it is the U.S. administration and its higly successful peacemakers (Gaza; Iran) really think they are accomplishing here, but energy is better spent on the factors that matter in this war, which aside from the main players, could still include Europe. At least some European governments are preparing to see what more they can do to help Ukraine, which is a good deal more than can be expected from Washington.