Eu nunca pedi a Deus para salvar o meu pai. Desde que ele partiu tenho vindo a sentir uma necessidade forte de me conectar com algo a nível espiritual. Cresci numa família católica pouco praticante, fui baptizada e fiz a primeira comunhão. Penso que desde aí não frequento a igreja de forma regular. Sempre fui curiosa e aberta a tudo que é religião mas nunca segui na prática nenhuma outra religião. Quando me sinto de algum modo “desesperada” (quase nunca) o meu instinto é pedir a Deus. Contudo durante aqueles meses e mesmo nas últimas horas não pedi em momento algum que o poupasse, talvez esteja relacionado com o facto de nunca ter-me sentido realmente desesperada, pelo menos até aquelas horas finais, onde tudo foi tão surreal e rápido, mas mesmo nessas horas não senti nunca em mim a vontade de pôr nas mãos de Deus essa responsabilidade, senti vontade de desabafar e desabafei, disse que o amava muito, que ia sentir muito a falta dele, mas não implorei para que o deixasse ficar...

Agora que penso sobre isso quase que sinto vergonha de não me ter ocorrido faze-lo. Eu estava a focada em ajudar a tomar decisões que na minha percepção o poderiam salvar.

Acredito piamente que na vida acontece o que tem que acontecer. Creio sim no livre arbítrio mas de uma forma concreta: a vida determina que vais estar numa encruzilhada, isso é o nosso destino ou karma ou como queiram chamar, mas quem decide se vamos para a esquerda ou direita somos nós e aqui entra o livre arbítrio. Talvez a minha mente seja muito concreta e por mais que doa dizer a situação dele foi consequência de muitas decisões ao longo da vida, não sou ninguém para dizer que ele devia ter tomado outras decisões, no máximo posso dizer que gostava que tivesse decidido de outra forma mas ele exerceu o seu livre arbítrio e foi feliz assim... Talvez pedir a Deus para o poupar seria quase como ir contra as suas escolhas, escolhas essas que sim tiveram consequências graves mas também o fizeram ser o ser humano único que ele foi. Ninguém escolhe conscientemente morrer mais cedo, eu sei. Mas ele foi um homem que tinha informação, mas também tinha muita sorte na vida, talvez outros momentos de sorte não deveriam ter sido interpretados como tal e talvez essas sejam as lições que ele me deu e me dá sem saber.

Sinto-me espiritualmente desconectada e com uma necessidade imensa de me conectar, sinto-me completamente sufocada num mundo onde todos respeitam o meu espaço e me dão espaço para respirar. Estarão ambos conectados? Será que a morte de alguém tão importante pode criar essa necessidade tão visceral de procurar algo mais transcendente ao ponto de me sufocar a mim própria para poder de algum modo me encontrar.

Hoje ouvi que talvez ele fosse a minha conexão com algo mais sagrado, ele fosse o meu símbolo do superior e a verdade é que eu o idolatrava, mesmo com todos os seus defeitos de comum mortal o idolatrava. Talvez precise encontrar ou reencontrar outra forma de amar, adorar, idolatrar que não dependa apenas de um ser fisico mas da minha conexão com algo maior.

Ainda não sei quando nem por onde começar. Vou acreditar que reconhecer essa necessidade é o meu começo e aos poucos vou perceber como navegar.

Perdoa pai por não ter pedido para Ele te poupar, mas pedi para Ele te acolher, te dar a paz e para te receberem em festa todos aqueles que já partiram e que tanto tu amavas e sentias falta de abraçar.

Rise of Reason- Part 1: The Sequester

The following is the first installment of a new series I'll be releasing on this blog. Unlike Starcraft Co. which was essentially a fan-fiction space opera, this is going to be historical fiction much more grounded in realism. There will be no magic, monsters, space age technology, etc. Instead, it takes place in the fictional world of Merdunia. The time period roughly parallels the Middle Ages in European history. We will follow the descendants of Wesley the Wise, a progressive kingdom focused on technological, scientific and social progress. I'm going to format this as more of a history text than a fictional narrative, though we will see how the writing evolves as I go. This series is loosely based on something I wrote many years ago:

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The period preceding the Sequester was characterized by chronic warfare, political fragmentation, and repeated institutional collapse across much of Merdunia. Civilization had not disappeared. Fortified cities remained inhabited, regional trade persisted, kingdoms levied taxes and fielded armies, and religious institutions preserved substantial bodies of written knowledge. However, few states maintained stability for more than several generations. Dynastic disputes, invasions, civil wars, and raiding repeatedly disrupted economic activity and destroyed the conditions necessary for sustained development. Roads deteriorated when central governments weakened, workshops were abandoned or redirected toward military production, agricultural surpluses were consumed by armies, and local advances in engineering or craftsmanship were often lost when the communities that produced them were dispersed.

The cumulative effect was a long period of technological and institutional stagnation. Merdunian society continued to change, but progress rarely accumulated consistently enough to transform it. A well-administered kingdom might expand irrigation, improve metallurgy, establish schools, or standardize weights and measures, only for these institutions to fragment during the next succession crisis or invasion. Similar discoveries were frequently made more than once in different regions because earlier knowledge had been lost, remained inaccessible, or survived only in a small number of manuscripts.

Technology remained broadly pre-industrial. Iron and steel working were well established, although quality varied considerably between regions and individual workshops. Gunpowder was known, but remained expensive, unreliable, and of little military importance. Warfare continued to depend primarily on swords, spears, bows, crossbows, cavalry, and fortified positions, while sieges were conducted using rams, siege towers, catapults, mining, and blockade. The printing press had not been conceived, and books could only be reproduced through manual transcription. Even prosperous kingdoms therefore possessed relatively few copies of important texts, and the destruction of a monastery, royal archive, or private collection could eliminate knowledge that existed nowhere else.

It was during this period that Wesley, later remembered as Wesley the Wise, ruled one of the more organized kingdoms of central Merdunia. The population under his direct authority and within the smaller territories that acknowledged his influence is generally estimated at around forty thousand. This made his kingdom substantial enough to defend itself against many local rivals, but too small to dominate the larger and more populous powers surrounding it.

Its principal advantage was administrative rather than military. Wesley inherited and expanded a system of taxation, permanent storehouses, road maintenance, royal workshops, written records, and standing military organization that was unusually effective by contemporary standards. The crown was hereditary, but Wesley governed through a royal council composed of senior landholders, military commanders, clergy, and administrators. His authority was extensive, although major policies still depended upon cooperation from men who controlled estates, soldiers, workshops, and local government.

Wesley’s later reputation rests primarily on his belief that the persistent insecurity of Merdunian life was preventing humanity from advancing. He was not opposed to military force and continued to maintain a capable army throughout his reign. His concern was that too much of society’s labor, wealth, and intelligence was being consumed by defense. Skilled metalworkers spent much of their working lives producing weapons and armor, engineers repaired walls and constructed fortifications, farmers were periodically removed from agriculture for military service, and royal revenues were diverted into garrisons, horses, weapons, and defensive works. Even successful periods of peace were frequently devoted to preparing for the next war.

This concern was closely tied to Wesley’s religious beliefs. The kingdom was strongly monotheistic, and Wesley’s court increasingly promoted the idea that the natural world represented a divine system that humanity was obligated to study. God, in this interpretation, had created a universe governed by consistent laws and had given human beings the capacity to discover them. The properties of metals, the movement of water, the causes of disease, the behavior of plants, the motions of celestial bodies, and the principles of mathematics were therefore regarded not merely as practical subjects but as aspects of creation whose investigation carried religious significance.

Wesley appears to have believed that humanity had explored only a small fraction of what could ultimately be understood. Later writers would describe this outlook as the beginning of Providential rationalism, although no formal doctrine yet existed during his early reign. At the time, Wesley’s concern was more practical: sustained inquiry required social continuity, and continuity was difficult to maintain while each generation remained vulnerable to invasion, conscription, economic disruption, and the destruction of accumulated records.

The Search for Refuge

Around the thirty-second year of Wesley’s reign, later conventionally designated Year 0 of the Sequester, the crown began financing expeditions beyond the kingdom’s settled frontier. The stated purpose was initially broad. Surviving administrative fragments refer to surveys of defensible land, water sources, arable ground, timber, and mountain routes. Later histories portrayed the project as a deliberate search for permanent refuge from its beginning, although it is possible that Wesley’s objective developed gradually as reports from successive expeditions accumulated.

The first expeditions found little that satisfied the crown’s requirements. Several areas were defensible but possessed insufficient farmland. Others had reliable water and grazing but were accessible to large armies. One mountainous region was abandoned after surveyors concluded that snow would close its principal routes for much of the year. The valley that ultimately became the center of the Sequester was identified approximately three years after the first expeditions began.

The valley was not unknown to the peoples of the surrounding region. Hunters, herders, and small nomadic groups had used its forests, lakes, and mountain passes for generations, and surviving oral traditions preserve several names for individual rivers, ridges, and hunting grounds. No permanent state appears to have controlled the entire valley, however, and there is little evidence of large-scale agriculture or permanent settlement before Wesley’s expeditions.

Its isolation was primarily geographical. Several narrow routes crossed the surrounding mountains, but most were suitable only for hunters, herders, pack animals, or small groups traveling on foot. Only one pass was broad enough to accommodate wagons, large livestock herds, siege equipment, or formed bodies of troops. This combination of internal resources and restricted military access distinguished the valley from the other sites investigated by the crown.

The first major royal survey parties entered the valley in Year 4 and remained for much of the growing season. They mapped the principal rivers, examined soil, estimated timber reserves, identified grazing areas, and recorded populations of fish and game. Their reports were favorable but not uniformly so. Much of the valley floor was fertile, several rivers contained substantial spawning populations, and the surrounding forests provided extensive timber and game. High ground near the western slopes had a shorter growing season than expected, while sections of the lower valley were vulnerable to spring flooding.

The initial carrying-capacity estimates varied considerably. Early court records suggested that the valley might support as many as fifteen thousand people, but these calculations assumed high agricultural yields and underestimated the amount of land and stored fodder required for livestock. Later planners reduced the target substantially. Modern estimates generally place the sustainable pre-industrial population at roughly ten thousand under careful management, although short-term populations could exceed that figure during favorable periods.

Wesley nevertheless judged the site suitable. The valley could not accommodate his entire kingdom, but it could support a sufficiently large population to preserve the administrative, agricultural, religious, military, and technical institutions necessary for a self-sustaining society. He named the region the Vale of Providence, a designation that reflected the religious interpretation increasingly associated with his court. The valley was not regarded as supernatural in origin; rather, its natural characteristics were interpreted as a resource placed within creation and discovered through exploration, measurement, and planning.

Establishing the Vale

Construction began in Year 6. The first permanent expedition probably consisted of between four and five hundred people, most of them soldiers, masons, carpenters, laborers, farmers, and surveyors, accompanied by a smaller number of smiths, clerks, clergy, and physicians. Its immediate task was to secure the main pass and establish a supply base from which permanent construction and agriculture could proceed.

The earliest fortifications were modest compared with the defenses that later stood at the entrance. Stone walls and towers were positioned at the narrowest section of the approach, where steep terrain restricted the number of attackers who could advance simultaneously. Storage chambers, barracks, and workshops were constructed close to the defensive line, while secondary positions were established farther inside the pass. These works gradually developed into the fortified complex later known simply as the Gate.

The geography made the position unusually strong by contemporary standards, although it was not impossible to attack. A large and determined army could theoretically have attempted prolonged siege, mining, infiltration through minor mountain routes, or repeated frontal assaults. The principal advantage of the Gate was that it sharply reduced the usefulness of numerical superiority. Any invading force would have had to cross difficult terrain, maintain long supply lines, and attack a prepared position where only a limited number of soldiers could engage at once. For most neighboring rulers, the cost of such an expedition would have been disproportionate to the likely gain.

The first settlers quickly discovered that several assumptions made during the surveys had been overly optimistic. A cluster of storehouses constructed near one river was damaged by spring flooding in Year 7. Wheat planted on higher western terraces produced poor yields, while several familiar fruit varieties failed during colder winters. Livestock required greater quantities of stored fodder than planners had anticipated, particularly during periods of heavy snowfall, and intensive hunting reduced game populations around the main settlements within only a few years. The Vale contained abundant resources, but settlement demonstrated that those resources could not be treated as unlimited.

For the first several years, the new population remained dependent upon the old kingdom. Grain, salt, livestock, metal stock, tools, cloth, medicines, and other supplies were transported through the mountains in regular caravans. Records from Year 8 suggest that imported food still accounted for a substantial portion of consumption. Mills, granaries, roads, irrigation channels, drainage works, and new farmland consequently received priority over most of Wesley’s broader scholarly ambitions.

By Year 9, the permanent population had grown into the low thousands. The fortifications at the Gate had become strong enough to protect the settlement from any likely raiding force, while the agricultural base had expanded sufficiently for the crown to begin planning large-scale relocation.

Selection and Opposition

Wesley publicly committed the kingdom to the migration in Year 10. The announcement created a major political dispute because the Vale could not support the kingdom’s full population of approximately forty thousand. The crown therefore had to determine who would relocate and what portion of the old kingdom’s movable wealth would accompany them.

Administrative planners initially proposed migration quotas based upon occupation, household size, health, age, and the anticipated needs of the new settlement. In practice, these criteria proved difficult to apply consistently. Skilled craftsmen often refused to migrate without extended family members. Noble households demanded places for retainers and servants. Villages petitioned to relocate as intact communities rather than be divided, while clergy argued over which religious communities, manuscripts, and sacred objects should be transferred. Some farmers selected by royal officials had little desire to abandon established land, while other families that wished to migrate were initially excluded because planners considered their occupations overrepresented.

Political influence altered the process further. Surviving migration lists contain substitutions, additions, and entire households inserted after the initial allocations had been prepared. Patronage and bribery almost certainly occurred, although the surviving evidence is insufficient to determine their scale. By the later migration years, the population entering the Vale reflected a combination of administrative planning, voluntary participation, family negotiation, and political compromise rather than a single centrally imposed selection system.

Opposition also developed among officials and landholders who rejected the broader strategy. Some nobles regarded withdrawal into the mountains as an abandonment of the crown’s obligations to its existing territories, while others accepted the need for refuge but argued that Wesley should continue to claim and govern the old kingdom from the Vale. Military commanders were particularly concerned that the gradual removal of population, livestock, grain reserves, and skilled workers would weaken the kingdom before the migration had been completed.

These concerns were reinforced as the flow of people and material toward the mountains increased. Neighboring raiders and local war bands began targeting the increasingly predictable supply routes. Caravans carrying grain, livestock, tools, metal, and household goods represented unusually valuable targets, and escort requirements expanded accordingly. Protecting the migration therefore consumed additional military resources at the same time that the old kingdom’s manpower and reserves were declining.

The crown appears to have concealed the full scale of the transfer during its early years, possibly to reduce the risk of organized attack before the Gate and internal settlements were sufficiently developed. By Year 12, however, it was widely understood that Wesley intended to relinquish most of his former territory rather than maintain a divided kingdom.

The Great Migration

The main phase of migration occurred between Years 11 and 15. Movement was organized in seasonal convoys, usually traveling after spring roads became passable and before the onset of winter. Livestock moved slowly, wagons frequently broke down, and weather in the mountain approaches regularly delayed travel. The physical movement of thousands of people and animals therefore extended over several years rather than occurring as a single organized departure.

Disease proved more dangerous than armed attack. Large temporary camps formed at staging points along the route, often with inadequate sanitation and limited access to clean water. Contemporary descriptions record repeated outbreaks of intestinal illness, fever, and respiratory disease. Exact mortality figures cannot be reconstructed, but several migration lists contain households that disappear entirely from later records, while others show substantial reductions between departure and settlement.

Raids also increased as the old kingdom weakened. Most involved attacks on isolated wagons, livestock herds, or poorly protected supply groups, but at least three larger engagements are recorded between royal escorts and organized raiding forces. The largest, in Year 13, delayed one of the principal grain convoys long enough that emergency rationing was introduced within the Vale.

By Year 14, approximately thirteen thousand people had either entered the valley or were traveling toward it. The migrants represented about one-third of the kingdom’s original population but included a disproportionate share of administrators, skilled craftsmen, literate clergy, military specialists, and households selected for agricultural experience. The resulting transfer weakened the old kingdom substantially even before the crown formally relinquished it.

Wesley ultimately abandoned his claims to the former territories rather than attempting to govern them from inside the Vale. Some regions reorganized under local nobles and officials, while others were absorbed by neighboring powers or became effectively independent. The political transition was uneven, and later rulers in the former kingdom occasionally claimed descent from officials or noble houses that had remained behind.

Histories written outside the Vale often described the Sequester as an extraction of wealth and talent from the old kingdom, and this criticism was not without basis. Large quantities of livestock, tools, seed grain, manuscripts, metal, and skilled labor accompanied the migrants. Providential accounts instead emphasized that the majority of the population remained in place and that many subjects had declined opportunities to migrate. The evidence suggests a more complicated process in which practical limits, unequal political influence, personal choice, and the finite resources of the valley all affected who ultimately participated.

Wesley’s Death and the Settlement Crisis

Wesley died in Year 15 of the Sequester. By then, the Gate was operational, several settlements had become permanent, and most of the intended migration had already taken place. The Vale nevertheless remained economically vulnerable. Its population had expanded faster than its agricultural base, imported supplies were still important, and much of the newly cleared farmland had not produced the yields predicted by earlier surveys.

The following three years became the most difficult period of settlement. A poor harvest in Year 16 sharply reduced grain reserves. The causes appear to have included unusually cool weather, inadequate drainage in newly cultivated areas, and overestimation of the acreage that had become reliably productive. Livestock losses during the following winter further reduced food supplies. Fishing and hunting increased substantially, but could not compensate for the agricultural shortfall without placing additional pressure on local animal populations.

Disease spread through the most crowded settlements during the same period. Malnutrition increased vulnerability, particularly among children and older adults, while shortages of clean housing and adequate sanitation contributed to recurrent illness. Some families left the Vale voluntarily, concluding that conditions in the lowlands offered better prospects than continued shortages. Others attempted to return to the former kingdom only to find that political control had changed significantly since their departure.

The settlement government responded with measures that included grain rationing, expansion of communal storehouses, tighter accounting of harvest yields, restrictions on livestock slaughter, and regulation of timber cutting, hunting, and fishing. Several of these measures later became permanent features of Providential administration. The settlement crisis also demonstrated the danger of continued reliance upon the outside world. Two major supply caravans were attacked in Year 16, while another failed to arrive before winter because early snow closed portions of the route. Self-sufficiency consequently became not only an economic objective but a central element of security policy.

Conditions began to improve during Years 18 and 19. Farmers shifted grain production toward lower and better-drained areas, expanded cultivation of crops that performed well in the valley climate, and improved systems for storing winter fodder. New mills reduced the labor required to process grain, while additional roads improved movement between agricultural settlements and the growing population centers. Fishing was regulated around spawning seasons, and hunting restrictions were introduced near heavily populated areas.

The population nevertheless continued to decline from its peak. Of the approximately thirteen thousand people who participated in the migration or early settlement, roughly ten thousand remained as the stable population from which later Providential society developed. The exact fate of the remaining three thousand cannot be reconstructed. Later demographic studies generally conclude that a substantial portion died from disease, hunger, exposure, raids, accidents, and other causes associated with migration and early settlement, while several hundred appear to have returned to the lowlands or left the Vale during the difficult years following Wesley’s death. Record keeping deteriorated during the crisis, preventing more precise estimates.

Completion and Significance

By Year 20, regular grain imports were no longer necessary under ordinary harvest conditions. Some external trade continued, particularly for resources that were scarce or unavailable within the mountains, but the survival of the population no longer depended upon uninterrupted supply routes. Later historians conventionally identify Year 21 as the end of the Sequester, by which point the last large migration parties had arrived, emergency provisioning from the former kingdom had ceased, and the population of the Vale had stabilized at approximately ten thousand.

The society that emerged from the Sequester differed in important respects from the kingdom Wesley had originally ruled. Its survival had depended upon planning, record keeping, rationing, resource management, and the willingness to revise policies when earlier assumptions proved incorrect. The intellectual culture later associated with the Rise of Reason therefore developed from two related traditions. The first was Wesley’s belief that understanding the natural world formed part of humanity’s divine purpose. The second arose from the experience of settlement itself, during which inaccurate estimates of crop yields, water levels, livestock requirements, and population capacity had direct consequences for survival.

This experience encouraged an unusually strong emphasis on measurement and preservation. Agricultural yields were recorded because shortages had exposed the dangers of poor estimates. Forests were managed because timber reserves were finite. Fish and game populations were monitored because local depletion had become visible within a few years of settlement. Administrative records were retained to allow comparison between seasons, and unsuccessful practices increasingly became subjects of record rather than lessons that had to be rediscovered independently.

The Sequester did not immediately produce rapid technological development. During its first two decades, most of the population remained occupied with agriculture, construction, resource management, and defense. Wesley died before the society he envisioned had become economically secure, and many of the institutions later associated with Providential scholarship had not yet been established.

Its historical significance lay instead in the continuity it made possible. For centuries, Merdunian societies had repeatedly developed new institutions and techniques only to lose them through conquest, civil war, migration, or political fragmentation. The Vale of Providence did not eliminate disease, scarcity, political conflict, or human error, but it substantially reduced the threat of external conquest and created conditions in which knowledge and institutions could persist across generations. For this reason, later historians generally identify the completion of the Sequester as the beginning of the Rise of Reason.

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photo “Rock Rapture” © Laura F. @miniliiveri@gram.social

This morning finds me dull, enveloped by the Grey¹, a consequence of the decisions I’ve made this year. Decisions I’ve made without regret. Decisions I’d make again and again. Decisions that will affect me for the rest of my life. A connection that is both blessing and burden. A circumstance unbidden — befallen.

The anomalous voyager faces both wonders and dangers on their journey. I find the myth of Icarus helpful, at least for my state of mind today.

“The boy began to delight in his bold flight, and, abandoning his guide, seized by desire for the sky, he steered a higher course.” — Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.223-225.

Icarus, son of the craftsman Daedalus, escaped imprisonment in Crete on wings his father made from feathers and wax, but, intoxicated by the freedom of flight, he ignored his father's warnings and soared too close to the sun. The wax melted, and he plunged into the sea and drowned.

The wax melted by proximity, and Icarus died. That is the lesson most learn in school. But what of the man who kissed the sun only to survive the fall. The one who wakes up each morning to find his senses burned, leaving ordinary life numb, joyless, and tasteless. How the supernormal blinds the normal. How I have forgotten the taste of the ordinary. How I long for any taste, here or there.

Does this merit caution? Perhaps.

But I fully admit that even if I had known the consequences beforehand — the scarring, the numbness, the Grey — I wouldn't have changed a thing. For kissing the Sun is more than just a kiss. More than just intoxication, enchantment, and euphoria.

Those who know, know.

And so, on mornings like this one, I wake with the taste of nothing, and the memory of why. Both are gifts. Both are debts.² Both symbols of the bond I’ve embraced. One foot in the past, one in the future — the herenow and the hereafter.

#Intermundia

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Notes:

1. It's a mistake to diagnose the Grey as melancholia or some form of depressive state. Though it has qualities that mirror depression, it is a psychospiritual state all its own, where the absence of one incurs symptoms in another. A depression of spirits, per the 19th century definition, is a better description than the modern one. Perhaps a depression of soul is a better phrasing still — where the soul is partially or wholly alienated from its counterpart.

2. The gift of choice to choose deserves the conviction to follow through.

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By D. Bowman | Nomina Numina is a journal of my reflections, moments, and meaning-making between worlds. Reply by email.

Today's Game of Choice.

Out of all the many available options today, I'm choosing my Texas Rangers vs the Toronto Blue Jays as my first game of choice to follow. This early afternoon MLB game has a scheduled start time of 1:35 PM CDT. As usual I'll be following the game's scores and stats in real time via MLB's Gameday Service where we can also find links to the radio-call of the game provided by announcers of either team we choose.

And the adventure continues.

 

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Photo © @Andrew-Murphy

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photo © @rarotonga

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photo © @leti.00

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photo © @WildAtHeart

Il y a, quelque part, Ce « nous ».

De quoi est-il constitué ?

D’un socle de croyance ? D’une culture héritée ? D’un lieu de naissance ? Peu importe en fait.

Il n’est pas très exigeant, Ce « nous ».

Ce « nous », Qu’on appelle aussi « identité », Peut être fait d’un peu de ça, Ou de tout à la fois.

Mais peu importe en vérité, Prenons-le tel qu’il est.

Et puis il y a « eux ».

« Eux », partagent aussi, Entre eux, Quelque chose qui les uni. Quelque chose qui les défini.

Une histoire héritée, Un leader éclairé… Bref, si vous m’avez suivi, Une autre identité.

Sur le papier, Les choses semblent simple : Eux avec eux, nous avec nous, Et les vaches sont bien gardées.

Mais rien n’est jamais simple. Et nous avons changé. Eux aussi ont changé, Comment s’en étonner ?

Alors certains, chez nous, Comme d’autres, chez eux, Ont du mal à l’accepter.

Nostalgiques d’une simplicité, Qui n’a pourtant jamais existé, Ils refusent la complexité, Dont la vie est pourtant tissée.

Alors, pour se rassurer, Ils s’inventent une vérité. Un récit, sur lequel se hisser, Pour espérer encore dominer.

« C’est eux qui ont commencé ! Notre civilisation est menacée ! » « Nous devons nous protéger, Sinon nous serons submergés ! »

Fort bien. Ceci étant posé, Maintenant qu’est-ce qu’on fait ? Des murs, des barbelés ? Des fossés, pour nous protéger ?

La guerre c’est simple. Âmes sensibles, laissez faire, Ce n’est pas beau à voir, Alors regardez de ce côté…

Il y aurait bien un autre chemin, Une autre possibilité. Mais je n’ose en parler, Vous me prendriez pour un fou.

Un fou, Parce que, on ne sait jamais, Au bout, il y a peut-être la paix. On pourrait même finir par s’aimer.

Alors c’est sûr, vous avez raison, Elle est complètement folle cette idée…

Introduction

Evaluating the true potential of a plug-in solar system starts with understanding your actual household energy demand. To figure out whether a DIY plug-in solar setup makes sense for my home, I analyzed my electricity usage over a full 12-month period—from August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026.

While utility billing cycles rarely align perfectly with calendar months, I used a linear regression cost model to overcome this. As discussed in my previous article on building an open data pipeline and cost impact model, this approach lets me calculate energy consumption and estimated costs for any custom date range with high accuracy.

Why Split Usage by 2?

A key technical detail when evaluating plug-in solar is how standard North American residential electrical panels work. Most homes receive 240V split-phase power divided into two separate 120V “legs” or lines. Because standard plug-in solar microinverters plug into a standard 120V wall outlet, they only feed power into one of those two legs.

To estimate how much electricity usage you can actually offset with solar generation, divide the total household energy usage by 2. While assuming electricity is split perfectly 50/50 between Leg 1 and Leg 2 isn't exact, it provides a reasonable baseline for a few reasons:

• High-demand appliances balance out: My peak energy months occur during the summer (June through August).
  
• 240V central air conditioning: The primary electrical load during summer is central AC, which runs on a 240V circuit and automatically draws power equally from both legs simultaneously.

Annual Usage Breakdown & Monthly Highlights

Here is the breakdown of my energy consumption across all 12 months, along with the estimated daily usage per leg:

Month	Daily Energy Usage per Leg (kWh)	Total Energy Usage per Leg (kWh)	Cost per Leg	Effective Rate per kWh
August (2025)	15.0	465.2	$76.99	$0.17
September	10.2	305.8	$52.64	$0.17
October	7.0	216.2	$38.96	$0.18
November	5.5	164.4	$31.05	$0.19
December	7.8	241.8	$42.87	$0.18
January (2026)	8.2	253.6	$44.67	$0.18
February	7.8	217.6	$39.17	$0.18
March	7.4	228.8	$40.88	$0.18
April	6.1	181.5	$33.66	$0.19
May	6.6	203.9	$37.08	$0.18
June	14.1	421.5	$70.32	$0.17
July	15.1	468.6	$77.51	$0.17

Looking at the monthly trends, November 2025 represented the lowest usage month of the year at 328.8 kWh total (an average of 5.5 kWh/day per leg). On the opposite end, July 2026 hit the highest usage peak at 937.2 kWh total (an average of 15.1 kWh/day per leg).

The total estimated cost for the single leg of energy over this 12-month period was $585.77. This figure represents the absolute maximum theoretical savings a plug-in solar system could have achieved under Dominion Energy Virginia's rate structure. Because a standard plug-in solar setup cannot generate enough electricity to fully offset this demand (even if oversized by 25%) this amount sets a firm ceiling on expected cost savings.

Seasonal Trends & HVAC Impact

Energy consumption changes significantly across the seasons due to heating and cooling demands:

• Shoulder Seasons (Fall & Spring): During spring and autumn, my heating and cooling systems stay off most of the time. Opening windows handles temperature control, leading to the lowest electrical demand of the year.
  
• Winter Heating Demand: Because my home uses natural gas for primary heating rather than an electric heat pump, winter electricity demand remains modest. However, daily usage still rises compared to shoulder seasons because the furnace fan requires electric power to circulate warm air.
  
• Summer Peak Demand: Air conditioning drives the largest electricity load by far, doubling or tripling daily usage compared to spring and fall months.

Note: I started charging my EV at my house in June. Charging raised my total electricity usage for June and July but the overall trends for the year remain consistent, I’ve now just raised my baseline electricity usage.

Conclusion & What's Next

By analyzing a full year of energy consumption, I establish a clear understanding of the maximum impact a plug-in solar system can have. In the next post, I’ll demonstrate the grid-power offset potential of the previously modeled 1,200 W and 1,500 W systems at a more granular level and the expected payback periods.

Tags: #Solar #PlugIn #Balcony #Modeling

Meest Geest en Zonen BV juridische mailin'

Bij deze laten we u weten dat we de juridische regels hebben aangepast op sommige passages met betrekking tot invoer van de heilige geest met die door ons toepgepaste middelen om dit heilig gemaakte in de geest te transporteren

Aanpassingen met betrekking tot verantwoordelijkheid na invoer van de geestesmaterie.

Regel 5.1 addendum 3 hebben we wederom herschreven

5.1 ad 3 Hierbij aangetekend dat aangaande het gebruik van de geheiligde geest tijdens het rijden van een op fossiele brandstof voortgedreven of elektrisch opgeladen voertuig wij u er op wijzen en hierbij verklarende dat afdoende is beschreven dat deze geest niet verantwoordelijk kan zijn voor alle mogelijke ongemakken veroorzaakt tijdens het transporteren van dit voertuig van de plek van oorsprong naar de plek van bestemming omdat het enkel daar was deze reis te voorzien van meerwaarde door aanwezigheid maar niet gebruikt kan worden om dergelijke middelen op dergelijke falende wijze te besturen.

Regel 45.8.6 met betrekking tot omgang met de media tijdens het gebruik van de door ons verstrekte geest hebben we de regels aangaande dit gebruik driewerf verbeterd.

45.8.6a Bij veelvuldige inzet van het door het door ons aan u verstrekte middel tijdens het verkeren in gezelschap van alle media is het verplicht om u te houden aan de wettelijk normen en limieiten voor gebruik voor toepassing van dergelijke geestesproducten. 45.8.6g U dient er ten alle tijden voor te zorgen dat u kunt aantonen dat u zich aan deze normen en limieten voor het gebruik van de geest heeft gehouden. 45.8.6h Laat u deze plichtplegingen rondom persoonsgebonden bewijslast achterwege verliest u alle juridische rechten met betrekking op het door u verkregen geheiligde aangaande ongemakken ontstaan tijdens het gebruik van media onder invloed van een genuttigde geest.

Regel 79.7 aangaande legitieme doorverkoop van door ons geheiligde producten is voor de duidelijkheid aangesterkt

Doorverkoop van een door ons verstrekte geest gekoppeld aan u eigen geest is ten strengste verboden tenzij u het product eerst officieel afziet van gebruik deze en vervolgens door een van onze gelegitimeerde heilige geest product verkopers tien jaar laat beheren, drie jaar opslaan, vijf jaar keuren, twee jaar herinrichten van de opgewaardeerde en voor hergebruik klaargemaakte nogmaals ingeheiligde geest.

Regel 100.1. Met betrekking tot verwijdering van u digitale account bij ons zelve of een account bij bedrijven die bij ons onder licentie staan.

Een eenmaal geactiveerde account kan alleen op de voorgeschreven wijze en onder onze voorwaarden verwijderd worden door degene die de geest heeft aangekocht en beheerd. Gegevens aangaande de digitale account blijven vanaf mei dit jaar na verandering van de internationale wet digitale accounts blijven nog zeven,zeven jaar in het bezit van de administratie afdeling van de hoofdvestiging.

Regel 1111.22

1111.22 Wij zijn alleen verantwoordelijk voor kwalijke effecten tijdens gebruik van de geheiligde geest als kan worden bewezen dat u eigen van geboorte tot de dood aanwezige geest op dat moment niet actief was en u dus handelde nadat dood was ingetreden. Hetzelfde unieke moment waarop u verplicht afscheid neemt van al uw bij leven en welzijn rechten.

Wij hopen dat we u hiermee voldoende hebben ingelicht over de door ons en voor ons ingevoerde veranderingen aangaande het gebruik van onze producten en metname die van de aan ons merkgebonden geheiligde geestesmaterie.

Wilt u weten welke rechten wij allemaal wel hebben en u dus niet, klop dan aan bij een advocaat die u wel kan betalen voor een kort, dus nog net betaalbaar gesprek aangaande het gebrek aan daadwerkelijke boeiende toekomst met de nodige meerwaarde voor u en eventueel u nakomelingen. Maakt u zich liever niet druk kijk dan gerust naar alles wat er op dit moment zoal te zien is op televisie, streamingsdiensten, sportzenders, in bioscopen, of denk eens niet te lang en diep na over een mogelijke nieuwe verslaving aan niet al te moeilijk verkrijgbare verdovende middelen, niet geheel toevallig ook verstrekt door een groot scala aan bedrijven allemaal bij ons onder contract.

Stay entertained thanks to our Weekly Tracker giving you next week's Anticipated Movies & Shows, Most Watched & Returning Favorites, and Shows Changes & Popular Trailers.

Anticipated Movies

• The Love Hypothesis
• Hot Spot
• ☆ Heart of the Beast
• Primetime
• La bola negra
• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
• Forgotten Island
• UNABOMBER
• Sense and Sensibility

Anticipated Shows

• Youth
• Line of Fire
• ☆ Brothers
• Wonka's The Golden Ticket
• A Different World
• S.W.A.T. Exiles

Returing Favorites

• The Voice — Season 30
• Best Medicine — Season 2
• Doc — Season 3
• Survivor — Season 51
• Hell's Kitchen — Season 25
• American Horror Story — Season 13
• The Graham Norton Show — Season 34
• Saturday Night Live — Season 52
• America's Funniest Home Videos — Season 37
• ☆ The Simpsons — Season 38
• Animal Control — Season 5

Trending Shows Status Changes

• Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story — Returning Series → Ended
• Flex x Cop — Returning Series → Ended
• Rich Girl Caretaker: I'm Secretly the Caregiver of the Most Popular Girl in This Rich Kid School — Returning Series → Ended
• The Scandal — Returning Series → Ended
• Has Fallen — Ended → Returning Series

Most Watched Movies this Week

• new The End of Oak Street
• -1 Mayday
• -1 Coyote vs. Acme
• new Resident Evil
• = Moana
• +1 Spider-Man: Brand New Day
• -1 Mutiny
• +1 One Night Only
• -6 The Whisper Man
• new Supergirl

Most Watched Shows this Week

• = Lanterns
• = Reacher
• = Ted Lasso
• +1 Lioness
• +1 The Gentlemen
• -2 Silo
• = Stuart Fails to Save the Universe
• +1 Dark Matter
• new Slow Horses
• -2 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Popular Trailers

• Audiences are loving Practical Magic 2! — Practical Magic 2
• Proof’s in the puddin’. — Digger
• In Cinemas Now — Resident Evil
• Are You Taking Me Seriously Now — Runner
• ONE WEEK until we Assemble in IMAX. — Avengers: Endgame
• 13 Teaser – The Grand Unveiling — American Horror Story
• Happy Birthday Wile E Coyote — Coyote vs. Acme
• Adventure may bring them to Nakali, but friendship is what drives the story. — Forgotten Island
• In UK Cinemas Everywhere October 9 — The Uprising
• Midseason Trailer — Lanterns

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Hi, I’m Kevin 👋. Product Manager at Trakt and creator of Rippple. If you’d like to support what I'm building, you can download Rippple for Trakt, explore the open source project, or go Trakt VIP.

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[20.09.2026] #3x3

Si dejamos a un lado el baloncesto profesional y simplificamos al máximo, podemos decir que la organización de nuestro deporte está estructurada de una manera muy sencilla y absolutamente vertical. En la cúspide de la piramide están las federaciones. Les siguen los clubs, y en la base, los jugadores que, a pesar de que son los que verdaderamente sostienen el invento, son dejados casi siempre al margen de cualquier tipo de decisión que les afecte. El pegamento que mantiene unido todo esto es la figura del entrenador. Una figura impuesta para garantizar el orden y el control en toda la estructura. Paradójicamente (o no tanto) es, con mucho, la parte más débil del sistema. En entrenador es, pues, la primera figura de poder con la que se encuentra cualquier jugador. El entrenador es el que decide qué tipo de formación (siempre que exista) va a ofrecerle, qué compañeros va a tener, cuántos minutos va a jugar, cómo debe jugarlos y qué decisiones ha de tomar por el supuesto bien del equipo.

Sin entrar demasiado a fondo en la cuestión podríamos decir que la tarea del entrenador tiene, tradicionalmente, una doble faceta: por un lado, entrenar durante la semana; por el otro, dirigir los partidos de competición. Hoy en día existen muchos entrenadores de 5x5, de los mal llamados de formación, que llevan a cabo sus entrenamientos semanales como si se tratara del partido del fin de semana. Podríamos decir que únicamente dirigen, con el obligado repertorio estándar de gestos, gritos y malas caras, y en un estado casi permanente de mal humor (tengamos en cuenta que su modelo de referencia es el entrenador profesional histriónico) ya que los jugadores nunca hacen exactamente lo que ellos quieren. Para esta clase de técnicos todo es mucho más sencillo. Ellos solo saben (es un decir) dirigir, los jugadores ya han de venir previamente formados por quien sea. Poco importa, ese no es su trabajo. Su trabajo es dirigir para vencer. Si no se gana la culpa recaerá siempre en el jugador, que no ha sido formado adecuadamente.

Por suerte este es uno de los grandes cambios del 3x3. No se permite (es norma Fiba) la presencia de un entrenador en los partidos. Sí que son bienvenidos para preparar una competición o mejorar el nivel de los jugadores. De modo que el entrenador permanece en la sombra: entrena, cuando existe, entre una competición y otra, y en los partidos, si es que va, se queda en la grada. Su objetivo casi único, es entrenar para que los jugadores aprendan a tomar decisiones y funcionen por sí mismos. Justo lo contrario de lo que ocurre en el 5x5 donde las decisiones las toma el entrenador e intenta evitar que el jugador piense y actúe por sí mismo. El posible éxito es siempre suyo. Si la decisión no ha sido acertada será el jugador el responsable. En el 3x3 el entrenador ha de hacer honor a su nombre, es decir entrenar. No ha de dirigir en absoluto. La interpretación de lo que ocurre en la pista y la dirección del proceso de la competición pertenece en exclusiva al jugador. La labor de formación alcanzará por fin y quizás su máximo exponente. Formar para que cada jugador, con su reducido número de amigos (llamémosle también equipo por ahora) sea capaz de pensar y evolucionar por sí mismo. Finalmente el entrenador como acompañante de un proceso, no como actor protagonista. Hay que tener en cuenta la gran diversidad de provincias y de clubs que existe en nuestra geografía. De lo que hablo aquí es de un modelo de organización bastante extendido y con una forma de comportamiento social muy parecida. Los clubs los forman chicos y chicas, que son organizados en equipos por sexo, por edad y a veces, aunque no siempre, por nivel. Al frente de cada uno de ellos hay (es obligado que haya) uno o más entrenadores. Son los encargados del control. Cada federación obliga a tener un entrenador por equipo, formado previamente en y por las propias estructuras federativas. Su presencia también es obligatoria en todos los partidos de la temporada. Se les suele formar sobre todo para competir, para ganar, sin importar el nivel en que se desarrolle su particular competición. El modelo de referencia es el baloncesto profesional. Considero que el baloncesto de formación está dejando de existir como tal. Solamente, cual aldea gala, persisten algunas entidades y entrenadores que, a contracorriente, intentan que sus jugadores vean el baloncesto de otra manera que no sea la exclusivamente competitiva.

I again stayed up really late today playing sober to death. I started recording some videos, and when I watched them back to listen to my voice to see if I was ashamed, I felt like I looked really good and muscular. And because of that I put on a shirt. I wanted to post a video of me with a good take on my close friends story, and I didn’t want it to be a thirst trap. What a weird thing that I am now conscious of. I used to feel uncomfortable with my shirt off because it just felt like inappropriate, but now I am worried about people admiring my body. And I worry about being attractive towards people that I am not trying to attract like friends. And it’s such a weird thing because it ends up looking the same way, I tried to hide my body and I am on edge looking around to make sure no one notices.

I wish I could sing in a way where I wasn’t ashamed of it. I can’t get out of my head the thought of a friend seeing it and thinking it’s cringe or bad. And it sucks because I found playing and singing or sad songs are a great way for me to express feelings, which is something I’ve always struggled with. And now there’s that same shame tied to it. And I think it’s because when I sing these songs and someone criticizes it or points out anything, it feels like they are giving me feedback to not share my feelings. But in reality, I know they’re just talking about the delivery. And the medium, I guess. But it feels like such a gut punch otherwise.