Assuming this is an accurate quote that is making the rounds (or even if it is not) I endorse this remedy of St. Basil and would only add that the same consequence should apply to anyone who knew of such behavior and didn't report it:

Any cleric or monk who seduces young men or boys, or who is apprehended in kissing or in any shameful situation, shall be publicly flogged and shall lose his clerical tonsure. Thus shorn, he shall be disgraced by spitting into his face, bound in iron chains, wasted by six months of close confinement, and for three days each week put on barley bread given him toward evening. Following this period, he shall spend a further six months living in a small segregated courtyard in the custody of a spiritual elder, kept busy with manual labor and prayer, subjugated to vigils and prayers, forced to walk at all times in the company of two spiritual brothers, never again allowed to associate with young men for purposes of improper conversation or advice.

They still don't get it, do they?

It is a struggle not to be consumed by all this.

I am reading the Power of Silence by Cardinal Sarah. Begin agitated by the news is not part of his remedy.

Oremus pro invicem!

Diapers

I may have alluded to the fact that we have had a special young man living with us for the past 2+ years. It may become permanent sometime in the next - who knows how long when government agencies and courts are involved? - but we are looking forward to it.

In the meantime, Mrs. Curley and I are expecting our first grandchild in September - in Wyoming - go figure. 

I don't feel old except when I get up (out of bed, out of the car, out of the couch) or when I climb over things. In both cases, I creak. Once I am up, I am fine. Not that being a grandfather means you are old....

So this week we took on a 3 week old and her 2 year old brother. 2 in diapers! at our age! Maybe we are going through a mid-life crisis - trying to prove we can still do it. Just now I changed the poopy infant, the poopy 2 year-old, and then the poopy infant again. During this second change she peed all over the place. Not complaining. These are gifts.

I asked Mrs. Curley this morning how long she could do what she did last night - up every three hours up for feeding/changing, etc.  She just looked at me.

Oremus pro invicem!

Rainbow in Bethune

This was taken a few weeks ago. It was more impressive in person - the camera on my phone is not much to write home about.

We need more of this - rain that is. We ate our first corn tonight, but I don't know how the rest will go without more rain.

Oremus pro invicem!

End of an era

For the first time in at least 10 years we don't have a breeding pair of hogs on the property. Thor (Hampshire boar) and Polly (York/Duroc cross sow) have both found new homes.

We do have enough pigs to keep us in pork for a while. We will look for a new breeding pair in the coming months, but it will give us a little break for the summer.

Speaking of the summer...we are starting to pick summer produce. Today the first batch of green beans, along with some zucchini and cukes.

Oremus pro invicem! 

We've been hearing a duck quacking ...

but it was a frog!

I took a picture of a frog in the overflow pipe from our kitchen in August 2016. Now he's there again, but bigger! See for yourself, same pipe.

May 2018

August 2016

Confession

Saw this on the confessional door at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge, MA last week.

Oremus pro invicem!

May he rest in peace....

Fr. John Oholohan, former pastor at St. Catherine's passed away on April 19 at 95 years old. The picture above shows Father with my 4 sons (and others) before Mass some years ago.

Below is a picture of Father John giving his first blessing to his parents at his ordination.

God blessed us immeasurably with Fr. John's presence in our lives at St. Catherine's. May his soul rest in peace!

The link gives the details.
Fr. John Oholohan

Some pictures....

The garden is finally coming alive. We have tons of broccoli, and below is a view of one of our small sweet corn plots. Let's hope the rain keeps coming!

Number 1 son just graduated from AFR boot camp!

And finally a historical picture: Not sure when this was taken, but probably last year at Number 2 son's graduation weekend from NCC. He came across the picture and noticed that I was in the center of it. Looks like I arrived just in time not to be late! 

Oremus pro invicem!

Spring arrivals

Woke up this morning to find our new litter of 15 pigs! Hopefully Polly will be a good mother - usually she is.

Our game hen hatched 5 chicks last week. Garden is slow due to lingering cold weather, but we have had some broccoli and lettuce.

Oremus pro invicem!

How do you want to live?

This is the question asked and answered (below) over at Country Will Always Be Home. I am  humbled by the wisdom dispensed by this young man. Read everything he writes. (Besides, I like the pictures. They remind me of home!)

You can follow the current and live a dull, predetermined course. You can seek financial, political and social stability. You can spend pointless endless hours on Netflix, social media, gaming, and small talk. You can be that object, floating downstream, unaware of where it is headed but thinking it is comfortable going wherever the current drags it. But if you choose that path, no one will recognize the life within you.

He is risen!

An update: A new link appears on the list in the sidebar. Yet another offspring of mine has decided to blog: Man of the Southern Woods

Chattooga!

I took advantage of spring break at my tech college to go backpacking with son Thomas along the Chattooga River in the Ellicott Rock Wilderness Area of South Carolina.

 

In a word, the trip was: miserable! Oh yes, we had a great time, and we are glad we went, but still, it was miserable.

 

We entered the forest in the rain. Of course finding dry wood was a challenge, but we did it. It took all we could to start a fire and keep it going. Then it got coooooold! It was 25 F overnight the first night. In the morning not a single coal was left from our fire. (I usually don't do winter camping, but it was in the 70's just last week!)

 

And as we ate oat meal and hard boiled eggs for breakfast, it started snowing!

 



Our campsite viewing down river



We then hike 12 or 13 miles to come back to a even colder (but dryer) campsite. While making the fire was easier, the wind chilled faster than the fire could warm.

 

But the sights were out of this world.



Arriving at camp

A view from the camp upriver.

Recording the high (and lows) of the trip.





A view of the river

Another view of my better side as we headed out this morning

Oremus pro invicem!

That little green thing ...

is corn breaking the surface. (The green sprout, the other things are just weed debris.) Spring is here, and while all of next years wood is not yet in the shed, tilling and planting is starting to swing into full gear.

Oremus pro invicem!

Boys to Men

I spent the weekend in NC at St. Josephs Farm where Jason Craig gave a serious of talks on rites of passage and specifically what the father's role is in moving a boy into manhood-how can he help/how can he hinder.

 

We (son Thomas and I) had a great time and learned a lot. We actually went up to demonstrate for the group how to slaughter, cook and eat a pig. (They already knew the last part.) The rest was extra. Both were great!

I met a great group of 30 men who came up from Birmingham for the weekend.

Oremus pro invicem!

Winter work

We are about 1/2 way to a secure and warm 2018-2019 winter. Here is some of our work from today. (Yes, we usually use a chainsaw - I highly recommend the Echo CS440 which I have used for 14 years, but this tree got stuck and needed a little axe work.)

We are fortunate to have neighbors who always seem to have some hardwoods they want taken away. We have felled over a dozen trees of various sizes since the first week in January.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

The Courtship of Miles Standish

being read now!

I always liked Henry Wadsworth Longfellow dating back to a 4th grade field trip to his home. It was also in 4th grade when I memorized "The Arrow and the Song."

I haven't read poetry in years, but decided to reacquaint myself. After the Courtship, I think I might try "Song of Hiawatha."

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Also check out another new blog The Intentional Imagineer.

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Finally, wrote (or actually revised and updated) an article for New Catholic Land Movement. A version of this originally appeared in 2012 on Front Porch Republic. Enjoy it if you can!

 

 

Oremus pro invicem!

New Man

I left at 6:30 AM for my teaching job last Thursday with a tiny tickle in my throat. I arrived home at 9:00 PM with a 101 degree fever and all kinds of aches and pains. I pretty much stayed in bed for the next 72 hours, and have now emerged a new man (I hope).

Of course this was only possible with a Mrs. Curley who held everything and everyone together over the weekend. I was not the only one feeling poorly.

My theory in getting over sickness (if you can't just ignore it) is to stay in bed until you can't stand it anymore. At that point, you should be cured.

Oremus pro invicem!

God or Nothing

I have been reading this interview (God or Nothing, Ignatius Press) with Cardinal Sarah off and on for a few months now. I am finally getting close to the finish.

After this, I think Cardinal Sarah's book on silence should be on my list. A couple of passages I found this weekend on which I would like to report:

Here are some possibly comforting lines Cardinal Sarah quotes from St. Therese of Lisieux:

Listen, this is how great your confidence should be! It should make you believe purgatory is not made for you but only for the souls that failed to recognize God's merciful love or who doubted its power to purify. With those who strive to respond to this love, Jesus is 'blind' and 'does not count' [their sins], or rather, in order to purify them, he counts only on this fire of charity that 'covers all faults' and, especially, on the fruits of his perpetual Sacrifice. Yes, despite your little infidelities, you can hope to go straight to heaven, because the good Lord desires it even more than you do, and he will surely give you what you have hoped to receive of his Mercy. Your confidence and your resignation are what he will reward; his justice, which knows your frailty has been divinely arranged so as to achieve this. As you rely on this assurance, just make sure even more that he does not lose any love!

 

Of course, relying on these lines may lead to complacency and presumption.

 

And from Pope Paul VI's "smoke of Satan" homily, comes the following:

 

Science exists to give us truths that do not separate from God, but make us seek him all the more and celebrate him with greater intensity ....

 

Pope Paul VI goes on to comment on how this purpose has been turned on its head.

 

It is good to reflect once more as an instructor in Physics what the purpose is of what I teach.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

And I highly recommend ....

Is your phone a tool or a weapon? Not just because it is written by someone I know very well, but because it is worth contemplating and then acting upon.

Oremus pro invicem!

One man's weed ....

.... is another man's meal.

 

Around here, pigweed is a scourge. Supposedly imported with turkey litter for fertilizer from somewhere, it now infests many a field during the growing season. It is prolific and aggressive. A garden or an acre of peanuts can be overgrown with pigweeds in a matter of days if you are not vigilant.

 

A perennial, you can't just plow it under. You need to hand pick it and move it. Some farmers used to use pesticides to rid their fields of it, but it has become resistant.

 

We have fought the pigweed in our small gardens (seeds carried from neighboring fields) and more intensively when we leased several acres to grow peanuts or sorghum.

 

A few years ago we were helping cut down some trees at the Missionaries of the Poor house in North Carolina, when I noticed they were growing pigweed in their garden on purpose!

 

Sure enough, Amaranth is grown for food around the world. Here's more proof from my own pantry.

We actually have fed pigweed removed from the garden to our pigs, and they eat it up. But I don't think I will be growing it for our consumption any time soon....

Oremus pro invicem!

A book recommendation

I finished Out of the Ashes the other day. Regular readers here know I am huge fan of Anthony Esolen. Perhaps my coolness to the current effort has more to do with what I need rather than what Mr. Esolen has to offer.

 

As always he writes very well. His writing is always a delight to read. However, at times (in Out of the Ashes) he seemed to have so much to say that he didn't know how to say it briefly, so uses examples that don't clearly cover the problem.

 

And this is another problem. The book is subtitled "Rebuilding American Culture", but Mr. Esolen spends so much time defining the problems, he neglects how to rebuild, other than 'don't continue the problem.'

 

Perhaps this was it for me. I read for enjoyment and to learn; the enjoyment was there, but in this case, I thoroughly know the problems already. I have been struggling in my own way to rebuild culture at least in my family and among my friends. I wanted a different perspective.

 

However, I DO recommend the book. This is not meant to be a negative review, just that my personal expectations were not met - I am sure Mr. Esolen did not write the book to satisfy me. But take a look, for example: 

The progressives of old had a clear idea of what they thought would bring about their earthly paradise: the dictatorship of the proletariat, the emancipation of women, the elimination of monarchy and its replacement with democracy, universal education, and so on. None of their nostrums has delivered on its promise, and some have had the perverse effect of rotting away the foundation upon which their suppositions of beneficence were based. So it is that democratic machinery without the soul of democracy has produced a far more intrusive and liberty-crushing state than anything that the proudest monarch could have imagined-or wished, since such a constant political preoccupation would have left no time for boar hunting or chasing women. So it is that universal schooling has not brought Milton to the millions, but rather has taken Milton away from the brightest and replaced him with "young adult" junk. So it is that women have been emancipated from the freedom of the home and chained to salaried work and lives of relative loneliness.

 Oremus pro invicem!