Lent by Jo Walton

Young Girolamo’s life is a series of miracles.

It’s a miracle that he can see demons, plain as day, and that he can cast them out with the force of his will. It’s a miracle that he’s friends with Pico della Mirandola, the Count of Concordia. It’s a miracle that when Girolamo visits the deathbed of Lorenzo “the Magnificent,” the dying Medici is wreathed in celestial light, a surprise to everyone, Lorenzo included. It’s a miracle that when Charles VIII of France invades northern Italy, Girolamo meets him in the field, and convinces him to not only spare Florence but also protect it. It’s a miracle than whenever Girolamo preaches, crowds swoon. It’s a miracle that, despite the Pope’s determination to bring young Girolamo to heel, he’s still on the loose… and, now, running Florence in all but name.

That’s only the beginning. Because Girolamo is not who—or what—he thinks he is. He will discover the truth about himself at the most startling possible time.

How do I write about this book? It feels like a work of genius and I am badly in need of someone to discuss a few things with. However, until I have a friend who has also read it, this inadequate review will have to do.

The book description tells the story just adequately enough to give you a sense of the atmosphere without spoiling the story. The main character, devout and talented priest Girolamo, can see demons and cast them into Hell. He's got the gift of prophecy. He is also a most appealing character as we watch him try to make Florence into the Ark of God.

This seems an unlikely topic for fantasy writer Jo Walton but she does love to take a topic and dive deep while she adds fantastic layers which enliven while adding insight to the main theme. Consequently, Lent is a melange of 15th century Catholic theology, Florentine and Vatican politics, demons, Hell, metaphysics, and friendship.

Above all, surprisingly, it is a meditation on what it means to love God and what it means to be threatened with losing Him. I've seen a few reviewers say they're unclear about the point of the book, but to this Catholic it seems clear. And I like what I see. Even if you don't agree with me, you will be left with a lot of food for thought wrapped in an entertaining story. Highly recommended.

EXTRA
These images and comments from Jo Walton are fascinating. Best viewed after reading the book so no spoilers creep in.

Woohoo for our power going on this morning!

Dallas had a whale of a wind storm, with torrential rain, and a lot of us were without power. Ours came back on this morning, though the power company (using text wisely and well) warned we may have other outages as problems down the line come to light. Plenty of others don't have power still, including our next door neighbor who is on a different power line.

Hannah and Mark, as arborist employees, were out last night until dark giving estimates and lining up lists for the crews to tackle this morning. When the storm was still raging Hannah had had three texts and an email beginning the onslaught of work needed. It never occurred to me before she became an arborist that there are other emergency workers than power or first responders who have to jump into action when a big storm comes. Her car is flooded in their apartment garage so they borrowed Tom's car so they could start work yesterday.

We are lucky because our power is on, a cold front followed the storm so the house was quite comfortable, we have a gas stove so I felt like a pioneer woman cooking dinner last night with no other power ... and our refrigerator and freezer held the chill well ... though we did have an impromptu sundae party last night as our ice cream took on soft serve texture. And we lit all our emergency candles (votives, tapers, and one pillar candle) and sat talking in the soft light.

A Sense of Place

The temperature has dropped and the smell of the corn in the cooler air is even more wonderful than before. Birds are flying overhead—veering specks too high for me to know what they are—and the sky is very pale, nearly colorless, turning to pale pink down near the band of soft gray-green haze that marks the horizon. The trees there, on the horizon, and a scattering of farm buildings and a silo seem to float in the haze, suspended and unearthly, as if in a mirage.

David McCullough, Brave Companions

This writing is so evocative. I know that feeling, that place, even though I've not been to that specific one. But I've been to the Kansas heartland, driven empty roads between small towns, experienced it. My memories entail wheat fields with waves like a golden ocean as the wind drives through it. It carries me back in time.

Ruff

Remo Savisaar, Ruff

Kagurazaka Street after a Night Rain

Yoshida Hiroshi, Kagurazaka Street after a Night Rain

Flotsam on the Surface, Deep Currents Beneath

This is about Harriet Beecher Stowe and her husband.

In all they were separated a total of three years and more, and their letters back and forth speak of strong, troubled feelings. The hulking, clumsy Stowe, bearded, nearsighted, complained that she never folded the newspaper properly and that her letters of late were too uninteresting for him to read aloud to his friends. She in turn would run on about her own miseries. The house depressed her, she worried about money, she hated the climate in Cincinnati. She thought too much about death.

But she also told him, "There are a thousand favorite subjects on which I could talk with you better than anyone else. If you were not already my dearly loved husband I should certainly fall in love with you."

And Calvin would write to her when she was visiting her sister in Huntford, And now my dear wife, I want you to come home as quick as you can. The fact is I cannot live without you and if we were not so prodigious poor I would come for you at once. There is no woman like you in this wide world."

David McCullough, Brave Companions

I love the way this illustrates how couples can drive each other crazy about wrongly folded newspapers or complaining about weather, while at the same time beneath everything there runs a strong current of love and affection.

Thank you, Bishop Paprocki

This week, Illinois passed the most extreme pro-abortion state legislation in America — with some Catholic lawmakers taking the lead in pushing forward this anti-life bill.

In response, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, today issued a public decree communicating to his priests that all Illinois Catholic lawmakers who voted for the state’s new Reproductive Health Act, or for an earlier 2017 bill that legalized taxpayer funding of abortions, should not present themselves to receive Holy Communion in the Diocese of Springfield “without first being reconciled to Christ and the Church.” The decree, and an accompanying letter, were mailed earlier in the week to all of the Catholic lawmakers who voted in favor of the bills.

Read the whole story here along with an indepth interview.

There will surely be public outrage over this decision but there should be public outrage over the actions of these Catholics who are leading so many into un-Catholic actions. Not only innocent lives are at stake but these politicians' souls. The Bishop is on the watchtower and it's his job to warn of danger. Good job!

What I'm Reading — Scalawags, History Changers, Philosophy, and Knights

THE EIGHTH ARROW: Odysseus in the Underworld
by J. Augustine Wetta O.S.B.

Condemned to burn in the eighth circle of Dante’'s Hell, Odysseus, legendary thief and liar of Homer’'s Odyssey and Iliad, decides he is going to break out. His adventure begins with a prayer to Athena Parthenos, who appears to him bearing gifts: his armor, his famous bow, a mysterious leather pouch, and seven unusual arrows. She then sends him on a quest through the Underworld along with Diomedes, his friend from the Trojan War who had been sharing in his eternal punishment. To complete their escape, the goddess warns them, they must recover their squandered honor and learn to use “the eighth arrow”.

I can't recall who recommended this book to me (it may have been the author, actually) but the Kindle sample was good enough to get it onto my wish list whereby it found its way into my birthday gifts. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. A determined scalawag (that's Odysseus) and his loyal friend tackle their task with bravado ... and sometimes they actually make progress! Having read a fair number of mashups with characters working their way through Dante's Inferno, this is measuring up very well.

BRAVE COMPANIONS: Portraits in History
by David McCullough

Profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories express much that is timeless about the human condition.

Different as they are from each other, McCullough’s subjects have in common a rare vitality and sense of purpose.

Another birthday gift, from my mother who saw McCullough's latest (Pioneers) on my wish list and, like the subjects of this book, went her own way. Tom's been recommending this one for a long time and now that I've begun I don't know why I didn't read it earlier. These really are fascinating people and McCullough presents them so well. Including Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of my beloved Uncle Tom's Cabin!

THE LIGHT OF CHRIST: An Introduction to Catholicism
by Thomas Joseph White

The Light of Christ provides an accessible presentation of Catholicism that is grounded in traditional theology and engaged with a host of contemporary questions and objections. Inspired by the theologies of Irenaeus, Thomas Aquinas, and John Henry Newman, and rooted in a post-Vatican II context, Fr. Thomas Joseph White presents major doctrines of the Christian faith in a way that is comprehensible for non-specialists.

Not for beginners, despite the title. If you want a good dose of philosophy with your Catholic faith then this is for you. Our parish is doing a five-week class on Edward Feser's Five Proofs of the Existence of God. Looking for something lighter than that, but still with intellectual depth, I noticed this title continually popping up in my searches.

It is exactly what I wanted. I even made it through the proofs for God with a fairly clear head ... though the discussion of the Trinity caused my brain to have to shut down for a little while. It's been a long time since I've had to think in such a different way. All this is without ignoring the questions that Catholicism raise in modern life. Truly this is a great book so far ...

ADVENTURE CAPITAL (Black Ocean #9)
by J.S. Morin

You may recall I mentioned buying the 85-hour long, 16 book series Galaxy Outlaws from Audible when it was on sale. Space opera and scalawags. With heists and adventure everywhere you look. What's not to like? Just letting you know in case they piqued your interest too!

LE MORTE D'ARTHUR: The New Retelling by Gerald J. Davis
by Thomas Malory, Gerald Davis (Translator)

The perfect read along to go with Mythgard Academy's free class, at least if you don't want to read it in a very old translation. By the time I finish listening to the classes, I'll have about 70 hours invested. That's just how entertaining I find the Mythgard classes.

My book club read this in a different translation long ago. And I wasn't hardy enough to make it through. But reading along with the Mythgard classes is, as usual, a much more enlightening experience. And this translation makes it much easier to get through the text. (It doesn't hurt that it is just $2.99 on Kindle.)

Cup and Chocolate

Cup and Chocolate, Duane Keiser

Peasant girl knitting while waiting for laundry to dry

Frans Pieter Lodewyk van Kuyck, 
Peasant girl knitting while waiting for the laundry to dry in the sun

The past after all is only another name for someone else's present.

In writing history, to catch the feeling as well as the "truth" of other times, it is of utmost importance, I believe, to convey the sense that things need not have happened as they did. Life in other times past was never on a track, any more than it is now or ever will be. The past after all is only another name for someone else's present. How would things turn out? They knew no better than we know how things will turn out for us.

David McCullough, Brave Companions

Dawning - the 'Queen of the Clippers'

Montague Dawson, Dawning - the 'Queen of the Clippers'

Around the House — Robins, Cowgirls, Cake, Tu Meri!

Source

FLOWN THE NEST

The baby robins have flown into the bushes where their parents were calling them, one per day. So all three are on their big adventure of learning to be grown-up robins. With no help from us! (Whew!) Nature — so great that way at knowing how to do stuff like raise their own kids. The parents will keep feeding them for a couple of weeks until they've gotten oriented.

I've got my fingers crossed that the parents will come back in a couple of weeks to lay some more eggs. It was so much fun to watch the whole thing and we miss them.

FORT WORTH — DEEP CUTS TOUR

For our anniversary Tom planned a weekend away to our near neighbor, Fort Worth! It couldn't have been more fun. We began with lunch Saturday at the Bird Cafe where it was raining cats and dogs but I had the most perfect Cobb Salad I've ever tasted.

We hit the Cowgirl Museum which was fascinating. I loved the cowgirls' stories and the Wild West Show section. Those ladies were tough performers. I especially liked the woman whose career included 600 jumps with her horse from a tall platform into a water tank. I also loved the architectural features with details like door handles fashioned like horse heads with manes streaming to form the main push bar. Really nice touches.

The Usual made our favorite old-fashioned cocktails as well as dandy new-fangled ones of their own devising. (Did you know that Rose Liqueur tastes exactly like a rose smells? You get used to it.) This part of the evening was so much fun. It felt like a date from the days when we were newly in love.

Paco's was some of the best Mexican food I've ever had ... using recipes from the family's native Pachuca. We were the only ones there which didn't inspire confidence until the owner said that they do a big lunch and catering business and evenings are a work-in-progress. They're building a bar and I bet that brings in the evening customers. The music was coming from Mexican radio and was lively but, of course, in Spanish. Tom said how much he liked it and that you could tell what it was getting across even without knowing the language — and how comfortable he was with that now that ... wait for it ... we'd been watching so many Bollywood movies. And we were off and running in a really fun conversation about Indian movies and how much they had changed a lot of things for our worldview, family culture, etc. So just a really great evening overall.

The next morning after some of the best Corned Beef Hash I've ever had (Old Southern Pancake House), we zipped  over to St. Mary of the Assumption. What a gorgeous church — not on the outside where it is a basic brick building. But when you get inside there are floor to ceiling stained glass windows and lovely statues and stations. Built in 1924, it is a real treasure. It was a day for beauty because we followed it up with a leisurely walk through the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens (free!) and the Japanese Garden (not free, but worth it).

The one imperfection was Woodshed Smokehouse where we went for lunch. Poor service, brisket sandwiches where the meat was minced to a pulp, etc. Talk about over-hyped. But it was adequate to our needs which were getting lunch and heading home. So, that is not a bad percentage of perfection to disappointment!

It was a dream mini-vacation and a really wonderful time together ... a perfect celebration of our 35th anniversary.

A favorite since my childhood — Chocolate Mint Cake.
And I don't even have to make it myself!
Rose is doing the honors.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I've been looking forward to this for a while, partly because Hannah and Rose and my friend Patsy are going to come over and watch Bang Bang. Nothing says fun birthday like watching this bit of Bollywood cotton candy with girlfriends ... and, of course, Hrithik Roshan's charm doesn't hurt either.

My birthday dinner will be at The Grape, which I haven't been to for a few years. Why did we drop it from the rotation? Can't recall but I'm looking forward to seeing what the new owners have done.

Now, so that we can all have a good day, here's my favorite dance number (and everyone else's) from Bang Bang.

Selfie: Jean Siméon Chardin

Jean Siméon Chardin, Self-Portrait with a Visor

555 ways to make a sandwich

Losing weight is not a cure for life.

Reality check: you can never, ever, use weight loss to solve problems that are not related to your weight. At your goal weight or not, you still have to live with yourself and deal with your problems. You will still have the same husband, the same job, the same kids, and the same life. Losing weight is not a cure for life.

Phillip C. McGraw, The Ultimate Weight Solution

And neither are any of those other diets for longer life or fixing genetic code or whatever other quick fixes are claimed. Though we are living in a time of fad diets that is probably greater than anything since Battle Creek.

Spring Evening by the River Emajõgi

Spring Evening by the River Emajõgi, Remo Savisaar

When Death knocks, surprise him.

When morning comes, think to yourself that night will never come. When night falls, dare not to promise yourself another dawn.

My point is—and I do have a point—hold yourself in readiness, as the Gospel of Luke urges (21:36), and don't miss a beat. Why? We all know people who've died before they said a prayer or changed their life.

When Death knocks, surprise him. Invite him in and ask what took him so long—the tea's been getting cold. ...

Now's the time for you to do something about it. Do provide for yourself, and do set aside a bit of good for the future.

Worry about yourself, yes, and do it now. Why? Who'll worry about you in the future?

The present moment is precious, as the apostle Paul said in his Second Letter to the Corinthians. Now is "the day of salvation; now is the perfect time" (6:2).

Oh, what an outrage it is! You live your life without a plan. You fill your day with indifferent acts. Don't you realize what's at stake? It's your eternal life!

The Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis,
transl. William Griffin

Galilean Moons

Galilean Moons, Belinda Del Pesco

Humans have turned their vocation upside down

The diagnosis of the human plight is then not simply that humans have broken God’s moral law, offending and insulting the Creator, whose image they bear—though that is true as well. This lawbreaking is a symptom of a much more serious disease. Morality is important, but it isn’t the whole story. Called to responsibility and authority within and over the creation, humans have turned their vocation upside down, giving worship and allegiance to forces and powers within creation itself. The name for this is idolatry. The result is slavery and finally death.

N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began:
Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion

I'm listening to the audiobook but want to read it in print to let these ideas really sink in. It is early days but I really like it.