Thursday. Left at 10:30 (Dom bells ringing as I climbed on). Nikor. Sunny, cool-ish, but warming up. Light southwesterly winds. A fine fall day. Leidseweg to de Meernbrug and ARK south. Then Papendorp and Galecop to Nedereindseweg. Papendorp is an office park, but Galecop parallel to the freeway (but behind the sound wall) is pleasant riding. Bike path to Meerlobridge, then Zuid IJsseldijk toward Achthoven and Mastwijk. More fall colors, still some uncut corn, the cattle still outside. At Montfoort right onto the Cattenbroekerdijk, then straight through Woerden to the Oude Rijn. Houtdijkerpad to Hollandse Kade, all remarkably quiet in light of the good weather. Laag Nieuwkoop, nature trail, Haarzuilens. Home by way of Smalle Themaat, lint, Crouweldijk. Paper at Mos in the warm sun. A cease- fire in the Middle East whose time had come. Against its enemies, Israel finally feels it has achieved enough; after the Israeli attack on Qatar, the White House finally had enough. Washington on the face of it was a crucial mover in getting this done, and so far so good. As everyone points out, once we manage to get past the first phase and the release of hostages and prisoners, the hard part will come. Many on both sides will argue that "there is no partner" with which to pursue a lasting peace, and right now all would be correct. Whether partners for peace can emerge in the wake of this war is an open question, but the question isn't wide-open. Better may be to say that it can't be ruled out. We'd need a very different government in Israel, and we'd need some new Palestinian leaders to (be allowed to) step forward. It's not clear which is less likely, but neither seems a realistic option for the foreseeable future.
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