A Good Day to Stay Home

I've been going to Starbucks pretty consistently this week to get words in on A Barrel of Vintner. I love our local Starbucks because people leave each other alone to work. Oh, there's a nod and smile of acknowledgment, but otherwise we focus on our own tasks.

I find this rather pleasant. Nothing against DH or the pups, but I can concentrate for a solid two to two and half hours. Whatever wip I'm working on receives my sole attention, and I can type a solid 1K to 1.5K in that time.

Yes, I'm a slow writer by most author's standards.

However, we had a snow storm this morning. Mother Nature added another two inches to the foot of snow we've received over the past two weekends. DH is out with the snowblower clearing the driveway and sidewalks even as I type this.

There's something calming about fresh powder. A blank tapestry over sleeping nature. It's a good day to knit with a cup of hot tea and puppy on your lap.

For those who love yarnwork and hate ICE, Needle & Skein in Minneapolis, MN, is offering a hat pattern for a donation. Employee Paul Neary designed the hat based on the red resistance cap worn by Norwegians during the Nazi occupation of the country during World War II.

Here's the thing--the  state of Minnesota was settled by a lot of Scandinavians, including Norwegians, in the 1800s. Scandinavians are the descendants of Vikings. These aren't people who will roll over and show their bellies to a bunch of gun-toting bullies. If you don't believe me, read up on these countries' histories.

Which makes Tribblehead's efforts to bully Denmark into giving up Greenland and their refusal even more significant.

Want a personal tidbit about me? My middle name is Scandinavian and means "hope" or "luck" depending on the country.

Anyway, Needle & Skein donates all the proceeds from their "Melt the ICE" pattern to the immigrant programs in Minneapolis. They've received nearly $500K and donated to organizations that assist immigrants. (Note: This article is a week old. The current number I stated is from this morning's post on their Facebook page.)

With the cold and snow here in Ohio, I need something to keep my head warm! Fuck ICE!

We Are Already Globalized

I watch the news with some amusement these days. There's a nationalistic streak happening all over the world that's reminiscent of a century ago. The streak from the 1920's led to World War II.

But back then, powered flight by humans was in its infancy. Transatlantic flights were a rare and difficult adventure. The only way to travel from the Old World to the New was by steam-powered ships, which often took a week or more, unless you were really rich and could afford tickets on, say one Cunard's luxury liners like the RMS Lusitania.

[Yes, I know the Lusitania was sunk in 1915, but it held the transatlantic speed record until the 1930's.]

My real point is that this time around nationalism is playing out in a weird way. Politicians are pushing nationalism worldwide at a time when our economies are so complex and intertwined far more than they were a century ago

It used to be that imported goods were expensive items that one could not make or produce in one's own country. For example, it's hard to raise silkworms in the Scandinavian countries, so silk had to be imported from places were the worms could be raised.

But today?

Near-instantaneous communication and faster shipping with international flights means we don't have to wait forever to get something like cinnamon.

I've hired cover artists living in the U.S., Canada, and Bulgaria. I've sold books in every continent except Antarctica. This afternoon, I ordered doll hair from Australia. I bought a pair of beautifully crafted silver and citrine earrings from India for a cousin's birthday. And I love that cinnamon has become so common I can eat it in bagels every morning if I wanted.

If anything, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us just how entwined our economies have become, even if our cultures aren't.

Will this nationalistic fervor continue through the rest of the decade? I really doubt it. Not even the politicians want to give up their Chinese tech and their Italian race cars, so it'll be a little harder for them to make me give up cinnamon.

Why?

Currently reading - Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Yep, it's a late post today.  Got a little sidetracked today.

I was lucky when GK was a toddler.  He never went through that stage where he asked the constant 'why' questions.  You know the ones.  Why is the sky blue?  Why do birds fly?  Why do we have pet dogs?

He's making up for it now.  We started the events of WWII during 1942 as today's history lesson.  Since WWII was the first well-documented war, there's lots of pictures, recordings and info.  We got stuck on the Bataan Death March and Executive Order 9066.  It took me nearly two hours to explain why Japan and the U.S. did what they did in the first six months of 1942 and how those events affected (or would have affected) members of our family.  Two hours later when I finished answering all GK's "Why?"s, he looked at me and said, "People are stupid."

I couldn't agree more.

So, to the victims and survivors of Bataan, to those Americans who were illegally incarcerated in U.S. concentrations camps, and to those Americans who served in the European and Pacific theaters, I salute your sacrifices to human stupidity.