Yesterday’s visit continues. Granddaughter and I have enjoyed watching cartoons. I’m looking forward to reading her a book from my childhood, plus another from my father’s and mine.
Our granddaughter’s parents are her ‘real’ parents in practical terms.
And they adopted her. Which, this family being the way we are, means that our granddaughter has more than the conventional two sets of grandparents.
I don’t mind, partly because I don’t see family relationships as a zero-sum thing.
When we had our second child, I didn’t assume that number-one and number-two daughter would each have half a father.
At any rate, I didn’t fear for our third child, who would — if I made zero-sum assumptions, which I didn’t — suffer from being stuck with a mere third of a father.
The point I’m trying to make is that zero-sum assumptions don’t apply to family relationships. Resource allocation? Sometimes but not always.
But our kids didn’t have a fractionalized father. “Fractionalized???” Never mind.
Then our number three child died, early in the pregnancy. That was not a happy experience. Neither was the death of our sixth child. (October 9, 2016 )
On the ‘up’ side, we have been and are blessed with four surviving children.
And one grandchild.
A Brief, Succinct, Terse and Very Short Look at Family and Children
It’s been a while since I talked about what the Church says about family and children.
Books could be and have been written on the subject. But I’m squeezing writing this post into the second and last day of a family visit.
So, briefly: marriage and having kids is a good thing. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2366-2379)
Sometimes folks who are married can’t, physically, have kids. It’s not the only reason that adopting children is a good idea, but it’s one of them. (Catechism, 2379)
There’s a lot more to say about all of the above.
But I’m running out of ‘today.’
So, briefly: I have enjoyed talks with number-two daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. My granddaughter and I enjoyed reading her great-grandfather’s childhood special book.
And I’ll add links to posts I referred to while writing this:
“Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful….”
This morning’s forecast reminded me of “Let It Snow.”
But the weather outside isn’t frightful. Overcast, with a promise of freezing drizzle in the forecast, yes. Frightful, not so much.
On the other hand, freezing drizzle and the snow that’ll likely follow can make driving chancy. Walking, too, at least for folks like me. I’ll be glad to stay inside.
In any case, the Winter Weather Advisory for my part of the world is in effect until midnight. After that, we’ll see. Minnesota weather is — variable.
Now, about “Let It Snow.” I found a brief discussion of the song on Wikipedia. Wikipedia’s Armenian version:
“…The song was written by poet Sammy Kahn and composer Jules Stein on a hot July day in 1945….”
(Let It Snow!…, Վիքիպեդիա (Wikipedia)(Trans. by Google Translate))
I don’t understand the Armenian language, but do have access to Google’s ‘translate’ function. Which works well enough for this sort of thing.
And that’s not what I was going to talk about today.
My Alternatively-Tidy Desk
(My desk, yesterday morning: clutter and all.)
Maybe I’d be a more productive writer if I decluttered my desk. But probably not.
There’s a profusion of helpful how-2 hint articles about decluttering. Many of which aren’t obvious long-form advertisements for desk accessories.
But don’t hold your breath, waiting for me to post an “after” photo, presenting nothing but the basic essentials.
I like my desk the way it is.
Even though it doesn’t resemble a Trappist monk’s workspace.
What looks like clutter to you — and probably most folks — suits me fine. And is more organized than it may seem.
The keyboard and monitor are front and center, since they’re what I’m almost constantly using.
Sitting on the desk’s left corner is a book I plan to do a review for. Eventually. The rosary beads between it and the keyboard are there as a reminder that I do Divine Mercy chaplets daily. Cheat sheets for my morning prayers are in a folder near the photo’s right side.
I wouldn’t claim that it’s the most streamlined workspace in North America. But it’s organized and efficient. For me, by my standards.
One of my daughters is at another end of the desk organization continuum. Her workspace makes that Trappist monk’s desk look like a thrift store’s sorting table.
She’s said that she couldn’t write at a desk like mine. I believe her.
Maybe I could write at a desk like hers, but I wouldn’t want to try. I like having doodads, thingummies, knickknacks and frequently-used objects in sight and ready at hand.
I also like baroque and rococo, and that’s almost another topic.
Personal Preference, Unchanging Principles
So, how come I’m not upset that my daughter’s desk doesn’t look like mine?
And why isn’t she on a crusade to rid the world of insufficiently Spartan desks?
Starting by purging mine.
I figure her reason is pretty much like mine. As long as we’re not both trying to use the same desk, it doesn’t matter.
“Cluttered desks are bad” is not one of those unchanging principles.
Besides, we’re both human. And Catholic. So I’d jolly well better recognize that my kids are not just like me: and accept that.
Humans aren’t cookie-cutter critters. We’re not all alike. That’s okay. We’re not supposed to be. But we each have equal dignity. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 361, 369–370, 1929, 1934–1938, 2393)
Desks, Daughters, My Son and Differences
Which reminds me of a story
Back when my wife and her siblings were in high school, someone from the school called their father with a disturbing message.
‘Do you know,’ said the educational official, ‘that your daughter wants to take shop?!’
Putting the school official’s concern in historical and cultural context: this was around 1970 in the Upper Midwest.
Boys took shop. Girls took home economics. And guys like me enjoyed art class, anyway: which is yet again another topic. Topics.
Anyway, presented with a presumably-horrifying pronouncement, my father-in-law-to-be said ‘so? Let her!’ She took shop, one of my brothers-in-law took home ec. And so did a whole lot of other guys, once they twigged that home ec was where girls were.
Which I figure was why my brother-in-law signed up. Other than his interest in cookery.
The point is that responsibilities come with being a parent. (Catechism, 2221–2231)
Those responsibilities do not include telling my kids whether or not they should marry. Or who they should marry. Or what their profession should be. (Catechism, 2230)
Desk preferences aren’t explicitly mentioned, but I figure the ‘your kids are people, not property’ principle applies there, too. (Catechism, 2378)
Next: Coffee Break
Good news: I got some writing for my next “Dr. Faustus” post done yesterday.
Bad, or at any rate frustrating news: I can’t use what I wrote. Not the way it is now. The ideas are okay, but how I expressed them would be a snooze-fest.
At least, I think the ideas are okay. I’ll be taking a look at that, along with deciding whether or not to delete what I did and start over.
Whatever I decide, I’m pretty sure that a coffee break is in order.
Right after I slap together my usual ‘stuff that’s sort of related’ list:
I only wrote 18 words for my current “Dr Faustus” post yesterday. Partly because the screen went black around mid-afternoon. On the bright side, my computer did reboot. Eventually.
My plan for today is to get this journal entry finished, do more writing and maybe pick up prescriptions at the local Walmart. Not necessarily in that order.
Prescriptions During a Pandemic: Mostly Routine
The last few times I’ve called prescription requests in, the pharmacy’s recorded introduction told me that COVID-19 vaccines are not yet available in my state.
Probably because that’s the most common question. Or among the most common. Understandably, I suppose.
My reaction to the Walmart pharmacy’s unsolicited announcement is — a trifle complicated.
I’m not elated to have an extra few seconds added to the time I wait before entering my prescription requests. But letting what’s at worst a minor delay inspire annoyance strikes me as a waste of effort.
Besides, I’m curious about when COVID-19 vaccinations will come to folks like me. I’ve talked about that before. Along with a mess of other topics.
Getting prescriptions during the COVID-19 pandemic as been uneventful. Which I don’t mind a bit. Particularly since production and shipment of the meds could have been, and probably was, affected by pandemic precautions. And that’s another topic. Almost.
Kepler-22b: NASA’s Exoplanet Image of the Day for Tuesday
I noticed Kepler-22b in this week’s ‘science news,’ which seemed odd: since the ‘news’ was that Kepler-22b was around 2.4 times Earth’s diameter, orbiting a sun-like star and in the star’s habitable zone.
It’s true, and historically significant, but hasn’t been news for years.
Then I saw that it was NASA’s exoplanet ‘image of the day.’
Not quite two years later, persistent technical issues were back.
Not the same technical issues, but frustrating nonetheless. My son, over the course of a few days, traced my problem to the household router. Technically, the solution was simple: get a new router. Financially, not so much.
But eventually I got back to more-or-less regular posting.
Which brings me to what I’m doing here. Back again, that is. (January 27, 2021)
Back to the “Vocation” Thing
Recapping what I said yesterday, I’m a Catholic layman: a member of the laity. That’s my vocation. Narrowing it down, which I didn’t do yesterday, I’m a married Catholic: so being married is my vocation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1601–1617)
Part of it, at any rate. I didn’t talk about marriage as a vocation yesterday and I won’t today: partly because I also didn’t talk topics I pick for writing, either.
And that, more or less, is what I’m doing today.
But first, here’s what I said I’d be doing with the first iteration of “A Catholic Citizen in America,” back in 2008.
What’s it Like, Being a Catholic in America?
“About 300 million people live in America. Roughly one out of every four is Catholic. And one of them is me.
“You’re not as likely to meet a Catholic in America as you are in Mexico, Poland, Kenya, or the Philippines: but odds are pretty good that you know one, or that someone you know does.
“We’re Hispanic, white, black, American Indian, Asian, and quite a few other ethnicities.
“And we’ve been here for quite a while. Baltimore became the seat of the first American diocese in 1789: and the first archdiocese in 1808.
“Following Catholic beliefs and practices in America: One man’s experience
“This blog is about my experiences as a practicing Catholic living in America. My values are somewhat counter-cultural, so following my beliefs in a system that isn’t built around them can be challenging.”
(“A Catholic Citizen in America,” first post (September 16, 2008))
Not quite eight years later, I’d been writing about science, history and whatever else caught my attention.
Along with how I saw the topic(s).
I’m still not sure whether I should be focusing on “my experiences” more than I have been.
An ‘up’ side is that what I write would be more obviously consistent with the “A Catholic Citizen in America” description: “Following Catholic beliefs and practices in America: one man’s experience.”
A ‘down’ side is that my everyday experiences are not all that fascinating. Not from where I’m standing.
My routines are, well: routine.
Now What Do I Do?
I’m not a teen idol pop superstar YouTube influencer — someone who can post “I #flossedmyteeth #lol:” and get a million hits, making a quarter-million dollars by doing so.
Not that anyone’s quite that redolent with newspaper fame. Or Internet fame.
And I might not enjoy getting that much attention. I’m pretty sure that others in the family wouldn’t like it. At all.
I was going somewhere with this. Let me think.
This blog’s first and second iterations.
What I’d planned to do, what I actually did and a cheese sculpture.
Cheese sculpture? Never mind.
Focusing more on me, but staying interested.
Right.
For a little over a dozen years, I’ve known what I’ll be writing about next: whatever catches my interest, and looks like it’d be worth the time I’d spend researching it.
I plan to keep doing that. Which is why I’ll be getting back to the current “Dr. Faustus” post, after a cup of coffee: and that’s another topic. Topics.
But I also plan to keep doing these ‘journal’ entries, focusing more on me and what it’s like being a Catholic in my here and now. How I’ll keep doing them, and make them worth writing and reading, is a good question. But, again, that’s my plan.
Something new each Saturday.
Life, the universe and my circumstances permitting. I'm focusing on 'family stories' at the moment. ("A Change of Pace: Family Stories" (11/23/2024))
Blog - David Torkington
Spiritual theologian, author and speaker, specializing in prayer, Christian spirituality and mystical theology [the kind that makes sense-BHG]
I was born in 1951. I'm a husband, father and grandfather. One of the kids graduated from college in December, 2008, and is helping her husband run businesses and raise my granddaughter; another is a cartoonist and artist; #3 daughter is a writer; my son is developing a digital game with #3 and #1 daughters. I'm also a writer and artist.
It’s been a while since I talked about what the Church says about family and children.
And I’ll add links to posts I referred to while writing this:
