Chili Verde at My Sister's House and Other Stuff

Today was difficult day. I suffered from insomnia Friday night and only got 4 hours of sleep. And the arthritis in my feet was bad today. And the lock on the front door broke and we can't get the door open. But I went to Home Depot and bought a higher quality door lock set, a Schlage to replace what is on the door now. I'll install it tomorrow after church. Right now we are going in and out of the house through the garage door.

I made chile verde today. (It was fun taking Kathleen to my little Mexican market to buy tomatillos and chilis. She had never been there and thought it looked dangerous from the outside.) I used, mostly, my mom's recipe.... Remove the fat cap from a pork shoulder roast and cut it into cubes of 2" to 3" in size. Salt them with not more than a table spoon of salt. Brown them in a big pan or dutch oven, 6 to 8 quarts will work. You can melt a little pork fat in the bottom of the pan or use a couple of teaspoons of oil. While the pork is browning wash and cut in half 2 poblanos and 3 jalapenos. (If you don't like the burning sensation remove the seeds from the jalapenos.) Put the chilis on a cookie sheet and put them under a broiler until the skin blisters and starts to burn black. Then turn them over and broil a few more minutes. When the pork is brown turn off the fire under the pan and let it sit there while you finish the sauce. Next remove the husks from a couple of quarts of tomatillos, wash them and halve them. Peel and halve 2 white onions. Then put the onions, chilis, and tomatillos in a blender. Add two tablespoons of granulated garlic. Then blend until it is smooth. Pour it over the the pork in the pan. (At this point I modifed my mother's recipe by adding 1/2 a quart of chopped cactus leaves to the pan.) Bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat down low, and simmer for 3-4 hours. Serve with lime wedges and chopped cilatro as condiments.

My sister made a really good and easy to make Mexican rice dish to go with the chili. I think she said all she does is cook Minute Rice in chicken broth (If you aren't making your own chicken broth, you should use Swanson. I think it is the best store-bought chicken broth there is.)and add a bottle of any salsa and stir it in before serving.

It was good talking with my sister and her husband for three hours, and hearing updates on all their children, grandchildren and great-grandgrandchildren. I'm not sure but I think it was the first time since my brother's funeral.

Oh, I almost died a couple of weeks ago. My blood pressure was so high that I had to go to the emergency room . They gave me an IV of some drug that brought it down to non-deadly levels, and my regular physician adjusted my prescription. No serious heart or brain damage.

This is the last semester of Kathleen's masters degree in counseling. After two years, it is nice to see the light at the endo of the tunnel.

The Navy moved my son Anselm Samuel and his family back to San Diego. I don't know exactly what he is doing (everything related to submarines is an official secret) but I know it has something to do with electronic warfare. The plan is for him to be there for four years. Also, the Navy is sending him to ILDC so they can promote him to Petty Officer 1st Class.

This is Basil's last semester at Cal Maritime. Like Kathleen, he'll have his degree just before Christmas. After that he will go to China where he will work in logistics for Panda Games.

In sad news, my friend of 24 years Reader John Simmons died about two weeks ago. He was the choir director at our little parish. His departure is very much felt by us all. Please, pray for him and St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.

I'm a Gunslinger for the County

My job is so strange. 8 to 12 hours a day I drive around to various places on the County's light rail system and make sure everything is okay. I visit a lot of stations each day, make sure the un-armed protective officers are doing their jobs, document any deficiencies I see, take pictures of any damage to the rail system, interview witnesses to criminal conduct, and deal with mentally ill/emotionally disturbed/substance addicted people at the stations or on the vehicles.

I carry a bunch of different weapons but have ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION OF USING THEM. Why? Because, so far, all of the people I have to deal with are not criminal as much as they are sick, like the man I had to deal with tonight. He took off all his cothes on a train, and I had rush from one side of the county to the other to meet the train and convince him to put his clothes back on. Was he committing a crime? Absolutely, he was. Being naked in public is a violation of the California penal code. But he is crazy. Totally crazy. I could have arrested him. And he is a drug addict, and an alcoholic, and diabetic and, it smells like, he has gangrene in his leg. Oh, and the open wound on his abdomen and the swollen testes! I am sure he will be dead soon. So, I did not arrest him. I asked him if he wanted medical help. He said he did not want mediacal help. I asked him if he could get dressed. He swore at me for a couple of minutes but put his pants and shirt back on.

I asked him, "Are you going to behave?" He spewed some more profanity at me but said he would behave. The other passengers seemed relieved. I walked up to the front of the train and told the operator that the subject was dressed now but I would meet the train at the next two stations, and he should to call me on the radio if there was a problem. So that is my job. I never thought I would be doing a job like this. All I can think is life is weird.

In other news: My son, Anselm Samuel told me that his wife is pregnant with their second child and my youngest son, Basil Wenceslas told me he is in the running for a summer internship with the a company named Quarter Master Logistics in Florida. I hope he gets the internship.

Oh, should metntion that my wife, Kathleen is still working on her masters degree in counseling and will be finished with it in December of this year. It looks like she will immediately transition from being a teacher into being a counselor. Also, I am still taking classes in water resources management. I have been on a few job interviews in that field and all the other people are in their mid-20s to early-30s and I have had no call backs. Therefore, I do not suppose I will ever work in that field. I think I have enough resources for to buy a few acres and raise cattle and chickens. I hope I can do that for a few years before I die.

So Much Is New

Well, in December 2024 I resigned my job as a teacher. I thought I could make more money as a home improvement salesman for a really good company. I got my license went to work for them, and for a few months I did pretty well. Until March. That is when the layoffs started. It was brutal here in Silicon Valley. Apple, Intel, AMD and many others started letting people go. About 24,000 people lost their jobs, and that scared everyone else. No one was spending money on home improvements, at least not the ones I was selling (e.g. HVAC, windows, roofs, doors, and solar systems.) To survive I went back to working part-time at Bass Pro Shops. I liked it and was good at it but they do not pay commissions. So now motter how much I sold, and I sold a lot of very expensive guns, my income from that job was meager. About the only good thing other than my hourly wage, was that they paid for me to become a California-licensed firearms safety instructor. That got me to thinking: Maybe there is a gun-related career I could make money at for the last 10 years of my working life. I started looking for something else. I looked at a lot of things: bounty hunter, private investigator, repo agent, etc. But I settled on armed security guard.

I took the required state training, did the psych exam, qualified on a bunch of diferent guns, and got a job doing armed patrols for the Valley Transportation Authority. So far, I like it. Mainly, I drive around (Almost no standing and walking, which my knees and feet can not take.)and help distressed and mentaly ill people stay out of trouble.

Not often do I have do deal with the truely criminal, but almost every day I have to deescalate situations that could result in the county's sheriff's deputies hauling someone off to jail or the psych hospital. So far, I've been able to talk several mentally disturbed or intoxicated paeople into following my instructions (I always start by saying, "Hey, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble if you don't leave this train (or platform, or bus)and I know you don't want me to get into trouble...") and avoiding serious repercussions. Tonight, I did have to take out my handcuffs (A poor crazy woman had caused all kinds of problems on a train platform. As I was approaching the subject she lifted her denim skirt, squated, and urinated on the train platrform.) but just as I was about to cuff the subject (I need to remember to buy some latex gloves.) the sheriff's deputies arrived and took her. I've never had to touch my gun. I hope I never have to.

Well, that is what I do for a living now. I am 57 so I suppose this will be the last job I have before I retire, if I can retire.

I barely ever talk with my son Anselm. He knows I diapprove of his decision to raise his son Oliver as a Roman Catholic but I still love them both, and Tiffany my son's wife. I started something I call Granfather's Book of the Month Club. Each month I send Oliver a book. I expect that Anselm or Tiffany will read the book to him. Back a couple of months ago I sent Oliver all the Christmas books I read to Anselm when he was little, but there are very many more books besides the Christmas books. Just before she divorced me Athanasia gave away all our kid's books to the Lucille Packard Childrens Hospital Thrift Store but I am buying all those books new to send to Oliver. (Thankfully, she did not give away Anselm's first prayer book so in a couple of years, when Oliver is reading on his own, I will be able to send him his Dad's prayer book.)

Basil (AKA son # 4) is still doing well at the California Maritime Academy. He secured an internship at Panda Game Manufacturing, and travels around northern California promoting their services to game inventors. A couple of days ago he told me that after he gets his B.A. in December of 2026 he wants to do something to grow in the Orthodox Faith. I recommended that he go to a monastery for a year or to St. Tikhon Seminary. But tonight I remembered St. Herman Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska. They have a one year reader program. Also, they might be able to use my son's accounting skills. I'll talk to Basil about it when I see him on Holy Saturday. (I have to work most of that day so I can't go to church, but Basil is coming by to pick up his Pascha basket to ttake to church.)

Speaking of Holy Saturday.... This hear I was able to go to the first two nights of Bridegroom Matins. OH MY GOSH!!! It was so beautiful!!!! Because of the work I do the next service I will be able to go to is Agape Vespers, but, wow, I am so happy I was able to go to the first two nights of Bridegroom Matins. It is so funny to me that some people think that all Orthodox services are the same; Even the the Sunday Divine Liturgy, the most unchanging service in our Church, has parts that change every week. I am always floored and amazed by the words I hear at every service.


I saw my sister and her husband a couple of days ago. It made me so happy. I do not know why I do not see them more often. I do not know how long you have been reading this blog but if you were reading 10 or 13 years ago you know they gave me a place to live when my wife, Athanasia divorced me and had me evicted from our our house. (I hate California's laws. I do mean HATE.) My sister and her husband have a moderately-sized house but have always made their guest-bedroom available to the needy. In the last 30 years, I don't think,that guest bedroom has been vacant more than 3 weeks. I pray God blesses my sister and her husband.

Busy day and books

I woke up at 5 this morning and tried to go back to sleep but sleep did not return, so I prayed. Then Kathleen woke up, went down stairs, and discovered that the Christmas tree had fallen over less than 24 hours after we put it up. (Basil and I had brought it down from the Christmas tree farm in the Santa Cruz mountains on Thursday.) Many broken ornaments. She had a migraine (She's been getting them pretty often for the last couple of years.) and stayed home from the Divine Liturgy. After church I came home and worked on the fruitcakes. Basil came over to help me (He goes to church at St. Lawrence in Felton.) and take five of them to give to his friends. Then Kathleen stir fried some soba noodles and shrimp. Then I helped her grade her econ essays from last semester. Then I went to the jewler to have Kathleens cross chain repaired. Then I went to my work Christmas party. I only stayed for an hour. Then I went grocery shopping to buy ingredients for Christmas dinner. And now I am home.

A few days ago I mailed all the childrens Christmas books to my grandson. I kept all the books I read to his dad when he was a little boy. Many were destroyed in the flood of a few years ago but my sister had some of the same books and gave them to me when I told her what happened. Altogether they weighed but 51 pounds . I love the U.S. Postal Service's book rate. It is an amazing deal.

A busy week

Today is Friday And Hallowe'en. I went grocery shopping and almost fell. I caught myself on the shopping cart. But I am cooking a whole pork shoulder for church on Sunday and there were some things I needed to get. I am meeting with the surgeon on Monday. Hopefully she will tell me that she can fix my knee.

I do have to give thanks for the pain being much reduced by lidocaine patches. I didn't think they would work since all the damage is inside my knee joint and the lidocaine patches are on the skin, but they really do work. I am able to sleep without the pain waking me.

I had doctor appointments on a couple of days this week. Had a dental crown replaced. Got the oil in my car changed. I only worked one day this week because of my knee, and that day my knee gave out and I fell on one of my co-workers. But I'm going to work tomorrow because I need the money.

Oh, speaking of work, I am trying to become a private investigator. I had the first interview on Tuesday and had a second converstation today. They want me to go on a case with one of their people. It's nothing like TV show private investigators. Its 99% insurance fraud cases. But it pays well and will be easy on my knee so I hope I get the job.

On Wednesday I became godfather to a boy in our parish. WOW! The Baptism and Chrismation service is awsome. His name is David (for the Prophet-King). I'll take him to Communion on Sunday.

I carved my jack-o-lantern today. It is just a store bought pumpkin. Unlike past years, I did not go to Farmer Bob's over by the ocean. Hallowe'en isn't as much fun when there are no kids in the house. Son #3 sent me a picture of him, his wife, and my grandson, Oliver. They are Crayons. And my grandson's stroller is the box.

A Fun Night

We don't usually make them this early but we made the fruitcakes tonight. My friend Jeff, with whom I started this blog more than 20 years ago and my son Basil helped me. We told jokes and stories. Drank mulled cider (no, it is not really cold enough), choped fruit, and baked the cakes. They just left. Now I have to do the laundry.

Another Year, Another Christmas List.

1. You know the hours he has spent looking at Swiss watches on Chrono24 but you also know he is way too practical for those. He just admires the workmanship, engineering, and artistry of automatic watches. Also, he is a hunter. When he's running from a wild pig because he's missed every shot and only annoyed the pig, or when he's running through brush chasing a pheasant that refuses to fly, well, he just doesn't want to worry about damaging his watch in situations like that. He needs something that can "take a licking and keep on ticking". He needs a Timex field watch.

2. Ever since he was a little boy watching KBHK TV-44 out of San Francisco on a Saturday afternoon and saw the three stooges he has wanted one of these. He bought one on eBay for his two youngest boys the first Christmas after the divorce but it was from eBay and didn't work. And a few years ago he bought one for his friend. But here he is 50 years after he first saw Moe, Larry, and Curly playing with them in old movies, and he still doesn't have one. He would, don't you think, love finding a seltzer bottle under the Christmas tree.

3. You and he have been shooting pheasants for a few years but have nothing to show for it. Yes, they were good eating and, yes, it is fun to make pate from their livers and share it at church, but the one time he tried to have a pheasant taxidermied, well, it was a very expensive horror. Wouldn't it be nice to just have a bronze statue of a pheasant to commemorate all the pheasants you and he have downed?

4. It was September of 2020 when he was last at the Indian Colony Tobacco Store. Well, guess what. That's right his can of Captain Black (the original blend with the white label) is empty. You know you love the smell so this would, really, be a present for both of you.

5. You know how he loves to make fancy food and take it to church to share at the meal after Agape Vespers on Pascha? Well, you might not know this, but he has always thought he could do better. The only problem is that he has never had all the right equpment. Yes, you gave him a KitchenAid mixer and All-Clad pans but just think of all the yummy salmon mouse the people of your parish could be eating at Pascha if only he had a fish-shaped tin(or nickel)-lined mouse mold. If you get it for him for Christmas he will, probably, use it to make you yummy good food on Twelfth Night. Oh! And when it's not being used to make food it can hang on the wall and be beautiful.

6. About 40 years ago his mother had an old black and white photo of his grandfather hand tinted and framed. She gave it to her husband on his birthday. He kept it on his desk in his office until he retired and no longer had a desk. His mother and father are dead now. But it might be the case that his oldest brother's widow or one of her children, or his sister, or his yet living brother has the photo. Maybe, if one of them does have it, they will loan it to you long enough to have a copy made.

7. The years his kids were Scouts were the happiest years of his life. He would be very happy to wear the Eagle Scout and Arrow of Light lapel pins if he had them. They commemorate the highst awards his sons earned.

8. He likes Italian tuna . He eats several cans a month. He appreciates gifts of food. You can't go wrong getting him this.

9. Since 1996 when he was living in San Francisco flop houses he has been eating Molinari Salami. He would love get one for Christmas so he can slice it up and put it on this year's Astro Weenie Christmas Tree.

10. When he goes hunting for big game he doesn't want to tote around a whole box of cartridges with him. Nor does he want to carry loose ammo in his pockets. What to do? What to do? It seems a Tourbon leather ammo wallet is ideal for situations such as this.

11. He doesn't understand it. Where do they go? Regardless of the answer, the need is real. Black socks from Gold Toe.

12. He has bought them for his kids. He had one when he was a soldier (They sold them in the uniform store and its inside was the only thing in the barraks that wasn't inspected every morning.) but he hasn't had one in many many years. And the last few voyages he was on; to the deserts of Nevada and Arizona, to Alaska and Cape Cod he really wished he'd had a leather dopp bag.

13. He wears Aramis. Not the Aramis 900 Herbal his dad switched to in 1981 but the original Aramis, the first designer fragrance for men. Maybe, delight him with a whole gift set!

14. He's had that leather club chair for a while now, and he knows you think it looks worn out. An easy way to get him to part with it would be to give him one of these for Christmas.


15. He would love to make more holodets (the old ladies at church love them) but he doesn't have enough little ramekins to ensure everyone can get some. Just imagine the glory as he walks into the hall at church bearing a platter of little holodets! (Shredded chicken breast with spicy mustard is his favorite but he knows some people who like minced ham with carrots and black pepper.)

16. Many times he has thought to himself, "Gosh, that's an amputation waiting to happen." And he is, genuinely, worried about it. That blade needs to be covered. So get him this razor head cover and ease his mind.

17. Sometimes, he has the feeling that too much of his shirt is exposed, and that his tie is having to do too much work. He really needs a vest.

18. Have you ever seen his tie fly away? He needs a tie tack. Or a tie bar. Maybe one in a duck or pheasant theme would be nice.

19. Because of that listeria problem that killed 9 people last year it has been hard to find liverwurst in stores. Thankfully, braunschweiger is still available. Imagine the joy when he makes everyone braunschweiger and red onion sandwiches with dark mustard on dense rye bread! Yummm!

20. When he was a little boy his mother and grandmother made pickles; sweet never dill. He loved those homemade sweet pickles but never really liked other pickles; not dill nor sweet. They always tasted chemically to him. But then, one day he tasted Bubbies, and WOW! That's all. Just WOW! They are the best pickles he has ever tasted and he would be thrilled to find a jar under the tree this year.

It Been A While Since I've Posted Anything, And Things Have Changed.

I have a grandson. His name is Oliver (of Ancona) Augustine (of Hippo). Kathleen and I flew to Boston and then drove to Kittery, Maine to meet him. He is beautiful.

While we were in New England we stayed at one of our time shares, The Breakers Resort on Cape Cod. We ate at three good restaurants: Red River BBQ (the best fish I had on the whole trip), The Union Oyster House (freshest and best tasting oysters I've ever had), and Parker's Restaurant in the Omni Parker House Hotel (The perfect early morning breakfast after getting off a red-eye flight from San Jose). We also took a boat out to Nantucket where we had fun, but it was not very much like what I was expecting. Everything I knew about Nantucket I learned from Moby Dick. It's not like that now. We learned that there are now 32 billionaires who have houses on the Island. Among other things we saw there, were Daniel Webster's house, Rowland Macy's house, and the whaling museum. When we first got to the island it was very early in the morning so we played chess outside the Athenaeum. Kathleen won. She played a perfect game.

We attended services at two churches while we were traveling: St. Nicholas in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Holy Trinity in Boston (WOW What a choir! You should hear them.).

I took and passed California's Water Treatment Plant Operator test and got my T-1 licesnse in the mail. I have started applying for water treatment jobs.

I quit my job 5 days ago. I really liked it and the people I was working with but sales really dried up starting in May, and no money coupled with 60 hour work weeks just wasn't cutting it. I don't know what I'll do next but I have some good prospects.

Yesterday, Basil and I went to the county rifle range and he zeroed the .30-'06. Then last night, Kathleen and I made two peanut butter pies. One we took over to Cyndi and Basil last night. Kathleen took the other to her Dad this morning. Right now I am applying for a job with CBP.

Where I have been

Last week I met a man who has never been out of California. I was astounded by that idea. By the time I was 16 years old I had been to more than a third of the States and to 3 foreign countries.

It is easier for me to list the States I have not been in than those I have been in. So, on my list of States to visit are: Iowa, Pennsylvania, Kansas, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire.

In about a month, my grandson is going to be born at a U.S. Navy hospital in Maine, and I will be there. I'm going to fly into Boston and drive up to Maine. That means that I'll be checking New Hampshire and Maine off my list. If I have time, maybe, I'll motor over to Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and therefore, be able to check all of New England off my list. It's weird to me, a Californian, how small those early States are.

God is not an engineer

When I was a boy I read lots and lots of apologetical books; defenseses of Creationism, mainly, that attempted to show that only God could have made the world. I believed, and still believe most of those arguments. But most of them came down to this: Only an amazing engineer could have made the universe. So, when I heard this joke I immedeately laughed hard and loud.

Three engineers got into an argument about what kind of engineer God is.
The first, says, "God is a mechanical engineer. Look at how we manipulate our arms, legs, lungs, and how blood flows through our bodies. God is a mechanical engineer."
The second says, "No. God is an electrical engineer. Our nervous system, heart, brain. Everything is run by electrical impulses. God is an electrical engineer."
The third says, "Your both wrong. God is a civil engineer. Who else would route the sewage system through the recreation area?"

But I don't think God is an engineer. I think he is an artist expressing different ideas in a theme. Just look at the primates! We are all so similar to each other. How many versions of primates did God make? Only one is man but those that are not man are still amazing. Look at the eye! Insect, fish, reptiles, birds, and mamals all have eyes and all the eyes are different. Among humans, many women have an ability to see more colors than any man. All normal human eyes see more colors that canines can see. But the mnts shrimp sees more colors and kinds of light than any other creature we know about. It's like god said, "Hey, I know what I'll do. I'll put the best eyes in the universe in a little shrimp and let human beings try to figure out why. That'll be fun!"

It was when I saw Linnea in Monet's Garden (It came as part of an eductional program I got when I was homeschooling Anselm Samuel for kindergarten.) that I first began to think about God being an artist. Specificaaly, it was Monet's paintings of the Charring Cross bridge that got me thinking about it. Its just a bridge but Monet painted it over and over again, each time higlinting something in the bridge that he thought was important. Likewise, God has made millions and millions and millions of eyes. And each eye perceives light differently from all other eyes. Maybe, like Monet wanted us to understand that the bridge is not just a means for crossing water, God wants us not to be content with using eyes to see but wants us to understand something about light.

Duets

It seems to me, and maybe, it's just because of how old I am and the music I heard growing up, but the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s were the heyday of pop music duets.

I remember hearing the song Private Dancer sometime in the 1980s. My Mom said, "That's too bad. Tina Turner was one of my favorite rock and roll singers." I think that, propably,bthis song was in her mind when she said that. 1971 -Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner.

I remember hearing this song on KOIT FM back in the 1970s. What I didn't know then is that the two singers, Niel Diamond and Barbara Streisand didn't record it together. In fact their two recordings of the song were made years apart. Back about 20 years ago I met a guy on Facebook who had recently converted to Holy Orthodxy and who had been a radio DJ in, I think, North Carolina. He told me about how they splice together the two recording to make their two recordings into a duet. They probably violated all kinds of copyright laws when they did it, but the duet version was a bigger hit than the two solo versions. Here are Barbara and Niel performing the song together for the first time at the 1980 Grammy Awards.

This song was a favorite of my late brother Ken's wife. Everytime it came on the radio or teevee she would say, "Oh! Kiki Dee!" 1976 - Don't go Breaking My Heart - Elton John and KiKi Dee

I was in the 4th grade when I saw the movie Greeae. At that age (9 or 10) I didn't know what the story was about. (It was only many years later when son #3 was running the lights in his high school production of the play that I finally saw and was appallled by what it was about.) But I knew from this song that if I was ever going to have a woman like Sandi I had better "shape up". You're The One That I Want- 1978 - Olivia Newton John and John Travolta.

There is a maried couple I really want to put on this list of duets but only one of them actually sang. The other was an instrumentalist. The Capatain and Tenille had some hits in the '70s but I don't think he ever sang so I can't count them as a duet. But there is another couple who were married (Until his heroin addiction wrecked that marriage. You know there is a reason why we outlaw that drug.) This song was part of Carly Simons 1974 album Hotcakes. I remember my teacher in kindergarten teaching it to me. I didn't understand it but it was fun to sing. 1974 - Mockingbird - Carly Simon and James Taylor It is one of my favorite songs. I hope you enjoy it. And, Oh My Gosh, do you see the look of love on her face when she looks at him?

I wanted to see the movie because I was 12 years old and "in love" with Brooke Shields but my parents wouldn't let me see it. Now, having read about the film, it seems to me, thaey made the right decision. 1981 Endless Love - Lionel Ritche and Diana Ross

This song was origiinally relesased by Bob Seegar as a solo, only later was it releasd as a duet with Keny Rogers and Shiela Easton, but I din't hear it until 1985 when Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton released it. 1985 - Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers - We've Got Tonightgt

Another Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton song on this list of duets is, really, a Beegees song. (in the late 70s and early 80s I was huge Beegees fan.) This song was written by the Beegees but not recorded by them. 1983 - Islands in the Stream

in 1981 my Dad was chosen to oversee the churches of his denomination in Florida. When they first moved there I stayed in California with my sister and brother-in-law. One day I was listening to the radio and heard a song by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warrens. I loved it from the moment I heard it. All these years later I still haven't seen the movie for which it was written but in the mid-1990s I met Cocker's protoge Phil Driscoll in at a night club in San Farancisco. That is wheen I learned, if I remember correctly, that many years ago they owned, or maybe they only perfornmed, at a burlesque therater in Canada. It is hard to remember these days. Anyway - 1982 Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warrens - Up Where We Belong

I didn't even know about the exitence of Bary White until the mid 1990s but, OH HY GOSH, what an amazing phenomonon he was. Here he is singing All Around the World with Lisa Stansfield, the authhoress of the song, 1990

TELOS of this song. Though this song had been recorded by many singers between 1980 and 1989, the fullness of this song was only revealed by Neville and Rondstadt in in 1989.

It was in the late 1980s and I was a PFC in the U.S. Army's 101sst Airborne Division when a srgeant (his name was Morrison) came in to the battlion HQ one early Monday morning and said, "PFC Karnes, you need to see Dirty Dancing. Take your wife to see it with you. That is an order." This is th on;y song I remember from that movie. 1989 Jenifer Warraens and Bill Meddly - I had the time of my life.

Finally, Beloved, I give you a duet by Al Green and Annie Lennoox. Niether claims to be ORTHODOX buth bothhave opinions of Jesus. Lennox seems to be more complicated than Green. But we should pray for the salvation of both of them. Put a Little Loe in Your Heart.

Small Arms in War

I was a soldier. I qualified as an "expert" with the M16A1 rifle, M16A2 rifle, and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (Saw gun). (I couldn't hit anything with a pistol.) My oldest son, Billy, eventually, though not at Basic Training nor at the Infantry School at Ft. Benning, qualified as an expert with the M16A2 rifle and the M60 machinegun. (He wore my "expert" badge on his uniform.) My son Anselm, a sailor, not a soldier earned the U.S. Navy's pistol marsmanship ribbon for hiss proficiency with the M9 pistol. Since I used indivual arms and my sons used or use small arms I keep up with what is going on. This video about the US Army's grenede launcher is interesting. I am especcially critical of the WAR CRIME of exploding bullets. When I was a soldier we all knew that the 30mm launched grenede was 30mm because of the laws of war. Why would they make anything smaller? Sometimes I wonder if the people in our government know what they are doing.

I love the holidays.

Thanksgiving I met my son's in-laws. On the way down to Oceanside, where they live, we passed several things I had never seen before and some things I hadn't seen since I was 8 years old. I saw Biola University, my teenage dream school. We passed by Mission San Juan Capistrano, Which I read about when I was in the fourth grade, but remember mostly from watching this cartoon. At one point I saw an exit from the freemay that said Basilone Dr. I was like, No Way! so I googled it to see if I was right. Yes, it was named for John Basilone. Almost as exciting was a few minutes later when I saw Camp Pendleton off to my left; the place where Gomer Pyle lived.

When we got to our destination I immediately loved my son's in-laws. My daughter-in-law's grandmother lives there. She is a widow and has an intese prayer rule. She prays the Caplet of Divine Mercy (Which I learned many years ago from watching Mother Angelica's TV network, 50 rosaries and a bunch of other prayers every day. Her daughter, my son's mother-in-law is Mexican so the food was out of this world: Tamales, birria, chocolate mole served over shredded chicken, plus the ham, turkey, tortilla, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pies (including my cranberry walnut pie and pecan pie), cheese cake, and so much other stuff I didn't even taste it all. They had me pray at so many meals I was starting to feel like a priest!

The funeral of my sister's father-in-law was two days ago. He was a sailor; a tail-gunner who flew off of the U.S.S. Hornet at the Battle of Miday and several other battles. After the war he became a pastor and a Christian school administrator. Even in his 90s he was active in helping organize Christian colleges. He is an amazing man. Sadly, I could not be at the funeral so I could only send flowers, But, maybe, you can jon me in praying for Charles.

I think I might have mentinoed that I have about 20 different Christmas theme ties. I wear a different one every day and kids who aren,t even in my classes come in to see the tie of the day. One of my favorite things is that I play a Christmas Carol at the start of each period. So far they have heard O Tannenbaum (One of my Vietnamese students asked "Mr. Karnes, what do Christmas Trees Mean" Wow! What an opening! In 3 minutes I told them about St. Bonifice, an ancient Icon depicting Mary, Jesus, and a pine tree decorated with litte loaves of bread, and martin luther using a pine tree to represent the tree of life in plays he staged at Christmas.), The Holly and the Ivy (Not the sermon but only the music starting at about 5:30), Today they heard Il est ne, le divin Enfant. A student of mine from Romania asked me to play a Romanian Cristmas song tomorrow, so we'll all hear Open the Door, Christian. Also, I bought a Christmas tree for my classroom today and invited all the students to bring an ornament to hang on it.

Tonight I drove the chocolate coins and a fruit cake to my godchildren in San Francisco; tomorrow is St. Nicholas day. On the way to their hous I saw a woman step into traffic and get run over by a pick up truck. The driver of the pick up truck leaped out of his truck and went to the womans aid. Her leg was bent in the wrong direction and she was screaming. I pulled over and called 911, told them what I saw, and waited for the paramdeics and police. When the police got there I told them what happened, then went on to deliver the chocolate and the fruitcake. The woman was taken away in an ambulance. It has been an eventful day. Good night.

Pies and Poker

After work tonight My step-son and I made four pies: a pair of the cranberry walnut and a pair of pecan. While they were baking, Katleen and I taught her son how to play poker. It was fun. Also, while they were baking, I charged the fruitcakes. I'm trying Tennessee sour mash whiskey this yesr. It probably isn't too different from Bourbon whiskey. I get off work early tomorrow and will head south to somewhere near San Dieago to meet my son's parent's in law. They invited us for Thanksgiving. Taking pies and fruitcakes with me.

A Failed Hunt

I went pheasant hunting again this morning. The club I am in has dogs. The dog dog I used was uncontrolable. She would not follow commands to halt, and would flush brirds when they were 80 to 100 yards away from me (the max range of a shotgun with bird loads is 40 yards.) She would not stop moving when a pheasant was running on the ground, which means she was between mee and the pheasant. All togeher, I missed two birds because of my poor shooting, and three birds because of the dog. I'm going to be in San Diego on Thanksgiving weekend to meet my son's wife's parents). but the weekend after that I'l try again for pheasants. The best thing about today was being with Kathleen. I have hardley seen her for months because of her masters degree program but she went out into the field with me today, and after my failure to get pheasants she went with me to Black Bear Diner for breakfast (There is a "travelling" exception for all the Orthodox Church's fasts.) where I had the best club sandwich of my life.

Pheasants and an injured hip

Today is Monday. On Saturday morning Basil (son #4) and I went pheasant hunting. (I am a member of a hunting club in Birds Landing and it is a lot of fun.) The dog flushed a bird within 10 minutes but Basil missed and I couldn't shoot at it because Basil was standing between me and the bird. The next bird the dog flushed Basil shot at about 30 yards. Then the dog got distracted by something and rand off. I was whistling and calling and it was gone, chasing something. Then I stepped in a hole. It wasn't too deep, only about 5 or 6 inches, but it made me fall and hurt my hip. Agony. I could barely stand. I spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday in bed. I went to work today but evey step hurts. Even sitting in a chair hurts. I hope it heals quickly.

In other news, I am writing a new course based on a book titled Unhumans. I'll pitch it to the headmaster later this week.

I am enjoying the Nativity Fast. Tonight's dinner: A roasted butternut squash.

First Good Rain

I was going to go coyote hunting today but it's raining too hard. That's okay. We need the rain.

Basil was here last night. We made fruitcakes. It was a lot of fun.

I lost my election by about 900 votes, but I came in ahead of a known communist who is part of the local democratic party machine. So I'm happy I was able to keep her off the board, at least.

Life and Real Life

Life: I have met more politicians and press people and community activists than I have ever wanted to meet. And I am a politician. Everyday someone wants me to carry water for them. Everyday someone tempts me to say something I do not believe is true. Everyday the promise of votes is dangled in front of me if I will compromise. Politics is dirty. BUT the Vietnamese are with me. When I knock on their doors and tell them what I want to do they get excited and say they will vote for me. And the Indian grandfathers agree with me and say things I never expected; "America used to be verdant. Men like you can make it verdant again." But there are some groups who hate me.

I was at a meeting the other night where people were openly talking about Communism as a good thing. I did not engage them on their Satanic ideology but I stuck to my talking points: Student achievement, parental rights, and balanced budgets. The audience hated me. They blamed the state legislature for poor academic performance. They wanted to talk about how excellent it is to have Aztec dancing (The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. Why are public school students dancing for their gods?), liberated ethnic studies, raises and housing for teachers, and community health clinics in schools. And they know that if I'm elected to the board I will work against all of that because it doesn't promote academic achievement. Over the weekend the teachers union sent out 60 precinct walkers to defeat me.

Real life: Kathleen, my son Basil, and I went to my brother's Celebration of Life. I can't describe it. I was overwhlmed and had to leave early. I am looking forward to pheasant hunting in November.

A diamond Ring, my brother, and a gun

Three days ago I looked at my hand and did not see my Dad's wedding ring. I looked all over the house and did not find it. After several hours I gave up and went to bed. As I layed down I remembered Saint Phanorious. So I asked him to help me find the ring.

The next morning I asked my wife to help me look for the ring, for I did not want to explain to my siblings that I lost our Dad's wedding ring. Within 5 minutes Kathleen saw the ring on the kitchen floor. So, today, I put it back on the 3rd finger of my left hand. If you are reading this, I beg you, pray for the salvation of the mother of Saint Phanourios's.


Earlier today my sister Rebecca, my brother Mark, and I got together at my sister's house. There were many tears. My cousins. Friends of my oldest brother from 70, 50, and 30 years ago I knew. Many other people were there. Nephews and nieces, great-nephewes (Oh, my great nephew D.J., I have hopes for him!) and great nieces, grandchidren and and friends, lovers, and... I do not know how to describe them all. All were there. I think I will see them all tomorrow when they have a "celebration of life" service.

Friends, if you have an opportunity, remember my brother Kenneth in your prayers.


My brother, Ken, before he died chose to give me one of his guns, a 300 winmag rifle. I am astonished and totally unworthy of such a magnificent gun. I imagine that it will not achieve it's telos until it is in the hands of one of my sons.

Campaign news and other things

The election is exactly 1 month from today. I have done two candidate forums (one for the League of Women Voters and another for a coalition of community activists and charter schools.) I have a couple of parent volunteers going door to door for me. The county GOP gave me a list of frequent voters so I am calling them and going door to door to visit them. Somone who works in one of the schools called me and told me she is supporting me but is afraid to help publically because the union might retaliate. Tomorrow I am visiting a bunch of churches in my district and leaving flyers under the windshilds of the cars in their parking lot.

Basil, my youngest son developed an abcess on his arm last week. He saw the nurse at the Maritime Academy and she sent him to a physician. The physician said it is too big to heal on its own so next week Basil will undergo surgery. He is doing well, otherwise. He especially enjoys his accounting class.

Anselm lives in Maine now. He and his wife were moved by the Navy to Maine. He isn't on a new boat, the U.S.S. Hampton has been transfered from the Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic Feet for maintenance and retro fitting. He will be there for the next three years getting sea pay but only going to sea for a few days or a couple of weeks per month to test repairs and upgrades. This means he gets to be home with his wife while still getting sea pay and the submarine bonus. (I'm expecting grandchildren within the year.)

Anselm and Tiffany have on-base housing and he says it is really nice. Rank has privileges. Sadly, a couple of nights ago he was expewriencing horrible abdominal pain and his wife took him to the emegency room. Out came the appendix.

At my job things are going well. In my world history class I have my students read lots of stuff, for example, when learning about Sumer I have them read the Baal Cycle from the Ugaritic texts. I have them read Hesiod's Theogony and part of Works and Days. I have them read contemporary accounts of life in Sparta and Athens. I have them read Demosthenes' Against Naeara so they can see the cruelty of the ancient world toward women. I have them read parts of Julius Caesar's account of the conquest of Gaul so they can see how conquored people were treated. I have them read accounts of Romulus and Remus and Horatius at the bridge, the rape of Lucrece, and the death of Camila so they can see the hard heartedness of the Romans.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I gave them a lecture on the Julio-Claudian dynasty, detailing the depravity of those emperors, but pointing out that whn Augustus was emperor Jesus was born, and that when Tiberius was emperor Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.

On Wednesday I explaind that something happened in the Roman Empire that changed it, that Jesus' teaching began to spread. And I showed my students how St. Andrew carried the Gospel into Armenia and Georgia and Persia. How St. Thomas took the Gospel to India. How St. Paul took the Gospel to Turkey and Greece. How St. Matthew took the Gospel to Africa. Then on Thursday I explaind what a gospel is, that it is announcement of a new king's policies, and we began reading the Gospel of Luke aloud in class.

Every few versus I have to ask, "What would a Roman think of this?" or "What would a slave in Corith think of this?" "How would a temple Prostutute in Ephesus reasond to this story?" "Why might the centurian behave like this?" "Do you think the Roman Empire is going to tolerate this Jewish man commanding the wind to die down when their chief god Jupiter is the sky god?" And then on Mount Tabor when the Father speaks of Jesus as his Son, one of my students, a very bright 13 year old Chinese girl said, "Mr. Karnes! This is the opposite of Baal overthrowing El and Zeus overthrowing Chronos and Jupiter overthrowing Saturn!" So I didn't have to even ask a question.

And my students ask me question's too. "How do we know this is true?" I answer "What did Thucydides rely on?" And my students call out, "Texts and living memory!" and I say, "Yes, that is what Luke relied on, too. He knew Peter and he knew Mary."

"Did he really do that?", they ask at least once on every page. All I say is "We only know what the text says" And they ask "Why did he do that?" And I say "We'll have to keep reading."