July 12, 2023. As is my habit, I checked the online news headlines when I awoke this morning — o.k., shortly before noon — and was shocked to see a report of a Russian warship that had arrived in Havana, Cuba, just the day before. I couldn’t believe my eyes, and I even checked the calendar to be sure I hadn’t somehow been transported back to 1962. What was this: the Cold War, Part Two?!!

Well, yes . . . maybe . . . sort of. We’re not talking about live missiles being sneaked in under cover of night and hidden under camouflage. But we are looking at a strengthening of ties between Russia and a desperately poor, needy island nation just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, at a time when even the larger, stronger country — Russia — sorely needs a booster shot of self-esteem. And what better place to stage a little saber-rattling toward the United States than from a former Soviet dependency just a stone’s throw from our shores?

Those of us born before 1950 can never forget those 13 days in October of 1962 that became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. We Americans — particularly those of us on the East Coast — lived every moment in fear of Armageddon being rained down on us. I lived in Washington — the presumed first-strike target of any enemy attack — and did not sleep for those two weeks. And even after President Kennedy stood his ground, and Nikita Khrushchev finally “blinked” and — realizing that his effort at intimidation had failed — withdrew his missiles, it was many months before most of us felt any sense of security again.

Is that what we’re facing now? Is this the Cuban Missile Crisis, Redux? We all hope not, of course. But, as we have seen so clearly this past year and a half, first with the invasion of Ukraine, and now with the confusion surrounding Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion against the Russian government, no one really seems to know what Vladimir Putin is thinking, or what he is capable of doing. I certainly don’t pretend to have the answers, and it’s probably too soon for even the experts to know what’s going on. But I do know this: I’m not going to sleep quite so soundly tonight.

No, I don’t believe we’re at the stage when we should start digging our fallout shelters, or teaching our school children to “duck and cover” (that’s obviously useless anyway). I guess I’m just sharing this because it’s what people do when they’re nervous — we seek comfort in the company of friends. And we hope for the best.

Brendochka
7/12/23