One Solar Orbit Complete
The boy turned one. Hard to comprehend really. Where we were one year ago vs. where we are today. Vastly different worlds, requiring vastly different resources of mind and soul. The boy is me, and he is also her. A genetically perfect mix of both of our personalities, our tenacity, our exploratory nature, plus he’s cute to boot.
A great haul was had by all. Friends, family, and a neighbour came by, then we all sung a song of celebration and light!
I wrote a fantastic rhyme in Declan’s card, though I’m not sure I can repeat it word for word, and the card isn’t is at home where currently, I am not. The rhyme is very Dr. Seuss, perhaps a reflection of how much we read his books to the boy.
“You are ONE! And you are FUN! You RUN and RUN and RUN so fast we have to catch you by the BUM!” – Lucien Telford
There’s more but I’ll have to post it on the next update.
The story of the 2023 Treasure Hunt cars
Book Mountain
I happened past Book Mountain Bookstore on my way to the bank the other day, so I popped in and met the owner. Turns out it’s a new adventure for him and I returned with a signed copy of The Sequence. Like all things in his store, it’s for sale.
I also left with this copy of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Dr. Seuss’ second book. It’s written in prose rather than rhyme, circa 1938. Looking forward to reading it to the little fella when he can actually understand English. For now his only words are Mama and Uh-Oh, which is hella cute I have to admit.
The Next Wave
This will sound conspiracy theorist, but bear with me and I’ll stick to what I have read as, the facts.
If I were a bad actor, leading a large nation intent on some form of changing the world order, would I build an army and attack the West in the hopes that they would eventually capitulate and adopt my chosen way of life? We could ask Putin but it seems he’s in the middle of just such an adventure. However if we consult the Art of War, we find that confusing and deceiving one’s enemy is a far more effective technique at achieving domination and/or victory.
So let’s take a look at H5N1, a zoonotic mutating its way on a direct trajectory for the human population. Kill rate? Oh yeah, it’s around 52% across all species. For reference, SARS-Cov-2.0 has a mortality rate that ranges depending on the region, however a number closer to 5% of the infected end up with a fatal outcome. With an H5N1 outbreak in humans, we could be looking at a loss of billions. Some may say that’a a good thing, but that debate is for another day…
Is it possible that I, the bad actor, would choose a slower and more calculated route to disarming a group of nations using weapons that don’t require armour and ballistics? What if I simply developed a series of increasingly deadly pathogens, genetically altered to be unlikely to infect my nation’s dominant race. What if I timed them to reach their maximum efficacy immediately prior to the world’s mightiest military nation’s presidential elections? Destabilizing further an already unstable situation? What if I pointed the finger at someone else and said, “no, it must be them. We are your friends of course. What possible reason could we have to hurt you?”
Sounds like a great Tom Clancy book. The Dragon Rises. Rising Dragon. You get the idea, and it ain’t great. Here’s the reference article.
Meanwhile…
Here’s a time-lapse of us crossing the volcanoes of the west coast last week. Starting with Mt. Rainier on the left, then St. Helens on the right, followed by Hood and Shasta.
All For Now
The story of the theft of Katie’s mobile phone will come on the next update. For now enjoy this calming photo of Declan enjoying his play kitchen in our mountain home’s backyard.