Riders in the Storm

On a slow news day, frigid swirling winds from the Arctic stripped the blossoms from the plum trees and knocked the power out in these parts as a reminder of the chaotic weather sweeping through much of the rest of the country. But the skies are mostly blue here on the coast where it almost never snows.

I took four girls, two of them 9 and two of them 11, two of them granddaughters and two of them friends, to the local iHop, where they brightened the place for a couple of hours. Kids these ages have abundant energy and they seem to break into smiles every minute or two. They ordered French toast and crepes with strawberries and bananas on top, an egg and hash browns, orange juice and hot chocolate.

I ordered a pot of coffee.

Most of the other customers in the place were like me — i.e., old. Older people don’t smile very often and when they do, it often resembles a grimace rather than the real deal. But they do smile at kids and that’s a fact.

So I figured I was doing the whole place a favor by bringing my four lively little companions in for a visit.

Aging is relentless. Many of the working parts on an old person get creaky, you get pains where you didn’t even know something that vulnerable existed. An old man at the restaurant was curious why the girls weren’t at school. “President’s Week” I replied, although come to think, it may actually be “Ski Week.” To tell the truth, I’m not sure when or why this turned into a week’s vacation but the kids are glad it did.

They’d been up late the night before at their sleepover, and two of them wore pajama pants to the restaurant. They all huddled over a phone and giggled as they experimented with an app that created photos of them with wild hair and mustaches. Ours was by far the liveliest table in the joint. The old folks ate their meals, mostly in silence, occasionally looking up and over at the action.

When they did, they smiled. The real deal.

Afterward, as I drove us all back up the hill, I noticed blossoms blowing in the wind. A large cloud moved in from the north, casting a shadow like an alien spaceship. I shivered. Yes, it was a slow news day.

LINKS:

• The ripple effects of Russia's war in Ukraine continue to change the world (NPR)

• 'It's hard, but they're holding on': On the ground in Ukraine, the war depends on U.S. weapons (USA Today)

• Biden Accuses Putin of Atrocities and Urges World to Rebuke Him (NYT)

• China and Russia reaffirm close ties as Putin meets top diplomat (Guardian)

• Biden Just Destroyed Putin’s Last Hope (Atlantic)

• DeSantis and Haley highlight 2024 GOP chasm on Ukraine (WP)

• Putin’s Move on Nuclear Treaty May Signal End to Formal Arms Control (NYT)

• 29 states under weather alerts as millions face winter storm (CBS)

• More than 1,300 flights canceled as winter storm hits US (CNN)

• Georgia grand jury probe of Trump bid to overturn vote recommended charges (Reuters)

• Coup bomb goes off: GA grand jury recommends indictments for first time (MSNBC)

• Older voters balk at Nikki Haley’s competency test (Politico)

• Arizona’s top prosecutor concealed records debunking election fraud claims (WP)

• The Supreme Court seemed unwilling in arguments Tuesday to undo Section 230, a law that protects internet companies from lawsuits over content posted on their platforms. [AP]

• The EPA is taking control of the response to the toxic Ohio train crash. The derailment this month released chemicals and fumes in East Palestine, near Pennsylvania. (WP)

• NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops (NPR)

• Meta plans to cut thousands of jobs, after CEO predicted no more layoffs (WP)

• McKinsey Plans to Eliminate About 2,000 Jobs in One of Its Biggest Rounds of Cuts (Bloomberg)

• How Hybrid Work Is Changing Offices of the Future (WSJ)

• 'AI.com' now takes you to ChatGPT. OpenAI evidently paid millions for it. (Mashable)

• Microsoft Explains How Bing AI Search Uses Web Content (Search Engine Journal)

• Microsoft backpedaling its restrictions on Bing AI chatbot (WP)

• Are Google and Bing’s Chat AI Going to Change Search Forever? (Vice)

• Generative AI Is Coming For the Lawyers (Wired)

• ChatGPT Fever Sweeps China as Tech Firms Seek Growth (WSJ)

• Pakistan’s defence and spy chiefs discuss security with Taliban (Al Jazeera)

• At least 10 Palestinians killed, over 100 wounded in Israeli raid in the West Bank (WP)

• Every Coastal Home Is Now a Stick of Dynamite (Atlantic)

• Most young men are single. Most young women are not. (The Hill)

• Space telescope uncovers massive galaxies near cosmic dawn (AP)

• Astute Movie Viewer Can Tell Dog Not Really Talking (The Onion)