Frantically seeking energy for peace and growth

From the idyllic early-December perspective of Beirut’s waterfront promenade, with views up over Jounieh bay to the distant peaks of the Sannine range, the unseasonably warm weather and the dusty mountain flanks above a layer of atmospheric haze are not calling out for an early ski excursion. The vistas on this first Sunday of the last month in 2023 clearly invite sailing and leisure crafting off the shore, while for the many land-dwelling pleasure seekers the conditions today favor cycling, skating, and indulging in a curbside argileh encouraged by music-players.  And that’s what people are doing.  But such an observation, which one might have filed into personal memory as a simple indication of outdoor revelry options just 10 or 15 years ago, has in this winter completely lost its innocence. How can one endeavor to muse innocuously about weather and leisure at a juncture of time and space where less