Today is:
(a) the day after the fourth blood moon of 2014-2015;
(b) the day after the astronomical trifecta of the harvest moon, the super-moon (when the moon is at perigee and appears 14% larger than when it is at apogee), and a spectacular total lunar eclipse;
(c) the day after Pope Francis completed his three-day whirlwind tour of the United States -- well, the cities of Washington (where he addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress), New York (where he addressed the 70th session of the U.N. General Assembly and visited Ground Zero), and Philadelphia (where he celebrated his umpteenth mass since arriving);
(d) five days after the autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere, which is the vernal equinox in the southern hemisphere;
(e) five days after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in year 5776 of the Hebrew calendar; and
(f) two days after the death of my 84-year-old brother-in-law, now free from pain and the ravaging effects of Parkinson’s disease, whose funeral we will be attending later this week.
It has been a busy week.
Today is also the eighth anniversary of the day this blog began.
Happy anniversary to me.
It is astonishing that Pope Francis did not include Canton, Georgia in his US visit!
ReplyDeleteCondolences to you and to Ellie on the loss of your brother-in-law.
I very busy week indeed.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that your brother-in-law is free of his pain, but my heart goes out to all those who loved him, and will miss him.
Rightly so that this would be a time for reflection for you. Sincere condolences to your family RWP and Mrs RWP.
ReplyDeleteNote to YP ~ I thought the same thing when you visited the USA ~ that Canton, Georgia was not part of your trip.
“Today is also the eightieth anniversary of the day this blog began.”
ReplyDeleteWow! What was your first post about—the end of Prohibition?
I bought you a present, by the way, and one of these days I'll get around to mailing it, so don't die anytime soon.
My thoughts and prayers are with you on the loss of your brother-in-law. My own sweet mother is in hospital hospice care tonight. She has battled cancer for over 5 years and will soon be safe in Jesus arms. I've cried more than I ever thought possible and part of my very heart will go with her, but she'll be free from suffering, finally.
ReplyDeleteIf I had your mailing address, I'd consider sending you a present, too! What a cheerful thought ;-)
I'm so sorry to hear of your brother-in-law, the release of pain is a small, but real positive. Sending my love to you all. x
ReplyDeleteEight years is quite a feat sir, so congratulations, and keep it up, you set a fine standard for other bloggers to measure their posts by for sure. I would like your address too. By now I'm hoping you do not think me a danger. So if you can email me it I'd be most grateful *smiles*.
Thanks to everyone who expressed your condolences regarding the death of Ellie's brother, whose name was Michael. They are very much appreciated. My comments to your other comments follow:
ReplyDeleteYorkshire Pudding, I thought the same thing about Pope Francis's U.S. itinerary. In all of Cherokee County, of which Canton is county seat, there are fewer than 250,000 people. In next-door Cobb County, where Marietta is, there are around 750,000 -- plus cars, dogs, cats, and so forth. But according to the news reports, there were over 800,000 people in attendance at the outdoor mass Pope Francis led in Philadelphia the other day. It boggles the mind.
Elephant's Child (Sue), the end of suffering for one can truly be a double-edged sword for others.
carol (in cairns, FNQ), see my comment to YP above.
Snowbrush, Prohibition ended in 1933, which was old news by 1935. In my very first post 80 years ago, I skipped over recent events such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law on August 14th, the deaths of humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post in an airplane crash in Alaska on August 15th, the Labor Day hurricane that killed 423 people in the Florida Keys on September 2nd, the assassination of U.S. Senator Huey Long of Louisiana in the state capitol building in Baton Rouge on September 10th, and the Nuremberg Laws going into effect in Germany, removing citizenship from Jews, on September 15th. I wrote instead about a really important event: On September 24th, Earl W. Bascom and his brother Weldon produced the first night rodeo held outdoors under electric lights at Columbia, Mississippi. I'm sure you were in the crowd.
Hilltophomesteader (Pam), our thoughts and prayers go out to you and your mother. Your comment reminded me that I sang the hymn, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" at my father-in-law's funeral in 1983. Gifts are nice to contemplate. I will send you my address.
All Consuming (Michelle), The release of pain is not such a small thing. And you are probably still a danger, but no matter. I will send you my address.
“the assassination of U.S. Senator Huey Long of Louisiana”
ReplyDeleteYou can still the bullet holes in the capitol wall, and the giant magnolias that surround the building are magnificent. Surely, it’s better for the world that some people be assassinated, and I think Long was one of those people. This is a hard thing to say, but what if Bush had been killed before he invaded Iraq, or, to give the most obvious example, Hitler before he invaded Poland? Sometimes, it’s better to disobey the law than to obey it.
"I would like your address too. By now I'm hoping you do not think me a danger."
ReplyDeleteI can assure you that All Consuming is not a danger but a blessing, and if she wants your address, you should send it by overnight delivery, and then sit by your mailbox until you hear from her.