Category: Family

Valentine Flours

Today is St. Valentine’s Day, or as it is more commonly called Valentines Day. Being a Catholic who likes to stay in the loop for feast days I must note that St. Valentine was demoted so this isn’t even his feast day officially. On the liturgical calendar it is now the Feast if Sts. Cyril & Methodious. They were brother priests who, among other accomplishments, are credited with inventing the Cyrillic alphabet. That is pretty impressive.

Back to Valentines Day. As the tradition has outlived the feast day, we are still expected to woo and pamper our romantic partners today. While I rarely succumb to the totally invented Sweetest Day I can’t totally in good conscience let Joyce think I don’t still feel totally head-over-heels in love with her on Valentines Day.  Which means I occasionally buy her a present.

I love Joyce for too many reasons to mention. Sounds like a cop out, right? But it is true. She is a great mom, fantastic wife, terrific baker, dedicated Cleveland sports fan, good cook, has a laugh that is so infectious you find yourself crying along with her at the most stupid things. She’s everything and more I ever could have hoped for in a wife.

She is also frugal. Because she is frugal she thinks baubles and beads and such are not a good use of money. Have you ever noticed that the florist raises the price of flowers in early February? I won’t risk spending too much hard-earned cash because “society tells me” I should buy Joyce flowers. So what is a hopeless romantic like me to do today? I bought Joyce flours.

Valentine Flours

Pretty brilliant, right?

My only concern is that I may not be able to top this gift next year, having set the bar so high.

 

 

 

UPDATE: Through an odd twist, Joyce did get flowers on Valentines Day. From a baseball team.  I’m not making this stuff up. Joyce was selected as one of the Lake County Captains favorite fans.

 

 

Presidential proximity

President Barack Obama visited Bowling Green in Ohio today. This caused a BGSU graduate to lament on Twitter that she never got to see a President of the United States of America while she was a Falcon. I replied that I saw Ronald Reagan there in 1988 on the campaign trail for George HW Bush. Which got me thinking. I’ve seen four Presidents in person.

I saw Ronald Reagan at the Wood County Courthouse in the fall of 1988. I was a reporter with the Bowling Green Radio News and has a press pass. Great front and center view. I remember he was still very popular except with a few malcontents perennially protesting whatever. I was not nearly as conservative politically then as I am now but I still appreciated being that close to someone who was clearly an important historical figure.

I saw George HW Bush the same year, I think, at the Ohio Association of Broadcasters convention in Columbus. This was a small crowd and again I had a great view. I recall that I was included in a crowd reaction shot on the local news that night. I may have had a bad mustache. He was not nearly as charismatic as Reagan, but who is?

I saw George W Bush at a campaign stop at Lake Farmpark in Kirtland on 2004. It was a hot day. My son John was a toddler. Someday I hope he tells his grand-kids that he saw a President.  You could just see a small little figure from where we stood. The crowd was up for a rally.

The only POTUS I’ve ever spoken to was Jimmy Carter. He is not my favorite, but my mother was a big fan. He was on a book tour and stopped at a Barnes & Noble in Mayfield Ohio. Since my mother was starting to get infirm, I offered to stand in line in order to get her book signed. I stood in a line for quite some time with people who were pleasant enough, but not being a big Jimmy Carter fan I had to stick to small talk.

Eventually I got to the front of the line and shook his hand because when you are face-to-face with a former President that is what you do. We exchanged courtesies and I was on my way. I was a little sad for my mom because she would have liked to meet him. When I met back up with her, she was grinning. She happened to sit in the coffee shop area adjacent to where the Secret Service had escorted him in. He stopped and said hello so she got her signed book and also met her favorite former President.

Even though I am just an average guy, I feel lucky to have been a witness to history.

The Riddle gets me every time

I never wanted my blog to be a fan blog just posting links to music or musicians I happen to like at the moment. I also never intended to abandon my blog, so I guess a fan boy post is better than no posts at all.

I cannot listen to Five for Fighting‘s “The Riddle” without getting verklempt. It talks about father/son love. It reminds us of our mortality. (We’re talking meaning of life stuff here.) There are subtle baseball references. It has emotive vocals with great guitar and a beautiful piano accompaniment. The young boy in the lyrics is both serious and playful. The video even has a cool muscle car.

I’ve a house full of intelligent and rambunctious boys. My own wonderful father passed away last year. I’d have to be a robot to not get a little weepy, right?

Well done, John Ondrasik.

 

John McCormack, THE Irish Tenor

My dear wife was looking for a suitable version of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” in preparation for St. Patrick’s Day. I searched iTunes and found a version by the Irish Tenors, several by Bing Crosby and even more by artists I’m unfamiliar with.

The track I downloaded was from John McCormack. I was amused by downloading music recorded for Victrola distribution via the same channel that made Lady Gaga a star.

I recall my mother telling me that my grandfather Murphy enjoyed John McCormack recordings when they were most popular. I enjoy the idea that his great-grandchildren will at least hear the recordings he enjoyed, perhaps they will enjoy them as well. They are part McCormack on my father’s side, so perhaps there is a familial connection as well.

After I found the music on iTunes, I realized the site www.archive.org has a very deep catalog of historic recordings of 78s and similar media. It is an incredible web site and you can spend hours browsing the collection. I highly recommend if you have any interest at all in music history you check it out. (They also host the Wayback Machine that will reveal what many websites used to look like)

Enjoy the Collected Works of John McCormack at Archive.org > http://www.archive.org/details/JohnMcCormack

It’s my funeral

I’ve been meaning to write down my wishes for my funeral, but time never seems to allow. Since I’m trying to convince anyone who cares about this little blog that I’ve not abandoned it or you, dear reader, I will now kill two birds with one stone. What follows are instructions for my funeral.

  1. There will be no immediate canonization. I’ve been to funerals where it was literally stated by the priest that NAME is now in Heaven, waiting for us to join him. No. We can’t know this to be true. We can hope this is true. However, I’m asking you now for your fervent and continuous prayers for the repose of my soul and that I may be out of Purgatory as quickly as possible. Please have lots of Masses said for me.
  2. No “Eagles Wings”. Yoohoo! Please banish the guitars and the Haugen/Haas/Joncas monopoly for one day.
  3. No eulogy by my friends or family members. Please say nice things about me. But do it at the funeral home, the grave site or at the local pub. For that matter, make a Facebook group in my honor. However, I want my funeral Mass to be full-on about Salvation. If I was a nice guy, I’d love for y’all to hear about it. But my funeral is not the time nor the place.Incensed
  4. Smoke ’em if you got ’em. By this I mean I want incense to form a cloud visible on Doppler radar. To be frank, I feel a little cheated because I’ve not smelled nor seen incense at my parish except for one Mass this Advent and Christmas season.
    I want a man to smell his jacket a week later and say “Wow – They really laid it on thick at Keough’s funeral.”
  5. If at all possible have the altar servers dressed in cassock and surplus. I never cared for the little hoodies and rope belts look. It is fine for the Franciscans. My middle name is Francis, but I think the black and white look is more fitting for this occasion. (Update: I rescind this request. I don’t object to female altar servers and the alb is appropriate for both sexes to remind us of our baptismal white garment.  December 3, 2023)

These are simple requests, no? If these simple instructions are honored I promise not to haunt you to your dying days. Ok?

UPDATE: Monsignor Charles Pope has an excellent series on Funeral Foibles. I quote:

Thus instant promotions of the deceased to the upper realms of heaven are inappropriate. Rather, we give them to the Lord with our prayers, asking for a merciful and kindly judgment, and that any necessary purification be accomplished soon.  The prayers for, and comments about the deceased can include gratitude for their life and the gifts they brought, but ought never to fail to mention that they go to judgment and should not gloss over the need to pray for them, more than praise them.

That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Image courtesy of jdbradly

I still think it is festive

There is an annual Christmas event we attend at the Lake Farmpark called Country Lights. The best part for the kids is a Santa’s Workshop where volunteer elves help the children make wooden toys. This year we brought home a penguin, a pirate ship, a jet plane and an angel fish. I’m certain that they call it a generic angel fish rather than Nemo to avoid the licensing fees and possible cease and desist. But we all know it is Nemo.

The highlight for me is a ride in a wagon pulled by a team of two draft horses. The circuit is festooned with lights representing holiday and fairy tale scenes. This year there was a gentle snowfall to add to the Currier and Ives vibe. We also had a wagon to ourselves, which allowed us the have a Christmas sing-along. Our singing couldn’t have been to bad. The horses didn’t bolt.

I thought I would get in the Christmas spirit and wear one of my snazzier ties. It is covered in baseballs wearing Santa hats. Fun, right? I showed it to my seven-year-old. He loves baseball, so I thought he would love my tie. Not so much, it tuns out.

It’s almost like I know Luke Skywalker or something

I love Twitter. Been on it for more than two years. Met nice people in real life because of it. But last Saturday I may have just peaked. Star Wars retweeted me.

Yes. The officially “Verified Account” @starwars acknowledged my existence in this galaxy by sharing my less than 140 character message. Click on the image to see the post and follow the link to the image of my boy. He loves Clone Wars, Santa Claus, and has a great imagination.

Rest in peace, Rapid Robert

News reports are just breaking that Bob Feller died tonight at age 92. Cleveland baseball fans may have grown accustomed to Mr. Feller always being around, sort of a reminder of when the Indians were an elite team. But I wonder if Clevelanders under a certain age really understood how legendary Feller might have been if he hadn’t given four years of  service to the U.S. Navy in World War II. From Wikipedia:

On December 8, 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy, volunteering immediately for combat service, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Feller served as Gun Captain aboard the USS Alabama, and missed four seasons during his service in World War II, being decorated with five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. His bunk is marked on the Alabama at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama. Feller is the only Chief Petty Officer in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Just imagine what kind of records he could have held if he had not missed four seasons in the prime of his playing days.  He set an example of selfless sacrifice that I can’t imagine being duplicated from any top players in professional baseball today.

Mr. Feller had a reputation as being gruff and grumpy, but he earned the right to be his own man.  Anthony Castrovince, an excellent writer who had a chance to return to Iowa with Mr. Feller, shared his thoughts recently.

I’m glad my oldest son, a baseball fan of the highest degree, had the opportunity to meet him and shake his hand. It was obvious that Mr. Feller loved the game of baseball and was eager to share a moment with the boy. And, of course, we got an autograph. He was famous for signing autographs, so a Bob Feller autograph is not rare or particularly valuable. Men like Bob Feller are.

We like waffles in this house

I don’t think I can calculate how many waffles are consumed in our home. Even the youngest has received some pretty intense training and devours them with great gusto. I’m not sure his mother would appreciate my Cookie Monster sound effects. It might be seen as encouraging the flinging of crumbs.

My favorite part of the video is when he sees the camera and reflexively says “Cheeeese”. Do you think he has had his picture taken a few times?