Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 26, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 5^th Anniversary, Jillian and Julian!

Our adopted cousin and her husband are not here for their anniversary celebration, but they are having fun; and Dawn is helping them out with the fun – and actually spending some time with them too this weekend.  No details have been shared yet, but if we hear anything interesting; we’ll pass that along in a near-future update.

Here at home, Ethan and I have had another chores day; we finished up all of our usual weekend work; and even had a bit of time for some biking and a swim break.  That pretty much also brings us up to now; and we’re currently getting ready for a camping night with our friends and cousins.  We’re hosting that again tonight; our tents are already set up; and we have a small gang of kids and teens out by the river setting up their tents and gear too.  In addition to packing out camping gear; Ethan is rounding up the projector and a hard drive for our outdoor movies plan, and since we don’t usually offer any details about that; we use a tripod for the projector along with the white screen against the side of the storage barn; the movies or shows can be pulled from hard drives or our streaming subscriptions; and we have multiple options for audio from the built-in speaker to linked outdoor speakers.  That little blast of data seems a bit irrelevant compared to the serious problems in the world, but we want our journal to be about our normal daily lives – and Ethan does not want to write about things like fashion or teen gossip! ;^)

While that has me thinking about an entire series writing about current fashion in a small town compared to big cities or Hollywood, we need to get going soon; so let’s wrap this up with a quick world news report.  The aftermath of the earthquakes in Venezuela continues to draw attention from around the world, and we are glad to see the outpouring of support for actual needs for the people.  Search and rescue teams; mobile hospitals, and basic aide are arriving in the country; and we hope that will continue for the months and years that it will take to recover from that disaster.  Let’s also mention that there are leaders trying to take advantage of the situation, and we are sure that there will be profiteers gaining power; we can only be disgusted by everyone that takes advantage of the most-vulnerable people.

The Middle East tensions continue; the peace talks are going in circles; and the supposedly-open Strait of Hormuz is not open to everyone and there have been ships turned back and fired on for attempting to pass without permission from Iran.  Attacks continue in Lebanon; and trust remains near-zero.  We don’t like anything we’re seeing out of Ukraine either, and while changes on the front lines seem small and slow; everyone needs to remember that the human costs are catastrophic regardless of how much physical land control changes; and the destruction across Ukraine – and in Russia too – is compounding and the cost to rebuild will continue to rise for both cost and how long it will take to recover from the war whenever it does end.  We really want to see that war come to an end, but there aren’t even any negotiations going on; and there are very few leaders even offering solutions to peace that both sides would accept.

Finally, before we get back to our own adventures; the heat wave in Europe is going to break in some areas over the next few days, and that is good news for everyone that will get a break from the extreme heat, but we also hope that we won’t just see those problems moving into other areas of Europe.  I also want to mention that we can’t always relate to heat-related problems in other countries and regions of the world; since we live in an area where both extreme heat and extreme cold are annual norms; so our homes and businesses are built for both too.  In the United Kingdom, for example, their homes are usually built to retain heat; so that feature compounds the problems caused by a heat wave.

Okay, we really need to get back to the fun with our family and friends; so that’s all for this report.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 25, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 1^st Birthday, Geordie Johnson!

We weren’t really involved in Geordie’s special day at all today beyond the family gifts that were sent to him; and we’ve mostly worked all day without any major play time.  Our little corner of the world is getting rained on tonight and that weather moved into the area late this afternoon.  Tai Chi could still be by the river this morning; Ethan and I worked at the lab or archives for the morning; and then we worked on chores at multiple homes until we needed to wrap it up when the first bands of rain were imminent.  That early end to our chores plans allowed us to help Mom with making dinner; we shared that meal with Dad when he got home from work; and then we all went to work in the office after dealing with the post-dinner clean-up.

While Dad got busy with his usual homework; Ethan and I worked with Mom on charity operations directed at Venezuela and the emergency needs in Caracas and other parts of the country affected by the twin earthquakes that hit them yesterday.  The destruction has been extensive, and while we have limits for search and rescue; we can definitely get supplies and support there for the survivors.  Some time phasing allowed us to get more done tonight, but we needed hours of ‘normal’ time too while working with charity partners in Central and South America – and with Cassie and Michael; so it is getting late as we’re wrapping up our day now.

That’s why we aren’t going to offer any other world or war news tonight.  There isn’t really any significant news from either of the top wars anyway and most of the media stories are more about theatre than substance; so we’ll take a break from all of that daily idiocy – or at least give our future journal readers a break from another report about how badly our world is being governed by the rich and powerful leaders who care nothing for the majority of the ‘regular’ people.  We don’t want to get into a rant either; so that’s all for this update.  Ethan and I are moving on to nap time starting right now.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 24, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

There has been some rain and thunderstorms today, but a fair bit of sun too with a high that hit ninety, but while most of our younger cousins enjoyed a play day; Ethan and I worked in the lab all day; and don’t have anything interesting to write about here for those adventures.  We do write about our work in the lab or archives reports and journals we keep in that section of the archives, so if you are really into science or old books; feel free to check out the details of our work there.  Tai Chi was by the river this morning and we enjoyed breakfast with Mom and Dad; we took our lunches with us and ate on our own timetables and separately; and came home in time to both help with making dinner and sharing that meal with Mom and Dad too.  While rain was an issue this evening, the co-ed ball practices went ahead; we went to the park to help with the next-gen kids; and came home early when the rain arrived in town again and the practices were ended early.  That gave us time to do some work and a Magi lesson in the office; we used some time phasing to get more done; and now we’re winding down fast toward nap time.

That brings us to the world news report.  Tonight we are going to start with more of those smaller stories again – news that isn’t getting a lot of attention in western media.  First up, Niger has officially withdrawn from the International Criminal Court – the third country to do that over the past ten years.  Ethan and I put some importance on that because we see it as proof that more countries around the world have lost confidence in international laws and governance – with good reasons for coming to that conclusion.  There was a report we saw about the canceling of an eighteen billion Euro war ship project in Germany, and that would be good news if we weren’t also sure that the German leaders will just spend that money on other military weapons.  We haven’t mentioned that the United Kingdom is in the process of changing Prime Ministers again – for the seventh time in ten years, but we aren’t holding out hope for an improvement; since the elites in London are mostly on the same side – and against the people they are supposed to represent and protect.

On the wars fronts, western leaders and media are cheering on the market prices for oil that continues to drop on political talk more than on actual reality.  Israel continues to kill and destroy in Lebanon and Gaza and Palestine and Syria; and we can only be sickened that the rest of the world leaders appear to be okay with that as long as the oil flows again.  Frank Herbert was obviously a genius; since the spice, Melange, and the stories of the Fremen and Dune could easily be interchanged with the Middle East deserts and oil – without the giant sandworms!

I took that thought on a fun tangent, but the situation in and around Iran is still serious; and the actual negotiations don’t seem to be going anywhere beyond opening the Strait of Hormuz being opened again – though even that seems to be uncertain and temporary.  As for Ukraine, while Russia continues slow advances along the frontlines; Ukrainian leaders and military are mostly attempting public relations wins and stunts.  For example today, a so-called State-sponsored group took over the largest Russian-Orthodox Cathedral in Odessa while western leaders and media don’t appear to have any problem with the forcible eradication of freedom of religion.  The hypocrisy is stunning – especially when all of the recent gun and knife attacks against Jewish and Christian communities and churches in those same western countries.  No, we aren’t surprised by that reality; and only want to report it now and then because Magi of the Light all believe that morality and truth mean nothing if not applied to everyone.  Silkie just gave me a look at that comment, but Ethan and I think that dogs and cats are people too; so we include them as part of everyone! ;^)

I am obviously getting too-tired to continue this update, so that’s all for tonight; and we are going to move on to dreamland starting right now.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 23, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Our top news of the day for our own lives is that we began semi-official summer jobs at the lab or archives.  Ethan and I spent most of the day doing that, but started the day with Tai Chi by the river and the post-camping breakfast followed by the campground clean-up.  Most of our friends were starting summer jobs today too – though not everyone needed to start this morning.  That is why we had most of the clean-up done by nine o’clock, though, and then Ethan and I headed to the lab and got busy with our books or beakers for the rest of the day.  Let’s also mention that Aiden has an official summer job this year at the bakery; and Naomi is going to do some work at the salon to spend time with her Mom and then work with Aunt Grace, Violet, and Mom as an office intern.  There isn’t anything significant to report from the work today, but we were happy to get back to serious work-play; and we have a lot we want to do while we can.

That brings us to some news we’ve saved until after the start of our summer break.  Cassie and Michael’s summer work trip is going to be in Canada; and they are taking their favorite six teens along for the work and adventures.  No, Brianna, you’re not included – though you will join the favorite teens club in another couple of years!  We’re very excited about seeing as much of Canada as we can from east to west coasts, but we’ll save up more details for when we actually head out after the holiday weekend.  Let’s add that our summer jobs are going to be away from the lab or elsewhere for our best friends while on that trip, but Ethan and I are going to do related field work; we’ll all help with Cassie and Michael’s work; and we’ll fit in some play time along the way.

Since we’ve gotten away from our news of the day, let’s cover the rest of our birthday story now.  The birthday dinner was great, but short for us as we needed to eat and run to our ball practices.  We ended up saving the cake for after the practices; moved straight into the campfire from there; and our entertainment around the fire included our own musical contributions with Naomi, Aiden, Sophia, and Aaron.  There were scary stories; lots of teen chat and co-ed cuddle time; and late-night fun that included a river swim and more hang out time around the tents.  We stayed up late; some of us had co-ed naps in our tents; and then we were up early for the Tai Chi workout by the river that we’ve already mentioned.  Ethan and I don’t usually write about our gifts, and we don’t want to do that tonight, but we do want to mention that we did not get any extreme gifts – though there were some gifts that were chosen with our upcoming trip in mind for helping us to stay entertained during long drives between work and sightseeing stops.

After our lab or archives work, we ended up meeting with Mom and Dad at the park for the Pizzeria pizza picnic dinner that went along with the Tuesday ball practices.  We caught some of both rounds of practices; came home with Mom and Dad after that; and we did not have any overnight plans with our friends.  Mom did a Magi lesson with us; we all did some work after that; and then Mom had us head upstairs by ten-thirty so that we could catch up on our sleep.  That works for us; so let’s finish this update with a quick world news report and then get to that nap time.

Instead of covering the war stories; we’re going to mention some of the other stories we see that are comparatively-small but illustrate the growing stresses around the world.  Since we’re going to be in Canada soon; let’s begin with a shooting in Montreal, Quebec that appears to be a religion-related attack on a Jewish Rabbi – the latest of a handful of incidents in Canada.  In that attack, a police officer was killed and another one was injured in the shootout with the suspect, but while that is terrible and our hearts go out to the families involved; we’re worried about the explosion of this kind of violence in a lot of countries.  We’ve seen similar stories across Europe; more in Africa; and we don’t even see a fraction of the problems in places where nobody is paying attention to what is happening for the poorest places in the world.  Europe is also dealing with a heat wave that is leading to heat-related deaths; and that could be worse this summer due to rising energy costs that make air conditioning unaffordable for the most-vulnerable people.

Finally, for tonight, we do need to at least include a bit of war news.  There are some good and bad signs out of the Middle East, so while we can hope that there will be actual improvements for the people in the region; the fighting continues in Lebanon and elsewhere; Israel is pushing to take more territory by force on multiple fronts; and they are gaining new haters both in the region and around the world that will be a problem for years and decades to come.  The Ukraine war continues to go badly for Ukraine, but they – and their western backers – continue to talk tough; threaten to expand the war; and threaten Russian allies like Belarus.  Russian leaders are beginning to talk about an inevitable conflict with NATO and the need to prepare for that to happen; so nobody on either side are looking for or expecting peace; and we can only hope that those leaders don’t go down that escalation path that could again decimate Europe or blow up the entire world.

I do not want to head off to dreamland on that note, but let’s stop there; and we’ll try to think happier thoughts between now and when we crash into nap mode.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 22, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 15^th Birthday to Us! ;^)

It would have been fun to start this update by reporting that I got my driver’s license today and Ethan didn’t, but nobody would believe that; and we both passed our tests with perfect scores – better than perfect if you include our eye tests that are actually super-human even without using our Magi talents to enhance what we can see normally.  We’ve both gone for our first drive too, but that wasn’t a big deal for either of us compared to the rest of our adventures so far today.

After taking our driver’s tests and going for short drives with Mom or Cassie respectively; we met up with our friends and cousins at the house; tents were already being set up by then; and we took care of that work before we all headed to Quarry Lake on our bikes.  There were lots of adults driving there with day camp gear and next-gen kids, but we had more fun with the biking; and the day camp and picnic lunch work was done by the time we arrived.  It was still late morning by then, so we had time to swim and play before lunch; we played on the water slides, rock walls, and zip lines before we ate; and then that meal was a blast of food fun that didn’t even get all that weird even with Zack and Eli trying to show off around our friends.  That could be because Miles and Joshua were on best behavior for Caroline and Jennifer, but then they’ve been doing better anyway; so they are learning that life is happier when girlfriends are not annoyed or angry! ;^)

We still had a couple of hours to play after lunch; there was more swimming and water play on Aqua Bikes and more slides time; and then we biked home again while the adults and next-gen kids drove home again after we all helped out with the clean-up.  This update is happening as we’re packing our gear for the camping and ahead of our barbeque birthday dinner.  That is going to be a major family-and-friends’ event, but it will need to be quick for us too; since we also still have our ball practices tonight.  We need to get back to all of that fun, so let’s wrap this up.

The top world news of the day continues to focus on the Middle East, and while the idiocies being spouted by our leaders continue to move markets and get media attention; the fighting and bombing in Lebanon continues; tensions on the ground remain high; and nothing substantive has changed for the actual peace talks when they can’t even get past the first item on the memorandum list!  The good cop, bad cop diplomacy game is getting very old too, and it does not work to talk peace out of one side of your mouth while spouting off threats of imminent destruction out of the other side.  Add in all of the forces working to undermine any peace; and we don’t expect anything to change other than through the rotation of the same sequences of lunacy that led us here and into yet another never-ending war.

We need to stop there and get going; so that’s all for today.  Stay tuned; and we’ll have the rest of our birthday adventures stories for you tomorrow night.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!