One thing about watching WhaleTV all day, it gives you a lot of time to think. And one of the things I’ve thought about is an idea for a new book. Working title, Intervention.

If I were an advanced alien race watching the human race, and if I cared about our fate, this might be just the time to make myself known. To intervene.

I mean, Russia is about to ignite WW3 as it invades Ukraine, we’re experiencing mass wildlife extinctions, the US is blowing itself up (half the population hates the other half), we’ve engineered ourselves a nice little worldwide pandemic, the planet’s very climate has gotten wonky…I could make a pretty good case to my superiors that it’s time to set aside The Prime Directive. Bring on the Klingons.

Now, this isn’t a new idea. It’s been done again and again. Childhood’s End by Clarke (from 1953!) comes to mind, a seminal book. And probably a hundred others over the years. So I would have to find a new take on things. Are the aliens benevolent? Militaristic conquerors? Can’t trust ’em traders? An intergalactic mining operation? Religious fanatics looking for converts? Covetous of our precious bodily fluids? Or just inscrutable?

Given all the ground others have covered, a fresh take will require some thought. So back to WhaleTV (still trademarked, so mitts off).

Yesterday’s news sure puts things in perspective. Sure, we all have problems, but then there are Problems. Reminds me of a quote I used to like: “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and by the way it’s all small stuff.” Can’t remember who that is attributed to.

Dad was admitted to King’s Daughter’s Hospital (where all my brothers and I were born – you can blame them for our legacy) after a loooong wait in the ER. A long unnecessary wait, but that’s a rant for another day. He’s doing fine and should begin treatment for fluid in his lungs today.

But back to perspective. Thoughts of mortality, of how much time one has left and how you’re spending that time, what happens next, if anything – not your typical vacation thoughts. In contrast, I just finished an interesting book about an immortal man who had lived at least 60,000 years, and he had become pretty nihilistic about life. His point was “there is no point to it all.” Kinda depressing, but I’m in no danger of getting that jaded/skeptical in anything less than 1000 years. So probably OK on that front.

In local news, absolutely huge waves on our beach this morning – just saw a couple that had to be 15 feet high. That happens occasionally here on the Pacific side of Land’s End, and it’s damn impressive. No swimming on this beach. You have to laugh at the irony.