"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

Friday, January 29, 2016

Peyton, Birthday & Pics


My Slow Takes

1. I did state, “maybe we’ll see the Broncos and the Panthers heading for the Super Bowl.” So, which team will be triumphant? I like Peyton Manning and will support the Broncos. Besides, I like Papa John’s pizza.


2. My birthday was Monday, January 25. Some people that were also born on the same day, just different years.

Robert Burns - Poet, Lyricist
Robert Boyle - Founder of Modern Chemistry, Boyle’s Law
Dean Jones - Actor
Charles Curtis - 31st U.S. Vice President
Sam Cooke - Singer

It is also the “Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.”

3. On January 26, 1979 “The Dukes of Hazzard” started it’s seven year television series. Our sons and I saw every episode. It was fun watching Bo and Luke foil the crooked plans of Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.


4. Our neighbors Ronda, Mitch and their son Mitch built a really large snowman.

Photo by Dee

5. Some more “after snowstorm” photos by Dee.

My car on Sunday morning.
Deer watching Dee take their picture.
Same deer after posing for Dee.

6. Scully and Moulder have returned. "The truth is still out there."


7. Abe Vigoda, one of my favorite actors on “Barney Miller,” died on Tuesday January 26. Please pray for his soul and for his family.



Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum,” where Kelly is hosting more takes.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Mary, Mrs. Middleton & Snow


My Slow Takes

1. Msgr. Shreve gave a great homily on Monday. He associated the wedding at Cana as our daily lives. If we look at the term, “they have no wine,” we can apply it to our own situations. My daughter is ill, I don’t want to leave the house, the fellow at work is a real problem or where is our Church heading? Mary’s statement to the servers, “do whatever he tells you,” is simple. We need to face our situations with faith in Jesus. It is not an easy thing to do, but one we must work at.  

2. Our first snow fall was on Sunday. There wasn’t much snow, but my granddaughters and I managed to make a small snowman. The girls named him “Cuddles.”


3. We are housing 40 women for Caritas this week. On Monday night, Dee, Hailey and Eryn made lunches for the ladies. On Tuesday evening Dee and I assisted in serving them dinner. Dee and a few of the other volunteers spent time talking with the women. They were all very appreciative of the food, accommodations and kindness our church community provides.

4. The NFL playoffs has the Patriots facing the Broncos while the Cardinals challenge the Panthers. Maybe we’ll see the Broncos and the Panthers heading for the Super Bowl.

5. There is not much written about women during the conflict between Britain and their American Colonists. Ralphus, over at Flintlock & Tomahawk, found information on a wife of a British soldier, Mrs. Middleton. She disarmed and took prisoner, six Colonial soldiers. Read more at the Journal Of The American Revolution.

6. The first winter storm of 2016 has started here in Richmond. We are suppose to have anywhere from 8-14” by the time it finishes. In addition there will be winds blowing from 20 to 25 MPH. Dee and I have food supplies and a generator. Hopefully we won’t need the generator.

7. Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss “Whiskey Lullaby.” This is a sad and somewhat eerie song but also beautiful and rather alluring.




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Friday, January 15, 2016

Lent, Buffalo, Andy Stanley


My Slow Takes

1. “Don’t give up chocolate this Lent. Do something different. Take a 40-day spiritual journey with us to encounter Jesus—and yourself—in a deeply personal way. Let’s make this your best Lent ever!”

Go over to Dynamic Catholic and listen to Matthew Kelly.

2. My son Eric, and his wife Lynne, gave me a copy of “Tales from Azar’s Attic.” It was a Christmas present that Lynne chose and I’m thankful she did. I grew up with Rick Azar of WKBW Channel 7. He was the sports announcer for the team that included Irv Weinstein and Tom Jolls. Reading about him and his career brought back many great memories of when I lived in Buffalo, New York. This is a “must read” for anyone from Buffalo. 

3. Andy Stanley is an interesting speaker. Our Monday night men’s group watched a couple of his videos from the series “Why in the World.” The video below is the fourth in the series, “Putting Religion In Its Place.”


4. I watched Galaxy Quest this week and laughed more now than the last time I watched. Probably because I know what is going to happen next. If I were to choose my favorite character it would be Sir Alexander Dane played by Alan Rickman. A hilarious portrayal of a frustrated actor discontent with making appearances and having to repeat his infamous line; ”By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged.”


http://deadline.com/2015/04/galaxy-quest-series-paramount-television-1201413544/

5. I completed another miniature building, “The Tavern at Briartun.”

6. Wednesday night was the Cheshire Cat moon.

Cheshire Moon
Cheshire Cat
7. Bobby Bare “Sylvia’s Mother.” I like this rendition.





Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum,” where Kelly is hosting more takes.


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Friday, January 8, 2016

2016, Grammar & a New Look


My Slow Takes

1. I do not make annual resolutions, but prefer to make adjustments as the need arises. Dee has made some for her and has asked me to assist in reminding her about them. That’s probably not a good thing for me to do. I’ll see how that develops.

2. Winter is slowly moving into Virginia. Cold temperatures and snow flurries started on Monday.

3. Grammar review for when to use “into” and “in to.” Brian Klems, over at “The Writer’s Dig,” has the following.

“The word “into” is a preposition that expresses movement of something toward or into something else. I made it into work a few minutes early today. The tooth fairy tucked the tooth into her pocket before placing a $1 bill under my daughter’s pillow.

“In to,” on the other hand, is the adverb “in” followed by the preposition “to.” They aren’t really related and only happen to fall next to each other based on sentence construction. My boss sat in to audit the meeting. The tooth fairy came in to collect my daughter’s tooth.

One trick to help you decipher which word (or word pairing) is correct is to think of it this way: “Into” usually answers the question “where?” while “in to” is generally short for “in order to.” So look at your sentence and replace “into” or “in to” with “where?” If the second half of your sentence answers it, use “into.” If it doesn’t, replace “where” with “in order to.” If that works, use “in to.” Here is this method put into practice:

The tooth fairy put my daughter’s tooth where? Ah—into her pocket.
The tooth fairy came in where? To collect my daughter’s tooth? Hmm … that doesn’t work. The tooth fairy came in order to collect my daughter’s tooth.
Grammar police, rest easy—we’ve got this one under control.”

4. A new look for my blog for 2016. It’s a good idea to try different things once in a while. 

5. The new television series, Shannara Chronicles, started this week. It is based on Terry Brooks “The Sword of Shannara Trilogy.” I watched the two hour premier and I liked it. If you have read the books, there are things that are different, but the theme of the story is still there. I like Manu Bennett as the Druid Allanon. He portrays the character very well.

6. Our friend Jeanine took this photo of me, Dee and my brother Tom. It was during our New Year's celebration at our home. Thank you Jeanine.



7. Don McLean - “Vincent” (Starry Starry Night)  




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Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The Tavern in Briartun

Koeman Tavern is one of several buildings that I’m working on for a small village. The idea came from reading “Paul’s Bods.” He has created Bodstonia, a mid 18th century country. There is within that land the farming village of Boddingham and the fishing community of Boddington. His miniature people and buildings are excellent. 

I am starting with a village named Briartun. It will allow me to experiment with my historical miniature hobby and perhaps expand into some story writing.

The village itself will contain some already completed cabins, courthouse, church, farmhouse, barn and probably a smithy. There will be some villagers, visiting military types, North American natives, various animals and other odds and ends as time goes on. The time period will be 17th century colonial North America. The main focus being on the “French and Indian” era.

My plan is to make it a “project in progress.” Something that will never be completely “finished,” but will slowly grow. 

The tavern is one of the main gathering places for the people of Briartun. It provides local news, a meeting place for neighbors, conversation, games and diversion. Travelers stopping at the tavern provide information as to what is happening in the rest of the country.  

Owned by Rhett and Drika Koeman, it is known for excellent food and drink. They also provide overnight accommodations for travelers.

Rhett and Drika Koeman

Friday, January 1, 2016

Christmas, Family & Magi


My Slow Takes

1. The Bisons stampeded over the Spiders on a cold wintry night about 200 miles south of Canada. The stadium is an indoor facility, appropriately named the “Fargodome.” North Dakota fans were the 13th player and made sure that the noise level was as high as possible. This ends the Spider football season, but do not despair, they will be back. They have been in the FCS semifinals three times since 2007 and will be there again. Thank you to the team and coach Rocco for an exciting season.

2. The photo is our, communion to the sick ministry team. Jim retired from the team tis year and we held a gathering for him. He was responsible for establishing this ministry and we are blessed with all that he did.

Jerry, Me, Tom, Jim and Dave
3. Our family gathered on Christmas Day for presents, food and sharing. We aren't always able to be together, so this year we were blessed that it worked out.



Me and Eric
4. Dee took a these photos of the crèche at our church.


The Shepard is a likeness of Msgr. Shreve.
5. This is a Celtic prayer that I chose for New Year’s Day. It is from Anam Cara’s blog.

“God bless to me the new day
never vouchsafed to me before
it is to bless thy own presnce thou has
given triumph God.
Bless though to me
mine yes
may mine eye bless all it sees
I will bless my neighbour
my my neighbour bless me,
God give me a clean heart
let me not from sight of thine ey
bless to me my children and my wife
and bless to me my means and cattle.”

Have a Blessed New Year.


6. “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:

‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”  MT 2:1-6

7. The Piano Guys - We Three Kings”



Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum,” where Kelly is hosting more takes.