Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 7th Anniversary, Cassie and Michael!
Happy 2nd Anniversary, Rowen and Tim!
For the record, I have no good reason for why we sometimes start those name combinations with the girl or boy name first – though I do know that I go with the girl name first more-often than Ethan does when he’s writing our journals! As for the actual anniversary fun for today, we did a group vid-chat with Rowen and Tim at breakfast; they are working today too; and they are not really planning a party tonight because Tim can’t be sure to have the evening off if the number of emergency service calls stay as high as expected thanks to the triple-digit highs at home that always stress farm equipment that needs to be kept running all summer. Cassie and Michael are working all day today too, but we do have plans for an anniversary dinner and some sightseeing to go along with the work. We don’t have that news for you yet because this is an early update while we’re taking a quick break and dealing with some chores, but we should have also mentioned that the group vid-chat included Proctor and Stone family members for celebrating Cassie and Michael’s special day too.
Here in Winnipeg, the weather has been pretty good so far after some overnight rain including during our drive time from Thunder Bay, but there is a chance of some more rain later that we hope won’t get in the way of the work or play time. It isn’t as hot here as at home, but mid-nineties is still hot; so there might be a pool swim in our future later today too. That comment has Ethan’s thoughts wandering off on a girlfriend-in-swimsuit tangent; so we should likely just wrap this up now that he’s totally lost interest in this little task! ;^)
The war with Iran is still off so far today – or not; since they get blamed for everything that happens in the region and beyond that includes the fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The two straits being fought over are also either open or not depending on the source; so we’ll just have to wait and find out the truth as supply chains either recover or continue to be destroyed depending on what is actually true. Oil prices are currently down on hopes of another ceasefire, and we can only continue to be amazed by the insanity of investors continuing to believe in rhetoric over reality while insiders are obviously making billions at their expense and loss. While I won’t get into a rant about that, let’s also mention that the most-obvious display of that cost to investors is the ongoing distortion between spot and future prices that in normal markets would only be a difference to either side of the futures price of only a couple of dollars that has instead been a difference of forty dollars or more since the start of the Iran war at the end of February. The people getting to pocket the money from that difference are gaining those billions; and that is really nothing more than winning – or losing – bets on a market that is currently rigged.
Ethan is still daydreaming of Naomi-in-a-swimsuit, but we should at least mention the mess that is Ukraine. The western media reports endlessly on every daily Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian civilian targets that include retail warehouses, tourist resorts, and passenger buses while they ignore reporting on the massive Russian attacks on Ukraine. Russia is continuing to target Odessa ports and any ships daring to attempt to use them; missile and drone strikes are continuing on the Kiev region; and we can’t imagine how tough that must be on the people for everything from lack of sleep to power outages during summer heat to pressure on emergency services and daily life survival. The frontlines fighting continues to be a disaster for Ukraine, and while we are repeating ourselves too-often in our journals, this war will eventually end one way or the other; and it truly is insane for Ukrainian leaders to keep fighting when taking a bad peace deal is far-better for their people than fighting to the last citizen!
Okay, that’s enough for today – and I’m not just writing that because Ethan has lost all ability to focus on anything serious! I’m okay with getting back to the real world, and our chores are nearly finished anyway; so that’s all for this report.
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
