STAY WARM...STAY COZY

Thirteen inches of snow on the ground and below zero temp predicted for tonite.
A county truck just blocked our driveway plowing the street….Tis ok…we can handle it.
We'll dig out in the morning and be glad.

A goodly fire is blazing in the hearth and Dear Wife is journaling and/or reading in front of it.
I intend to join her.
Sophie is sharing the traditional heat source with her.

We have shoveled and cooked and cleaned dishes and now we settle in for the night.

Candles at dinner again as the new chandelier still has not arrived.

No traffic to speak of outside…

We are experiencing something of the ambience of an historical night.
Cool!

The msm is full of the troubles in the Mid East and of the foibles of life in the nation’s capital.

Egypt has captured the interest of the msm.
All of a sudden, most of the former everyday big items are pushed to the background.
Where did they all go?

I am reminded of the story of the little girl who turned to her father one night and asked, “Daddy, how come there is just enough news in the world every day to just fill the newspaper?”

One should remember not to let the msm control our awareness of important world happenings.
We should use them, the msm folk.

They should not manipulate us.

Big mistake to let that happen.

A cozy fire; candles; quiet inside and out; a fat, happy dog; Dear Wife [this list is not in any order of importance]; books and computer and paper and pen/pencil.

Has time travel occurred??

We could be back in the 19th Century, in some ways.

It occurs to us that a number of the world’s hot spots then, the 19th Century, are among the major hotspots of today.

British newspapers of the former era would have been full of problems in Pakistan; India; Iraq; Afghanistan; Iran; Egypt; Africa; Russia; and I could go on….but not necessary.
I name only the international problems.
The at-home problems were often very similar as well.

You get the point. Problem areas persist…and those areas were not problems then because the Good Guys were ignorant or were really just bad guys.

They were problems then because they could not be solved.
And we are having a devil of a time solving them now.

And our nation is not The Bad Guy.
It may not be run by the best guy in the world right now, but it is definitely not the bad guy.

Funny how the mind can turn on to such thoughts.

But it bothers me that folks today think that our recent ancestors were somehow less intelligent than we are….that they were ill-equipped to deal with the big problems…that we are so much better equipped now.

Two words for such thought: b..l sh.t!!

Sorry.

Another misunderstanding that bothers us here at The Study…..that empire is by definition a bad thing.

I defy the average person who holds that opinion to demonstrate any real knowledge of what empire was…beyond some impressions gained by less than casual thought/conversation/study.

Somehow the word in common parlance reeks with unwholesome baggage.

The tragic mess of Africa today is blamed on imperialism.

The mess in the Middle East is blamed on imperialism.

Problems in Asia are blamed on imperialism.

Problems in Latin America are blamed on imperialism.

And the everyday citizen believes all this blaming with a faith about as strong as he believes anything going on in the world far away to be true.

As a teacher of mine used to say to us young lads, “Poor Fellow…poor, poor fellow.”

This is becoming a negative essay.

Right!

Not good.

Well, there is a fire to tend and a book to read and thoughts to be thought and written about…hopefully more positively.

Stay warm. Stay cozy.

Think good thoughts.

Thanks for reading.