I woke up this morning and realized it is my favorite day of the year. Not March 19th mind you. The date itself holds no special meaning. But, as I stood at the back window this morning, drinking my coffee and looking out to the woods, I saw GREEN! Yes. Green! There are actual leaves growing back there. To me, more than anything, this signifies the end of winter. This seems like the opportune time to remind you that Buckeye Chuck and not Punxsutawney Phil is the prognosticator of prognosticators. Ohioans need to pay attention to their own furry varmint on Groundhog Day. He has never steered me wrong!
So what’s going on in the world? COVID is currently very quiet. Many of the final restrictions that were in place are being lifted and Ohio cases are down to hundreds per day rather than thousands. Our two year anniversary of working from home was this past week. It’s definitely no longer leading any news reports. We have new things to worry about.
A little more than three weeks ago, Russia decided to invade its neighbor, the Ukraine. It’s important to understand that while Ukraine was growing closer to the West and perhaps moving toward joining NATO, they were not yet a NATO member nation. Ukraine had done nothing to provoke this invasion. They were seemingly minding their own business. World leaders warned Russia, but eventually their tanks and armies crossed the Ukrainian border. Now basically every country the free world (and even some that aren’t so free) think this is wrong. The thing is that in this day and age where everyone has nuclear weapons, and because Ukraine is not a NATO member nation, it’s sort of like walking a tightrope. The response from the world, although non-military, has been powerful. And in my opinion, correct. If your over the age of 16 and have been alive and well over the part five years, you are probably very familiar with the term “Cancel Culture”. That is what has happened to Russia. They’re being canceled. Every country in the Western world has placed sanctions on them. Companies all over the world have stopped doing business with them. For example, McDonald’s has ceased all operations there and Apple has stopped selling to Russia. Hotel chains have pulled out and banks have frozen the accounts of their wealthy. Sports teams are not allowed to complete, etc. While terrible and scary, it’s also interesting to see how that strategy plays out. Gas in Ohio is over $4 per gallon, but the Russian economy has taken a very serious hit. It all seems rather senseless. I’m not sure what they’re thinking or what they hope to gain. I can only imagine that they had no idea their actions would be met with such opposition.
On to less serious matters. This morning S & I went out for our walk/jog. It was raining lightly, but the rain got stronger as we got farther from home. It was fine, because it isn’t particularly cold outside, except for one thing. Our socks and shoes were soaked. I couldn’t help but think of how appalled JDub would be if she were a mile from home with soaking wet socks. XOXO
The NCAA tournament has just begun. Dayton was the first team out of the teams selected. They had a great season, but lost in their conference tourney in the semis when their point guard was injured just before the half. The good news is that the team was 9 freshmen and 2 sophomores. One analyst quipped that, “If Dayton can keep this team together, they will be playing for the National Championship in two years”. So that gives me hope. In other sports news, NFL free agency is going on and the Bengals have done well so far snagging multiple offensive linemen, which will hopefully keep Joe Joe Burrow (double use of Joe IS intentional), upright.
Excited to see the Dubs next week at GG’s. Six weeks until our first 5K of the year. I can’t wait for summer!
Love you!
