Category Archives: Journal

Sharing more about me, less about (almost) everything else

Our Lady of Angels: My Home Parish

Last Saturday I learned that my home parish, Our Lady of Angels in Sauk Centre, will almost certainly close this year. I’m not happy about that. At all. There’s some detail here: And a little background on the Area Catholic … Continue reading

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Lily of the Valley: Tiny Flowers in Retrospect

Depending on who’s talking and what they’re talking about, lily of the valley is a woodland flower that likes shade, a 19th century hymn, a French novel, or something else.1 I’m not going to be talking about hymns or novels. … Continue reading

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Blizzard Coming: December 2025

It’s going to be one of those weekends. From the local forecast page Saturday evening: Dense Fog Advisory until December 28, 06:00 AM CSTBlizzard Warning in effect from December 28, 09:00 AM CST until December 29, 06:00 AM CST(Current conditions … Continue reading

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Something Pleasant: Christmas Decorations From Minnesota

I ran across “So Minnesota: Department 56 is a Christmas tradition” on YouTube yesterday afternoon. I’ve seen these ceramic ‘Christmas village’ buildings and their many look-alikes, but hadn’t known their origin story. “Department 56, a Christmas tradition found in homes … Continue reading

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Comfort For a Recovering English Teacher

My memory, like my father’s, is occasionally creative. I remembered a someone writing that England’s public schools were dedicated to the idea “…that Tennyson would never happen again….” Then, recently, I started re-reading a Wodehouse book. “…It was almost as … Continue reading

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