The First Days of Summer

One of my favorite weather sites usually discusses the progress of tropical storms and hurricanes.  This morning, most of the comment section is not focused on storms Bret and Cindy, but on the Russian war.  No, not the one in Ukraine, but the one that happens when mercenaries from the Wagner group decide they've had enough of Putin.  Maybe that's what's happening.  Maybe it's something else.

The implications are scary.  As historian Heather Cox Richardson observes, "There are no good guys in this struggle."  The humans are scary, the presence of nuclear weapons even scarier.

Here's my favorite Diana Butler Bass tweet about recent events:  "So, we’ve had a global pandemic, the rise of fascism, and a Titanic disaster - why not throw in a Russian revolution to complete the early 20th century historical rerun?"

What a strange week, with the focus on the missing submersible that took wealthy people to see the wreck of the Titanic.  I use the word "see" very loosely--there was one porthole and it's very dark that deep and the waters are murky because of wreckage.  Temperatures in Texas have smashed heat records, which is saying something--it's Texas smashing records, not the northern reaches of Canada.  The oceans, too, are smashing heat records.  I'm staying here, hiding out in the hills.

Last night I was reminded of the value of moving to a neighborhood that's cozy but not smothering.  Our next door neighbor had us over to dinner last night.  Her cabin doesn't have AC or heat, so she's here off and on during the warmer months.  We walked over to enjoy her beef stroganoff and discussion about the future of the Church, the ELCA flavored Lutheran version more than others.

This morning, before my Zoom Bible study with my Florida church, I'll make a quick trip to a local farmer's market, the one that had the best tomatoes last year.  That farmer is still there--I'll ask him when the tomatoes are coming in.

I've got a day that needs to be full of grading and seminary writing.  But there's time for summer pleasures too, time for community, time to linger in the late summer light and look for fireflies.