A Burst of Cautious Optimism

I had a rare burst of energy yesterday afternoon, enough to send me outside with my battery-powered leaf blower, where I cleared the driveway and the street in front of the house, as well as the circle at the end of our little cul-de-sac. Though I loathe the noise leaf blowers make, they make it possible to do the work of ten people with rakes—in a fraction of the time. Thick layers of leaves on the forest floor are appealing, but leaves on hard surfaces quickly become dangerously slick in wet weather; my rationale for tolerating and contributing to the noise. By the time I finished clearing the leaves, my store of energy was depleted. But it began to return after a brief break, so I continued to take advantage of it. I blew leaves off the deck, washed some clothes, shredded a pile of paper that contained personal information, vacuumed the areas of the living room that needed it most, emptied Phaedra’s litter box, and otherwise took advantage of an unusual store of energy. By the time mi novia returned home from her weekly Monday card game, I was ready to relax with a little wine—and to overindulge in far too many Oreo cookies. I haven’t had so much energy in months…literally months. If any of it remains, tomorrow’s chemotherapy session will likely sap it. Not pessimism; realism. The photo—unrelated in any way to the energy of yesterday afternoon—popped up as a “memory” on my computer monitor unexpectedly. I remember taking the picture of morning glories I had planted years ago in Dallas.

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We finished watching The Beast in Me last night. I was impressed.

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My nephew and his wife sent us an unexpected package full of edible goodies a few weeks ago. Included among numerous other wonderful surprises was a package of Dutch caramel-filled waffle cookies called stroopwafels. I had never heard of them before we received the package, but I now consider myself an aficionado. After wolfing down the stroopwafels they sent, I went online and bought some more. The treats have given me sufficient reason to travel to Denmark in the event they become unavailable in the USA.

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MacKenzie Scott’s enormous wealth is not her only distinction. Her approach to philanthropy is equally remarkable. It is my understanding that she tends to make large philanthropic gifts with the expectation that recipient organizations are best equipped to know how best to leverage the gifts to accomplish their aims. While I know very little else about her (other than she is a novelist and was married to Jeff Besos), what I know is enough to make me think she is the kind of person I admire.

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Under the right leadership, the United States, Russia, and China (and probably others) could join forces to accomplish enormous good throughout the world. Simply by retreating from unnecessary competition with one another (and away from enormously wasteful defense spending and military posturing), their resources could be redirected toward solving countless problems and threats. Encouraging other countries to join an active coalition of nations dedicated to peace and uniform prosperity, they could lead the world toward a far brighter and more satisfying future. I realize, of course, such ideas are considered by many (and probably most) as impossibly optimistic and utterly unachievable. But only by ignoring the staggering opposition to collective solutions to world problems can the long shot become a likelihood. The “right leadership” would involve people who are diplomatic, compassionate, charismatic, intelligent, optimistic, and willing to take big risks in support of creating a true global force for good. Though I usually am more than a little pessimistic about the future of humanity and humankind, when I think of the possibilities such collective efforts could accomplish, I am cautiously optimistic.