I had just about given up on the community garden. The weeds had reseeded themselves in last year’s mulch. I’ve never seen so many weeds in my life. There were towering trees of poke, great elephant ears of burdock, Gordian knots of crabgrass. I couldn’t possibly pull the weeds before they got so gigantic. All I could do was walk back and forth to my own two garden beds, tramping them down a bit. Even that was a gamble,... Read more
Today we will have yet another Trump arraignment. I’m beginning to lose track of them all. This time, the arraignment is in Washington DC, on four charges: “conspiracy to defraud the United States, witness tampering, conspiracy against the rights of citizens, and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.” That brings the indictment count, adding up the state and local felonies, to 78. It’ll be higher when we get the indictments in the State of Georgia. He’s... Read more
I try not to pay attention to Bishop Robert Barron, and I fail. He’s the one who always seems to be blaming the mass exodus of young people from Catholicism on poor catechesis and “the dumbing down of our faith.” Yesterday, I noticed him being ratioed on Twitter in a spectacular way, with many of my friends leaving frustrated comments. I watched the short video he’d posted, against my better judgement. It was an advertisement for a new scheme of... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.... Read more
I heard the squealing of rusted scooter wheels before I saw him. “Hello,” I said without looking up, calling Jimmy’s boy by name. Jimmy the mechanic and his partner and children live just a few houses down. The boy is the youngest, a wiry five-year-old who rarely wears a shirt this time of year. When Jimmy does the rounds with his lawnmower to earn money, the boy tags along behind with a toy mower. I don’t know if he’s... Read more
I couldn’t pronounce her name. I didn’t know anything about her as an artist, and I still know very little. I was just eight years old when Sinéad O’Connor performed “War” live on television, and tore up that photo of our beloved Pontiff. I certainly didn’t hear about it until much later. When I was a teenage homeschooler, kept carefully safe from the wrong kind of knowledge, I read about the stunt in a copy of the Catholic League’s Catalyst... Read more
I’ve been going back to church. You don’t have to do what I do. At this point I don’t care about anyone’s idea of an “obligation.” I think of the Catholic hierarchy as more of Christ’s abusive boyfriend than Christ’s vicar. I would never want a reader to think they had to do something traumatic just because I did. If you have found God somewhere else, good for you. If your experiences have led you to believe there’s no... Read more
A girl got an abortion at 29 weeks. That should be all I have to write. That should be the tragedy. There’s enough wrong with that sentence that it ought to make you cry for a week straight. Why was a teenage girl pregnant? Where’s the father? Why is no one talking about the father? Was she raped? I don’t have reason to think that she was, but I wonder why I don’t see anyone asking that question.... Read more
Adrienne walked out of the eye doctor’s office and sat next to me on the waiting room chairs. “How did that go?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she said, tapping her phone. As I went into the office for my turn at the ophthalmoscope, I asked the the same question. “She’s fine,” the doctor said pleasantly. “Perfect twenty twenty vision.” I breathed a sigh of relief as he took my precious glasses, without which I can’t see more than... Read more
We went to Robinson, in Serendipity. Serendipity is still driving perfectly, more like sledding or riding a magic carpet than driving a car. I’m shocked daily at how, in spite of the horrible misadventures last winter, I did manage to pick out a good used car. It was just a fixer upper, that’s all. I now know not to ignore juddering or a weird gasoline smell. The electricity is all working beautifully. She’s still got the torque strap around... Read more
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