It looks like we can have church on Sunday--YES!
We've missed the last two and I've not been happy.
I only go to church when I'm celebrating--I've told you that--but missing two Sundays makes me reconsider.
I miss church.
I really do.
So, I hope the weather holds and we can be together in Milton.
I've missed those folks.
Really missed.
I need to get back in the game....
Today I would normally put out the trash and recycling for pickup tomorrow.
Bern has pretty much cleared our walk to the driveway but the walkway to the back porch is iced over. Pulling the trash and recycling out to the front yard would be dangerous.
Besides with a foot or so iced-over snow in the yard, how would I get them away from the walkway and out from under the tree there?
Wait a week for trash and two weeks for recycling.
We have two recycling bins, so that will work.
The ICE RULES!!!
We lost our cable connection sometime on Sunday--no internet, no TV and no phone land-lines.
It finally came back mid-morning on Monday.
It's embarrassing to notice how much we depend on cable....
It's 4 p.m. in Cheshire and is already snowing.
Could be a big storm.
We shall see.
I'll try to remember to pray tomorrow to make up for not having church.
I'm sorry to say, my personal prayer life is not that intense.
Hard to say as an Episcopal priest.
But there it is.
Someday I'll maybe learn if I should have prayed more.
Maybe.
Even that is an odd 'priest confession'.
But confession is, I DO believe, good for the soul.
Trinity, Milton is cancelled again tomorrow--two in a row.
Snow turning to a freezing mix is the reason.
So, no sermon again.
And sleeping in is good!
I gave Bern yellow roses today since I didn't think I could get them early enough tomorrow.
I've got a few other things and a card I'll leave in the kitchen tonight since I go to bed later than her.
In September we'll have been married 55 years.
She is not the love of my life--she is my life!
I love her so, so much.
I trust she knows that....
On April 5th I'm doing a funeral for a woman I never met but who was a long-time member before she moved away.
I met with her son, Mike, today and was glad to know he has mapped out the service wonderfully!
He'll even do the homily, which frees me from talking about someone I never met.
"She would have wanted Que Sara Sara at some point," he told Gene and me. That's perfect for Trinity since the prelude and postlude are more likely to be popular and familiar music.
As he and Gene talked about her, I wish I had met her and that she would have been part of my life.
It snowed a ton last night. Trinity was right to cancel church. I couldn't have gotten out of our driveway at 8:15 am, when I leave for Milton.
But the day was strange.
Our neighbor Mark cleared the driveway and our walkways. Bless him.
Bern couldn't take Brigit on her morning walk. Much too slick.
I didn't wake up until 9:30--when church would have started except for the snow.
I took a shower, something I never do on Sunday since I have to go to church.
I had breakfast, which I never do on Sunday, looking forward to the great coffee hours at Trinity.
Everything about today felt strange.
Well, there will be the Super Bowl!
Odd not to write a sermon.
Odd to be home on a Sunday I was supposed to work.
But church has been cancelled because of the expected snow.
I will enjoy tomorrow because of the Super Bowl!
Go Chiefs!!!
I'll wear my Chiefs' hoodie as I watch.
Something to look forward to....
Very slick this morning. Bern and our dog, Brigit both almost fell down on the ice.
Bern did a good job of breaking up ice.
I went to Waterbury Hospital to get the allergy shots I get every two weeks.
When I got back, most ice was gone and it's been sunny all afternoon.
Not a bad day altogether.
Now we brace for Saturday nights storm....
It's going to snow tonight.
Things are closing down.
The snow and ice Saturday night might cancel church, I learned today at Bible study.
I hate winter....
Trump has been President for 2 weeks and almost nothing has gone right.
And his co-president, Elon Musk has caused a myriad of problems.
Laws have been broken.
Tradition has been ignored.
Wrong has been done.
And what can we do?
I'm not sure.
Pray, at least.
Get involved in issues.
Add ourselves to the opponents of the administration.
Speak up and speak out.
Resist, resist, resist.
Do all we can.
It's going to be a long and troubling four years....
Alas....
The snow in our yard had almost melted away.
But I woke up this morning to another 3 inches or so.
It's been warm today, but not enough to melt the snow.
Snow on snow is not the problem. The problem is the cold weather.
I'm always cold.
Eating dinner tonight with a sweater and a jacket on, I told Bern I was so cold.
She had on a long sleeve shirt and a tee shirt and said she was warm and thinking about taking off the long sleeve shirt.
Maybe something's wrong with me.
I'll ask my doctor about it when I see her.
I realized I left out all the pictures of my children and grand-children.
Two kids and four grand-kids take up a lot of pictures.
Two of the grand-kids will be going to college next year.
Another is 15 and another is 8.
Unbelievable, all of them.
I love them so.
Bern does facebook with the youngest 3 times a week.
I often peak in and am always greeted warmly.
Life has been long for me (thank God!) and I have been so very, very blessed for such a life and for my children and grandchildren.
Praise be....
The two drawers on my desk are full of pictures from the past.
Many are of me as I grew up.
Some are from family gatherings--both Bradley family and Jones family.
Many are from churches I have served.
I'm baptizing babies, serving communion, preaching, standing in coffee hour with people I knew from those churches.
In some of them, my hair is still brown!
I look at some of them every day.
They keep me grounded.
Looking at old pictures can cause a smile or a tear.
It's worth doing--believe me,,,,
Sunday is the Feast of Jesus being presented in the Temple as a child.
But the readings we had at Bible Study were different.
We're going to go with the readings for the presentation in the Temple. People won't have them to read, but will need to listen.
Listening is a valuable thing.
Listening is good.
Listening will make us whole.
We'll see....
As I grow older, I am more unsteady.
I fall down--usually coming inside from outside.
Today I fell and broke my glasses.
I don't need them to read or do what I do on-line, but I do need them to drive.
Bern, somehow, found my old glasses and they will let me drive until I see the Eye Doc next week and get new glasses.
We shall see!
(Sorry, I didn't mean to make that allusion.)
...about Trump's becoming President that I thought last Tuesday was Monday and missed my regular zoom call.
I'll do it tomorrow.
Everything that has happened has added to my upset.
I need to figure out how to get over it.
If I can....
You may have heard already, but I love it so much I have to tell it!
Trump's 'gender motion' was screwed up.
It said, "if you are a male or female at 'conception'" that's your gender.
Whoever wrote it didn't realize that the X chromazone--which makes a male doesn't occur until several weeks after conception.
So, at conception, all fetuses are female.
So, according to this definition, we are all girls!!!
I went today, as I do every two weeks, to Waterbury Hospital to get my allergy/asthma shots.
I checked in as always, near the front door and then left with wrist band and papers to Outpatient Medical Services.
But when I go there OMS was nowhere to be found!
The office and treatment area were cleaned out. Nothing was left.
I went to the office nearest the old OMS and asked what was up.
A woman told me it had been moved and there should have been a sign, but there wasn't.
She took me back to the main hallway and said, go down to the very end.
I did and Lo and Behold there is was--much smaller and more crowded with medical stuff.
None of the staff knew why they had been moved.
God and Waterbury Hospital work in mysterious ways....
We're just a few days into what will be a long four years.
Removing the immigrants is horrid enough, but not nearly as bad as giving the January 6 rioters pardons.
Kick out the immigrants, take away the Constitutional guaranteed 'birthright citizenship' and free the criminals, some of whom caused death in their attack on the Capital.
Only 2 of 10 Americans approve of the Capital rioters pardons.
Many more than that voted for the current President.
Are they regretting that now?
I pray so....
The President doesn't seem to realize that everyone it this country came from somewhere else.
Bern is Italian/Hungarian and her parents came here a dozen years before she was born.
My Americanism is longer, but my family came from England and Wales and Sweden.
We exist as a nation because we came from somewhere else.
His plan to remove migrants is against who we are.
Just that.
No more.
Just that....
It snowed last night as predicted, but not as much as the weather people expected.
Three, maybe four inches. But it was so cold that once it fell, it froze, so it was hard to move.
Today was sunny but about 15 degrees.
It was a white, white, white day.
Today is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day. We owe him so much. He tried to bring justice and equality to the world. God bless him.
It was also Inauguration Day for the wrong person.
I fear him.
Justice and equality aren't on his agenda.
God help us....
Today was the Annual Meeting at Trinity, where I serve part-time.
I've always hated Annual Meetings--too much talk, takes too long, not much happens.
Today wasn't as bad at most.
Reports in writing. Moved along well. Took under and hour.
Not so bad as most.
I wish Annual Meetings were on line....
To be honest, I don't think 'wine' and 'wisdom' are related.
But I drink Pinot Grigio every night. It's the only thing I drink.
I'm not so wise, but I am smart.
My IQ was always about 155.
I do well on on-line tests.
But I am afraid of the next 4 years under Trump.
So afraid.
And not to wise.
More wine than usual, I suspect, to get to 2029--if I live that long.
Shalom. Have a glass of wine....
At Bible Study today, it bothered some that when Mary told Jesus the wedding in Cana was out of wine, that he called her "woman".
My Bible foot note said it was, in the first century, a term of 'affection and respect".
That gave me the idea for my sermon Sunday.
We will see.
We will see....
There has been a full moon the last few nights.
I can see it out the window where I'm sitting.
And it will begin to wane now.
Waxing and waning are interesting words.
But it is 10 degrees outside.
Very cold.
I love a full moon and hate the cold.
That's just me.
I had to go to Big-Y at 10 because the afternoon was busy.
I'm making coconut cod and lobster rolls with salad and potato tots for dinner.
At 2:30 we took Brigit to the Vet.
She's very well. Plus the Vet is a pretty woman.
Then at 3:30 we took Bern's truck to English Auto for a check-up in the morning.
Whew! That's a lot for me on a Monday....
Bern's talking to our youngest grand-daughter on zoom right now and I'm writing this.
Soon, I'll go make dinner.
Then, at 7, my favorite TV show.
Long day for me....
Things went well at church today.
We did Eucharistic Prayer C--which is my favorite.
Four ladies who used to go to another church did a great coffee hour.
As always, the music from Michael Ford was great.
My sermon was well received and quoted in today's newsletter.
All was well.
All was well.
All was well....
I couldn't get my printer to work to print out my sermon.
We had a new router installed and I didn't know what to do.
I wrote out my sermon by hand--which I could barely read!
But Bern figured it out and printed out my sermon.
Now I can read it....
Thank God for Bern.
For many reasons...so many...so many....
Sunday is the Baptism of Christ.
I'll be talking about baptism.
I have a lot to say.
I will let you know what I say.
Ponder your baptism.
OK?
We didn't have Wed. Bible Study at Trinity during December.
But we were back today.
I actually missed everything about it but the 32 mile drive to get there.
Those who come are insightful and willing to share their thoughts.
I like the interaction.
We're reading the lessons for the next Sunday these days.
It sometimes helps me with my sermon.
We'll see on Sunday....
I spent much of my life there. Both our children were born there. Bern and I are both from McDowell County (which if you are from there is pronounced "MackDowell".)
But I spoke on the phone today with a woman from the Church Insurance Company who was, inexplicably in Charleston, WV.
She said Charleston was shut down by snow.
Since West Virginia is used to snow, there must be a lot.
Today in CT was sunny and cold--but no more snow.
When we lived there, West Virginia was one of the Bluest states in the nation.
Today, it is deep Red.
Another reason I'm glad I'm not there.
Give me Democratic solid CT any day--for all the cold up here.
It snowed today.
Not a lot, just ground cover.
But it's 'cold'.
And you know how I feel about that.
I went out this morning before the snow. I had on a Tee-shirt, a thick sweater, a Kansas City Chiefs jacket and a winter coat.
And I was cold.
But the good news/bad news of the day is that there was no demonstration at the snowy Capital--and Trump was declared the President-elect.
Lordy, Lordy, what will the next 4 years hold?
Mostly stuff I'll feel about the way I feel about the cold!
God help us....
The service at Trinity, Milton today was good.
They have a great musician.
And, of course, a great priest!
Smaller crowd than usual--probably because of the cold.
But Good Music and a wondrous coffee hour.
I'm on the next two Sundays--which meets my limit of 3 a month.
We're also starting Bible Study up on Wednesday. We were off for December and New Year's Day.
I've missed it.
Very insightful people come, more than willing to share their opinions.
A good hour each week.
A New Year today.
I've seen 77 of them and will age a year come April.
Lots of college football, but none I was interested in watching.
I'm waiting for 7 p.m. and Jeopardy. for some reason my favorite show.
Bern always knows more answers than I do--but I'm not jealous.
I love the competition and watching one of the three try to distance themselves from the other two.
And the questions are entertaining in and of themselves.
So, after dinner, that's where I'll be--in the TV room.
