I don’t know where the maple tree was, originally. There must have been a venerable old maple tree on this property, at one time. There’s nothing left of it now– no stump, no indentation where a stump once was. But there are an irritating number of saplings. Around the house, in all the cracks in the concrete, maple trees spring up every year. There’s one by the side door, one by the porch steps, one in the flowerbed, two... Read more
I promised earlier this week that I would watch the documentary, AKA Jane Roe, when it came out on Friday. As it happened, I couldn’t watch it with my Hulu account until Saturday afternoon, so that’s what I did– it’s now available for anyone with a Hulu account. I came away disgusted, but not by any major flaws in the film itself. It’s a solid, sometimes unnecessarily dramatic portrayal of one of the most tragic life stories I’ve ever heard.... Read more
I went on a hike with Rosie. The last time we went, it was still the time of year for wildflowers. Now, the wildflowers are gone. The trees all got their leaves in the past few weeks; the woods were shady, a cavern of green. It had been hot in the house and warm on the walk there, but in the forest, when the breeze blew, it was almost cool. We walked downhill to where the beautiful creek is.... Read more
When I started blogging, I never planned to blog about the giants of the pro-life movement. I found myself sliding into it because I was shocked by their transparent power-worship in the 2016 election. As a Catholic who strives to be faithful to a consistent life ethic, I was appalled. I never imagined the backlash I’d get by pointing it out. I thought it was obvious and everyone would be equally appalled. I was wrong. And to this day, I... Read more
I wrote something about First Things editor R. R. Reno’s weird aversion to masks a few days ago. It turned out I didn’t know the half of it. While I was puzzling over one of his tweets, Reno was having a Chernobyl-like meltdown on Twitter, decrying and berating everyone who wore a mask to protect others from COVID as unmanly cowards. Now, as has been pointed out countless times, the purpose of a cloth mask is not to protect... Read more
I should have been writing this week, but instead I was in the garden. The cold weather finally left LaBelle in a burst of steamy mist; then it was warm. I went out with my shovel, to hack at the ground. I had only dug a portion of what I meant to dig, back in early spring. I started on the rest Wednesday evening when it was dry, and then I finished it Thursday when it was raining. I... Read more
First Things editor R. R. Reno, who as far as I can tell from his writings has done nothing but sulk and complain since New York was placed under lockdown in March, is in an even worse mood than last month. This evening he tweeted, “By the way, the WWII vets did not wear masks. They’re men, not cowards. Masks=enforced cowardice.” He was apparently referring to President Trump’s meeting with a group of World War Two veterans earlier. He was... Read more
We’ve all been struggling with the COVID pandemic for months now. People are, understandably, restless. It’s far from over but we want it to be over. Parts of the country are beginning to open non-essential services and public spaces back up, either judiciously or too fast. Some churches have opened already, in a limited capacity. Some churches will open at the end of this month but with certain social distancing restrictions. Here in Steubenville, we just got the word that... Read more
We have another freeze warning tonight. It’s the kind of cold that only feels bitter by contrast– for a week we had real May temperatures, sixties and seventies, almost warm enough to be hot. For one afternoon we shut the windows downstairs and ran the air conditioner because the fusty old rental house holds onto heat, and it was uncomfortably warm inside. Rosie longed to inflate the wading pool we got her and play in her bathing suit, but we... Read more
There were snow flurries today. I don’t think it’s ever snowed in May, in Ohio, in my lifetime. My weather app tells me we may tie or break the record low for this date in history. And this after a soggy, insipid winter where it almost never snowed. They say it’s all due to climate change, warming up the winters worldwide, warming the poles so the polar winds get forced down to the United States. My seedlings are wintering on... Read more
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