Wednesday. Left a little after ten. Blacksmith. Summer, with northwestern breezes and fairly uninteresting skies. Clear, but hazy in the far distance. Yellow bridge to Hermelijnvlinderpad. At one of those permanent table tennis tables I saw a middle-aged Chinese couple playing expertly, all by themselves. Alendorperweg, Rivierpad, Breudijk to the world of Gerverskop. The corn is on its way. At Gerverskop a swan couple in the tall grass, the heads of their chicks just visible. White and yellow lilies alongside the Rodendijk. Breukelen, Scheendijk, the oasis of the Veenkade. Vecht back to town. Newspaper at Mos. Now we have an ultimatum from Washington to Teheran. Complete surrender, or else. "Else" in this case in a few days could be something along the lines of "I never said that," but it could also be the beginning of something worse. A best case, "regime change," could simultaneously be its opposite. You break something, you own it, but the issuer of the ultimatum never owns anything; when the going gets tough or a long-term, calm commitment is required, it's someone else's problem. Long-term commitments overseas are a challenge in the best of circumstances, but now a positive U.S. contribution to a more benign Iranian future seems especially unlikely.
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