Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 31, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Happy 4^th Anniversary, Elliott and Nora!

We didn’t get involved in the celebration; and hope that their friends and family are making sure that their day is special.

Since our last update, we had fun with Mom, Dad, Naomi, and Aiden from dinnertime through to our co-ed naps.  Co-ed baseball practices were cancelled due to the rain last evening, so we stayed indoors and kept entertained with a group Magi lesson, music play time, and a couple of movies to go along with the bonus co-ed cuddle time.  The rain moved out overnight, so Tai Chi was by the river; and we have appreciated the break from the triple-digit highs of the past week.  We topped out in the high-seventies today; and that worked out great for my football workout and a chores day at multiple homes and cottages – including Cassie and Michael’s house.  It took the rest of the day until now to get everything done; so we’re going to be having a late dinner.  Sophia and Aaron are joining us for that meal and the rest of the night too; and we’re expecting a near-repeat of last night to wrap up our day and July.

Neither the chores nor the music and movies fun we want to have tonight will make for a most-exciting-ever kind of last day for any month, but we are happy and content with what we got done today; and know that we will enjoy the time with Mom, Dad, and our four best friends tonight; so that is okay with us too.

We can report that Cassie and Michael are having more fun in Italy compared to our adventures – even with all of their work; they took a bit more time today for sightseeing; and are making up for that by working later tonight, local time, with a charity fundraiser event that will keep them out late even though they’ll also need to be up early to travel to their next stop on the work tour.  They’re also doing more good for the world than we are with a chores day, but then we are helping them when we take care of their home and yard while they’re away!

Ehlana and I don’t really want to get into a major world or political news update today, but we are going to mention the tariffs and sanctions wars that are getting daily attention right now due to President Trump’s latest ‘deadline’ for Russia and the threats against their trading partners to impose ‘secondary’ sanctions.  We really don’t want to pick on our own political leaders, but to be blunt; some of them are clueless when it comes to reality for global trade and economics.  Yes, our country has the largest economy in the world, but we also have the most debt; the largest trade deficits; and our prices for pretty much everything are much higher than in many of the countries that our leaders continually love to denigrate and belittle.  If the current political goals is to alienate both friends and foes; we’re well on the way to making that happen, and it will not end well for us – or for the rest of the world.  Let’s not get into the weeds on this topic, since this is a complex story and we don’t want to over-simplify the issues, but we’ll also mention that we are junior Magi Masters with doctoral-level education; so we do actually know what we’re talking about; and know that many of our world leaders are getting economic and trade policies wrong.

That isn’t news, so let’s wrap this up.  Mom’s been cooking dinner without our help, and Sophia and Aaron will be here any minute; so we’re out of here and ready to get started on some quality play time with our family and friends.

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

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 30, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Happy 20^th Anniversary, future Mom and Dad-in-law!

Also known as Philip and Liz Seager and Naomi’s parents; you already know that I was with Naomi last night because of our plans for an anniversary breakfast, and while we had fun last night with music, a movie, and some quality co-ed alone time before we got around to our nap; we really loved the breakfast surprise for her parents that included having family and friends over to share that meal with us.  Along with our major food efforts, there were gifts and some roasting for the happy couple; and then Naomi’s parents headed off on a mini getaway – and they can only do that because the salon has a lot of appointments booked for Friday and Saturday for a wedding.  That is why Naomi is staying with us for the rest of the week; Aiden will stay with us too; and Eli is staying with Zack while his parents are away.

We’ve had a rainy day, but that didn’t keep Miles from going ahead with our football workout because he knows it is important to be able to play the game in bad weather.  I can’t argue with that, but it wasn’t fun; and I needed to go home and shower and change before going to play with my books in the archives.  It’s been raining off-and-on all day with random thunderstorms in the area too; so Ehlana and I stayed at the lab until just a little while ago; and now we’re getting ready for Naomi and Aiden to join us for the rest of the day.  Our best stories of the day are still ahead of us too, but we’re getting this update out of the way now because we don’t want to take time for it later tonight.

On the world stage for news, the top story was a major earthquake off the Pacific coast of Russia that spawned a Pacific-wide tsunami alert, warnings, and evacuations away from coastal areas at risk.  There are still watches and warnings out there for countries in South America and elsewhere, but damage has been minimal with the top story likely being whales that were beached in Japan by the tsunami wave.  We expect that some people will make fun of the warnings and panic when nothing significant happened, but there is no way to be certain of the size of a tsunami as it moves across deep water; so it is far-better to get out of the way of whatever is coming and be safe.  The earthquake registered at eight-point-eight – one of the top-ten for magnitude on modern records; so it is amazing that there are so-few reports of damage or casualties even on the nearest coasts of Russia.

Maybe Mother Nature cares more about the people living on her planet than our world leaders, but this is actually a comparatively-good news story; so we’re going to skip all bad news stories.  While that can wait a day or more, we will mention that Cassie and Michael are having a good third day of work in Italy; they are getting a lot done; and are managing a bit of sightseeing every day too.  We half-wish that we could be there with them, but that wasn’t an option with everything else we have on the go this summer; so we’ll be happy that they get to continue to see the world while working to do so much good wherever they go.

Ehlana and I will mostly only be doing that for our friends and parents for the rest of the day, but we’re happy to do that too; so that’s all for today while we get back to doing just that with four of the people we love the most!

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

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 29, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Happy 21^st Birthday, Benjamin Norton!

While Ben’s family and friends are taking care of making his special day awesome; we’ve had a quiet day-so-far from Tai Chi by the river and breakfast with Mom, Dad, and our four best friends through my football workout at the park; lab or archives work-play; and another lazy afternoon of swimming and relaxing with some friends and cousins.  I am currently packing for a sleepover at Naomi’s house while Ehlana will be hosting Aiden for the night; and I’m going to be with Naomi so that we can ‘host’ a special anniversary breakfast for her parents in the morning.

We can also report that we had a lot of fun last night with our friends.  Dinner was grilled with salads and casserole sides; the teens took care of the clean-up; Mom did a long, group Magi lesson with us; and then we had a band practice for nearly an hour and a half before getting around to the co-ed cuddle and movies time.  Along with staying up late while doing that; we also discussed plans for the band, and while we’re going to be very busy this fall; we’re also considering recording some new songs – though probably not another full album.  We’re thinking more along the lines of a couple of singles and maybe an extended-play set of Christmas songs.  That idea might still be ambitious, but there are songs that we like a lot and haven’t recorded before; and doing that this year might be our last chance – at least for our high school years.  The movie picks were a musical and a space-alien flick; and then we only had time for naps for the handful of hours until dawn.

The rest of our news of the day will need to wait for our next update, but before we wrap this up; Cassie and Michael have had a good second day in Italy; and even with all of the work; they’re managing a bit of sightseeing along the way too.  They’re mostly working in smaller communities; so they’re getting bonus opportunities to check out the natural wonders of the country.

As for world and political news, one of the top stories of the day has been a mass shooting in New York City at a Manhattan office building.  We are not going to get into this news in any detail, and it is awful for the families and friends of the victims; so we also do not want to minimize the tragedy.  We do want to point out that this incident is tiny compared to the daily tragedies in Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, and elsewhere as hundreds or thousands are killed every day with each of those deaths being just as devastating to their families and friends while being completely ignored in the national media.  Let’s stop there, since we really wish that all of the pointless violence in the world could end – whether at a war level or individual incidents of crime and hatred.

Ehlana and I need to get going – or staying and waiting for Aiden in her case; so that’s all for this update.

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

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 28, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Another sunny, triple-digit-high day has us feeling a bit lazy as we’re writing this late-afternoon update.  Tai Chi by the river and breakfast with Mom and Dad were good; I had my football workout at the park after that while Ehlana opted to head over to the lab instead of hanging out with the other spectators; and then I moved on to the archives for the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon.  Ehlana and I wrapped up our play-work in time to be home by one-thirty; our four best friends met up with us then for a late lunch; and we’ve spent the rest of the afternoon to now splitting our time between swimming and staying cool and not doing much at all under the shade of the trees in our back yard.  This has been one of the hottest days of the summer, so we spent some time with cousins or other friends that wandered by or floated down the river or back upstream; so we managed to keep entertained even while not doing much of anything.

Our friends have split up to pack overnight bags for the co-ed sleepover Ehlana and I are hosting tonight; and they’ll be back in time for dinner with Mom and Dad.  We need to go and help Mom with the cooking, and already have the lounge and our rooms ready for company; so we’ll save the best stories from our day for our next report; since we’re expecting to live those adventures tonight.  So far, Mom is planning a group Magi lesson; we’re going to have a band practice; and we’ll likely watch a movie or two in the lounge before getting around to the co-ed nap time.

Before we get back to the real world; Cassie and Michael are in Italy; have already had their first work day after a very early flight from Portugal; and they worked into their local-time evening with a business meeting and charity project site visit to a low-income housing partnership.  They have a very busy schedule for this first ‘work’ week, and we’ll keep you posted on some highlights, but if you want every detail; check out their work and personal archives for the full stories of their travel adventures.  Rowen and Tim are still on the way home, but they are spending the night visiting friends along the way home; and will take the last flight-hop home in the morning.

Finally, while we don’t want to offer major commentary on world news, we hope that a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand will lead to more-serious peace negotiations – though none of the underlying problems have been resolved at all.  There is no good news out of the Middle East as Syria continues to be torn apart and the Palestinians continue to be killed and tormented by Israeli military forces.  As for the Ukraine conflict, it continues to be bad for them; and the only news making the rounds is that President Trump has shortened his fifty-day time limit for peace to another ten-to twelve days before he will, apparently, approve some new action – either military or with his threat of secondary sanctions against any country that trades with Russia.  Either option will be bad for the world; and could lead to expanding the war beyond Ukraine, but after the attacks on Iran; we can’t rule out that our leaders really are stupid enough to risk direct war with Russia instead of continuing the pretense of only providing ‘aid’ to a proxy country.  Those leaders certainly don’t care about the Ukrainian people or the devastation they’ll be dealing with for decades to come; and our ‘allies’ in Europe should take note of that; since that is just as true for all of those countries.

So much for not getting into a rant.  We’ll stop now; since we really do need to get downstairs to help Mom with the dinner prep work while waiting for our best friends to join us again.  Stay tuned; and we’ll have those best stories of the day for you with our next report.

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

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 27, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Happy 6^th Anniversary, Cassie and Michael!

Happy 1^st Anniversary, Rowen and Tim!

Our sister, brother-in-law, and their friends had an amazing last day in Portugal while celebrating their special days with a hike in the morning; quality beach and sea time all afternoon; and fine dining for dinner before wrapping up their celebrations with some dancing before returning to their hotel to get some sleep before they head out for home or other destinations tomorrow.  Rowen and Tim will be the only homeward-bound couple, while Cassie and Michael will be in Italy by the time we wake up in the morning; and Madelana and Stefan are moving on to week two of their honeymoon without the close friends’ baggage!  That sounds like the opposite of what Cassie and Michael did for their honeymoon when meeting up with us for their second week, but we’re also fairly-sure that the newlyweds had a much different experience compared to a week with parents and younger siblings!

Moving along to our news of the day, we had fun last night with Naomi, Aiden, and the Malloys through dinner and an evening that included a canoe ride, swim, and a family-friendly movie before the Malloys headed back to their cottage.  The co-ed teen cuddling and movie time was a highlight of our day along with the co-ed nap time that followed; and we stayed up a bit later than we should have when we had a busy day booked for today.  We still got up early for Tai Chi by the river; breakfast was quick and easy; and then church and Sunday school included some work getting ready for the holiday weekend teen service.  Ehlana, Aiden, Sophia, and I will officially be joining the teen praise team now; though we’re not sure how much time we’ll be able to dedicate to the group with everything else we have on the schedule for the coming school year.  We love music, but our work at the lab and archives is really important; and we are definitely going to have time issues during our high school and college years.

The entertainment highlight of our day started after church.  We got everything ready to go; about half of our group hopped on bikes for the ride to Quarry Lake; and everyone else drove out to our favorite campground for a play afternoon.  It was really hot today with a triple-digit high and lots of sunshine – which was why the younger kids were not allowed to bike with us; and we took lots of water and drinks along to stay hydrated.  We also spent a lot of time swimming and playing on the water slides with only one rock wall climb and zip line ride – though that was mostly-due to the lack of openings for that activity on a day when the campground was packed and too-busy.  For the record, I do not have a problem with staying close to Naomi whenever she’s in a swimsuit- or any other time, but that seemed necessary today when she was getting too much attention from a lot of the guys around the lakes and campground.  While that was sometimes-scary when the guys were much older and creepy; let’s not even get into commenting on how many guys appreciated some of our favorite mothers a bit too-much too!  Ehlana wants me to be less sexist and mention that some of our favorite fathers get that same kind of attention from the women around them, but that’s even stranger for sons to think about – even if Naomi thinks that’s funny because she really appreciates what she expects me to look like when we’re our parents’ ages.

We had a picnic lunch and played at the campground until around four or five o’clock – depending on when we needed to leave to bike or drive back to town; had time to unpack and get cleaned up; and then we headed to the Inn for the late buffet.  That culinary highlight was mostly for the Malloys; since they’ll be heading home sometime tomorrow after Uncle Terry has a last meeting with the bridge construction managers.  Ehlana, Naomi, Aiden, and I had that meal with Valerie, Marcus, Brianna, and Faith at our table; enjoyed the chat time that Brianna led most of the time; and then we came home for the night with just the usual side-trip to take Silkie for a walk and see Naomi and Aiden to their homes.  Mom did a Magi lesson with us after that; we did some charity and family business work in the office until Dad had his work finished and ready for the morning; and then we headed up to the third floor for bath or Jacuzzi time even though we’d only had quick showers a handful of hours ago.  My bath was quicker, so I had some music play time while waiting for Ehlana; and then we got to the usual nightly computer checks and twin chat fun.

One of the new top stories this weekend has been border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand – another example of leaders choosing fighting over diplomacy.  There is news today of peace talks for this latest little conflict, and we’ll hope for the best, but we’re also concerned by the spread of military actions to new regions that have been quieter for years or decades.  It’s sad to know that there are few places in the entire world that can claim peaceful times for more than a couple of decades – and that is only true for our country because we take our fights out into the rest of the world and haven’t had any wars on our own soil since the world wars.

Instead of getting into commentary on the still-awful situations in the Middle East and Ukraine; we want to mention the conflicts that are ongoing in Africa.  For example, Sudan has been turned into yet another failed State thanks to outside forces, and one of the latest attacks in that country was on water infrastructure that could put millions of people at risk of basic, clean water thanks to the fighting between the factions trying to gain control over the country.  By the time that is decided; there might not be anything left of the country to rule over, but then most of those terrible men only care about the resources and the money they can make selling them to their respective funding masters.  There are many other countries in Africa with the same problems if in different ways; with most of the fighting over control of natural resources.  It is always the ‘normal’ people that suffer; and we wish that we could do more to help them – though we’ll never be able to do that as long as there are evil people in the world.

Ehlana just suggested that maybe we could help everyone, but while it is funny to think about changing all of the most-valuable natural resources into useless commodities with transmutations; we do know that even if we could do that worldwide; it would cause more problems than it would solve.  It is a safe bet that most of our fellow humans would not be happy with us if there was suddenly no more oil – or any products that require rare-earth minerals, metals, or other base ingredients for pretty much every product we use every day.

It appears that we’re both getting tired, since that train of thought is getting a bit silly; so let’s wrap this up and call it a day.  The coming week is going to be busy as we transition from July to August, but we’ll keep you posted on the daily news; and don’t want to think about our summer being more than half-over too.  Ehlana and I want to get a lot of work done this week at the lab or archives, but we’ll see how that goes when all of the nice weather is such a draw – and not just for the Naomi-in-a-swimsuit time for me! ;^)

That is a happy thought for me to head off to dreamland with; so that’s all for this report – and I’m sure that Ehlana can manage her own happy dreams too.

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