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HAPPINESS IS THE ART OF DOING NOTHING

 From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

          DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82
July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572
Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130
Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82
Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85
Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118
Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465
Jan     14        4142    15512         1151        189       712
Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398
Mar     2        1989     9490        1726       110      194
April   6         906     11787         4211       631       37
May    4         853    13667        3025      3786      59 
June   1         287    10637         2346      3205      95
 July   7          251      8440        1595         817     411
Aug    4          656    10120        1118         532     423 
Sept  22       2228      9326          839        279     124
Oct    6         2102      8255          543        315       59
Nov   3         1436      7830         186         458       23
Dec    1        1633      8475          266        477       28
Jan    7         2025      6729         148        285      140
       14          2303      7872         238        430      128
       21          2777      9091         396        489      103
       26          3143   10,554         606        575        94
       27          2689   10,261         662        627        71
       28          2732   10,516         779        862      133
Feb  2           2990   12,012         946        991      175
        9           2785   11,827         1295      1241      213
      10           2465   11,110           922        659     203
      11            1917    11,193          1121        804      146
      17            2184   11,440        1129        496      435
      23           2440   10,731         956        302      110
      24           1823     9,809        996        304       40

Summary:  
  • Certainly looking better for the USA and World.  I expect both to show significantly lower new deaths numbers next week.
  • Europe remains an epicenter, and some countries of the Orient are catching up:
    • Japan had more new cases yesterday than the USA:  77,810 to 70,885.
    • Germany was still #1 with 218,431, but #2 was South Korea with 170,006.
    • Iceland had 15,597 new cases/million population.
      • World  226
      • USA  212 (we are lower than the world average for the first time in a long time)
        • Idaho  1338
        • California  359
        • Hawaii  206
        • New York  138
      • Japan  618
      • South Korea  3314
      • Singapore  3151
      • Germany  2600
      • Russia  911
      • Latvia  5994
      • Norway  2835
      • Brunei  8380
      • Taiwan  3.3
      • Hong Kong  1158
      • China  0.13

Well, Putin performed a Hitler-like blitzkrieg and essentially took over Ukraine.  What did the U.S. and our allies do?  A few sanctions.  True, the Moscow stock market dropped by 30%, and the European Union accounts for 37% of Russia's global trade and receives 30% of the energy consume.  However, Putin has won round one.  The West is moving cautiously so as not to hurt the future peace, or something like that.  The truth is that short of troops on the ground and active air action, what else can we do?  What is Xi Jinping now thinking about Taiwan?

Donald Trump praised Putin.  Fox News played down the invasion.  Steve Bannon argued that Congress should impeach Biden for instigating this war in Ukraine.   Trump Republicans are mostly unsure about what to say and more traditional Republicans are mostly quiet.  Read more here.  There is now a new Cold War, and our nation is not united.

Since moving into 15 Craigside, I've found that solitude is restorative.  There is an art to doing nothing, which can bring happiness.

  • There is an Italian term about the sweetness of doing nothing:  dolce far niente.
  • Niksen is Dutch for do nothing.  This philosophy encourages you to stare at nature, laze around and listen to music.  Koe knufflen, or cow hugging, has become popular.  Something to a big, comforting body and warmer temperature, which can lower your heartbeat.  Has spread to Arizona and New York for $75/hour.
  • In Denmark, hygge...Sweden, lagom = finding joy in moderation.
  • Kolkata (once spelled Calcutta) uses the term lyadh:  lush laziness in a state of inactive indulgence.
  • To counter what is happening to Brazil's jungles, indigenous communities and conservationists are going local in a slow food movement.
  • After decades of rapid urbanization, even China is slowing down to embrace slow living and restricting fast food.
  • Japan has a word, karoshi, which means death by overwork.  The government, combined with the pandemic, contributed to low-key relocation and working from home.  Once-dying villages are growing.
  • In Turkey and Central Asis, ebru art is catching on. This is painting on water with dyes, featuring swirls like Van Gogh's Starry Night.
  • This we've all done, stone skipping over water.
  • Ever visit a sound bathing studio?  Derives from Buddhist monasteries, crystal singing bowls and chimes.  Get's you to sleep.
  • Use the internet for dolphins to sing you to sleep.
  • You can come up with your own ways to do nothing and better enjoy life.
With this pandemic making travel unwise and faced with the reality of the end being too, too close, coming to a conclusion that there will be no Heaven for me, and most likely everyone else, I was faced with how to maximize the time left for me.  I found much of the above and more to be satisfying and sufficient.

Mind you, I've actively dreamed of my next global adventure, and last year showed an itinerary for the Fall of this year.  Looks like that is now no longer possible, and this trip will only take us through Okinawa, Japan and on a ship to Singapore.  
Thus that next around the world journey will occur some time in 2023.  
  • Will it be a Crystal cruise?  Probably not because the itinerary is not optimal and they never go fully global.
  • Travel+Leisure reviews ten of them.
    • Price range:  $20,000 to $100,000+.
    • Most would take more a 100 days, and one for 180.
      • This would be on the Oceania Insignia, and fares start at only $42,599, which calculates to $237/day.
      • However, I need a balcony room.
  • More likely, it will be combining air and sea, with perhaps a Crystal European river trip, plus Cunard from Southampton to New York City.
  • Worked in will be the World's 50 Best Restaurants, once spearheaded by Pellegrino.  For sure also a few 3-Star Michelins.
  • One option is to follow the path of the movie:  Around the World in 80 Days.  But I would hate to travel east.  So this is out.
In any case, this is my life today.

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