Various Obsessions

We had a considerable snow here last week and then ice in a layer on top.  It resists melting.  We had a mild-ish day yesterday, rain last night  and the sun is out today.  A little melting is going on, but so much less than I would have expected.  Tonight it will all refreeze.

The Ukraine obsesses me, reminding me of the desperate and helpless feeling I had after years of being unable to stop or even or slow down the Vietnam war and its murder of civilians.  Of course, when an army invades a foreign country, civilians, the ecosystem, all the other living beings – they bear the brunt. I must hit CNN on my computer at least ten times a day. Also, Putin’s nuclear threat and the map he put out of targets he’d like to nuke in the States really gets to me.  I adolescence, I was terrified.  Science fiction then was full of nuclear catastrophes and post-unclear societies. As children now are put through drills for shooters, we were forced to duck and cover under our desks

I keep thinking about the people hiding from bombing and shelling in basements and subway stations, about the difficulty getting food, medicine.  Keep warm.  Suffering so for nothing they ever did.  Just sacrificed to a power-mad dictator. Some lefty friends are saying it was the fault of the West in not promising Putin to refuse the Ukraine entrance into NATO, but then the boundary of Russian territory would just move farther west.  He wants the empire back.  He wants what Stalin had. 

The brave little spears of daffodils are sticking through the ice and snow on the hill outside the dining room.  I haven’t see any crocuses yet but as it clears against the south side of the house, I expect to see some.

Local PBS or maybe it’s national seems to have dropped the Italian and Greek cooking shows that were the only ones I watched.   I find I watch few PBS programs lately – a lot of pseudo-scientific “health” shows and 50’s AND 60’s music.  I watch an occasional nature program or other documentary, a couple of mystery programs I like and very occasional Masterpiece theater.  An increasing amout of time they spend on programs that aren’t identified but for members only, but if you’re a member, you have to waste much time going on line to find out what’s on and usually it’s old reruns you didn’t want to watch the first time.

I started the first seeds of the year last week, but I can’t take the ones that have sprouted out to the greenhouse as it’s predicted to be 18 degrees tonight -- in March!I had to start some tender plants yesterday – sweet and hot peppers and two kinds of eggplant, one the Italian type and one six-pack of the Oriental long slim eggplants.