Ehlana and Ethan:
We’ve had a good day, but it has mostly been indoors again – though it was at least comparatively-warmer while still staying below freezing even for the high of the day. Tai Chi was indoors; we had a hot breakfast; and fun at school that included the school band practice. We don’t have much booked for the band, but will be helping out with the seniors’ Valentine’s Day luncheon as usual; so we’re getting ready for that now. Ethan and I brought our four best friends home with us to study and have dinner between that practice and our teen praise team practice; Mom added in a bonus group Magi lesson; and then that evening practice was fun too. We’re already starting to prepare for the Easter sunrise service, but we’ll help out with other music between now and then; and we also need to allow for practices we’ll miss for things like spring break.
It was getting colder again by the time we walked home; we had a visit with Mom and Dad once there; and didn’t do any business or charity work because Mom wanted us to get the extra sleep instead. That’s why we’re already winding down our twin chat and computer checks; and we’re okay with the extra nap time. Cassie and Michael have already started their Wednesday in Myanmar; and they headed out well-before dawn for an eight-hour drive to the west coast and the next stop of their trip – the coastal city of Kyaukpyu. The weather will be near the same with sun and highs around ninety; and now they’ll have the bonus of beaches and amazing seaside views! They’ll only be in the area for their Wednesday and Thursday before needing to move on again, but we’re sure they’ll have fun with all of the work; and we continue to be jealous of the warm weather that we definitely aren’t going to have around here this week!
As for our world news report, we want to start by reporting that the snow storm is still having an impact in a lot of places – especially wherever there are power outages compounding the deep cold issues as well as the places that are still dealing with heavy ice or snow damage. There have been quite a few storm-related deaths; and that number is sure to climb as long as it stays cold and the clean-up is heavy and strenuous work. Elsewhere in the world, there was a fatal ferry sinking in the Philippines that hasn’t really gotten much attention in western media, but there were more than three-hundred and fifty people on the ferry when it went down; and considering the number of people still missing; the death toll could easily end up being higher than from this entire winter storm that has caused havoc across thousands of miles of the country.
Moving on to the top conflict zones, the most-recent peace stories have apparently run their courses; the trilateral talks about the Ukraine war weren’t as-positive as claimed on Saturday; and the death and destruction in Ukraine continues with no end in sight – though it continues to be possible for the Ukraine military to get to the point of collapse as they continue to lose people and get worn down by constantly defending territory with dwindling resources and manpower. The Middle East is a mess too, and Israel is not only continuing the Palestinian genocide; they are trying their best to destroy Lebanon and Syria; and tensions remain very high with Iran as our country continues to move naval forces back into the region and threaten Iran with another attack.
That’s enough for tonight. Ethan and I are going to get some sleep, so stay tuned for our next update; and we’ll get back to full-power so that we can be ready for those adventures we’ll write about tomorrow night!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
