So, the highlight of my week definitely came yesterday, when I was able to save this sweet chickadee from being toyed with by one of my cats. Now, to be fair, my cats are not exceptionally fierce, being well-fed house cats, and don’t exactly have killer instincts. But they do like to play. When I saw one of the cats out in the yard, clearly engrossed with something, I went over to investigate and found this stunned little chickadee on…
It’s hard to know what to write about right now. Everything feels uncertain and we are all struggling to find new routines, a new normal for our lives. I’ve been managing to avoid the majority of the main stream news and the hysteria contained therein, but I’ve stayed informed enough to know that these are serious times that we are living in and life will most likely look very different even once we are past the worst. For me, the…
This article was originally published in The Catholic News Herald of the diocese of Charlotte. I recently visited Washington, D.C., and was able to attend Holy Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. With more than 80 chapels and oratories honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, there is a great deal to see at the basilica. Behind every pillar, around every corner, and every time you look to the ceiling, there is some of the most…
Hello, dear readers. I must first apologize that it has been so long since I’ve given you any serious, dedicated content. I’ve been so caught up in life and other writing projects, that this poor blog has been rather neglected. But I am now hoping to get things back on track with some re-prioritizing. With a mind to better time-management, I’m going to be suspending my monthly posts on What I Read. The truth is that I am reading so…
Well, I beat my previous record, and in 2019 I managed to go through close to 80 books. I credit this mostly to the fact that I got off all social media, except for this blog, and also unsubscribed from Netflix. Amazon Prime was the only streaming video service I had, but I rarely used it, and I’ve now taken a hiatus even from my Prime account. It’s kind of amazing what you can accomplish when you cut out so…
This article was originally published in The Catholic News Herald of the diocese of Charlotte. “In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit.” These opening words to J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” have been inscribed in my mind from my earliest memories. My father used to read the book aloud, long before I could read it myself, and the ideas of hobbits and elves, dragons and dwarves, adventures and heroism, were embedded in my imagination as firmly as my…
Please note: I have intentionally decided not to include Amazon links (unless something is available exclusively on Amazon). Instead, if you are interested in reading any of the books I mention, I encourage you to check out your local library or independent bookstore. These places (and the communities around them) need your support, and they are generally quite willing to order any book if they don’t currently have it in stock. However, if Amazon is still the more practical choice…
Please note: I have intentionally decided not to include Amazon links (unless something is available exclusively on Amazon). Instead, if you are interested in reading any of the books I mention, I encourage you to check out your local library or independent bookstore. These places (and the communities around them) need your support, and they are generally quite willing to order any book if they don’t currently have it in stock. However, if Amazon is still the more practical choice…
This article was originally published in The Catholic News Herald of the diocese of Charlotte My favorite way of preparing for Advent the past few years has been to read about and meditate on the Holy Family. Last year, I read the book “Joseph of Nazareth” by Frederico Suarez, and it gave me such a new appreciation for this powerful saint. There is so little that we can know about St. Joseph for certain, but Suarez’s book is a beautiful…
Please note: I have intentionally decided not to include Amazon links (unless something is available exclusively on Amazon). Instead, if you are interested in reading any of the books I mention, I encourage you to check out your local library or independent bookstore. These places (and the communities around them) need your support, and they are generally quite willing to order any book if they don’t currently have it in stock. However, if Amazon is still the more practical choice…