Aha! - 06 January 2022 - Plague Journal Day 665

Micah 6:8
Matthew 2:1-12
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I know you're all wondering how things are going chez nous on the dog/cat axis, so here's a quick update of the situation.
Shockingly, it's Roma (the shyest cat we've ever had with the possible exception of Minnie in her first year spent hiding in the bathroom) who seems to be the first to warm up to Billie. They're not friends yet, but Roma is willing to walk through a room where Billie is without hiding behind furniture the whole way. She even just sits near the fire or on the couch seemingly unperturbed until Billie approaches too near and too quickly. As to Jack, we'll wait and see. Maybe he's just not ready for another dog to replace his old pal, Kooder. Change is tough when we get older - or so I hear.

On the liturgical calendar front, today is Epiphany, so Heidi and I will be braving the sub-zero temperatures to place a luminaria star / cross on the church front porch and walk. It seems appropriate on the day we commemorate the magi's having followed a star to find the One born the king of the Jews. Frankly, I'd take a slightly warmer evening over any of the gifts they brought back then. This is brutal, and it's tough to light candles with gloves on.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Orthodox Christmas - 07 January 2021 - Plague Journal Day 301

Micah 6:8
Matthew 2:1-12
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Merry Christmas! Yes, today is Orthodox Christmas, so I'm wishing a Merry Christmas to all my Orthodox friends.

As an update to the Epiphany post of yesterday, I thought I'd share a picture and a few words about what we did at our church.
We put a bunch of luminaria bags (paper bags with sand and candles) on the front porch and the front walk in the shape of that traditional star "with a tail as big as a kite" followed by the Magi. I think it looked great (so did a few passers-by who saw us as we finished the project), and the whole point was to light the way for the world to the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Epiphany - 06 January 2021 - Plague Journal Day 300 - Updated

Micah 6:8
Matthew 2:1-12
Yes, your life matters.

UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas, the Kings' Day! This day is really the reason we give gifts at Christmas - to commemorate the gifts of the Kings or Magi to the Christ child.
Even though we tend to throw the kings into our nativity scenes, it was actually much later when they finally showed up with their gifts. And what gifts they were!

Gold - a gift for a king
Frankincense - a gift for a priest
Myrrh - a gift used to anoint a body - a corpse

There you go, king, high priest, sacrifice - the Lamb of God. Those kings really were wise men.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

UPDATE:
On this date in 2013, the NFL reached an agreement to end their 113-day lockout of the players. This would be a great time to watch the behind-the-scenes documentary of that period, The Replacements.

Little-known New Orleans Flemish Mardi Gras Traditions

The following is purported to have been translated and excerpted without permission from Flemish Life in the New World, by Anke Vandermeersch  published in Ghent, 1893

Mik van de Koningen

The large Flemish community in New Orleans has a centuries-long tradition at Vette Dinsdag (or Mardi Gras) of which far too few “outsiders” are aware. This tradition, parts of which were copied by the French Acadian refugees (also called Cajuns) when they arrived here in the deep South, is that of the festive Mik van de Koningen, now called in French the Miche des Rois (sometimes altered to Galette des Rois – the King Cake).

At the end of Epiphany, each Flemish household would endeavour to rid itself of all the soon-to-be-outlawed items, such as fat and flesh. Unlike their French neighbours, the Flemish – reputedly a somewhat “thrifty” or “frugal” race – were seldom overstocked in the fat area, but rather in that of meat: hence the Mik van de Koningen, the Loaf of the Kings.

The loaf traditionally consists of a mixture of ground beef, oatmeal, crushed tomatoes, and eggs. Typical additions would include diced onions or other aromatics, salt, pepper, possibly nutmeg, and a sauce known to Latin America as salsa inglesa - the venerable Worcestershire Sauce.

No Flemish Vette Dinsdag celebration is complete without the round loaf, festively decorated in the three colours of the kings – Purple for justice, Gold for power, and Green for faith. Adding even more to the anticipation is the hope each celebrant harbours of finding the tiny, hidden representation of the Christ Child in his or her piece of the loaf. Tradition dictates that the finder of the child, if of suitable and legal age, must host the party the next year, and provide the loaf or the beer – a sometimes difficult choice to make in that zymurgic culture!