Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 3rd Birthday, Liam Warren and Katie Reynolds!
Yes, we are twins and share the same birthday too, but for some reason; Liam and Katie get more attention every year for their birthday; and their families get teased about future birthday parties that they could do together – or maybe take turns hosting! Ethan and I didn’t help with either party today, but we know that Cassie and Michael sent gifts for Liam; and we’re sure that their families and friends have made sure that the kids have had a happy day.
As for our day, the top news is the start of baseball season. We’ve moved up to the fifteen-to-seventeen division; our practices are on Monday evenings; and we are each with our best guy or girl friends on those teams. Mom and Dad are taking a break from coaching this year; and they are planning on enjoying the baseball fun without the work. While our practices were a highlight of our day, we also had a good day at school; the weather is great; and we had bonus outdoor time along with the biking on the trails we did with our friends after school and through to dinner time. Ethan, our best friends, and I are among the junior members of our teams this year, but that doesn’t mean as much in our division; and we are among the best players. We loved getting out there and playing tonight; and it was a bonus to have a warm, sunny evening too. The biking and ball play did mean that we were a bit dusty by the time we got home, but we still did a Magi lesson with Mom before she strongly-suggested that we move on to shower or Jacuzzi time. She was polite about it, but we all knew why she suggested that; and no, our Magi lesson was not related to masking or changing certain senses that might have been mildly-offended tonight! ;^)
Ethan and I got cleaned up; and now we’re covering the twin chat review of our day and the usual computer checks. First up for that tonight is Cassie and Michael’s news. They worked in Lansing, Michigan today; and their adventures included a charity luncheon for a University scholarship program for low-income, rural community students in agriculture-related programs. They also had two meetings with State politicians and aides; a business dinner with a mid-sized company that partners with our lab; and then they hit the road for Detroit. They are there now and even managed a work meeting at their hotel, but we haven’t gotten an update since the news they had for Mom and Dad while we were at the ball practices. They are going to be busy with another week of work-day and travel evening adventures, but they are going to fit in some sightseeing and fun along the way. We also want to mention that Cassie is still using her linguistic skills every day – though that is more through helping their partners deal with multi-lingual relationships and contracts in other contracts.
Let’s wrap this up with the world news report. Our pick for top story from the Ukraine war is the announcement from Russia of another ceasefire – this one for Victory Day. They also warned the Ukrainian leaders and military to honor the ceasefire too or face future consequences. We’ll hope for the best, but know that Ukraine has attempted attacks on previous Victory Days over the past few years; and could do that again this year. We should add that the frontlines war in Ukraine is still raging on; the death and destruction continues; and there is still no true peace talks going on because there are too many leaders in the west fixed on their own goals and too-invested in getting rich off of the war to stop.
The Iran war may be resuming at any moment. Iran claims to have hit an American naval ship with two missiles; and the UAE has reported Iranian attacks on one of their petroleum facilities. There isn’t much news out there for either story, but there must be reasons for the incidents that are not being reported. We do see more stories about imminent plans for resuming attacks on Iran, though, so we’ll wait to find out whether that happens soon or not. Regardless of that part of the overall trouble in the Middle East; the growing economic damages happening around the world. Prices for all affected products from energy to agriculture and manufacturing raw materials are becoming secondary to actual shortages. That is most-dire for countries and businesses that rely on imports from the region. The problems are growing; will continue to spread as the impacts spread down the supply chain from producers to end-users. Our leaders continue to be oblivious, since they don’t notice the changes that are already affecting the ‘little’ people – especially when that happens in places that they couldn’t find on a map without a team of cartographers! Okay, that’s a bit harsh, but you get what we mean; and we are tired of the nonsense from the rich and powerful when they only care about power and money. We do see all of the stresses happening for too-many people, and we need to mention that we continue to do what we can through the family businesses and charities, but we also have limits; and can’t do more than we normally do without putting our overall operations at risk. In some ways we get less done as prices rise, but that is relative; since price inflation affects everything – including how much money our businesses make. We don’t want to get into a business discussion tonight; so let’s move on.
Closer to home because our Grade Eight class is in Washington was a lockdown at the White House due to a nearby shooting. That didn’t directly affect ‘our’ group, but those tensions in the city do affect security at all of the top tourist locations including Capitol Hill and the major museums and historic sites. We aren’t keeping up with the details with those teens, but we are sure that the events there are making their adventures more-interesting.
That’s enough for tonight. Tuesdays are music practice day, and we want to be ready for those adventures; so we’re out of here and off to dreamland starting right now.
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
