Brexit. What's next?

The cartoon is from a card I purchased at St. Martin's in the Fields. They also had a children's book on Brexit. I took

it to the counter and jokingly said, "Maybe I should read the book to find out how it all ends? Then I won't have to be

in suspense." (Afterwards, I worried that maybe my joke was in bad taste.)

It's an interesting time to be in London, with Brexit, the exit date for the U.K. to leave the E.U., coming up on March 29. At the moment, it's looking more and more likely that the U.K. will crash out of the union, rather than adopt a more orderly negotiated retreat. 

As an outsider, I can't see how this will be anything but a colossal mistake for Britain. The Leavers do not want the "backstop," the provision in the agreement that Prime Minister Theresa May put forth to Parliament, which would keep the entire U.K. in a customs union with the E.U. and avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Given that the open border between the two Irelands only came with years of bloodshed during the period of "the Troubles," that's a real concern. No one wants to return to the divisions of that time, but the E.U. has insisted it will not negotiate on that point, which makes perfect sense if you're looking out for your members, such as the Republic of Ireland. But there is no majority in the U.K. Parliament for any solution, at least at present.

Pundits predict there will be chaos should March 29 come without an agreed settlement. Businesses that depend on E.U. suppliers have already stockpiled goods, but in the early days, there are bound to be lines at the borders and much disruption. Some people are worried about medications and foods that come from E.U. countries. However, we haven't seen anything other than business as usual at the supermarkets and stores.

We're sorry to see the U.K. leave the E.U., an organization that, along with NATO, has kept the peace in Europe after all the devastating wars. Fortunately, the upheaval that the U.K. is going through seems to have strengthened the resolve of the other E.U. countries to make their union work. But I'm sure Putin is thrilled with the mess. In any case, we wish the U.K. well, no matter what happens, but we have to wonder if we will count ourselves lucky to be going home in early March.