Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
What's happening? Without travel or much else to distract, I find myself wondering. I'll try a topical diary to mull things over.
Ukraine
I'm afraid Ukraine has lost the war with Russia and all that's left is killing and destruction. "The West" has given up, with the US administration already blaming the Ukrainian president for not paying attention to US warnings soon enough. French President Macron advocated "not embarrassing Russia". Germany promised military aid ... with delivery months from now. Ukraine may well be split in two by June's end. Then Puten will remain emboldened to rebuild the Tsarist Empire. The Baltics would be ever more threatened, as would be Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, and all other bordering countries. Shit.
January 6 Insurrection
As I write this, Day 2 of the Washington hearings concerning the January 6, 2021 Insurrection are starting. Last week's hearing start was dramatic, but more reminder than revelation. Clearly, the ex-president knew he was staging a coup and throwing away the election results. Millions of his minions marched to his tune, some violently on the Capital Mall and others enthusiastically via the pandering of Fox News. The most remarkable part may be that the lying movement is still strong and a threat to future elections. Shit.
Minority Calling the Shots
A majority of Americans believe in much stronger gun safety laws. A well-financed minority condemns the country to a level of gun violence far, far beyond that of any developed country. A majority of Americans believe in a woman's reproductive rights. A rabid religious right minority is god-bound to destroy that. Acceptance of gay and black and brown and immigrant rights has been the majority belief for years and decades. Still, parts of society act otherwise. Shit.
Economics
A tiny minority has gained mightily. The uber-rich really have gotten uber-richer. The poorer majority, wage earners for the most part, have fallen behind for decades. The most vulnerable are also being hit with record levels of inflation and those, like us, with 401(k) savings, are being pushed down by stock collapse. Marianne and I are lucky, with an electric car and retirement income above our basic needs, but most Americans may not be. Shit.
Health
Broadly, Covid refuses to go away. Friends and family continue to get hit, not to the level of hospitalization or death, but unsettling nonetheless. Marianne's cancer and chemo recovery goes slower than we would hope, but it is on a positive trend. I'm not so sanguine about the health effects of aging. Conversations among contemporaries drift more and more into maladies and treatments. In our mid-70s, we are relatively healthy (with an obvious exception), but there seems to be no option to recognizing the inevitable. No shit.
Fun and Distractions
This diary has been way too negative. Sorry.
On a positive note, the back porch dove is hatching another brood. Maybe. She has been patiently sitting on the beam for weeks, without a peep of progress, but we assume she knows what she is doing.
I still go out to take neighborhood pictures. These flower shots are very ordinary, but we do live in a pretty ordinary neighborhood, so what can I expect?
And Marianne continues to paint. She has finished one more candidate for an August showing and is starting a blank canvas again. As a painter of abstract art, she must come up with ideas first, since there are no models or photos to look at and to try to reproduce. I have learned that this is a much more involved process than slapping paint on a blank canvas. Much more. Stay tuned for results.
That's it for now. Thoughts and analysis. Somber, perhaps, but I feel better for having recorded them.
Stay tuned.
John and Marianne