Hikes on Kennedy Peak and in the Hazel Mountain area – French insouciance during the rioting – Dissent in Russia – Russian economic woes – Evening statistics
On Sunday FH and I led the Kennedy Peak hike that we had scouted earlier. When we scouted the hike the day had been cool and misty, and the chill wind blowing at Kennedy Peak did not encourage us to linger. Sunday was very different, warm without being oppressively hot, and beautifully clear. This meant that others besides ourselves would be using the same hike route, and there were a good deal many more people on the trails than the day that we scouted it. But everyone enjoyed themselves, and indeed it is one of the most rewarding hikes in the area, with the views from the west side of the Shenandoah Valley looking over the river where it bends and curves into numerous oxbows. The trees were still bare of leaves on the upper elevation, but the meadows below were richly green and many wildflowers were blossoming.
Today I went with the Vigorous Hikers on a route from Nicholson Hollow to the Hazel Mountain area, which was 16 miles and involved about 4000 feet of elevation gain; yet it seemed less strenuous than the Roller Coaster hike of two weeks ago, even though the elevation gain was slightly greater today. But it had a good deal less scree on the trails, so there were not as many problems about footing as on the other hike. The Hazel Mountain area is an attractive one, although it is not rich in wildflowers; much of the forest in this region is old forest, predominantly deciduous (although there are belts of pine here and there). This was perhaps the best day for it; the weather was cool but not chilly, just right for a hike that involves so much ascent, some of it quite steep. The leaves were just beginning to form today. Not many people attended this hike, and I don’t know why: one couldn’t ask for better hiking conditions and the drive to the hike is not especially long.
Much of the news worth relating is coming from France at this point. The French are rioting in opposition to Macron’s determination to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, since the rate at which retirees are receiving income from the government is currently not sustainable. Indeed, I have often wondered how French industries sustain themselves at all. I can remember when working on a project for NATO, the American, British, and Dutch participants would work overtime as a matter of course. The French would not – they could not, in fact, for their union rules forbade them from working more than 39 hours per week. The French, I am bound to say, infuse even their insurrections with a certain amount of élan that our compatriots notably lack. There is one interesting piece of footage from Bordeaux that shows a pair of diners placidly sitting outside of a café and savoring their glasses of wine, daintily sniffing the wine’s bouquet – and completely oblivious, apparently, to the fact that just behind them the rioters have set the street on fire.
As repressive as Russia has been in the past, the crackdown on dissent is becoming even more draconian. Some months ago Maria Moskalyov, a 13-year old student, drew an antiwar picture at her school that that depicted missiles flying over a Russian flag at a woman and child and said, “Glory to Ukraine.” The apartment of Alexei Moskalyov, her father, was thereupon raided in December and a criminal case was opened against him this month. He was put under house arrest and his daughter was placed into the orphanage. (The girl’s mother left the family when Maria was three years old and has started a new family of her own in another city; she seems to have no interest in her daughter by her first marriage.) Today a Russian court convicted him of making social media posts critical of the war in Ukraine and sentenced him to two years in prison. Knowing how ruthless the regime is, Moskalyov was sufficiently astute to free himself of the bracelet that had been clamped on his wrist to track his movements and to flee the area to avoid arrest. He is currently at large. His lawyer visited the orphanage afterwards, but he was not allowed to see Maria. He was allowed, however, to photograph a letter that she wrote to her father, which ended with, “Daddy, you’re my hero.”
Putin is in fact having difficulties. Initially the war against Ukraine caused prices of oil and natural gas to surge around the world. For a time, that meant that Russia could increase its own costs of oil and gas, making a more significant profit. But that is no longer the case. NATO has held firm and the sanctions on Russia products are taking their toll. Russian economy is now entering a long-term regression, according to Alexander Prokopenko, a former Russian Central Bank official who fled Russia after the invasion. The ruble is down over 20% against the dollar in the past five months. The military draft has resulted in over 22,000 Russians fleeing to the United States. The draft also means that young people are being pulled from the labor force and sent to war, which is starting to impact Russian businesses.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 683,455,468; # of deaths worldwide: 6,827,921; # of cases U.S.: 106,113,981; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,153,880.