Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 51st Birthday, Claire Norton!
Since our last update, our canoe adventure to the whirlpool was amazing – especially thanks to the sunny and hot weather! We especially loved getting to do that with some of our favorite parents, Cassie, and Michael; and then Ethan had fun with Naomi and our parents for the rest of the day after that while I did the same with Aiden and his family. We don’t really need to cover every detail from yesterday, but our canoeing highlights included a race that the girls won; we did some shoreline exploring around the whirlpool; and the exercise and water time was awesome – even without any swimming. We each had home-made dinners that we helped with cooking and the clean-ups; there was some ‘live’ music fun at both homes; and then there were movies and cuddle time through to the end of our respective Saturday nights.
While Ethan and I were split up for Tai Chi this morning, Aiden and I had our workout with Cassie and Michael and Ethan and Naomi had our parents to themselves for that workout and breakfast too. Aiden and I were with his family for that meal; we all met up at church; and the service and Sunday school were good and kept us busy for the rest of the morning. Ethan and I were home for lunch with Mom and Dad; and then we spent the afternoon hanging out with Cassie, Michael, and some next-gen kids, cousins, and friends. It was cooler today with the high of sixty-eight, but still mostly-sunny; and we enjoyed the quieter outdoor play time that didn’t include any extreme exercise. We also wrapped up in time to get ready for Claire’s birthday dinner at the Inn; Ethan and I had our dates with us for that meal; and we were drafted to help out with next-gen kid control while our parents were busy with their friends for that couple of hours of food fun.
Ethan and I came home with Mom and Dad after we left the Inn; did some work and a Magi lesson in the office; and then it was bath or Jacuzzi time ahead of our return to school in the morning. We’re ready to do that; and are happy to report that we’ve had an awesome week off even without any major travel adventures or even any day trips to the city or elsewhere!
Now we need to get through the world news update; and that isn’t nearly as good. President Trump has set another deadline – this one already half-over for the forty-eight hours he gave Iran to ‘open the Strait of Hormuz’ or face extreme consequences. Iran isn’t going to change their position; which is that the strait is open except to America, Israel, and their allies supporting the war in any way. Iran also continues their retaliations hitting new targets in Israel and elsewhere; and have assured their enemies that Middle East infrastructure will not be safe if the attacks on their energy and nuclear facilities continue or other escalations are inflicted on them. The Houthis in Yemen have also warned of closing the Red Sea passage will be closed too if the attacks on Iran and Lebanon continue; so escalation dangers are everywhere in the region.
The Ukraine war is not forgotten for the people directly involved even when it is mostly ignored in the news, but there are dangers continuing there – including risks of energy infrastructure attacks that could continue to affect world markets and prices. Let’s also point out again that we’re more than three weeks into the Iran war now; so oil, gas, and petroleum products deliveries are going to start dropping off now as the break in the supply chain hits. That won’t happen all at once, since transit times range from a few weeks to a month and change, but the impacts will be affecting ports first and then spread inland from there. That might not seem like a big deal in the overall supply chain system, but the numbers are adding up fast just for that region of the world; and it will continue to grow worse every day as problems mount for both loaded ships unable to deliver to the Persian Gulf and empty ships that can’t reload or get out of the region.
Ethan and I do not want to get into another economic rant tonight, since that isn’t as-important as the need to stop the death and destruction across the Middle East and Ukraine. There is a lot of pressure being applied to get other countries to join the fight against Iran; and we’ll hope that doesn’t get worse than it already is; since there are risks that countries could offer more support to Iran and lead to even more-dangerous escalations.
Let’s stop there. Ethan and I need to get some sleep and be ready for school in the morning; so we’ll do that and keep you posted on all of the latest at home and around the world as we get back to ‘normal’ school and work week adventures.
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
