Well, it felt like winter again today; so I
guess that was appropriate for the winter festival in Maple Valley; but I’d
have enjoyed the pancake breakfast and the rest of the entertainment if it had
been eighty out too!
The early-morning wake-up call to go to
work at the Inn wasn’t much fun either; and I needed a bit of self-healing to
get motivated and moving after what felt like a too-short nap. I had fun working the breakfast shift; though
it was a very quiet morning – likely because of the Maple Valley festival. Mom, Dad, and the twins were just part of a
gang heading there from our family – including Naomi, Aiden, and quite a few of
my aunts, uncles, and cousins. They left
for Maple Valley more than an hour before Michael and I finished our morning
shift, but that was okay; since I can drive now!
Yes, Michael could have driven too, but he
was happy to go along for my first ‘real’ drive without a parent along to watch
over me; and taking Dad’s truck for the trip was fun for both of us too.
The shows, food, activities, and treats at the
festival were all well-worth the trip and time, but instead of writing much
about that; I’ll instead comment on the maple syrup industry around here. Maple Valley is a hub of that for our area,
but the weather this winter has made for another tough year for everyone
involved in the business. Sure, they can
produce enough for the festival and local needs, but there just isn’t much left
over for the markets they need to supply to do more than break even – if the
farmers and businesses even manage to do that.
This is hardly a problem that is going to get any attention at the lab
when there are so many other serious research that they want to do there that
will have a much bigger impact on the world; but we do want to help our local
communities; so we’ll take a look at ways that we might help in more mundane
ways – like sending compatible businesses their way and helping the farmers
diversify.
That will help the people problem, but this
is yet another example of the effects we are collectively having on our
environment. Don’t worry – I am not
going to go off on a climate change diatribe!
Your perspective on that may be totally different whenever you’re
reading this in my near or distant future; but climate changes are really just
a part of the environmental puzzle that needs to be addressed much sooner than most
people believe. The wide-ranging
problems with farming and food supply all over the world is affected by a lot
of things, but one of the issues that just doesn’t seem to get any attention is
the fact that our global population continues to grow quite rapidly; and a food
supply shock – or series of them – could be catastrophic. There are so many ways that we could end up
messing up our future that I won’t go there; and my point is simply that it
doesn’t matter what combination of bad ends up causing the crises we’re heading
toward – we need to all get serious about solving the problems before it’s too
late.
Sure, that’s daunting – even for a junior
Magi Master, but we got into most of this mess in just the past century and a
half or so; and we can choose to get ourselves out of it too. That won’t happen overnight, and there will
be costs, but I really love Maple Valley maple syrup on my pancakes; so I think
it’s worth it! ;^)
Okay, that’s a bit too much; so I’ll move
along now and get back to the news of the day.
Michael and I had to work the
dinner-to-close shift too, so we played until around three o’clock in Maple
Valley; hurried home; and took a break to get cleaned up and ready for work
again. Mom, Dad, and the twins made it
home before I left for work; so I helped unload the van; had a short visit with
them; and then I met up with Michael and we walked to the Inn. The temperature had climbed to around forty
by then, but that just doesn’t feel all that warm when we’ve had weeks now of
warmer temperatures – including our week in Florida. The dinner shift was quiet tonight too; so
this was not a big tip night for me. It
was nice to get the work done early and have the Inn closed by nine-thirty,
though; so I will not complain.
I brought Michael home with me; we watched
a movie in the lounge with Ethan and Ehlana; and then we had time for a minor
make-out session after they went to bed – and before Michael went home at
around twelve-thirty. The movie was
forgettable – if that was possible for me, but the bit of play time with
Michael was a lot of fun; and I’m a happy camper as I write this and wind down
from another long, busy day. We were
seriously tempted to have another sofa sleepover, but Michael has to work the
full shift on Sunday; so we decided not to do that this week – and maybe save
them up for March Break! ;^)
There was a bit of family business work for
me to deal with again tonight, but there was some family news via email tonight
too. Josiah and Christina are definitely
getting married over the Christmas holidays this December; and they’re going to
have the wedding and reception here instead of in Christina’s home town. That was her choice; but I’m really glad they’ll
be getting married here. That way, I can
at least go to the ceremony even if the kids don’t get invited to the
reception.
That is the last bit of news for today, and
I really need to get some sleep now; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
