Ehlana and Ethan:
The top world news today is that Israel and the United States attacked Iran early this morning local time – as expected by pretty much everyone that wasn’t lying about what was really going on with the peace talks that weren’t serious on ‘our’ side of the tables. Iran had been retaliating; and now we can only wait to see whether this blows up into a regional conflict or not in the coming days and weeks. Ethan and I really hate seeing yet another war being started and all of the death and destruction happening in the Middle East; and that has affected out day here at home because it was tough to think about having fun with all of that going on and at the instigation of our government and military.
Here at home, we had a lot of fun with our friends yesterday with everything from the biking on the trails and park play in the warmth and sunshine to the co-ed sofa sleepover with our four best friends at Sophia’s house. We had some work too, since we helped her mother with the work on either side of dinner, but the weather helped with that too; and we grilled burgers and hot dogs outside and put together cold salad sides to go along with the grilled food. Our evening included more outdoor time; ‘live’ music with our friends; and video gaming and movies. The last movie started after most of our friends headed for their homes or elsewhere; we stayed up too-late; and didn’t get much sleep.
Tai Chi this morning was indoors; we had a hot breakfast; and then we split up for a chores or work day. Ethan and I spent the morning on chores at home that were a bit chilly at first and got easier as it warmed up. We finished that work by around one o’clock; had a quick lunch and got cleaned up; and then we headed to the lab or archives. As mentioned, we didn’t feel much like playing today after getting the war news, but we didn’t make plans with our friends anyway; and Aiden and Naomi are busy with their own families today anyway – including at the bakery for Aiden. We worked at the lab with our books or beakers until around six o’clock; came home for dinner with Mom and Dad; took care of the clean-up; and then we worked in the office for a few hours plus time phasing hours. There isn’t a lot that we can do through our businesses and charities while in the middle of a conflict zone, but we did some work to get ready to send help where needed as soon as possible. The news from the Middle East is already bad-enough with Iran retaliations into multiple countries, and some of their allies are joining in; so this is likely going to get a lot worse before we can hope for any end. We’re repeating a bit, but want to be clear that the peace talks on our side were just another ruse and delay tactic while the attacks were being prepared. Calling this ‘pre-emptive’ does not justify what is being done from our side, but it has been clear for a long time that our leaders no longer follow our Constitution or laws such as the War Powers Act – or International law and United Nations agreements. The damage being done to our national reputation won’t be immediate, but we are sure that destroying yet another country – even if successful – will just lead to more hatred and future dangers.
The ‘new’ war is getting all of the media attention, but the war continues in Ukraine with daily bad news that is mostly for the Ukrainian people; Cuba and Venezuela continue to be hot spots for political rhetoric and economic warfare and embargo; and tensions continue to rise in a lot of other places around the world. Instead of going on with those stories tonight; let’s wrap up with a Cassie and Michael update and then Ethan and I are going to get some sleep.
Cassie and Michael are wrapping up their visit to the Battambang region and will be driving back to Phnom Penh where they’ll stay the night before hopping on a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. Now that’s something to think about this weekend when our leaders didn’t exactly get that war plan right either, but why do something smart like learn from history when it is so much better to repeat mistakes! That’s too-sarcastic even if true; so let’s move along. The overall visit to Cambodia has been a success for Cassie and Michael, and while it is far from the biggest impact for their overall trip; what they’ve done will be amazing for everyone involved in the region over the coming years.
Here at home, Ethan and I are feeling a bit weird about having a weekend night without any co-ed cuddle buddies, but we’ll survive; and all of our parents have noted that they’d like to actually spend some time with only their own kids; so we don’t really mind helping them out with that now and then – even when that means a work night in the office for us. We are tired and ready to sleep now; so that’s all for this update. Stay tuned; since an anti-war rant is very likely for our weekend wrap-up and first update of March report because I’m feeling the urge to start on that right now and just keep writing it through until tomorrow night. No, I won’t do that – though it might be fun to find out how many pages of this digital journal I could fill with twenty-four hours of non-stop writing! ;^)
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
