Monday Musings - February 6, 2023

 

1. Greetings February. This is the first Monday of the month and 46 Mondays remain in the year. 

Finnegan on the Beach
Carlin Park, Jupiter, FL
February 3, 2023

2. Finnegan has been enjoying our morning beach walks. Well, with the exception of the past two days. We received a lot of rain yesterday, but today looks to be bright and sunny. I may even be able to get in a bike ride. 

3. After two days of terrible weather and a lot of rain, the skies cleared yesterday afternoon and we regained our South Florida winter weather. That meant we were able to sit outside at a restaurant with friends for Happy Hour and dinner.

4. This is SUPER week. The Super Bowl between Kansas City and Philadelphia will be played Sunday. Later next week, on about the 15th, pitchers and catchers report to Baseball Spring Training camps. Yay, baseball is returning. I have high hopes for the Orioles!! I will be attending some Spring Training games here in Jupiter and likely in Sarasota as well as Bradenton!

5. Balloon-gate is underway. The shoot-down of the suspected Chinese balloon off the coast yesterday has touched off a new red of fingerprinting between the Congress and the administration. Sadly, the only ones who suffer are the American people because, as the subtitle for the X-files goes, "the truth is out there."  

6. Today in History. On February 6, 1952, after a long illness, King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dies in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth, the older of the king’s two daughters and next in line to succeed him, was in Kenya at the time of her father’s death; she was officially crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, at age 27.

King George VI, the second son of King George V, ascended to the throne in 1936 after his older brother, King Edward VIII, voluntarily abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. During World War II, George worked to rally the spirits of the British people by touring war zones, making a series of morale-boosting radio broadcasts (for which he overcame a speech impediment) and shunning the safety of the countryside to remain with his wife in bomb-damaged Buckingham Palace. The king's health deteriorated in 1949, but he continued to perform state duties until his death in 1952.

More than 1,500 dead in Turkey and Syria after powerful earthquake - CNN

Chinese spy balloons under Trump not discovered until after Biden took office - CNN

U.S. farmers plan to go 'heavy on corn' in 2023 - Reuters

Ukraine's defence ministry in turmoil at key point in war - Reuters

Ukraine Warns Russia Is Planning Major Offensive as Kyiv Shakes Up Military Leadership - The Wall Street Journal

Child Care Hasn’t Recovered From Covid, Keeping Many Parents at Home - The Wall Street Journal

Can’t replace your gas stove? Here’s what you can do to protect your health. - The Washington Post

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL