Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 26th Birthday, Michael!
Cassie did a special birthday breakfast for Michael and we caught part of the birthday dinner at the Inn between our practices, but we weren’t involved in the rest of his birthday adventures – and probably don’t want most of the details! We’ll add that Cassie and Michael still had a normal work day for them and are working tonight too, but they are doing that together; and they are always happy even when busy with their work.
The rest of our own adventures have been pretty good, but we’ve also had a very long, busy day; so we’re tired and ready to get some sleep soon. Tai Chi was by the river as we enjoyed the outdoor time with Mom and Dad that we might not get to have with a lot of rain in the forecast over the next two days. Breakfast was standard fare; and then the highlights of our school day included my cheer squad practice at lunch; the football and band practices afterschool; and the lessons and studies with our classmates. Yes, we’re ranking the classwork last, but even with the showers that Ethan had to deal with near the end of his football practice; you can’t be surprised that we had more-fun with the music and sports when the academics are all for show for us anyway.
We went to the Inn after those practices with Naomi, Aiden, Sophia, and Aaron for Michael’s birthday dinner; had a time limit to eat before we needed to be back at the school for the marching band practice; and we did that in the gym because the rain continued through the evening – and is still ongoing right now. That practice went well too; we had more students show up for the second practice; and we’re already planning on having the marching band do the Christmas parades this year. It is definitely early for learning Christmas music, but we’re also working on Disney songs; since we’ll need to prepare for our application submission. We will eventually get sent the songs the parade coordinators will assign to us, but that won’t happen until much-closer to whatever date we hopefully get assigned. Ethan and I don’t have any doubt that we will be approved again, since the band that Cassie and Michael were part of for their trip to Florida did very well and impressed the park managers and spectators. We came home from the school and didn’t do any extra walking because of the rain. Mom did a Magi lesson with us; we did a bit of office work; and then it was bath or Jacuzzi time. Now we’re winding down fast with the usual twin chat and computer checks, so let’s cover the world news of the day; and then Ethan and I will call it a night.
The top world news of the day might be that the distraction stories are getting most of the media and political attention while the worst of what continues to happen around Ukraine and the Middle East gets ignored or lied about on both sides of those conflicts. For one example, the purported ‘terror plot’ against a United Kingdom airbase where police arrested suspects that were then released on bail because actual evidence is apparently scant or non-existent is getting a lot of attention while possibly being a nothingburger. Russia and Iran have each been mentioned as being behind the plot; the CIA gets mentioned for advising the British government of the plot; and it is a perfect example of the daily distractions meant to keep the people from focusing on just how corrupt and evil their leaders have become as they collectively loot and destroy their own countries in their efforts to gain more power and wealth. That’s cynical and true too-often.
As for the biggest crises that our leaders don’t want us to learn truths about, the world economy continues to be damaged a bit more every day; the stresses continue to grow; and we can’t predict where the next explosions will happen – only that they will come as desperation grows. In the Middle East, tankers continue to be hit; the Saudis continue to fight with their enemies; Israeli elections are proving that all of their leaders are racist murderers bent on genocide of the Palestinians, Lebanese, and any others they deem sub-human; and hatred only grows throughout the region. Ukraine continues to get pounded by Russian airstrikes while ground forces are being decimated along the frontlines; and we expect life to get even harsher for the Ukrainian people and armed forces as they head into winter and their leaders continue to be willing to force them to suffer instead of agreeing to end the war on what will be worse terms for every day they keep fighting. Even if they did that tomorrow, we are not sure that Ukraine could ever recover; since they have lost generations of men to the point where they might not survive as a people.
Ethan and I need to stop now; so that’s all for this report. We’re going to work on taking happier thoughts into our dreams; and will continue to hope for better for the rest of the world – even when there is no real reason to have that kind of optimism. We want to be ready for the last day of September, so we’ll get to the nap time now; and have the stories about our next adventures for you sometime tomorrow night.
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
