Ethan and Ehlana:
Happy 25th Birthday, Denise Taylor!
We haven’t been involved in Denise’s special day, but do know that Rowen and Tim will be attending a birthday party; so we expect that her family and friends will take care of making her day great. We’ll also mention that Denise is pregnant with her first child and due in November; so her part in the partying will also be prenatal baby friendly!
As for our day so far, Tai Chi by the river and breakfast with Mom and Dad was followed by a football workout for me while Ehlana went to the lab; and then I eventually made it to the archives for a couple of hours of work before we needed to be home to meet up with some friends and cousins for a canoe trip out to the whirlpool. Mom had a picnic lunch ready for us by then, so we basically loaded into the canoes and headed upriver for our afternoon adventure. Since we didn’t leave in the morning, we had less time to play at the whirlpool, but we had fun with the paddling, swimming, and then the trip home. A camping night was decided on while out on the river, so we started setting up tents after getting home again; and Ehlana and I are hosting the camping – and the outdoor movies we have planned for the main, after-dark entertainment.
Mom and Dad have invited parents to join in on dinner – and possibly the first movie too; so we need to help them out soon. This update is early – and we’re multi-tasking our computing with packing our gear for the camping and getting cleaned up after that river play time. We’re not sure whether co-ed camping will be an option yet, but I am sure that there wouldn’t be any chance with Naomi if I hadn’t cleaned up first! ;^)
Moving along, Cassie and Michael have, apparently, had a good first day in Greece; and even mixed in some quality sightseeing with work thanks to a project that includes supporting lower-income workers at an archeological site – or group of sites; since the partners involved are working multiple locations. That, by the way, doesn’t get attention in Hollywood, but all of those ‘extras’ supporting the ‘star’ Professors and their teams usually get paid a pittance by comparison; so we’re happy to help them out through our charities. Cassie and Michael will be busy with other, more-serious work with business partners and other charity work all week, but we want to mention that even the smallest project is a big deal for the people we help.
On the world and political news front, we’re only going to mention the ongoing crisis in Gaza for the Palestinians. Nothing in changing for the people that are suffering such horrors; and that continues to be true as political leaders in various countries skirmish over policies that are doing nothing to actually stop Israel from the genocide they are committing against Palestinians. Offering to ‘recognize’ a Palestinian State means nothing in reality on the ground; and yet our President and others are threatening those countries with tariff retaliations for taking that meaningless stance. Both sides of this nonsense make us sick; and if any other countries really wanted to save Palestinians; they’d send a peace-making force to Gaza and stop Israel from killing and starving the Palestinians.
Our future readers might think that suggestion to be hypocritical when we haven’t suggested the same for Ukraine. We don’t agree, since we actually believe that Russia was right to go to the defense of the ethnic Russian people of Ukraine that have been persecuted since twenty-fourteen by the Ukrainian government and army. That isn’t a popular stance in our country, but it is still-true now; since that persecution still continues in Ukraine right now. Yes, the destruction happening in Ukraine – and in Russia – is awful, but could have been stopped or even prevented more than ten years ago if Ukraine’s leaders had sought peace instead of attempting to cleanse their country of all things Russian – including their own people.
So much for only going with one story and not starting any rants! We really need to get going now; since we already have friends and cousins gathering in the yard; and we also need to help with the dinner prep work until all of our guests are here. The rest of our news for today can wait for our next report, so stay tuned for that; and we’ll get out there and live the adventures!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
