I got the notification that my restraining order had been dismissed this week. I was ready for that. The judge didn’t even look at my pile of evidence at the hearing. He didn’t even look concerned when she ranted about her hallucinations of us pressing our faces to the window at night. And it wouldn’t have done any good if he hadn’t dismissed it, because the police flat out told me they refused to enforce it. When I went out... Read more
A couple of years ago I got on the Steubenville city bus. The bus driver I have referred to as “Old Scratch” was driving, and talking, as he always did. It’s not the custom to talk to the bus driver in most places in America, but it’s expected in Steubenville. Most of the drivers are fun to talk to but I never liked chatting with Old Scratch. This time, Old Scratch had as his captive audience two passengers–... Read more
I have been driving to Wheeling lately. I have a friend who lives there. When I didn’t have a car, Steubenville and Wheeling seem so far apart that she might as well have lived on the moon. But this month I’ve gone and visited her twice. The drive to Wheeling goes right down the bank of the noxious Ohio river. You can either drive on the Ohio side and cross the bridge near Martin’s Ferry, or the West Virginia... Read more
Twenty years ago, when I was a teenager, I watched the 9/11 terrorist attacks on television. I turned on the TV in time to see the last tower still standing for a few minutes. I saw desperate people leaning out the windows, ninety-four stories in the air, waving for help as if anyone could possibly save them. I saw little dots falling off the towers, glinting in the bright morning sun, and at first I didn’t know what they were.... Read more
Today I am completely disgusted by a tweet by Father David Nix. Nix is a “hermit” in the Diocese of Denver. He does not have a congregation of his own, as far as I can tell. Googling him tells me he’s into vaccine denial and “the Great Reset.” He’s sometimes been photographed enjoying wine and dining with Mel Gibson, as every humble hermit does on occasion. And, apparently, he has a thing for gymnasts. I have tussled with Father Nix... Read more
The Friendship Room is putting the plexiglass back on their porch. I don’t think the situation with the Delta Variant of the COVID-19 virus really hit home until this weekend. I noticed that there had been 750 COVID deaths on Friday– eerily close to the thousand a day we were having last summer before things got exponentially worse in fall and winter. I read doctors pleading with people to get vaccinated, because this wave of hospitalizations was almost entirely adults... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark: Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother 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... Read more
It was another sunny day, a good day for a drive. I took Rosie to Wellsville, to show her where we bought her plaid coat when she was a baby. I took her to the park and to the marina to see the fish. She brought a jar which she kept dipping into the water ever time the schools of minnows came close to the surface, but they were too clever for her. She didn’t catch a single fish. When... Read more
I drove to Wellsburg, in search of a family I knew wasn’t there. I have told you the story of the time I met a homeless woman and her daughter in Wellsburg, sleeping in a store front that didn’t have heat at night and plotting to move to Wheeling for a fresh start. I didn’t have a penny to help Cherry and her mother. My friend had scarcely more than I did, but she did spend a few dollars... Read more
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John: When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and... Read more
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