Lucie

Best dog ever – no, wait – Best. Dog. Ever.

Lucie has been with us for almost seven years now. I can’t recall exactly when we brought her home but the first picture we have of her was around November 2015.  She was so skinny and skittish at first.  She cowered and did not like men, or men with hats.  Whoever had her before us clearly did not treat her well. It took a long time for her to come out of her shell but once she warmed up to us she turned around.

Lucie is intensely loyal. She will hang out on the back patio and ignore squirrels and the ducks in the pond.  If she is out front, she will lay down in the driveway and wait for Lisa to come home.  When we play fight in the house, Lucie always comes to the defense of the little guy(s).  She will walk with us, off leash, as long as she does not spot a deer. 

She rarely barks and is never a nuisance.  At dinner she will lay under the table because she knows that a scrap or two will eventually fall to the floor.  Despite our vet scolding us otherwise, she gets to lick the plates clean.  Lucie is always happy to greet us at the door and gets super excited when it is me or Lisa. Sometimes I need to only go out for a few minutes but she is excited when I return.

When she was younger she would run up to three miles with me. After a few years she gently let me know that she was only up for a mile.  These days she just likes a good walk. 

She has been to the beach and Camp, and has had play dates with other dogs. Everyone in the neighborhood knows Lucie. If they are lucky, she will let them pet her.  She is always a friend to (most) other dogs. 

On the days when you are not getting along with the humans in your life there is Lucie, always glad to have her ears scratched and belly rubbed.  

And that makes the whole day better..  

The War Toscin Sounds

It is March 2022. As you read this I can honestly put down in this journal that future of world affairs is cloudy. We seem to be on the brink of war. Not a war like we fought in Iraq and Afghanistan; a war against insurgents; tanks versus IEDs. This war could enflame the whole world. It is happening in real time. Our history teaches us the quick decline into previous wars because incidents occur in the narrative on one page. This descent into war seems slow and spiraling simply because we go on with our day to day lives in the forefront. 

In reality, they are the same. We are ramping up to something that many people still cannot fathom just as they couldn’t imagine it 83 and 108 years ago. 

It has been eight decades years since there has been a major land war in the world. Korea does not count, nor does Vietnam.  The first Gulf War and the two that followed following 9/11 do not count either. The reason is that those conflicts never really had a chance to grow outside of their borders and the enemy did not have the means to escalate to significant battles. Yes, those wars drained us of blood, treasure, and even resolve, but a global conflict was never a possibility.  No other country engaged in a conflict that could have resulted in superpowers getting directly involved against one another. 

And here we are. Russia continues to strangle Ukraine. China currently sides with Russia as they clearly look for a roadmap out of all of this to pull Taiwan into their fold once and for all. NATO still hems and haws about their involvement but clearly showing no desire for direct or indirect involvement for now. The current unpopular president of the U.S. is dealing with all of this as well as the second and third order effects of war in Europe; inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, and calls for No Fly Zones and more military support to Ukraine. Whether we know it or not, World War III has started. We just don’t recognize what war in the 21^st century looks like. 

In the 21^st century war involves weaponized social media, cyber-attacks, remote controlled vehicles, lawfare, and hurting private citizens by holding onto their billion dollar bank accounts and yachts.  The news still provides the visceral images of war; shelling of innocent civilians, refugees fleeing with whatever they can carry, burning tanks and buildings, not to mention the dead on both sides. With no end in sight and no clear off ramp for Putin, we should expect a long and protracted conflict.

I have been to Ukraine. I visited a joint training center there. At the time, Russia had already annexed Crimea and there was an active conflict to the far east of the country. I loved Lviv. You could not tell there was a war from where we were staying. On a warm fall evening the streets were alive with music and people enjoying their lives.  I admire the Ukrainian people for their resiliency. The will make the Russians pay for every inch of ground and that will further exacerbate the conflict.

At some point this will directly involve U.S. troops and NATO.  There will be an incident, with denied responsibility, on one side or the other. It will demand a response beyond diplomacy or sanctions and just like that we will be in a real shooting war.  It will make the casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan pale in comparison because this enemy has artillery and ICBMs. Russia’s allies are few. Those allies willing to get directly involved are even fewer. Backed into a corner, with his strategy failing, Putin could leave his legacy as a scorched earth policy, leaving Ukraine and parts of Eastern Europe glowing. 

The next few months will be bloody and show the very worst of humanity and very best of people. It will show the hypocrisy and lack of will in some political leaders and the blood thirsty resolve in others. It may unite some and divide others where those relationships never existed before.  Whatever happens, the long term outcome is uncertain.

I believe that if we ignore this conflict and allow Russia to occupy and annex Ukraine that it will only be a matter of time before Russia sets it eyes on another Eastern European nation. Swift decisive action is called for now because it will be much harder to remove them later.  I have a child in the service of the country.  I know the danger and do not wish it upon her. I worry about my oldest son who is only three years away from draft age. I know what I am writing might directly involve them and I worry. 

And yet I hear the drumbeats for war and I find myself called to them. 

Universally Photographed

 Here are some pictures from Universal Studios...starring the Brown Family.

People in Front Might Get Wet

Velocicoaster!

Welcome to Skull Island

Who Invited Grandma?!

Headmaster's Office

The Great Sorting Hat

Hagrid's Cottage

Welcome to Hogsmeade Station

The Platform is There. Really.

Diagon Alley

It's a School Day

(Sorting) Hats Off to Universal

Being a Disney Family, the parks are etched in our minds. The sight of Cinderella's Castle, the twisted rails at the peak of Expedition Everest, "now paging Mr. Tom Morrow," the haunting 40's music entering in the Hollywood Tower of Terror.  These sights and sounds - and smells - are as familiar to us as going to grandma's house as a kid.  However, we are a little Disney'd out lately and the opportunity presented itself to go to Universal Studios for the first time in over ten years. In that time they have built, with no missed detail, the World of Harry Potter and nailed it.  

First, the thrill rides that we wanted to go on, Velocicoaster, King Kong - Skull Island, and Rip Rock It Roller Coaster were fantastic. I love a good roller coaster and several, especially Velocicoaster and Hagrid's Motorbikes, were amazing. They were perfect for a 14 and 11 year old who are not afraid of rolls, dives, or inversions. Luckily, everyone, including Lisa, were up for it.  Universal relies heavily on projections and 3D, and some of that needs a 4k upgrade, but they surpass Disney for adrenaline.   

Leading up to the visit the boys read the Harry Potter books, watched the movies, or listened to audio books to learn all about the Boy Who Lived and his world.  Rounding the corner into Hogsmeade Village, it was clear that Universal set a high bar on attention to detail. While I might not be a fan of the books or the movies, I do enjoy being transported to another place with some carefully placed forced perspective and a lot of attention to detail. 

Hogwart's School was as massive as it was impressive. The first day we were there the ride it houses was not operating but the "school" was open for tours - meaning you walked through the queue and out a side exit.  Universal's "magic" rivaled Disney's.  The portrait gallery, Dumbledor's office, the vaulted ceilings; around every corner was something even more interesting to see.  

I will reiterate that I truly suspended disbelief and took in this "real" place. Lisa - a Harry Potter fan - knew every place. She knew every shop in the village because they were places in the books. Add to this spectacle were children of all ages who, after forking over $60, used there own wand to cast spells in front of the windows of the shops. The items in the widows would react to the spell and would react to the young (and old) magicians. The world just pulled you into it.  

We took the Hogwart's Express out of Hogsmeade Station. The train was real. The movement from one park to the other was real. The scene unfolding outside the train car was not. With the movement of the cars, the images outside the "window" showed us leaving one station, passing through the woods and country and eventually coming into London.  We exited the train into King's Cross Station at platform 9 3/4. By now I was truly impressed.

Exiting the station we passed through a broken brick wall into Diagon Alley, a side street in London know only to wizards and witches. It all looked real. Right down to the fire breathing dragon sitting on top of Gringott's Bank.  

Lisa and the boys pointed out places that were in the books and movies; stores, alleys, buses, creatures, and more.  I walked through without a solid frame of reference but still with that suspended disbelief and a nod to how amazingly real the place appeared.  

Crazy muggle.

Wedding Day Joy

A great moment in the family passed last week.  The first wedding of the next generation of the Brown family lineage took place down in Orlando, FL. My niece, Alyssa, was married to Ricardo at a lovely outdoor ceremony on a warm, bright February sunset.  The bride looked lovely and not at all flustered – she clearly owned the moment. The groom looked proud and confident as he waited at the altar.  

Alyssa grandparents are all passed. I could not watch her and the family without thinking about how excited my mom would have been and how my dad would have beamed.  This year mom would be 80 and dad would be 89.  So strange how so much life has happened in our family since their deaths. It is still hard to be without them – fifteen years on now.  I was honored to bring pictures of them with me for display at the reception. 

My brother did a great job as the Father of the Bride. He gave a good, impromptu toast to the bride and groom, and generally kept it together considering all of the potential-for-drama in the room.  It was very sweet seeing him dance with his daughter.  

The boys were not into the reception at all.  I really thought they would get out there and dance up a storm.  I really thought they would get into the spirit of the moment. Mostly, they kept their heads down and sat at the table, not once getting up to be silly. TJ did not look around at the twenty-somethings who wore low cut or high slit, glittery dresses – even when I called them out to him.  I was an embarrassed teenager too but next year his reaction might be a different story. 

At least Lisa and I got to dance.

The best part was that the boys dressed up in good clothes.  Good clothes that were measured, fitted, pressed, and worn well.   To my shock, it was Grant who really wore the outfit well. It may have been the shock of seeing him out of shorts and a t-shirt and dressed up but he looked so mature.  

The last wedding in the family was ours back in 2005. Lisa and reminisced about our special day and how that whole weekend unfolded.  They are still wonderful memories.