Ehlana and Ethan:
The top news of the day around town is the official results coming out about our first local case of coronavirus – and the self-isolations that are happening because of it. That isn’t fun for the people involved, but we take care of our own; and those people are going to have daily deliveries of meals and little gifts to help keep them as happy as possible while stuck in and around their home. Worry is on the rise for some of our neighbors, but we’re prepared to deal with this – either by normal means; or with a bit of Magi-powered help if that becomes necessary.
Here at home, the top news of the day is that three sets of our favorite grandparents have headed back to Arizona until Christmas. That will only be for a few weeks, but they’re going to extend that usual holiday into the new year thanks to cancellations that left openings at the place they usually stay that will allow them to be there again for at least January and February. Worldwide travel for the family business is seriously-limited right now anyway – not to mention too-expensive; so that works out especially-well for grandma and grandpa.
Our own adventures for today aren’t newsworthy at all. A home-school day was very quiet – after a busy morning at Naomi’s that was sometimes-annoying thanks to Zack and Eli. The Christmas fun, movie, cuddling, and co-ed sleepover were all worth the cost of putting up with the two younger boys, though; and we didn’t have the younger cousins with us for the day because they were at other homes and with other parents or grandparents. We went to the lab or archives after we were done our video lessons and assignments – without Naomi and Aiden; and worked there until dinnertime. The weather wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t very warm either; and we were overdue for some quality time at the lab. Mom had dinner ready by the time we got home; we enjoyed the holiday leftovers; and then we got to work in the office for the evening. Dad had a lot of catching up to do, but we were happy to get back to our ‘real’ studies and a Magi lesson too; and had fun together.
While we’re thinking about Dad, we should mention that some work did go on over the holiday weekend – with Dad and Uncle Blaine as they took care of some planning for the downtown remodel. We’ll have another visit coming up with the Malloys soon too; and the actual construction may start earlier than planned because there are a lot of workers available right now; and that could change quickly whenever we do get past the worst of the pandemic. We’ll keep you posted on that, but whenever the construction does start, that’ll affect Dad’s office; since one of the first structural projects will be the elevator that will be needed for deliveries to the stores that will replace the second-floor apartments. The slowest season of the year for the stores would be good timing for that indoor work too – though most of the businesses in town have been taking the pandemic slowdown as an opportunity to do some work on their stores or shops anyway.
Moving along, Cassie, Michael, and their friends got back to their townhouses safely – and without any troubles from Gwyneth or her goons. They’ll still be careful – as we will; since we sense that we are going to have another round of trouble thanks to our favorite Dark Magi Master. Compared to that, worrying about a new surge in coronavirus cases on campus after the holiday break might seem trivial, but that is a more-serious risk for Cassie’s friends; and they might not even get an answer to that question before it’ll be time for the Christmas break. We’ll hope for the best – especially since it is already tough-enough to get ready for final exams without trying to do that while sick too. We’re not worried about that for Cassie, but she is going to be very busy through to the end of the semester; since she’s finishing up her bachelor’s degree; and has extra work to do to get that done while still keeping up with helping all of her friends.
Now, since we’ve skipped writing about world news for a while; let’s cover a few of the latest stories. On the pandemic front, worldwide cases have topped sixty-three million; and we’ll pass one-and-a-half million deaths by the end of the week. The total new cases for last week were down just a bit, but that was likely just due to the holiday; so we’ll wait and see if that changes – or begins to rise again because of the holiday travel. The fighting continues in all of the usual countries, but the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist has the potential to cause new troubles in the middle-east. We already have enough trouble in the world, so if this is an attempt to instigate yet another stupid war; then there are some leaders in this world in serious need of getting their heads examined!
That suggestion would likely be controversial, but we can easily imagine what our country’s response would be if anyone began assassinating our scientists or politicians.
Finally, while the presidential battle isn’t officially over while battles go on in courtrooms in a handful of states, the transition to a Biden administration is progressing, and from what we know so far; there won’t be many – if any – changes for the good of the majority in our country or anywhere else in the world. We won’t count on any help from the government; hope that they don’t make things worse; and will do what we can to help through our family business and charities; since we’re sure that the help will be needed more than ever in the coming years and decades.
That’s a bit depressing – or hopeful; if we can be successful faster than governments can get us all into trouble! Let’s go with the latter thought; wrap this up; and we’ll go get some sleep. We definitely want to be ready for the start of December – and all of the Christmas adventures we’ll share with our favorite people through to the end of the year.
This is Ehlana and Ethan Proctor; live from the hidden home of the Magi of the Light – and May the Magi Force be with you!
