We left the city behind, or perhaps it left us. If you want to know the truth, the journey became something else entirely. It wasn't just a cycling trip. It really wasn't. It was a kind of shared silence, if that makes any sense.

The islands of South Holland in summer. Fields of corn flowers and poppies. Windmills in the distance, patient and still. We pedaled through deserted fields, broad river sides reflecting nothing in particular. It was beautiful.

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