OMGIM - alone

 Today is the 2nd day of the 9th week, the 26th day of the 2nd month, the 57th day of 2024, and:

• Carnival Day - during Lent???
• Carpe Diem Day
• For Pete's Sake Day - when my mother was born, her father had been hoping for a son, who would've been named Peter, so she ended up with the nickname "Pete".  She hated it, especially when Aunt Mary tried to make it more feminine by calling her "Petey".  
• Letter to an Elder Day
• Levi Strauss Day - marks the birthday of the man, born in 1829, who created the ubiquitous jeans in 1873.   
• Museum Advocacy Day
• National Cupcake Day
• National Customized Wheel and Tire Day
• National Personal Chef Day
• National Pistachio Day
• National Set a Good Example Day - the sixth precept in The Way to Happiness 
• Play More Cards Day - Grandmom Hughes and I used to sit and play gin rummy for hours while just chatting.  I haven't played it since she died, but should see if I can get my granddaughters interested 
• Tell a Fairy Tale Day
• Thermos Bottle Day
• World Pistachio Day

ON THIS DAY IN....

 747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date.  Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events

1606 – The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea

1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun

1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London

1935 - RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt

1942 - Werner Heisenberg, a principal scientist in the German nuclear weapons program, delivers a lecture to Nazi officials about extracting energy from nuclear fission

1952 - PM Winston Churchill announces Britain has its own atomic bomb

1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket

1967 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1976 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1977 - 1st flight of Space Shuttle (atop a Boeing 747)

1987 - NASA launches GEOS-H

2013 - A flexible battery capable of being charged wirelessly and folded and stretched is developed

2022 - Scientists publish findings into "lost" continent Balkanatolia, that linked southern Europe with Asia, providing passageway for animal migrations 35 to 38 million years ago

2024 - Voyager 1 is 22h 34m 01s of light travel time from Earth 

Quote of the day:

"The eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness."

~  Norman Cousins - American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate

One thing I have often reflected upon has been the difference between being alone, and being lonely.  It is also something we discuss now and then in the family, trying to decide if being able to live alone means that one is an introvert, and realizing the value of being able to amuse oneself.  The word that comes to mind for me is "self-sufficient", but that is a rather slippery concept for me.  OTOH, it certainly seems to be necessary to keep oneself from being totally dependent on others.  And both I and my two kids have always prided ourselves on being able to manage tolerably well to at least keep ourselves occupied.   

OTOH:  The fact is, as has often been pointed out, no one is an island.  After all, we all have elaborate support systems around us - family, community, work, society.    

And yet, it only takes a disaster such as flood or earthquake or war or even a health issue to make it clear just how fragile those support networks can be.  

Yes I have been doom scrolling again.

I look at the pictures of the Gaza inhabitants cowering in fear.  I see and read about the resilience of the Ukrainian people after years of war pulmeting their land.  I think of the immigrants who have left everything behind and are trying to start anew - and how seldom they find a welcome.

In so many places, democracy is being submerged by authoritarianism as people turn to the legendary strong man to solve all their ills, whether it be drug lords, a flagging economy, or corruption scandals.  And as my own country is wracked with increasingly bitter partisan politics, as a very vocal minority of fanatics tries to impose its will on the majority, and one political party even advocates violence to attain power, I wonder where my family could go because I don't see any place offering a haven at this moment.  

As I look about my home, and view with trepidation the need to downsize, pack up, and move, I try to imagine having to leave everything behind and my mind simply boggles.

It is at times like this when I envy those who have a simple, trusting relationship with their God as they can always say that no matter where they have to walk or be, they are never alone or completely bereft.  

Meanwhile, work goes on - two loan closings and an EOM looming without my direct report, who is off to India for the next three weeks.  Apartment management said the filters in my HVAC units would be changed today - but they weren't.  My son is getting his infusion today, awaiting for his PET scan results, and contemplating clinical trials.  My daughter is finally testing negative for COVID, and dealing with her usual disabilities.   I have stopped taking vitamin K2 and D3 and am hoping the ugly, itchy rash will subside so I can stop scratching.  

Of course Tiscuit, as usual, is sublimely ignoring Monday completely