The potholes were worse than they’d ever been. Steubenville has plenty of terrible potholes. We’re a small town in the hills of Northern Appalachia where the ground is always either muddy or frozen, and nobody ever has any money. You get used to it. But the potholes up near the mall were turning into a serious safety hazard. In Steubenville, we have an awful mall. I’m told it used to be good, back before they put in the Walmart, but... Read more
I had another post planned. It would have been a beautiful post. I’ll try and write that one later, I promise. First I’m going to be a grump about social media. You may have noticed that there are a lot of trolls on Twitter, which I still refuse to call X, lately. The place is inundated with trolls, so much so that I’ve started humming Edvard Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King” every time I log on. All of... Read more
Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one... Read more
I didn’t wake up to the sound of my phone that morning. I was sleeping in, again. We have a routine now. Adrienne is very good about getting out the door herself, after Michael gets her breakfast; if she misses her bus, she leaves with Jimmy the mechanic when he drives his children to school. I can sleep in until ten or eleven and then get up to write. This accommodates my winter insomnia, and everyone is happy. But... Read more
The discourse on Catholic X/Twitter this weekend was about the priesthood. This conversation was started by an obvious troll account and nobody learned anything, but it got me thinking about the abuse crisis. On about Saturday or Sunday, a cutesy-looking Twitter account with an AI profile picture tweeted an obnoxious bit of piosity: “You should never attack a priest, even when he’s in error, rather you should pray and do penance that God grant him grace again. When a... Read more
It was Ash Wednesday, but I couldn’t stand to go to Mass, not yet. I wanted to go somewhere and pray, even if just for a few minutes. The car’s still not in good shape, so I didn’t go further than two miles. There is a chapel where the Eucharist is reposed, in the old Trinity East Medical Center on the south side of town. There wasn’t going to be a Mass there. It’s never crowded. I could go... Read more
February is a dull, gray, colorless month. February is a trip to purgatory every year. My readers know by now that I get terrible insomnia, and anxiety to go with it, in February. There’s never any money in January and February, so there’s nothing to do for adventures. I had to cancel my monthly museum membership for a bit. I can’t get a Starbucks and stim around the Robinson mall, peoplewatching and pretending I go to the mall all the... Read more
It was the night of the Superbowl. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t really care about football, but I don’t mind if anybody else does. Adrienne had another one of her Middle School Colds and I was sick as usual, so we watched a livestream liturgy instead of going to Mass before the kickoff and then she went to watch the game by herself. I did some writing with one tab open to Twitter, as usual. There were two... Read more
This week we had two major political news stories: one about Joe Biden and the other about Donald Trump. The first story is that three Circuit Court judges ruled that former president Trump does not have immunity on his felony charges for attempts to overthrow the federal election in 2020 and 2021. The trial could go ahead this Spring, barring further delays– which will no doubt happen, as Trump will surely appeal to the Supreme Court. The second news... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark: A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,... Read more
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