let this day go down in history

I had a hike at 9 am, which I suspected would be a problem on a Sunday.
It is an hour away. 
I woke up at 7:40 am and knew I wouldn't make it. 
Then I realized they spend 10 minutes doing introductions anyway. 
I was only 10 minutes late ... until I couldn't find the right parking lot. 
Then I was 30 minutes late ..... but I hustled until I realized the directions didn't make sense. Then I chilled. Chilling was a much better thing to do over rocky terrain for a someone hiking alone and prone to falling.
Still I wound up ahead of them.
Someone asked how, if I started late, I wound up ahead of them, and the hiking leader said, "because she can read a trail map."

LET THIS DAY GO DOWN IN HISTORY!!!

I saw mayapples and a jack-in-the-pulpit. I also saw this pristine butterfly. 

I shared picture of my gorgeous garden with the hiking leader. She was fascinated because she has a shady section of her garden that she doesn't know what to do with. She was amazed that I laid stone. She was blown away by Kate's garden design. And then the plant ideas! It is still so amazing to have so many interesting plants that will grow in shade. 

Kazakhstan is loosening ties with Russia politically, economically, and culturally. Post 2022 invasion, Kzakhs are proudly celebrating their own culture, music, and history. They are learning Kazakh. Musicians have stopped singing in Russian. 

Kazakhstan has signed a deal to start producing Bayraktar drones, deepening its defense cooperation with Turkey. 

The Wagner Group and the Russian military have a lot of tension. Recently there was a fight about who was to blame for defeats. It ended in a shootout.

Russia took an American journalist hostage and is holding him in jail. Now Russians are upset that their reporters can't get visas to the US.