Hello folks, I just want to notify you of three things I’ve been up to when I wasn’t here, and some ways for us to perform the Works of Mercy. First of all: for those of you who have been waiting patiently for my book to come out: it’s been delayed, twice by my count. But it’s still coming, and it will now be released on June 10, just twenty-two days from now. You can already preorder it here.... Read more
It started with a photo of diapers. My friend Father Schneider shared a photo of a stack of free diapers and wipes in the men’s room at the grocery store, with a sign that said “Here for life’s little emergencies, please help yourself.” He said he was glad to see things like this to help parents out. Another priest, Father Stinson, retweeted this with “we should put these in our parishes TBH,” and a lot of people jumped on... Read more
Things are slowly inching back to normal after a year of horror. Here in Ohio, the governor is going to lift the mask regulations in June, and along with that lifting comes the grand re-opening of churches: the dispensation for Sunday Mass will be lifted by the bishops in Ohio very soon. And this is good, because Mass is very important. I’ve been going back to Mass in person most weeks since a little before Easter, and I’m especially... Read more
It was one of those days where I just want to disappear. I wished I could fall through a crack or dissolve into steam like the Wicked Witch of the West. Anxiety does that to a person. I was driving downtown to report one more episode of harassment by our neighbor, and to talk with the police about what evidence I would need to file a restraining order. Police scare me to death, but I didn’t know what else... Read more
Rosie is finishing up her third grade lessons. She is looking forward to a few weeks off in the summer. We homeschool year round, but she’s made such progress this year, I promised her all of July as a holiday if she’ll only be good through June. She is most looking forward to being free of the math book, which is sad because she’s quite good at math. But she finds this particular curriculum extremely tiresome and not very easy... Read more
It’s finally after Mother’s Day– in Ohio that means the chance of frost is gone. The lettuce and kale that survived last winter’s snow is bolting. It’s time to get out there and garden. I love gardening so much; it’s great for my mental health and it’s good exercise. I feel so proud and helpful when I can bring a bag of bush beans or lettuce to the Friendship Room to share. My idea of a perfect home would have... Read more
I used to mentor a child, through a program in the town I grew up in. This all happened well over a decade ago. I’m fudging identifying details to avoid betraying anything said in confidence, but the story is true. I mentored a little boy whose name wasn’t Isaiah, but let’s say it was. Isaiah was supposed to have been assigned a male mentor, but there were hardly any young men in the mentoring program, so he got me.... Read more
There was a stone in my pocket. I kept forgetting it was there. Several weeks ago now, when Rosie and I went grocery shopping, I found one of those hand-painted rocks that some people scatter around for an art project as if that isn’t littering. This one was stuffed in the fencing around the old DiGregory’s Nursery; I found it because it was right next to my usual parking spot at the end of the grocery store lot. The... Read more
Today I was in a mood. Nothing was going right. I have been a bit fatigued and tending toward a fibromyalgia flare since my Moderna shot last Thursday, and that made me nervous– for some mysterious reason I haven’t had a bad fibromyalgia flare since about last February, and I want to keep that streak going. I was also nervous about the situation with the neighbor and the restraining order. The neighbor has gone from hiding quietly for a few... Read more
I think it all started when Mr. J. D. Flynn of The Pillar expressed the desire to get together with friends for breakfast and talk about Christ once a month. He tweeted this, worded rather unfortunately, and was pounced on by Traditionalist accounts with fancy crosses instead of profile pictures. They teased him. Someone called Brother Martin Navarro said “Women do breakfast. Men do cigars,” with that perpetual Trad implication that every activity has a gender, and the female activities are... Read more
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