Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 14th Anniversary, Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah!
That celebration might be the top story from home, but we don’t have much news about it since our short breakfast vid-chat with the Ayres; so details will be added tomorrow if we hear anything especially-interesting and also kid-friendly! Mom spent some time with them this morning, but then she headed for Crystal Springs; and we don’t have any news from her visit-so-far to the city and with Dad. If you’re reading that and coming up with mental pictures about our parents getting permanently banned from the courthouse – cut it out! ;^)
As for our own adventures in Toronto, we’ve had an awesome day despite the rain and thunderstorms in the area off-and-on for most of the day. We helped with some work with Cassie and Michael, but also visited the science center and the C.N. Tower. We loved both, and the science center was amazing, but the tower was an all-new experience for us; and it is really something unique to experience during a rain and storm day! Highlights included the elevator rides to and from the observation decks; the view from around fourteen-hundred feet even on a cloudy, messy day was awesome; and you would need to experience the glass floor to relate to how that feels; since even junior Magi Masters are affected by standing on glass with nothing below you for more than eleven-hundred feet!
Cassie and Michael only caught parts of our play time while mixing in the work they did without us too, but when we left Toronto for London – our next stop; we all decided to make a side-trip to Niagara Falls because we were so close and didn’t want to miss out on that natural wonder. The rain didn’t follow us, but it was stormy and wet in Niagara Falls too. Fortunately for us, we got a break in the rain for an hour or so while there; and we took that chance to walk along the river gorge to the falls. For anyone that might not know any details, there are actually two sets of falls at that location on the Niagara River – the Horseshoe Falls that are most-famous and the American Falls that are smaller and split in two by a small island on the American side of the river. Our fellow Americans should not be jealous of the cooler-looking falls on the Canadian side; and we are mostly surprised that the Canadians have apparently done a better job promoting the tourism with bigger and better attractions! We didn’t get to visit many of those attractions; so we really should come back again sometime to try out some of those options including the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the base of the falls; the zip line into the gorge; and everything from the two towers to the Clifton Hill attractions that we only managed a small sample of before needing to head for London and our hotel. We did visit an awesome haunted house and checked out some tourist trap stores, but you would need several days or maybe a full week to do everything.
We are in-transit to London as we are writing this; Cassie is taking a more-direct, but somewhat rural route through the middle of the Niagara Peninsula; and even after dark we are enjoying the view that feels a bit like home to us. That has more to do with the farms and small towns than the geography, but this is amazing too; since this whole region is a geological wonder carved out by the past ice age – including the two Great Lakes that border the length of the peninsula that ends at the Niagara River and falls. We should mention the Niagara Escarpment as part of those features of the region; and the view of it rising above us during the drive from Toronto to Niagara Falls was amazing; since it rises hundreds of feet above Lake Ontario while being different from mountains because it just tops off and then is ‘normal’ land again across to Lake Erie. For the record, we crossed one of the highest points on the Peninsula a little while ago in a town called Fonthill; the climb-drive up that hill to the top of the town reminded us a bit of southern and western roads into our hometown – though about three or four times higher; and the view was awesome too. That town was interesting for also being split by the hill, and there were even homes built on the hill, but while that was interesting; we didn’t suddenly picture Witch Falls with a town expansion in the valley below the ridge or falls!
Ethan would be happy to write about geography and geology for another hour, but I’ve had enough of that; so let’s cover the world news and then call it a night. We’ve skipped mentioning the change in Prime Ministers in the United Kingdom, but that’s mostly because it doesn’t really matter who is in charge when the policies remain the same – and they will with Prime Minister Andy Burnham. That is bad news for their country and people; so expect more internal trouble there as people continue to get angry and rebellious. In the Middle East, Israel has offered up a new target for President Trump in Iran; claiming that Axe Mountain is the new location for building the next imminent nuclear bomb; so we expect the place to get bombed soon while doing nothing to change the reality in the region. There hasn’t been much news about the new blockade beyond reports that ships are Turing back and avoiding risks of attack from the Houthis and there was a report that Saudi Arabia is included in the blockade of that Strait due to their recent attacks on Yemen. There were more incidents in the Strait of Hormuz too; the attacks continue on both sides; and the only good news so far is that it still hasn’t escalated into a full-out war. There is still talk of a ground offensive to take over the Strait, but that would be insane and impossible to implement for very long – if at all; so we hope that doesn’t happen.
In Ukraine, the top media news might be that the President fired yet another military leader, and while we don’t like any of the Ukrainian leaders as they take their country into total destruction; these political moves are always a disaster for both the military capabilities and for civilians that will suffer the most. Russia is also adding in retaliations for Ukraine targeting of civilian food infrastructure warehouses and markets; they’ve begun to destroy similar warehouses and processing plants; and food shortages are already a problem in Ukraine that will be getting much worse now. More ships are being targeted in and near Odessa; the port facilities are also being hit daily; and shutting down that critical transportation hub for Ukraine will be devastating for the country, economy, and people.
We don’t need to write about the growing world economic stresses again tonight, but will still again mention that adding blockades and trade challenges to the global supply chain will make everything worse, and as we already know; it takes weeks and months for those impacts to work through the supply chains so the results won’t hit most consumers until the fall or winter. That is a tough thought to end this update on, so we’ll stop now; enjoy the co-ed cuddle time during the rest of the drive to London; and work on making happier thoughts and memories while we do that!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
