"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." Saint Francis De Sales

Saturday, July 28, 2012

My Slow Takes (Vol. 58)


1. Missed last week because I went to a historical miniature convention in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It’s called Historicon and our son Todd joined me. It was a great weekend and I enjoyed spending the time together. Some photos below.

Todd, second from left. Aerodrome 1.1 hosted by Richard, far right. 

Battle for Petersburg 1781 hosted by Ronald.
2. I took Tricia’s advise, “Fun Resources for Married Couples and went to the site, "Love Letters from Kansas." I took the romance quiz and I am a “Resolute Heart.” 

3. News from Tuck at Denbigh; “It was reported today that the Damson Dene Hotel in England’s picturesque Lake District was replacing its traditional Gideon Bibles in each room with a copy of the popular “adult” (“adult” as in “pornographic”) novel Fifty Shades of Grey.”  The hotel, which was ironically bought from a Methodist group several years ago, decided that having Gideon Bibles around was “wholly inappropriate” in our postmodern, secular society.”

4. Dee and I took care of Duncan, our grand-dog, for a few days. Our son Eric had a business trip and his wife Lynne and the boys are out of town. Duncan is old, he doesn’t hear well and does not handle the stairs very well. He likes long walks with me and I always make sure he has plenty of food and water. We enjoyed his visit.

Duncan resting. He doesn't care to have his picture taken. 

5. The air conditioning stopped pushing cold air Thursday night. My HVAC technician Peter was able to get it functioning again by Friday afternoon. Thank you Lord for my friend Peter.
6. The funniest blog for July 2012 goes to Jennifer.

7. Please pray for the men on their Cursillo weekend in Petersburg, Virginia. 


Friday, July 13, 2012

My Slow Takes (vol. 57)


1. There are many bloggers who enjoy sharing pictures of their cats. I don’t like cats but I love Alf. A humorous video from the Alf television series.

2. Tuesday morning I read Jennifer’s blog “A conversation with my gay friend.” Again she has approached an issue that most people would avoid. I was going to leave a comment but after reading the existing comments realized there was nothing I could add. Some descriptive words from the comments made; “well said, great job of articulating, a good guide, incredibly amazing, great post, beautiful, wonderful, awesome, enlightening, very powerful.” 
I liked what she wrote and feel that she approached the issue from a firm foundation. Thank you Jen.
3. I don’t eat at Chick-fil-a. On Friday, July the 13th they are having a “cow appreciation day.” Dress up as a cow and you can get a free meal. If you wear a partial cow costume you get a free entree. (There is a downloadable cow starter set.) Some of our IT staff informed me of this event and are going to use the cow starter set. I am not promoting this, just providing some general information.

4. I read an interesting article by Dan Vergano in “The Arizona Republic.” There is a study by the Harvard Medical School that utilized genetic data to determine the migration patterns of early “Native Americans.” It suggests that the migration took place in three waves. What I found interesting is the last paragraph of the article.
“A pattern of ancient people mixing, rather than completely running each other off their land, ‘is becoming more clear,’ Reich says. That’s seen in studies of European, Asian and African people, and now in North and South America.”
There are those who have a concern about their origins. I enjoy researching my family history and have learned some things. One of the most interesting to me is that my family is a mixture of cultures. North American Indian, French, Scottish, Irish and English, and these are just the main ones. God created us all and I believe His intent was to have us all be sisters and brothers loving each other. He didn’t create just one culture, He created man and woman. 

5. My Dad had Alzheimer’s and there is a good possibility that I will also have it. Over five million people in the United States suffer from this disease. There is no cure but hopefully as research continues there will be a way to control it. Knowledge and early diagnosis are the tools that can help both the patient and the caretaker.
Read the article by Janice Lloyd in USA Today.
Pray for those who have Alzheimer’s. 
Pray for their families.

6. Last night there was a small fire at Lucy’s, my mother-in-law, apartment complex. Fortunately she was at our house and missed all the commotion. There were no injuries and it was contained to one apartment on the third floor. Lucy’s apartment is on the first floor and has some minor water damage. She’ll be spending the weekend with us.
7. Next week is my historical gaming convention, Historicon. My son Todd will be joining me this year so I’m really looking forward to it.


Friday, July 6, 2012

My Slow Takes (vol. 56)


1. A strong, unexpected storm came charging in late Friday night. We lost power around 11PM and didn’t get it back until 3AM Sunday morning. There was no damage in our neighborhood and nothing reported from friends and family. Thank you Lord!
The good news is that two weeks ago I bought a 7000 watt generator for this type of situation. Early Saturday morning I set it up and connected our two refrigerators, some electric fans and had a line for coffee, toaster and other accessory items. The weather was sunny and hot, 100 or so temperature, but we adjusted well. Dee called our friends Brenda and Lou and since they had power Dee said we would bring pizza over. Lou decided it was more fun to grill steak, so off we went. It was an enjoyable relaxing evening. 
Everything was back to normal on Sunday. Went to church, where the air conditioning was not working but the homily was. Dee put together a picnic luncheon for the family as though nothing had ever happened. What a wonderful energetic woman.
2. Jennifer Fulwiler wrote an article in the “National Catholic Register” in May of this year. I missed it but read it this week. The title is “5 Questions Before You Leave the Catholic Church.” Reading each of these questions made me realize that these can also be used as “5 Reasons I’m Still a Catholic.”
We are continually being reminded of the “problems” of the Church. Issues with our Priests, Bishops, Cardinals and Rome. They are human and make the same mistakes that we do. The same is true for Federal, State and local governments as well as corporations and organizations of any size. All being managed by people. God gave us free will and the “evil one” introduced us to sin. It’s a tough life but He is there to help us deal with these issues. 
Leaving Him or the Church is something I don’t contemplate. There is no better place to be nor any better set of teachings. My mornings spent in prayer prepare me for the day. I know that He is with me as my journey continues. Life with Him and the Church is beautiful and rewarding.

3. I bought many DC comic books when I was a youngster. These advertisements always had me bugging my parents about getting these sets. It never worked, but we did have a great selection of the Marx sets which we received every Christmas. My mom worked for Sears & Roebuck and would take us to the toy section right after Thanksgiving weekend. She had us select a series of toys that we wanted Santa to bring us. The Marx sets were always on the top of my list. Beautiful memories that I will always cherish.

4. It’s 7AM on Wednesday and I’m sitting on the porch enjoying the morning coolness. Finished my readings and waiting for Dee to join me. A bird just flew into the screen. First time I’ve ever had that happen. No damage to the bird but it did surprise me. This morning we’re heading out to spend half the day with Todd and his family and the rest of the day with Stephen and his family. We're looking forward to "fun and relaxation." 
5. I haven’t been jogging in a number of years. Driving to work each morning I usually pass at least one jogger and sometimes two or three. They all are wired to a music device. It would be nest to know what type of music they listen to. I would probably listen to some Cat Stevens, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson or Matt Maher.

6. Dee and I are going to spend the day with my brother Tom and his wife Karen. We haven't seen them in a while and have a lot to talk about. Their son Chris is getting married in September so we'll be attending a "couples shower as well."

7. I missed the “It’s a Love Song Link-up” on Monday. Here is our love song.