Time to move!

Since our October 9, 2020, we haven’t slept a night out of our bedroom (yes, almost 10 months straight), a lifelong record in more than forty years of married life.

This is in part why we decided to break the continuum by moving yesterday, if not to a strange new place, but at least to a different room in our house.

We took a step down and went downstairs for two or three weeks, into the bedroom that’s normally used by our grandson when he comes to visit.

We kept our captain bed, so we had to take the monster apart and move that heavy beast in two separate pieces downstairs, a herculean task in itself!

We made it though, putting the whole piece of furniture back together, slept the whole night and finally woke up this morning, a bit disoriented, to a new, unusual place.

All this to say that there’s no need to travel too far in order to get a strong change in scenery!

My answer to a nagging problem

Early July, I had decided to solve a “nagging problem” from the ground up (literally!) and explaining that I would focus on finding some creative, feasible and affordable solution for it.

I got to work and spend enough time thinking about it and finally, today, I’ve got a good solution to resolving it. You see, the robins, magpies and the local deer had decided to feast on our strawberries without asking for our permission.

Beside chasing these critters by all means possible, they would outsmart us by choosing times when we weren’t home or not out to see them, to continue their thievery.

My solution ended up with the creation and construction of “strawberry cages”, made of PVC chassis and wrapped around by a commercial-grade bird net, in four easy-to-move separate elements, covering most of our strawberry patch.

On Tuesday, I proudly completed the project and will be carefully watching if its presence finally bears some fruits. Pun intended!

Remembering how to change a tire

Two days ago, I experienced a flat while riding my bike.

As I was stopped by the side of the road, I did my very best to remove the rear wheel, take of the tire as well as the tube and put the whole package back together.

All along, the operation wasn’t smooth and was rather an unmitigated struggle. Sure, I had not experienced a flat for at least two years and didn’t remember how to efficiently proceed.

Clearly, I should regularly refresh my memory by watching a video on the subject prior to riding season, but that’s a lot easier to remember when it's too late and I am up against the challenge.

As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Park City’s good Samaritans

We were about to have another wonderful bike ride this morning, until half-way in our itinerary I experienced a flat. I don’t know about you, but I despise having flats when I ride.

So, here I am, taking the rear wheel apart, struggling to separate the tire from the tube, other cyclists very nicely stopping to ask if I needed help, a proud, self-reliant “no thanks!” as an answer, then more struggle in trying to fit the tube inside the tire and the whole assembly inside the rim. I then proceeded to inflate the repaired tire with my measly, portable pump.

A passing motorist must have seen me battling my bike, returned to where I was, riding his electric bike with a heavy-duty foot pump in hand, just saying “That’ll be a lot easier with this one!”

A lot easier it was, and in much less time it would have otherwise taken me, I had put 90 psi inside the tire. All this to say that I found it very much heartwarming to see so many folks stop, asking if I needed help, and that one man, who didn’t ask for anything, return expressly to help me with a wonderful solution.

This makes me think that my Parkite neighbors are terrific, we are lucky to live there, and that I must double-down in returning such a good deed!

Can personal insecurities be an asset?

I have already touched upon that subject and I would still like to revisit it because I continue to believe that personal security is more likely to install us into a comfortable life, making us “fat and happy” and in many ways, quite vulnerable to life and its nasty little surprises.

On the other hand, when life offers us a host of insecurities that are stinging us from all parts and at all times, in varied intensity, we need to respond. In most cases, insecurities promote in many folks a reaction that could be characterized as being of “equal intensity and opposite direction”, which means that it’s likely to be both intense and positive.

At least that’s my theory. This reminds me of a dinner I had in the mid 80s with Jean-Claude Killy, in Geneva, Switzerland, in which he confided to me that his own insecurities were the treasure trove that he was able to transmute into the series of athletic achievements that have crowned his active career.

This is a concept I do agree with, as I have gone through a similar process blending a significantly harsh childhood, a generally low self-esteem and a few missed dates with Lady Luck. Under these circumstances, every individual has one of two choices:

Accepting the insecurities we are dealt with, living with them and resigning oneself to pay the price exerted by them. The alternative would be to react vehemently against them and create an alternative reality capable of overcoming these insecurities and turning them into rewarding achievements.

Both instinctively and systematically, I always chose the latter option...

How important is carving to skiers?

In a recent ski publication article, a writer was explaining how carving was the Nirvana of alpine skiing. While I agree that it’s an important aspect of modern ski technique, carving also came into being because it stood at the confluence of two evolutions: ski geometry and slope grooming.

Back in the 60s, the Dynamic VR7 marked a departure from traditional side-cuts towards “shaped skis”. Well into the 80s, alpine ski races took place on decently prepared but significantly “wavy” and irregular terrain that made carving choppy and imperfect. As trail grading and grooming improved, they created flawless and wide snow ribbons and when shape-skis came to age, they showed their magic power on these new smoothed ski runs.

Do all skiers wish or need to carve, though? I'm not convinced of it. Many are perfectly content with letting their boards skid into each turn. It simply is a no-brainer. In fact, accomplished "carvers" only account for a very small portion of the skiing public.

Besides, carving requires a significant momentum to produce. Its maximum efficiency also promotes higher speed but doesn't allow for slow-motion. Further, it often creates a non-negligible stress on the joints that can prove tiring after a full day on the snow.

If carving is one useful skiing skill, skidded turns are essential in many terrains and conditions like moguls, crud, deep snow, trees and out-of-bound skiing. A skier who doesn’t master skidding will be ill-at-ease on terrains that aren’t perfectly groomed. Skidding is in fact using a boundless form of edge-control while carving is binary; you either carve or you don't.

As a result, I use a variety of skills when I ski, depending on the terrain, the snow and the day: carving, skidding, stem-christies (yes, these too!) They all belong inside my skiing quiver!

Could things get worse?

Even though a heavy shadow of uncertainty is weighing heavily upon us and making most of us very uncomfortable, we must make a concerted effort to appreciate our daily life as much as we can.

While today may not be as pleasant as yesterday, before the pandemic, our life still is quite enjoyable. Further, as we age, things are not headed towards any betterment of our physical status, quite the contrary!

So the best way to apprehend life is to enjoy everyday at face-value, without worrying about tomorrow and the unknown it might bring to us.

Carpe Diem!

Utah’s Pie & Beer Day

In 2014, Pie Beer Day, the so-called “counterculture response” to Pioneer Day in Utah was created and has since continued taking place each July 24.

It’s the same day as the state holiday that commemorates the Mormon pioneers’ arrival into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

The event has turned into a Utah summertime staple for a growing segment of the population that can’t quite believe in the Mormon fairy tale. Pie & Beer Day pairs many forms of pie — pizza, apple, key lime, quiche, maybe even chicken pot — with good beer.

Food and booze, a solid alternative to Mormonism spiritual fantasy!

Long lost tune…

For years, I have been trying to find the title to an instrumental piece of music that I particularly liked, but not knowing its title, I was at a loss to find it again.

For me as for many folks, music evokes certain memories and important times in life. That tune was played at Isba, ma favorite hometown disco in Morzine, back in the winter of 1967 when I was a beginning ski instructor dancing and having a good time with my female students.

I remember hearing it again one day while I was shopping for appliances at a large supermarket in Nevers, France, as I had just moved to that God-forsaken place. Since that time, I never heard it again and always wondered what it was.

Since I’m not one who gives up easily, I searched by mean of music recognition app, to no avail. I even asked a friend of mine who is a talented saxophone player to tell me what it was after I made a (poor) scat rendition of it, but he couldn’t not identify it either.

Yesterday though, through pure luck, I stumbled upon it and discovered that it was called "Wonderland by Night" played by Bert Kaempfert. My long lasting and stubborn efforts finally felt highly rewarded!

Are we getting a ”La Niňa” winter?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just released its weather forecast for the upcoming winter.

As you can imagine, my focus zeroed in on what might be going on in our region. This year, NOAA is promising a 50 to 55% chance of having a La Niña Winter.

What does this actually means? On a typical La Niña year, the jet stream tends to have a more northern positioning, which can mean consistent cold storms in places like British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, and central/northern Colorado.

This said, the 2020/2021 forecast doesn’t appear that favorable to us, in Park City, Utah or the whole of Colorado, for that matter.

Precipitation are expected to be average all winter while temperature are predicted to be significantly warmer (good old global warming, remember?). This doesn’t bode too well for us skiers and for our local resorts that may not be able to make snow, but where NOAA failed to deliver was in the Covid-19 department, and couldn’t tell if it would go up, down or away…

As always, I’ll make a note to check theses predictions at the end of winter and report how close to reality they ended up being.

Progress in… meditation!

I’ve been seriously meditating for more than six month now, and I can report a few things. 

• First, it’s not easy at all, sometimes I feel that I have barely “scratched the surface” and I would call the whole process “a work in progress”. 
• Next, I haven’t reach Nirvana yet. 
• Finally, and that's more serious; I can honestly state that both my memory and my creativity are showing some real progress. 

I guess, I’ll keep it up!

François Feuz, 1944-2020

Ten years ago, my Swiss friend Francois suffered a bad fall and broke his neck while skiing in Val Thorens, France, and instantly became paraplegic.

I had met him for the first time when he was selling Head products and while he frequently visited the Avoriaz ski school, where I worked, in the early 70s, while still living in the French Alps.

Ten years later, I had the privilege of working with him during my years with Lange ski boots, as he was hired as the brand’s sales manager for all of Switzerland. Since that time, we regularly stayed in touch, met each time I attended ISPO, the Munich sports show, and called each other regularly.

You see, Francois not only had the skiing bug, but also that of mountain and road biking, tennis and golfing. A year after his accident, I went to visit him and his wife Mary-Jo, at their beautiful home overlooking Lake Neuchâtel.

A dedicated sportsman, Francois was also a determined “go getter” who never gave up whatever the circumstance, and most importantly always was “Mr. Positive” no matter what happened. With him, the cup was always guaranteed to be half-full!

A good friend of Jean-Claude Killy and Didier Cuche, a former Swiss ski racer, he never, ever complained about his station in life and showed the same passion for the his family, friends and the sports he loved.

He passed away yesterday morning surrounded by his family for a last good bye. We will all miss him an awful lot!

Trump’s worst enemy

Polls aren’t looking good for Trump. Once again, tiny Covid-19 and “Black Lives Matter” have created havoc on his chances of re-election.

At least that’s what we hope, and while we’re only three and a half month away from the election, a smarter Donald Trump might turn the tide around to his advantage, but he is in fact, his own worst enemy.

He must think that desperate times call for desperate moves and since he refuses to take advice from anyone, he may keep on adding to his list of devastating blunders that would give his opponent a huge margin of victory.

Let’s hope it works that way, because a close victory for Biden might not suffice to eject Donald from the oval office without a huge and protracted fight. Thank God, the man is a terrible salesman and never follows the cardinal rule of sales: “shut up”, when one has to.

This advice hasn't fallen on deaf hears with Biden as he continues taking a low profile while Trump keeps on adding to his awkward moves...

More on age-related memory issues

This past Friday, I attempted to cover a subject that is bothersome to people my age: a weak or spotty memory. I have since read more on the subject and found some interesting scientific insights in Switzerland that shine a different light on the subject.

Dr. Frisoni, a Geneva University professor, asserts that sometime our complex neuron network inside the brain can’t always retrieve information right away and blanks out. This apparently is linked to our emotional state and stress level.

Under some pressure like an Adrenalin boost, memory is generally stimulated, but beyond a certain level the opposite effect occurs; too much stress paralyzes the process and gets in the way of memorization.

The same undesirable effect happens when there’s too much control that creates fear of failure and can also block memorization, as explained by Dr. Demonet, head of the Lausanne University Hospital.

The trick is to find that delicate balance between letting go while still controlling. As one might expect plenty of exercise helps, so does a good diet and avoidance of alcohol, smoking and other drugs. In other words, doing things that generally promote a good cardio-vascular health that properly irrigates the brain.

But what happens when some information can’t be retrieved ? We can see clearly the subject of the question, but there is no way for the right name to materialize. There’s a tug of war between lexical memory (our ability to remember the words or the vocabulary of a language) and semantic memory (a long-term memory allowing to recall words, concepts, or numbers).

The only solution is to take a time-break and wait for the answer to eventually pop up. This, according to the scientist is the price to pay for too much knowledge, just like having a huge library in which the indexing system lags behind.

Of course, we need to pay more attention, and that will go a long way in recording the information more durably and accurately, but this is pretty obvious.

Then, there is aging. At 50, the brain doesn’t work quite as well as at 20, but while memory weakens, some other faculties, like problem-solving improve…

So, after all, things are not as bad they feel !

Trump supporters’ disingenuous judgment

As a person, Trump doesn’t pass the smell test.

The man isn’t a good businessman, he’s the antithesis of a salesman, he’s not a good human psychologist, the man is also profoundly evil and a boiling pool of negativity, and in the final analysis cannot be that smart either.

With this in mind, how can one explain his dwindling, but still enormous level of support? Could it be that his base isn’t able to judge people or that it finds great nuggets in that awful creature?

I would vote for the latter as I can’t reconcile myself with the possibility of even surviving with a judgment that should be so sick.

Trump’s base is ready to fake poor judgment in order to support and follow his abject leadership. This makes them worse than the Master they serve.

Hard to be friend with them, let alone have an honest and genuine interaction with them. A lost tribe indeed!

When memory plays tricks on me…

Around the middle of the week, as I was riding our road bikes in the cool early morning, with my wife, my eyes caught a patch of snow still left on the Park City ridge-lines.

While I knew exactly which peak the left over snow was, I couldn’t remember the name. In addition, the Peak as also a name same called ?-bowl, off Jupiter chairlift, but again, I couldn’t get the name. I knew it was short, simple and began either with an A, a G or a S.

During the 20 miles ride my mind was totally occupied, if not obsessed with finding that so obvious name, but to no avail. I refused to look at a trail map, hoping that the solution would eventually come to me.

It finally did, early in the evening when I suddenly exclaimed Scott Peak! Scott Bowl! I’ve been told that with age, my brain is forming fewer connections and that my memory is no longer what it used to be.

In fact, I’ve also been told that the processing speed of my brain is slowing down, which seems to be the “official explanation” why I can't retrieve information as quickly as I used to.

I thought it was that my disk was full, but that’s a bit presumptuous of me to claim excess knowledge! This said, since I regularly meditate, my memory has worked much better, except in that odd case.

Perhaps I should get a new powerful, state-of-the-art, Intel chip as a replacement to my vintage brain?

Let’s start with a prototype!

Ten days ago, I was outlining a project starting from scratch. I thought I had thought about everything, and in addition, I designed a series of objects that would fit my needs entirely, work “perfectly” and I couldn’t see anything in the way of my “neat” design.

Then, as I started prototyping, I began to discover a great many areas that I had not initially envisioned during the planning phase, and that situation repeated itself over and over, to the extent that I had to totally scrap my original concoction and start all over with some real prototypes.

This of course validated – once more – the popular saying: “The Best is the Enemy of Good”. Now, I have completely revised my prototype and my final product and it should work perfectly.

Granted it won’t be the BEST possible design on earth, but it should be GOOD enough for me!

Are older folks more obstinate?

When I watch Trump behaving I see plenty of stubbornness emanating out of his character. Some of it has to do with his “top dog personality” but his already terrible behavior gets exacerbated by his advanced age.

To me, being stubborn is, just like the stiffening of our soft tissues, joints and limbs, that spreads to a stiffening of the brain and its decision making process.

This, in a way, like aging parents that fight their kids to keep their independence, their old-folks idiosyncrasies, and their life-long way of doing things.

As Trump is sinking into old age, he his surrounded by increasingly younger people who want to advise him, using their innovative, modern ideas, but the man he’s resisting that push and retrenching himself into and even worst posture, just to assert his senior superiority, his independence and not give the impression that his authority is eroding.

In fact, it’s not just his authority, but his strong sense of control that for him, is absolute. Further, his transactional approach to day-to-day life, pits him in conflict with everyone and worsen his stubborn behavior. Moral of the story:

When there’s a possible alternative, never vote for a politician who’s above 65 years of age!

Trying to waking up sleepy old friends

The folks that were my comrades at the École Nationale d’Horlogerie, in Cluses, France, used to be a congenial group, but as all of them turned over 70 in the past few year, they have begun to retreat into hibernation.

As the disruptor and type A personality that I am, I couldn’t let that happen without at least bringing up a fight; so about four weeks ago, I initiated a Q&A contest to elicit some responses or, at the very least, some tangible proofs of life from my old buddies.

To my surprise it’s been hard, heartbreaking and disappointing, as participation and responses have been tepid, at the very best. Only a handful that always were the best and brightest showed their true colors.

Once more, this experiment of mine goes to show that it’s indeed impossible to bring a dead horse back to life!

Living means looking forward into the future

Past, present and future are framing our daily lives.

While some of us linger into the past, looking for security, good memories or conversely, terrible experiences, other indulge more in the present, while many still remain propelled into the future, where they plan, dream and build their tomorrow.

That future orientation often dwindles as someone ages and, in the process, frequently bring unneeded boredom. As we grow older, we must remember to still leave room for future projects to keep us interested in life and maintain a dynamic outlook.

These plans or projects don’t need to be momentous. Even very small ones will do if we bring them into our future pipeline. Let’s simply make sure that this pipeline remains always full!

How putting “America First” pushes us last...

This past Tuesday, Trump held a big meeting demanding that schools reopen physically in the fall, in spite of a surging pandemic through much of the United States.

He even threatened to cut funding if schools wouldn’t reopen.

One thing the entire White House, including the president, the Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and other officials haven’t even bothered to check was what countries like Taiwan, Germany, Sweden, Norway, France and South Korea, among other that re-opened their schools since lock-down have experienced and learned, before even talking of opening the floodgates in August.

This is the ugly form of “American Exceptionalism” at work, ignoring experience or best practices by other countries that unlike America, have their act together, and going it alone. This is one big reason, why our management of the Covid-19 has been the worst in world so far. Good job, Mr. Trump!

What makes biking fun…

I love to ski, walk and hike in the mountains, but cycling is even more special.

I’m talking about both mountain and road biking. On a bicycle, one can really cover a lot of ground in very little time, enjoy fantastic scenery and see countless and minute details that are totally missed while driving or being a passenger inside a car.

The thing that I like most though, is that it’s not a linear sport, with the variety of efforts that need to be produced and the variety of sensations afforded by just pedaling on flat areas, working hard on climbs, relaxing while coasting and getting thrilled during fast descents.

Again, this is true with both forms of cycling, but I must admit that mountain biking offers even more options like keeping up at high-speed with a winding single-track and clearing all kinds of unexpected obstacles!

Then, what’s holding me from not biking more? My past falls and injuries of course; these have made a searing impression on me. I’m not a fan of mechanical problems either, like flat tires or broken chains, but I should also remember that all roses have thorns...

How to fall “right”

During my very active life, I’ve been in accidents on multiple occasions and fallen countless times. It happened on the road, inside farm vehicles, on bikes and of course, while skiing.

All along, I’ve either been very lucky or did the right things to escape death or permanent injury. This has led me to think that there might be, if we can help it, a right and a wrong way of falling.

What I think I’ve subconsciously learned through a plethora of falls was to totally relax myself and fall like a sack of beans. It’s true that every time I’ve fallen, my consciousness level was heightened to an amazing degree, so there’s some room left for some fast thinking, like choosing to avoid a dangerous impact area.

This, I believe has saved me from dying or becoming totally incapacitated. This said, most trauma specialists will advise people to lean forward into the fall in order to have some control over the desirable direction of the impact, whenever possible to fall sideways, on the butt and thighs.

Of course, try to protect the head, rolling to the side in a ball to further spread the impact… I guess, the list goes on, but on your upcoming fall, always try remember the above but by all means remain relaxed and make sure to take the few nanoseconds preceding the impact to wish yourself good luck!

Looking for a simple solution to a nagging problem

At the moment, I am wrestling with a practical problem for which I would like to find a very simple solution.

Historically, I have always settled too quickly on a method that would address my needs, but too often, I have stopped at the first method that came to my mind and have then labored to hard and too long, for a result that could have been much better.

I would like to enhance my approach and turn as many stones as I can to get as close as possible to the ideal design. I have some ideas already, but the situation isn’t straightforward and demands some very creative ideas in order to make it feasible and affordable.

This is the first time, I tackle a difficulty in that manner by trying to turn it around, in as many ways as possible, hoping this time, that I’ll be inspired, get close to perfection, and discover the highest and best outcome. If and when I succeed, I’ll share all the details with you!

My life-story in watches...

As a young man, I attended a technical school that originally was a watchmaking institution.

When I went there, in the early 60s, watchmaking was only one area of expertise that school prepared students for. Measuring instruments and mechanical engineering had by then, evolved into its two main specialty areas.

Watches should have been my passion, but that wasn’t meant to be. By contrast my son is a watch fanatic; at last count he said that he owned nine of them and keep on buying and selling them! As a kid, I received my first watch from my Godfather on the occasion of my Solemn Communion, when I was about 12.

This rite of passage was then a big deal in France. I didn’t fall in love with the LOV branded timepiece, but kept it through my early twenties which says a lot about its durability!
In 1972, as I was traveling through Hong-Kong, I purchased a beautiful Seiko, automatic chronograph. It was heavy, but I enjoyed it many for many years!

Later, when I moved to America, I fell in love with the cheap Casio watches, and over the years, like the perfect nerd that I must have been, wore most of the brand’s iterations of calculator watches, in spite of my big, fat fingers which should say a lot about my dexterity!

At the beginning of this century, I broke my loyalty to the Japanese brand to experiment with a Suunto, altimeter watch that wasn’t user friendly at all and was supposed to supply me with my vertical feet when I skied or hiked in the mountains.

I move to a Garmin, GPS watch that could do as much as my previous watch and some more. It didn’t last very long and this heralded my comeback to Casio.

Today, and two models later, I wear one of its atomic and solar-powered model and I love it. Now, you’ll ask, what about a smart-watch?

Well, not now. I feel that my smartphone brings me more than enough stuff and frankly, I love a watch that keeps PERFECT time, is quite cheap and don’t ever need to be rewound or recharged!

Learning through writing

Ever since I began this blog, I have learned a lot through the process of researching, discovering and ascertaining the various subjects I happened to be covering.

Sometime, the subject itself was an unanswered question I had, which forced me to look for elements that I needed for my own understanding. As much as possible, I do my very best to check the facts I assert in everything I write.

I also find the whole process particularly enriching and satisfying as it fuels an impulse that I particularly cherish: My own curiosity.

Racism and human origin...

While Trump and his ignorant supporters are not just thinking, but rather chanting “White Power!”, I never quite forget that my my own whiteness might be much darker than what’s just visible below my underwear.

This is a reality I can easily live with. I have no problem with my black ancestors and through the current wave of anti-racism protests in the United States and the rest of the world, I always do my best to remember that humankind’s birthplace is somewhere in Africa, where paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson discovered our “Mom” Lucy in 1974, at Hadar, in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia.

That view changed around 2013, when Rick Hunter and Steve Tucker located a place near Johannesburg, South Africa, in what has now become the “Cradle of Humankind”, with Homo naledi as its poster boy.

Of course, you can think, that it’s very easy to be so open-minded in a place like Park City with a population that's 110% white.

True, yet that shouldn’t prevent me from thinking through racism, before working at reforming and reconstructing some of my outdated paradigms!

National Holiday

Yesterday was our National Holiday, and among countless mattress, cameras and swimsuit sales ads, I asked my wife if she felt more American than French or vice-versa.

She replied, “Neither.” I have to say that I feel just the same way and see myself more as a citizen of planet earth, rather than pledging my allegiance to any country in particular.

My view of belonging and my deep loyalty goes to our border-less blue earth and, by extension, to our immense and unfathomable universe.

I belong to that dimension and this what I call my true homeland.

So much for patriotism. Yes, I do enjoy Park City and love my native spot in the French Alps too, but that has nothing to with patriotism. It’s simply tribal.

What's so great about “the good old days”?

There’s hardly a week that goes on without my being reminded about the good old days, under the form of power point, video or the like, often coming from French friends generally my age.

Well, if you think of it, what could be so good about these “good old days”?

Inefficient heating systems in our houses and schools, strict education, horrible car safety, no, or incompetent telecom systems, primitive healthcare?

It seems to me that we’ve come an awful long way as we enjoy a much more comfortable lifestyle, with increased safety all around us, plus a much longer life expectancy.

When all is said and done, what is so cool about yesterday? One single and expended asset: Our own youth.

Walking through our cemetery…

Almost everyday, our daily walk takes us through the Park City cemetery. Most of the time our path through the local “boot-hill” is 0.2 mile and sometimes extends to 0.3 mile.

This means that during one year we walk some 75 miles among the dead.

This daily exercise helps up get the idea that we aren’t on this earth forever and that sooner or later, we’ll join these quiet people whose eternal sleep is only disturbed by during the good season by subterranean neighbors like ground squirrels and marmots, while the magpies provide the sound system.

A few final notes; after hundreds of miles walked through this place over many years:

• We’ve go a great spot reserved for us in that fun place 
• It has unobstructed views of the ski slopes 
• We haven’t seen anyone raising from the dead yet!

My updated views on the stock market

Currently, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, CNBC, all big corporations mouthpieces are supporting as well as lending credibility to the current stock market bounce-back, that to many people, seems totally disconnected with the current economy and pandemic.

Everything “Corporate” is hoping that Biden won’t get elected in November and that they’ll avoid tax reform reversal as well as increased corporate taxes.

Since Trump’s main reelection yardstick that appeals to moderate Republicans and Independents is a buoyant stock market, everyone, from the White House to Wall Street is propping up this success indicator in order to avoid a painful punishment.

Yet, with airplanes not flying, cars not being sold and consumption at an anemic level, the overall second quarters earning cannot be anything but dismal.

Even though Morningstar seems to indicate that the market is even undervalued by 1%, let’s not forget that their valuation can only be based on first Quarter numbers. I expect at least a 10% stock market drop before July is over!

My view is echoed by a recent report from the accounting firm Deloitte, which foresees that a most likely scenario would be that we won’t return to the 2019 GDP level until the end of 2023...

The value of real history

If people knew more about real history, they might have a different understanding of their surroundings, their origins and it might drastically impact their values and culture.

In Europe or in America, schools have been notoriously bad at covering colonialism and hiding issues like slavery, racism or prejudice, often creating strange alternate narratives.

If kids are blind, misinformed or are strongly biased on these subjects, they won’t understand the true workings of history, society and culture.

The eradication of racism and prejudice begins in school, and of course at home, but if the parents only received the false narrative in effect during their education, we shouldn’t expect any miracle and any significant assistance.

Change will be slow, will demand continued attention and a steady focus for many years and probably several generations to come...