Hikes in Sky Meadows, Cool Spring, and Lake Frederick – How social media has exacerbated rewriting of history – Finland and NATO – Donald Trump in New York – Evening statistics
More hiking, of course, over the weekend, at Sky Meadows on Saturday with LM and others, and at Cool Spring on Sunday with AD and RH leading the Wanderbirds hike. Both of them had this peculiarity: the weather at the beginning of the hike was rather cold and unpleasant, but as the morning wore on it became much dryer and more comfortable. But that, of course, is not unusual for days in early spring. The Sky Meadows hike was relatively brief, because we gathered after the hike to discuss our plans to traveling to the Lake District later in the month. The Cool Spring hike was longer, nearly 12 miles, and part of it took place close to the bank of the Shenandoah River, where bluebells were in profuse bloom. From there we went into the Rolling Ridge conservatory and took the Perimeter Trail that goes close to the ridgeline in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There were numerous other flowers in bloom during this hike, especially spring beauties, which we saw i great numbers upon the return descent.
And today I went with the Vigorous Hikers to Lake Frederick. This trail is a perimeter around a lake created by a dam, and is eight miles in circumference. We went around it twice, first going counter-clockwise and then, after lunch, going clockwise. It is more challenging that it might appear at first. Even though it does not ascend a great deal at once, there are several small ascents that total to about 900 feet in each direction. The trail, in fact, is rarely completely flat anywhere. Also in some places the trail surface slants towards the lake, so that one has to make an effort to keep one’s balance. Since the temperature today went up to the 80s, it is unsurprising that the hike made me very thirsty: my water bladder contains 100 ounces, which I had thoroughly drained by the end of the second loop, and I drank about a quart of lemonade once I returned home. The trail is very scenic, with views of the lake everywhere and numerous birds flying about, including great blue herons and red-tailed hawks. There were no bluebells on this hike, but spring beauties and violets were ubiquitous and some areas contained numerous bloodroot as well.
I recently listened to a lecture about Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII. I feel an interest in her not only for historical reasons but also because on a hiking tour in Wales I visited Pembroke Castle, where she lived as a child-bride and gave birth, at the age of 13, to the son who eventually became king of England. The lecture was enlivened by an indignant discursion from the narrator about the attempts of various revisionists to pin the deaths of the Princes in the Tower on her, in defiance of all probability and a complete lack of evidence. The lecturer’s indignation is of course thoroughly justified; the Richardians must be pretty desperate at this point to entertain such a theory. The original proposition of this group that the perpetrator was Henry Tudor – despite a fourteen-year absence of the latter from England – is obviously unworkable even to the dullest comprehension. But it goes to point up a more widespread issue, namely, the increasing amount of history being rewritten to suit the convenience of those doing the rewriting, often for no other purpose than that of entertainment. This increase is one of the unintended consequences of social media, in which any theory, however baseless and absurd, can be posted online and in due time attract thousands of gullible subscribers.
Finland is now a member of NATO, which means, among other things, that the border between Russia and NATO-member nations has doubled in length. This development has ominous implications for the Russian military. The weaknesses in the Russian army have been thoroughly exposed by Putin’s excursion into Ukraine, whereas the Finnish soldiers are not only substantial in number but well-trained and every bit as capable of enduring cold weather as Russian soldiers. Unlike most members of the European Union, Finland did not did not cut defense spending and investment after the Cold War. It has a large reserve army and is investing heavily in new equipment, including dozens of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was in part motivated by an attempt to intimidate NATO and to discourage its expansion towards Russia; it appears to have had exactly the opposite effect of what he intended.
And what would one of these journal entries be without a mention of Donald Trump? Something a good deal more cheerful than it actually is, in all probability – but that’s beside the point. Where was I? Oh, yes; Trump has been arraigned today and it must in all fairness be said that his responses when he was formally charged with 34 counts of felony were delivered with commendable brevity. He simply pled “Not guilty” to the charges. When he was asked whether he understood that he was entitled to “conflict-free counsel” (Joe Tacopina, Trump’s attorney, cannot be allowed to represent him in this case on account of a conflict of interest), he said “Yes” and “Thank you”’; when asked whether f he understood that the court could proceed without him if he were to “become disruptive,” Trump answered, “I do”; when asked if he understood that the judge could impose a sentence without him present, if needed, Trump answered, “Yes” – a total of eight words in all. Both Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators congregated around the courthouse, but at no time did any sort of violence resembling the attempt on the Capitol erupt on this occasion – a circumstance that ordinarily would not give rise to comment at all, were it not for the fact that Trump had hinted earlier that if some sort of uproar along the lines of the January 6th assault ensued, he would not take it amiss. He has returned to Florida by now, and will no doubt speaking at much greater length than he permitted himself to do in the courtroom; but for now, at least, he has displayed an amount of restraint of which I never would have supposed him capable.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 684,181,115; # of deaths worldwide: 6,832,963; # of cases U.S.: 106,267,910; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,155,541. The number of COVID-related deaths is slightly over 500 in the course of four days, a most welcome decline.