Cloudy but not overcast, with that chilling wind blowing again today. Mark arrived mid-morning and gave Clare a violin lesson. I busied myself with installing the new router, and updating the wifi password on ten different devices, a fiddly job. The easiest one was the phone, as there's a wifi password QR code, which can be scanned and connects automatically. A couple of Clare's rarely used devices had to be re-charged before they would start, and it took me as long to finish the job as Clare's lesson took. With a fish and chip lunch Clare prepared and ready to cook, we had an early lunch, as she had an exercise class to attend.
Although I remember thinking about a haiku to reflect yesterday's Gospel, I discovered that I'd forgotten to compose it properly and write it down, so I gathered up fragments of phrases recalled and committed them to writing before starting on a new one for today. Then I went for a walk, first in Thompson's Park and then Llandaff Fields. I spotted what I think was a buzzard, to judge by its size, in a patch of woodland behind the WJEC building, and then a little later a tree creeper foraging on lichen covered tree bark. Quite a contrast in size!
After supper I watched the rest of 'Get Millie Black', a powerful dramatic story about people trafficking and modern slavery, but also about police corruption, persistent racism and homophobia. Several of the key players in the story are given a voice, a bit like Chorus in Greek Tragedy. It is a tragic story with many lives ending violently at the behest of criminal organisers. Detective Millie Black is the protagonist who investigates cases of missing children. She digs deep and is single minded, sometimes ruthless in getting to the heart of the matter, estranging colleagues and upsetting friends in the process. She is alone at the start of the story and alone at the end, still searching for her transgender brother and a new start in life. By the time its final episode was aired, media opinion was that there should be a second season. This was a complete stand alone story, but with such strong and interesting characters that new stories could be told about them, but it's a matter of wait and see for the moment.
Putin has expressed interest in discussing a ceasefire, but hedged it about with so many qualifications that implies no change in his war aim of absorbing Ukraine into the revived Russian empire. "He says yes, but no" as one commentator said. What Trump will make of this remains to be seen. He's put pressure on both sides to negotiate and is impatient to secure a quick ceasefire as he promised before his election. Putin is likely to drag this out as long as possible. Will Trump lose interest as he did when dealing with Kim Jong Un in his first term and made no progress? An American envoy is having talks in Moscow tonight. Is this a turning point on the path to peace or will the process end up going around in circles?
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