Lethargy

Sunshine and blue sky to wake up to after a much needed good night's sleep, but it was still cold. I spent  the morning writing and reflecting on news about the war in the Middle East, avoiding going out. I cooked a savoury chick pea dish with aubergine, courgette and butternut squash for lunch, and was quite pleased with the result. 

I felt light headed and lethargic after lunch but didn't sleep. I went for a walk in Llandaff Fields before tea. The afternoon sun seemed to warm up the wind enough to make it tolerable, but walking was hard going and slower with leg stiffness I'm convinced is a statin side effect. Or else I'm ageing noticeably faster. I had a chat with neighbour Dave, the same age as me if not older. We stood on sycamore avenue, indifferent to scooters, pedestrians and cyclists passing us on either side. No benches were near enough to propose sitting down. I didn't have enough energy to do more and returned home. 

After supper we watched the live news broadcast from the Artemis II spacecraft as it starts to orbit the moon to survey its dark side.  It's already travelled further from earth than any other crewed spacecraft. It's a landmark moment in twenty first century science with NASA preparing to establish the world's first lunar base. Trump is proposing to reduce government NASA funding presumably on the grounds that commercial space projects will be less expensive in the long run, and more efficient, managed by his super-rich allies. We'll see how it turns out. It seems Pakistan is attempting to engage America in cease-fire talks with Iran. Trump's latest belligerent outbursts and confused messages about opening the Straight of Hormuz by force have produced a stubborn response from Iran. Concern is being expressed about the state of Trump's mental health, has his tantrums and coercive efforts meet with resistance. Israel is being hit hard with retaliatory attacks by missiles and drones following its assaults on Iran and Lebanon. This will erode support for the Netanyahu government.

After a short walk in the dark to complete my daily distance and clear my head, I got ready early for bed.