and she will eventually roust herself and ditch her family to socialize with friends all day.

As is right and proper. Hard to believe she is 15.

In grown children news, I took the clippers to my son's head Friday. His hair was probably waist length, but he had ruined it. Early in the summer, he worked in a distribution warehouse where he had to completely bind his hair and it was often in the 90s in the place. His hair ended up getting matted and his neglect of dealing with it made it get worse and worse. When he visited Friday I asked if I could attempt to untangle it, and he agreed. After about 45 minutes I told him it just wasn't possible. He asked if I had clippers and I took it down to about 1/2 inch all over. His beard is still several inches long! He has very thick glorious hair, and it will grow back. It probably hurt me more than him! Grateful that he let me fix it.

Matilda and Mia are stirring, with the assistance of caffeine and carbs, in her room and Hec is constructing something tasty but less carb-y for us grown-ups, also with the assistance of caffeine.

She was completely unconscious earlier this morning, so I went to church solo, and y'all it was SO GOOD. I'd say it was like a religious experience except that's what it literally was! Guest priest, a graduate student at Cal Berkeley getting his master's in non-profit administration, talking about his experiences in North Africa tending to refugees and asylum-seekers, many of whom settled to rebuild their lives where they were but some of whom attempted nighttime crossings to Europe and lost their lives. It made him look hard at what aid groups in his host country and back in Senegal were doing, and he decided to come to the US and get a master's so he could go back home and do something concrete for his fellow Senegalese, not just in the hereafter but in the here and now.

(I'd just been listening to a Reveal podcast about Médecins Sans Frontières and its struggles with *severely* different working and living conditions and pay scales for European vs. citizen medical staff, and about how it's one of many nonprofits that are absolutely well-intentioned but still structured in a very colonizer-centric way; it was amazing to go from the podcast to a real person standing a few yards from me telling the same story and repeating the same hard truths.)

(Also, he noted that his name is French but he is not, it's just that the French colonized Senegal for centuries, which put me in mind of Tahani saying, "Don't you just love the French?" and Chidi's reply, "Well, they enslaved my people for four hundred years, so, no.")

And at the very end, after the service had ended, two guests stood up--friends of two former parishioners who had died some time ago and for whom this mass was being said--and sang their favorite songs: Danny Boy, The Parting Glass and Amazing Grace. It was the first time since before Covid that I'd heard trained singers singing just for the sheer joy of the sound (cantors at church singing liturgical music, but not pure proper singers), and it was... oh.

The singer who did the first two had a pure, bell-clear, operatically trained soprano voice that just soared effortlessly through the high notes (I've heard a lot of Danny Boys before, but never by a single a capella soprano--holy crap, those high notes are high!) and the acoustics of the building absolutely loved on every note. The Amazing Grace singer had a warmer, huskier, almost Dollyish voice that perfectly suited that song, and her voice swirled around the room like a heater on blast thawing you out and making you feel warm and drifty.

Ahhhh, singing. Trained performers doing beautiful things with their trained voices, loving on old songs and perfect acoustics. I've missed drinking in live performances so very much--not that I even went all that often before, but I knew the joy of it and I liked knowing it was there if I could get myself up and out and motivated. But for so long it hasn't been, and now it just suddenly fell in my lap this morning.

That sounds quite lovely, JZ. The last time I went to mass was earlier this summer. The local church, St. Mary's of the Snows, had their 100 year anniversary. Since I am apparently the tech wiz of Otter Lake they asked me to make a slide show for the celebration. I had a scanner and everything required so I was happy to do so. The Bishop and some former priests came for the hoopla. Nice to see the people and celebrate such a big anniversary, but the mass itself was just 100% rote. That part was a disappointment. Probably the previous mass was my mother's funeral 5 years ago. I figure I have a buffer of masses built up from all those years of Catholic School!

My father's parents came from Germany and Austria... sometime before 1900, IIRC. (My father was born in 1917!) So my claim on EU citizenship is probably pretty specious.

Timelies all!

Some more health news from my family. My mom has pneumonia and is back in the hospital.(Not the same hospital as before, but one near the rehab facility) Gary's dad has been in a rehab center in Florida for his back/legs, and has tested positive for COVID so he's in an isolation ward. Sigh, can we get a break please?

Oh, man, Sheryl! Continuing health~ma

Oh No Sheryl! much health~ma to your mom and Gary's dad.

Matilda's birthday seems like an awesome one for turning 15.

My grandmother isn't doing well. She's 101. this is expected but she's sleeping a lot and not eating. It's looking more and more likely that the next time I'm in Florida will be for her funeral not for a visit. I'm sad but I also know I'm incredibly lucky to have a grandparent in my life for 48 years. The last time I saw her she could remember me but not much else.

I don't know what will happen about her funeral with Covid, I know that lots of people will want to come. Growing up it could feel difficult sometimes having a last name that means you are related to everyone else with the same last name. I would hear "oh are you related to" and brace for it being my dad or one of my uncles. But there were plenty more people who would say "are you related to Mrs E? she was my 3rd grade teacher/Sunday School teacher/dear friend of my mother/we went to church together. Your grandmother is a wonderful lady (or some variation)".

I want to see her again and hug her. But I really want to have a chance to visit with who she was not who she is now.

My big vacation to Florida is Oct 15 but I don't know what will happen between then and now, I briefly talked to the HR manager about this and she said not to worry about it the scheduling and things would be figured out. I don't have anything nice to wear that fits well. I need to call my aunt tomorrow.

I'm sorry about all the ailing elders, and wishing them well.

I have no clue about my geneology but it would be a good bet on Scots-Irish, since that's what nearly all the hill folk are where I'm from. No other country eager to take me in. And at past-prime work age, they don't want me anyway. H has a straight line to Ukraine, but he'd rather tough it out here than go there. And, really, we'll probably be gone before the real cataclysm gets going.

Yikes Sheryl! Best of luck.

Askye, when we visited my grandma in her tiny town people would look at us kids if we were alone and say “oh you must be (my last name)s!” Because we do all look alike.

Went to a soccer game, it rained a lot. I think I need a bigger rain coat, which is depressing/disturbing since I bought this one when I got too big for my last one!!

JZ I haven’t been to mass in years but that sounds awesome. I miss singing.