Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 29, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Winter is still here with us – if not with more snow; so we’ve had another indoors day as much as possible.  That started with Tai Chi and breakfast followed by a frosty walk to school; and then we stayed inside for all of our academic adventures before another no-as-chilly walk home and then on the lab or archives after a quick after-school visit with Mom and Silkie and Mandy.  Yes, Mandy is currently spending some time with us, but she is in high demand with our cousins while Cassie and Michael are away; so it is only a matter of time before she moves on to hang out with Faith, Brianna, or Leah for a while!  She is actually curled up on my bed right now as we’re doing this update and our twin chat and bedtime computing; so Ethan will likely get Silkie for his cuddle buddy tonight.

We had fun with our lab or archives work-play; came home again in time for dinner with Mom and Dad; and then we all went to the Inn for game night.  Mom and Dad won the senior title this week; we didn’t win a junior title tonight; and for Ethan, that could be because Naomi was more interested in keeping him distracted and having fun than in winning tonight!  We did not do a bedtime walk with Silkie after getting home and our friends got rides home thanks to the cold weather.  Mom and Dad had some work to do in the office, but we were sent upstairs for bath or Jacuzzi time; and now we are winding down fast toward nap time.  We want to be at full-power for the last school day of the week and the weekend; so let’s wrap this up.

Cassie and Michael have started their Friday already and headed out on their travel day before dawn.  They’ll arrive in Yangon by the time we wake up in the morning – they’ll need about eleven hours to drive there; and then they’ll get right to work for the rest of the day.  They are planning some sightseeing this weekend, but their days will be full between the work and play time.

The world news continues to be tense with war risks high in the Middle East in multiple locations and continually-worsening conditions in Ukraine for both the soldiers and civilians as winter becomes tougher every day with limited electricity and heating in many of the Ukraine-controlled cities.  Central America is another powder-keg in the making; and we could be in for some serious problems here at home as more and more people get angry with what our government and agencies and military are doing here and worldwide.  Compared to all of that, Greenland seems like a nothingburger, but that isn’t true for the people of the territory or the people of Denmark, and contrary to media and our own leaders; there is no deal to take over parts or all of Greenland at all; and we should add that Denmark and Greenland have no interest in handing the territory over to the United States under any circumstances.

Let’s stop there and skip the temptation for a rant.  We’ve had a good day with the mix of work and play time; we’re happy; warm indoors despite the cold outside; and we’re looking forward to the weekend with our family and friends!  That’s collectively awesome, and we’re grateful; so we’ll take all of those happy thoughts and head off to dreamland right now!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 28, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Let’s begin with the Cassie and Michael update – if only because their Wednesday was a lot warmer; and that’s going to be true for their Thursday that is already in-progress.  The coast of Myanmar is apparently amazing; they are having fun with the work and play time; and half-wish that they could stay there for a longer visit that they don’t have time for on this trip!  They will move on tomorrow with another long travel day that will take them to the south of Myanmar where they’ll stay for the weekend.  Their Thursday work is mostly going to be charity-related – and yes, even coastal paradise cities have people in need; so they are doing a lot of good!

We’ve tried to do our part to do good in the world today to while here at home.  Our school day was uneventful, but we got a lot done at the lab or archives after school; and then we worked in the office on family business and charity projects after dinner and through until around ten-thirty – plus time-phased hours.  Our friends wouldn’t think that most of our work was fun at all, but we’re happy tonight; and feel good about everything we did get done tonight.  Ethan would tell you that I’m happier because my lab work included a new success for treating one of the specific cancers – curing it, and while we’re still years away from taking those treatment-cures out into the world; we are making a lot of progress!

Now we are winding down fast toward nap time; so let’s get to the world news report.  War with Iran is looking more-likely right now, but we’ll wait to see whether our idiot leaders go there or come to their senses before it is too late.  News of a second round of trilateral peace talks for Ukraine have been announced, but we still don’t know why they are bothering when the two sides are obviously still far apart on demands and expectations; so no deal is going to happen diplomatically anytime soon.  We want to mention the latest news from Europe about their plans to end all imports of Russian natural gas and oil – mostly because the European Union is over-riding their own rules by ignoring vote vetoes from countries that still want to buy those Russian resources.  It is obvious that our country is not the only one deciding that laws are optional when inconvenient, and when that happens; it is only a matter of time before that kind of general lawlessness spreads and become endemic.

We’ll keep that from happening here in Witch Falls, but don’t need to worry about that tonight either; so let’s wrap this up and we will stay happy as we head off to dreamland.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 27, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We’ve had a good day, but it has mostly been indoors again – though it was at least comparatively-warmer while still staying below freezing even for the high of the day.  Tai Chi was indoors; we had a hot breakfast; and fun at school that included the school band practice.  We don’t have much booked for the band, but will be helping out with the seniors’ Valentine’s Day luncheon as usual; so we’re getting ready for that now.  Ethan and I brought our four best friends home with us to study and have dinner between that practice and our teen praise team practice; Mom added in a bonus group Magi lesson; and then that evening practice was fun too.  We’re already starting to prepare for the Easter sunrise service, but we’ll help out with other music between now and then; and we also need to allow for practices we’ll miss for things like spring break.

It was getting colder again by the time we walked home; we had a visit with Mom and Dad once there; and didn’t do any business or charity work because Mom wanted us to get the extra sleep instead.  That’s why we’re already winding down our twin chat and computer checks; and we’re okay with the extra nap time.  Cassie and Michael have already started their Wednesday in Myanmar; and they headed out well-before dawn for an eight-hour drive to the west coast and the next stop of their trip – the coastal city of Kyaukpyu.  The weather will be near the same with sun and highs around ninety; and now they’ll have the bonus of beaches and amazing seaside views!  They’ll only be in the area for their Wednesday and Thursday before needing to move on again, but we’re sure they’ll have fun with all of the work; and we continue to be jealous of the warm weather that we definitely aren’t going to have around here this week!

As for our world news report, we want to start by reporting that the snow storm is still having an impact in a lot of places – especially wherever there are power outages compounding the deep cold issues as well as the places that are still dealing with heavy ice or snow damage.  There have been quite a few storm-related deaths; and that number is sure to climb as long as it stays cold and the clean-up is heavy and strenuous work.  Elsewhere in the world, there was a fatal ferry sinking in the Philippines that hasn’t really gotten much attention in western media, but there were more than three-hundred and fifty people on the ferry when it went down; and considering the number of people still missing; the death toll could easily end up being higher than from this entire winter storm that has caused havoc across thousands of miles of the country.

Moving on to the top conflict zones, the most-recent peace stories have apparently run their courses; the trilateral talks about the Ukraine war weren’t as-positive as claimed on Saturday; and the death and destruction in Ukraine continues with no end in sight – though it continues to be possible for the Ukraine military to get to the point of collapse as they continue to lose people and get worn down by constantly defending territory with dwindling resources and manpower.  The Middle East is a mess too, and Israel is not only continuing the Palestinian genocide; they are trying their best to destroy Lebanon and Syria; and tensions remain very high with Iran as our country continues to move naval forces back into the region and threaten Iran with another attack.

That’s enough for tonight.  Ethan and I are going to get some sleep, so stay tuned for our next update; and we’ll get back to full-power so that we can be ready for those adventures we’ll write about tomorrow night!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 26, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We’re really noticing the difference between here and where Cassie and Michael are working and playing in Myanmar; and yes – that has everything to do with the weather and the high temperatures there and the below-freezing temps here!  Cassie and Michael have already started their Tuesday work as we’re writing this update, and they are working hard along with the cameo sightseeing and play moments, but they are getting to do all of that while sunny and warm; so we can’t exactly feel bad for them!

Here at home, we stayed indoors as much as possible.  That included for Tai Chi this morning; while we were at school; during the lab or archives play-work after school; and our evening of office work and a Magi lesson with Mom and Dad.  The cold convinced us to add in bath or Jacuzzi time even though we have been warm and indoors; and now we’re winding down toward nap time after a very long day – especially when you add in a half-dozen bonus hours of work that we fit in thanks to some time phasing at the lab and home.

While we’ve been happy to hide from the winter freeze here at home; it continues to be a top news story around the country.  Problems range from power outages and energy challenges due to the storms and extreme cold; the post-storm clean-up that ranges from clearing roads to roof collapses caused by the heavy snow and ice.  We won’t try to cover all of those stories, since there are thousands of them, but we do want to mention a couple of infrastructure-related stories.

First up, we note that green energy proponents are not screaming in protest today while coal and gas and oil fueled electricity generation is the only thing saving the south and east from blackouts as grids are stressed by record demands for heating.  Limits for emissions output have been suspended during the emergencies in many States; and that is still currently the only way to ramp up production of electricity; since nuclear can’t do that either for emergencies – and let’s not even get into what happens with solar when the panels get covered by heavy snow and ice!  For the record, our solar-wind farm knows how to deal with weather; and our equipment can handle the cold and snow – which is proved by the fact that we are currently producing more electricity into the grid than we are using in the region even just a day after the storm went through here!  Don’t take that the wrong way, since we do still rely on the grid and other power generation too, but we also have other options for heating in the winter too – like fireplaces and wood stoves in enough homes to reduce risks of overloading our local systems.

The other story we wanted to mention is the issue of natural gas freeze-offs – and that is both a national and international story; since production and distribution is being affected when demand is hitting peaks due to the storms and deep freeze.  Natural gas freeze-offs happen when well heads and other system connections freeze in the deep cold and block the flow of the gas.  That isn’t just a problem for getting natural gas into homes – it affects everything from the wells extracting the gas to keeping gas flowing into those electricity-generating power plants.  This is also an international issue now that so much of our liquid natural gas production is being sent to supply Europe, and while that takes time to work through the transportation system; a week of reduced production capacity now will affect deliveries to Europe in a few weeks or month.  The European countries might be regretting their choices to stop using Russian natural gas and oil for more reasons soon than the much-higher costs they’ve been paying to replace that resource with ‘our’ alternative!

Winter is not going well in Ukraine; the frontlines are a horror for their soldiers; and Russia continues with bombs, drones, and missile strikes pretty much at-will anywhere in the country.  There is no or limited power and hit in many of the cities in Ukraine; and they really need to make whatever deal they are forced to accept with Russia before there is nothing left of the country to save and rebuild!  Attacks on Iran are still expected more than not; that is a terrible idea for our country – and for Israel; and we’ll be sarcastic and suggest that our leaders will go that route because they believe they can do whatever they want with no true consequences.  Ditto that for the Palestinians – though there isn’t really anything new out of the council of peace – or Board of Peace as it now seems to be getting branded.  Maybe that’s more-accurate if joining the board really does cost a billion dollars per member!  Denmark and Greenland might be in trouble since they aren’t just going along with the supposed ‘deal’ to give the United States sovereignty over land it takes for military bases in Greenland; and the ‘new’ Venezuelan government and acting President has started pushing back against American demands too.  Maybe another round of political leader kidnappings is in order in both places!  Yes, that was definitely sarcasm; so we should likely just wrap this up and get some sleep.

Before we do that, Ethan wants me to mention the NFL conference championship football games from Sunday that the guys talked about today.  Consider that done, but I really don’t care that the Patriots and Seahawks won and will play in the Super Bowl – or that the Chiefs and Rams lost yesterday and are out!  The highlights we saw from those games weren’t really impressive; and the three or four point victories certainly weren’t decisive – particularly for the ten-to-seven final score where the weather appeared to best both teams! ;^)

Okay, I’m ready to sleep now thanks to that snooze of a football recap; so we’re out of here and off to dreamland!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - January 25, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

The top news of the day is the winter storm, but that is also history for us locally; since we got our five or six inches of snow yesterday; and now we’re only dealing with the sub-zero cold that only hit a high today of negative-two while we’re going to hit a low overnight of around negative-fifteen.  Yes, that’s cold, but still far from the coldest in the nation from this storm and cold front; and other areas are getting it a lot worse than us for very different reasons.  In the south, they are dealing with freezing rain and ice while north of them and to the east; it is much more snow – like triple and more than what we got to go along with the freezing weather.  Other States, like Wisconsin, aren’t getting that kind of snow, but they’re dealing with temperatures in the negative-thirties; so there are a lot of places today where being outdoors unless absolutely necessary is a bad idea; and many places are also dealing with power outages due to the storms as trees and power lines are coming down due to the snow or ice.

Compared to that, our day has been easy and quiet.  We finished our last snow shoveling last night, so we didn’t have any work to do today.  Ethan and Naomi did their own thing for indoor Tai Chi; Aiden and I did our morning workout with Mom and Dad; and we did our own things for breakfast too before meeting up at the church for the service and Sunday school.  Thanks to the cold weather, Ethan and I opted for lab or archives work-play this afternoon; we came home in time for dinner with Mom and Dad; and then we’ve had a quiet evening with some office work and a Magi lesson; bath or Jacuzzi time; and now our wind down toward bedtime with the nightly twin chat and computer checks.

As we’re writing this, Cassie and Michael are in Myanmar, and already getting started on their work there.  They are continuing to get sunny, hot days; and it is even a bit warmer for them in the Capital city, Naypyidaw, and the highs are going to be around ninety degrees every day.  We are definitely jealous while comparing that to our current deep freeze, but as we’ve mentioned, it is winter; and has been fairly-mild to now; so we can’t really complain about a week of ‘real’ winter!

We can complain about our world leaders and the mess they’re making of a lot of the rest of the world, but since winter storms have been the top story in our country; the wars and peace talks that go nowhere are not getting as much attention in the media.  That doesn’t keep the politicians from spouting off their nonsense, but then the elites of the world don’t have to go outside and shovel their own driveways and sidewalks; and we are sure that their private jets get priority service for de-icing and keeping runways open for them!  That’s fairly-sarcastic, but then we also noticed that those trilateral peace talks last Friday and Saturday were held somewhere hot and sunny instead of wintry; so that does sort of prove that the elites can’t relate to what the soldiers in the trenches in Ukraine are dealing with in the middle of winter where they also often don’t even have electricity or heat!

Instead of getting into a rant tonight, we’re going to wrap this up and call it a night.  We’ve had a happy weekend even with the extra work, cold, and snow; we’re looking forward to the coming week as we start new learning modules at school and return to the more-normal schedule that will include school band and teen praise team practices.  We’ll try for more work time at the lab too; and we’ll try to fit in as much fun with our family and friends as we go along.  Stay tuned; and we’ll have those stories for you – along with Cassie-and-Michael updates and the world news and current events reports.  That is all for tonight, though, and we are ready to crash and nap – so we will!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!