The way our President treated the President of Ukrain today was deplorable. Zelenskyy is an ally, not the enemy.
Russia is the enemy of both countries.
Has he lost his mind?
Been to the grocery store lately?
He was going to bring down food costs, but they have gone up.
And firing the U.S.'s workforce--what evil can that do?
Even MAGA folks are turning on him and Republicans in the Congress,
About time, I would say, but it's too late for that....
God help us.
Across the street--on the north side of Cornwall Avenue--all the snow has melted in the front yards.
On our side--the south side--front yards are still covered by snow.
I've never figured out why that is--but it always is.
Living on the cold side of the street means it's difficult to put out the trash and recycle bins.
Tuesday I was having trouble getting the recycling up on 5 inches or more of snow. A guy walking down the street came over. He pulled and I pushed and we did it.
What a nice guy. He was walking on the warm side--the only side that has a sidewalk.
I should have given him a hug--cold as my hug might be.
I went to a new dentist yesterday.
My dentist for years retired about a year ago. So I needed a new one.'
The woman who cleaned my teeth was wonderful and funny.
But the dentist wanted me to have a 'deep cleaning'. That would require two visits and being numbed each time.
I turned it down.
I'm 77--how many decades do I have left.
My teeth will be fine until I'm not....
Alas....
Someone who reads this blog sent a letter to Bern with a copy of my Valentine's Day post.
She hadn't read it on-line and was very pleased to read it.
Whoever did that, if you will, send me an email at Padrejgb@aol.com to let me know.
I'd like to thank you personally.
It was a kind and loving thing to do.
People like whoever did that make the world more gracious and loving.
Thank you again.
I went to see my Orthopedic doctor today.
I fell down several months ago and broke my shoulder bone and my thumb.
The thumb is perfectly healed--that I'm typing with all ten fingers shows that.
My shoulder is almost healed. I don't need pain meds in the day and don't wear an Icy-Hot patch any more. I do take 2 pain pills at night.
It sometimes hurts--but not nearly as much as it did before.
He didn't give me another appointment, so he thinks I'll be fine.
He told me that his 4 year old daughter is already reading!
She'll be bored in Kindergarten and First Grade....
It got almost to 40 degrees today, so some of the ice melted.
Not nearly enough.
But this week is going to be in the 40's almost to 50, so that will help.
I hope so.
I'm tired of snow and ice.
Really tired.
Come on Spring!
But I wore a sport's coat to church and a hoodie the rest of the day.
That's better....
My sermon tomorrow is about 'love'.
The collect says that anything we do without love means nothing.
The Old Testament lesson is Joseph welcoming the brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt to join him--now an important man--and escape the famine in Israel.
Joseph loves those who made him a slave.
Amazing.
But Jesus goes further--"Love those who hate you", he says.
Along with many other difficult commandments.
Love is difficult.
But love is what matters.
Really....
Trump and Musk are leadig us down an unknown path.
Blaming the wrong side for the war between Russia and Ukrain is bad enough, but firing federal employees for no real reason is worse.
I feel like I'm living in an alternate universe.
Nothing makes sense with what Trump and his loyalists are doing.
I may implode.
I don't know.
What the hell can we do.
Lots of folks--including some Republicans are objecting.
But what's the chance they'll be heard?
God help us!
Really, we need God's help with these idiots....
Really....
I was looking at You Tube--as I do almost every day and saw a link to me talking about "Under the Castor Oil Tree", my blog!
I have no idea who put it on You Tube--none at all--or Why they did.
But, I showed it to Bern and she was impressed--and she's not easily impressed....
So, I'm a You Tube guy.
Only 11 views in 4 years.
Not so hot a You Tube guy....
Alas....
Today I drove up to Milton for our Wednesday Bible study.
When I got there, R. was in her car and yelled to me: (Jim, stay in your car.)
I take orders well and did.
A few minutes later, G. the Junior Warden arrived. I got out to say "hello" and realized that the parking lot was covered with a glaze of ice.
G. decided nobody should walk on it and sent me home.
He'll have it sanded by Sunday.
Ice--how great thou art!
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,,,,
