Quite early to be Sunday morning already, and sunrise not due for three hours yet, but things to do, places to go and people to see. No dark chocolate with me out here on 7H porch, but the coffee is black and, not still hot but, warm, as I've been out here some twenty minutes already. Looking south, the sky is clear, 76F dropping to 75 by 5AM, ninety percent humidity but a cool breeze coming from the east. Lightning in the eastern sky and now has moved round to the south over the Gulf of Mexico directly before me.  A sliding door opens, not Linda, so has to be our neighbor. A widower, he lives alone.  Or it could have been a rush of water in the shallow just below. As we sat out here with supper last evening the flat calm suddenly was broken as a shark began thrashing, darting, chasing, likely for mullet. Tomorrow begins October, when mullet will populate that little inlet area, and soon enough their fingerlings.  Yep, lightning. No streaks seen from here, but fil...

Years ago, in my advanced adult years but before the memory of many who currently are moving beyond middle age into senior-citizenship, two new and highly useful products came to pass because of the newly futuristic state of word-processing, the IBM Selectric typewriter.  Over the course of a generation, old fashioned upright manual typewriters  went out of vogue as more and more offices gradually moved into the future with electric typewriters.  And with that came the two, as I say, magical products. One was the little roll of white-chalked tape to be stuck between the typewriter ribbon and the paper and struck with the key of the bad letter to white it out so it could be corrected.  The other was a bit earlier and a bit crude, came in a tiny bottle whose cap included a tiny brush with which to paint out typing errors, the correction fluid product first called "Liquid Paper" and later brand-named Wite-Out.  Why does the mind go down ...

This is professedly not a diary, but Malinda, Linda and I enjoyed visit and supper with Walt & Judy last night, at a for good reason crowded seafood restaurant at Pensacola Beach, oysters for me.  Short appointment at doctor office yesterday afternoon, this morning we expect a call from the neurosurgeon advising the next step toward clipping Malinda's other aneurysm. Whatever news or schedule I will pass along. +++++++++++++++++ We were driving yesterday morning and did not hear her testimony, but I watched and heard much of his testimony, all credible to my untrained ears. Read this morning that the American Bar Association wants an FBI investigation, conceivably polygraph tests, before Kavanaugh proceeds.  The process: meanness, accusations back and forth across the political aisle dumping America once and for all into the gutter where are only losers, no more winners or good guys than emerge from a cockfight or bloody screaming cursing yelping growling biting tear...

The Collect for Sunday, September 30. 2018 (Proper 21) O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Bible Story: First Reading for Sunday, September 30, 2018, Proper 21B   Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 King Ahasuerus and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me-- that is my petition-- and the lives of my people-- that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my peop...

Pope says youth are 'scandalized' by Catholic Church's 'monstrous' abuse crisis  Play Video Pope: Sex abuse crisis eroded Church's credibility   03:46 (CNN) Pope Francis says young Catholics are "scandalized" by the Catholic Church's "monstrous" clergy sexual abuse crisis but adds that church officials who tried to handle abusive priests many years ago should not be judged by today's standards.  The Pope's comments came Tuesday aboard the papal flight home from the Baltics, when he answered reporters' questions for about 50 minutes.  On Tuesday, Francis met with young people in Tallinn, Estonia, where he also acknowledged the church's abuse scandal and said Catholic leaders need to be "converted" to address young people's concerns.  "Young peopl...

Our OT lesson this coming Sunday is from Esther, a long, fascinating story that among other things shows how ancient is the evil, racist, anti-semitic hatred of Jews. It isn't just from the Christian era with ignoramuses shouting "Christ-killer" but goes back centuries and millenia into, in human terms, ancient history, why? Grievously, with the Holocaust passing beyond the memory of living people, brutalizing the Jews is reviving across Europe. Why? Why are the Jews targeted for hatred, what are the reasons? Not justifications, but reasons, why do otherwise seemingly decent people love to hate those who are different from us?  Anyway, from our Lectionary framers, below is the plot-revealing part of the Esther story that must be read in its entirety fully to appreciate what was going on. Below that (scroll down) a link to an online piece that this morning interested me as a WW2 contemporary.  And, below that, a piece that shows evolution in action. Metamorphosis ...