Gemini Rising

The Next Right Thing

June flew by! Seems like just yesterday it was my birthday and here I am at the end of month.

Quite honesty, I'm just trying to get by and do the "next right thing." (Frozen II reference) SIDE NOTE: I have to say there were parts about Frozen II that I loved and parts that I weren't too thrilled about. One of my favorite parts is when Anna is alone in the cave and Olaf has "fallen apart." She's cold, shivering, and realizes that her world, her family, the people she loves, are gone. It's a dark moment and she has to look it in the face and find a way to deal with it. And she does. The song "The Next Right Thing" comes on. It made so much sense to me. When the world is a hot mess, all you can do is the next right thing. For me, in context of the world around me, the next right thing is wearing a mask, social distancing, be smart about where I go in public, no bars, or gyms... (finding a smart way to exercise without going to a gym). In a way, for me, it's living day-by-day, smartly. I have kids to care for, even though they're older, I still have to help them grow into young men who are kind yet have a good work ethic, who are moral people. I have a job to go to that's important. (answering 911).So for me, the next right thing is living day by day smartly.

READ

I have a couple of books to recommend:

WHATEVER IT TOOK by Henry Langhere. Henry was a paratrooper in WWII. He's in his 90's now, but he writes about his experience as a paratrooper and what it was like to be a POV. The writing is easy to read, if anything there were parts I wished Henry would have wrote more about. I do appreciate him sharing his experiences and I think his story is one that will connect with readers.

COUNTDOWN 1945 by Chris Wallace. This is book focuses on the Manhattan Project and how Truman came to the decision to use the atomic bomb. It looks at Truman, Oppehemier, Graves, Tibbets, and other historical figures as well as some "minor" characters like Ruth and Hideko and how the bomb changed everyone's lives. It's written in a countdown manner and it's easy to read. It was hard for me to put down as I enjoy history and I finished it pretty quickly.

Both books I got at Costco.

CURRENTLY READING

The Great Influenza by John Barry. I find it fascinating as he looks at the roots/causes of the Spanish flu and the state of American medicine at the time of the outbreak. It's really a good read. Barry talks about how Welsh through his actions, helped American medicine take the next step in it's evolution. What the conditions were like when the Spanish flu started (most likely in Kansas on the farm and it was an animal to human transmission, similar in a way to COVID). It's slow reading for me because the author introduces the characters involved and paints detailed pictures of what practicing medicine was like, the birth of research hospitals, etc.. and I'm just to part where he's talking about the Army Surgeon General Gorgas and how he's preparing the troops for WWI. It's interesting enough that I'm going to finish it. I want to know what happens next, and I'm curious to find out how the world dealt with the pandemic at the time.

NO SUMMER VACATION

Thanks to COVID no summer vacation for me. I have no plans for 4th of July. We had plans to go to Catalina, but had to cancel due to LA County shutting down the beaches. Probably for the best, but of course, I'm naturally bummed as Catalina is one of my favorite places to relax. We'll see what July holds for us.

According to the latest meme on Facebook it's aliens from space. Wish us luck.