Baptism: Elizabeth Grace

Our new granddaughter, Elizabeth Grace, was baptized today. The house was a great deal less quiet than usual this afternoon.


Elizabeth Grace, waiting: fairly patiently.


The baptismal candle,lit from the Easter candle.


Family and friends talking after the ceremony, at Our Land of the Angels in Sauk Centre.

Another Week: Photos and Fuzzy Eyes

My wife gave my hair an arguably-overdue trim yesterday, we had sunlight for a few minutes this weekend, and my eyes still feel fuzzy. There's something extra in the air that doesn't play well with eyes, noses, and - in my case - throat.

Happily, #1 daughter got photos of last Sunday's Corpus Christi procession. (Sauk Centre Journal Blog (June 9, 2013))

None of that's particularly astounding, astonishing, or amazing. But it's some of what happened this week.

Lent, the Furnace Guy, and Beautiful Weather

My wife called "the furnace guy" today. Good thing, too, since he found out that we had a bad generator down there. And, was able to find a replacement part by early afternoon.

I stayed in, missing the Ash Wednesday Mass at Our Lady of the Angels church. I'm not exactly sick: but I'm not exactly well, either. I'm giving my body a chance to sort out whatever's going on, with as little additional stress as possible.

More than twenty years ago, I felt ill and went to work anyway. And as a result missed something like a month of work and classes. I'm not making that mistake again, God willing.

Other mistakes? Yes. That one, not so much.

The day is one of those Minnesota Tourism moments: bright blue sky, sunshine sparkling of the snow. Beautiful. And strangely warm: around the freezing point.

This is Minnesota: the weather will change.

Sunday: Rest, Grilling, and a Broken Board

My wife, our son, and #3 daughter went to Soo Bahk Do this evening. They came back with good news: My wife had jumped over our son, and broken a board. She's definitely getting better at that.

Our son, meanwhile, passed another milestone on his way to adulthood. He's got a pimple walk on his forehead.

We saw a red bird in a backyard bush: a cardinal. I hope there's another around, and that they set up a nest. The cardinal's a colorful bird. This afternoon, a large white dog came through the yard: one we haven't seen before.

The snow is bright white, making branches seem black by comparison, but there's a patch of grass near the back door that's almost green.

Aside from that, going to church this morning, and grilling lunch amid the snow of spring, it's been a nice, quiet Sunday.

Sunday: Photos

I took some photos while traveling. Here are three of them:

Mid-morning shadows in the Red River Valley of the north.

This little girl was praying this afternoon at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fargo, North Dakota.

I was back in Minnesota by the time the sun started setting. I took this north and west of Fergus Falls.

Tuesday: A Different Sort of Post

Kenya is in the news again. "Still" might be a more accurate way to put it. Kikuyu people and folks from the other half-dozen ethnic groups are engaged in dialog with guns and machetes. The current debate seems to be mostly over the outcome of the recent presidential election there.

Since this blog is about my experiences, living and raising a family in this part of small town America, what am I doing, writing about Kenya?

The Our Lady of the Angels parish in Sauk Centre is connected to the St. Joseph parish in Migori. This special relationship is within the St. Cloud / Homa Bay partnership. I'm acquainted with a couple of people from Homa Bay, thanks to friendships part of my extended family have with visiting priests.

So, I'm taking what's happening in Kenya a bit personally. We haven't heard anything about Homa Bay or Migori. Hardly surprising, since that patch of Kenya, by the northeast shore of Lake Victoria, is about as out-of-the-way as my part of central Minnesota.

Epiphany Sunday: and Glad to be Home

I've had a good Sunday. The family went to church today: me, my wife and #3 daughter up with the choir, #1 daughter and our son in a pew.

Home again, by way of Coborns to pick up lemon juice and butter. My wife gave our son the money, and he went in for the supplies while I waited with the van. That gave me some time to listen to Minnesota Public Radio, and still leave room for a chat on the way to the grocery and back.

When the French fries were far enough along, I went out to grill the burgers. My technique is improving. After studying what happened while #2 daughter was watching me, I flipped the burgers a bit sooner than I would have. The results were better: This batch wasn't as crunchy as many.

This afternoon, #1 daughter chatted online, she and #3 daughter had fun taking pictures of each other, our son did something on his laptop, and I leaned back and enjoyed the show.

After supper, we were back to church for Vespers. That was a good way to wrap up the Christmas season.

I started going through photos I took while visiting my dad.

This is I-94 in Minnesota, between Sauk Centre and Moorhead. It's nice scenery. Nothing spectacular: low hills, little valleys where streams run, that sort of thing.

My father lives in the Red River Valley of the North: some of the flattest land on Earth.

The Red River Valley has gotten a lot more built-up than it was when I was young.

Some of those shelter belts were barely visible then.

It was good to get back home, to Sauk Centre.

Sunday: Lille Julaften (Little Christmas Eve)

I slept through more of lille julaften ("lilee yule-aften," or Little Christmas Eve) than I intended to. I'm beginning to suspect that the timer I use to wake me from naps doesn't have a very loud beeper.

The rest of the family were more 'on the ball,' getting over to (the Sauk Centre) Grandpa's house this afternoon, getting together with assorted kinfolk.

We all made it to church. The place was packed. We'll be there quite a bit in the near future. Tomorrow, the choir will be singing at 9:00, which involves my wife, #2 daughter, #3 daughter, and me. We'll be back Christmas Day, since this is a Catholic family. We "have to" go to these celebrations, like the official birthday of Jesus. Hardly the worst duty I've had to perform.

#1 daughter came home today. We'll have her here for five days, I understand. I've already stayed up too late, talking with her.

Everyone in the immediate family, except me and our son, went to Soo Bahk Do practice tonight. That kept me away from the tree-lighting ceremony at church. I haven't heard anything, so I assume that it went without incident.

About lille julaften: that's something that my Norwegian forebears made rather more of than I do. We've had the Christmas decorations up for a while - but I like to remember the day, anyway.

Sunday: of Church and Toenails

This morning, getting ready to go to Mass, a cracked toenail reminded me that it needed attention. Again.

I'd hoped to avoid this, with a simple nail-clipping yesterday. No such luck.

Time for more drastic measures.

I asked my wife if I could have nail polish. It's great stuff, for reinforcing the nail until it could grow out a little, and heal itself.

Knowing that there were two daughters, and a niece, in the house, I should have realized how this would end.

After some discussion of a high-pitched and giggling variety, they decided on the color that I'd use. Thankfully, socks cover the toe, and the nail polish does its job, no matter what color it is.

It's pink.

Christmas Season Begins: Before Thanksgiving?

One of my wife's back molars broke (again) as the the weekend began. She put up with a ragged edge until today. The dentist says that if one more filling breaks in that tooth, it'll have to go.

Our son is feeling better today. Not well: but better. He's concerned about missing rehearsal for the Christmas musical. I'm not sure how that will work out.

Good grief! This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day.

And more households, and businesses, have Christmas decorations up. Sauk Centre was putting up the overhead garlands this afternoon. I haven't spotted the nice, safe, "Happy Holidays" banner yet.

The church choir has started practicing for Christmas. I was the only one going tonight. Among other factors, my wife didn't think she should leave our son.

Not bad, for a Monday