Let us not be intimidated...

I prefer to be true to myself,

even at the hazard of incurring

the ridicule of others,

rather than to be false,

and to incur my own abhorrence.

-Frederick Douglass  

Day 25 of the 100 Day challenge.

I'm 1/4 of the way through!

Went to work today for for hours. Rode in with T and he brought me home during his lunch hour. It was so nice to be at work! Quiet, with only a few other people in the building. I got a lot done with only a few interruptions.

I'm doing some genrefication with the books. Trying to make the collection more cohesive, while making it easier for the kids to find books of interest to them. It's been a very slow process; I'm hoping I'll get through a good portion of the books before the end of May. (Just checked the calendar. It's only 4 1/2 weeks before the school year is over. Yikes!)

Dropped off school assignments at the M/HS. It's the first work M's returned. His classes are now P/F. He's practicing his instrument, but has some more written work for music. He loved his art class, but the worksheets he's been given aren't engaging. Will have to remind him that there is a deadline!

relaxing afternoon

sayonara comfy socks

will save the one

M and I did some school together when I got home. He was distracted given it was after 1pm, but we've done quite a bit since mid-March when the schools were closed, so macht nichts. However, it is good for us both to have a regular daily routine.

Went for a couple of walks today with C. Pleasant to stroll around the neighborhood. Signs of spring: the tips of the alder are orange and the pussywillows are out. Not too many sounds of spring yet. A bit too early. We have seen a little brown squirrel out and about, probably enticed into our yard by all the bird seed. Haven't seen the moose since last week, though they're probably still around.

Loving the spring!

On the evening walk we encountered some elementary school kids. They were excited to say hello when they recognized me. It's great to see the kids outside riding their bikes. Healthy play!

 keeping busy...

Keep running into startling media about "challenging the narrative", "gaslighting", "raping the conscience," etc. Scary to be confronted with this information, especially when in my heart of hearts, I know that it has happened and is happening. 

Either you go along with them (whether you believe the lie or not) or you lose them. This isn't just about the muddyness surrounding The Virus, it also happens in families and among friends as (to my chagrin) I well know.

"All I do is repeat the words of Our Lord, the eternal Word of the Father: 'Behold, I am with you every day until the consummation of the ages.' We feel isolated, of course, but didn't the Apostles and all the Christians feel so too? Did not even Our Lord feel abandoned in the Garden of Gethsemane? These are the times of trial, perhaps of the final trial; we must drink the bitter chalice, even if it is human to implore the Lord to take it away from us, we must repeat confidently: not as I wish but as you wish, remembering His comforting words: In the world you will have tribulations, but have courage: I have conquered the world!

After the trial, no matter how hard and painful, the eternal prize is prepared for us, which no one can take away from us. The Church will shine again with the glory of her Lord after this terrible and prolonged Easter Triduum.

But if prayer is certainly indispensable, we must not fail to fight the good fight, making us all witnesses of a courageous militancy under the banner of the Cross of Christ. Let us not find ourselves being pointed out as the handmaiden did with St. Peter in the high priest's courtyard: 'You too were one of his followers!' only then to deny Christ. Let us not be intimidated! Let us not allow the gag of tolerance to those who want to proclaim the Truth! Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary that our language may proclaim with courage the kingdom og God and His Justice..." 

from an interview with

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano

April 22, 2020