An Evangelism Idea

1/29/14  Update:  Thank you for your encouragement.  I just forwarded this plan to the priest.  I'll let you know as it develops.


Original post on 1/14/14:   I go to St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Saratoga, California.  Part of our mission is to be the Orthodox Church for all the people of Saratoga, even though most of us don't live in Saratoga.  So, I've been thinking about how to do that.  Here is one idea I've come up with.  What do you think?

St. Nicholas Day Fair for 3^rd grade and under

Purpose: To expose the people of Saratoga, especially the children to the love of Jesus as it shines through St. Nicholas, to let the Light of Christ shine on the people of Saratoga, and to convert non-Christians to the Orthodox Faith.

Concept: A parish festival where we ask for nothing but give what we have to the people among whom we live and worship.

Price of admission: A can of food for the needy

What each child gets: 2 game tickets, 2 craft tickets, 1 drink ticket, 1 bell ringing ticket, 1 ticket to Panikhida to St. Nicholas, one candle to light before the icon of St. Nicholas, a booklet about the life of St. Nicholas

Crafts:   Garland stringing, leather stamping, ornament painting, paper miter making, Christmas card making

Games: window coin toss  (Need more ideas for St. Nicholas themed games. Maybe something about catching swords or bobbing for pickles.)

Drinks for kids (price 1 ticket): Kinder punch, mulled cider

Drinks for adults (Free) All the kid stuff plus coffee

Schedule: 

2:45 P.M.  (or whenever school lets out on Dec. 6) Beginning of procession from Blaney Plaza to St. Nicholas Orthodox Church via Big Basin Way, 4^th Street, and Elva. (about a 15 minute walk at a kid friendly pace.)

3:P.M. (or when the procession arrives) games and crafts and drinks begin.

4:30 p.m. bell ringing begins. 

4:45 (or when the last child has rung the bells) panikida begins.

Event is over when the panikida is over.

St. Nicholas prayer cards given to everyone who stays to the end of the panikida.

Sin

Fr. Thaddeus at St. Lawrence Orthodox Church in Felton, California told this story.
--------


When St. Amphilochios was asked how to avoid despair over reoccurring sin, he answered with the following account:

“A certain brother, overcome by the passion of immorality, sinned every day. However, each time, with tears and prayers, he would fall before Christ and receive forgiveness from Him. And as soon as he had repented, the next day, being misled again by shameful habit, he would fall to sin again.

After having sinned, he would go to the Church, prostrate himself before the Icon of our Lord Jesus Christ and tearfully confess: “Lord, have mercy upon me and takeaway from me this fearful temptation, for it troubles me fiercely and wounds me with the bitter taste of pleasure. O my Master, cleanse my person once more, that my heart might be sweetened and thankful. My Lord, on my word, I will no longer commit this sin.”

And though his lips had just whispered these words, no sooner would he leave the Church than he would fall once again to sin. This happened not for one or two or even three years, but for more than ten years.

One day when all that we have described again occurred, the brother, having fallento sin, rushed to the Church, lamenting, groaning, and crying with anguish, to invoke the mercy of God, that He might have compassion on him and take him from the sin of immorality.

No sooner had he called on God, the lover of man, than the Devil, that destroyer of our souls, seeing that he could gain nothing, since whatever he accomplished by sin, the brother undid by his repentance, became infuriated and appeared visibly before the brother. Facing the Icon of Christ, the Devil said to our compassionate Savior: "What will become of the two of us, Jesus Christ? Your sympathy for this sinner defeats me and takes the ground I have gained, since you keep accepting this dissolute man and prodigal who daily mocks you and scorns your authority. Indeed, why is it that you do not burn him up, but, rather, tolerate and put up with him? To this fellow here, even though an immoral man and a prodigal, you calmly show your sympathy, just because he throws himself down in front of your Icon. In what way can you be called a just Judge, then?

The Devil said all of this, poisoned with great bitterness, while there poured forth from his nostrils a black flame.

Having said these things, he fell silent and a voice from the sanctuary answered him,"O, all-cunning and ruinous Dragon, are you yet not satisfied with your evil and destructive desire to gobble up the world? Now you have even the nerve to try to do away with this man here, who has come with contrition to entreat the mercy of my compassion to devour him, too? Can you offer up enough sins that, by them, you can tilt the balance of justice against the precious blood which I shed on the Cross for this man? Behold my murder and death, which I endured for the forgiveness of his sins.

"You, when he turns again to sin, do not turn him away, but receive him with joy, neither chastising him nor preventing him from committing sin, out of the hope that you might
win him over; but should I, who [taught my disciples] to forgive sins seven times seventy (Matthew 18:22), not show him mercy and compassion? Indeed, simply because he flees to me, I will not turn him away until I have won him over. I neither turn away nor reject anyone, even if he should fall many times a day and many times return to me; such a person will not leave my Temple saddened, for I came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repent. Look at this man who a few moments ago repented, having returned from sin and having fallen at my feet with a sincere resolution to abandon sin, has there by conquered you.”

While[all of] this was being said, the repentant brother had thrown himself before the Icon of the Savior. With his face to the ground and lamenting, he surrendered his spirit to the Lord. From this incident, my brothers, let us learn of the limitless compassion of God and of His love of man, that we mightnever again be disheartened by our sins, but rather look after our salvation with zeal.”

When I was a little boy: Saturday soundtrack

When I was a little boy, of 6 or 7,  I would get my Mom's Firestone Christmas record out of the cabinet and play this song over and over.  This isn't the exact recording that was on that old promotional record, but it's the closest I can find.

Man Made Global Warming

When it comes to man made global warming I am a skeptic.  In fact,when it comes to all claims by scientists I am a skeptic.  Why?  Because scientists are, most of the time, wrong.  For example, in the 1950s pediatricians and psychologists were saying kissing and holding babies was bad for them.  No one agrees with that now, but just 60 years ago it was a scientific "fact".  Many scientists today say life appeared spontaneously from non-living matter. They are completely convinced that this idea is true. However, no one has been able to produce life from non-living matter. Why is this important?  Because it shows that scientists are willing to ignore the rules of their profession in order to assert a conclusion they hope is true. And when it comes to weather, scientists are unable to predict the amount of cloud cover next week, or the number and severity of hurricanes.  Their predictions for the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season were laughably wrong.  So, when they predict droughts, and extinctions, and rising sea levels I am pretty skeptical.  Not totally skeptical, just 60% or so.  But when they go on to say people are responsible for global warming I am 99.99% sure they are just making stuff up.

Getting Ready For Christmas

The boys with their tree at the farm.

On the 6th of December I had to work so wasn't able to go to Church on St. Nicholas Day, but I made sure there was candy for the boys' shoes, and I made sure my god children found letters from St. Nicholas in their shoes.  I also prayed the Akathist to St. Nicholas.  I had never prayed it before.  I think I have a new favorite prayer.

On the 7th of December I went to see Anselm in the St. Nicholas pageant at St. Stephen Orthodox Church.  Basil, Athanasia, and I all sat in the same row. It was a very moving pageant.  Athanasia was in tears.

On Wednesday, or the night before last, I picked the boys up after school, and took them to the Tobacco Rd. Christmas Tree Farm up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They picked out the tree and tied it to the roof.  While I went to pay for the tree the boys played on the farmers tire swing.  It was pretty neat.  It swung way out over the mountainside, and, I suppose, at one point there was about 40 feet of air between the boys and the ground.  It was quite a thrill for them.  The big sign read "WARNING! Swing at your own risk!"

There are several Christmas tree farms up there.  We've been to several of them, over the years.  Once the tree was roped to the car,I took them to their mother's apartment, made them dinner, and mulled some cider.  I read books to them while they decorated their tree.

Three of the books I read to them were Great Joy, Papa's Itchy Christmas, and The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons.  It was so much fun to read these books to my boys again.  The Cobbler's Sons book was given to us by a priest's wife the year when Basil as just a newborn. Athanasia bought Great Joy in 2009.  I bought Papa's Itchy Christmas at Hicklebee's in, I think, 20011.  Athanasia didn't get home from work until late, but she heard the last of the three books.  Then I went home to my sister's house. (I have had no chest pains since I've been there.)

Today Athanasia invited me over for Christmas Dinner.  I don't know what I'll make.  I'll have to think about it.

Jobs, children and scouting.

Since the 23rd of October I've had a job. It isn't very good.  It isn't the fast food job I mentioned in my last post but it is about the same as far as earnings and social strata are concerned.  I am a door-to-door canvasser for a solar energy company. It pays  only about 1/3 of what I need to live in the Bay Area but it is something. I am living with my sister until after Thanksgiving.  Then I'll go back to my friend Jeff's house for a couple of weeks.

I have to work on Saturdays, which is the day I had been spending with my boys. That really makes me sad.  But last Wednesday I had off from work so I picked the boys up from school.  At 2:30 I got Basil and we played chess at Peet's Coffee on Lincoln Ave until Anselm was finished with his robotics class at 5.  Then I got Anselm and we worked on the physical fitness requirement for Tenderfoot rank.  He doesn't seem very interested in progressing through the ranks to Eagle Scout, and his Troop is pretty laid back.  He loves the meetings and the games they play, and he likes the camping but very little of that is designed to help him advance to Eagle Scout.  I am worried he might not earn Eagle.  I need to find a way to work on rank advancement with him.   

I have a really good job prospect.  It is with a small liberal arts college.  They are flying me to meet with them in December.  I hope I get the job.

I Have a Dream

A long time ago, when I was a boy in Tampa I read an essay by Philip Yancey about the Prophets.  So I read them.  There was a description of life when Jesus returns that really appealed to me:

"And every man shall sit under his vine, and under his fig tree, and there shall be none to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken." Micah 4:4.

I know that when I looked at it I liked it because it indicated that God was going to preserve private property in the Millennium. (at the time I was a pre-trib pre-mil dispensationalist.)  Later, as I began thinking about this verse more I would sit around drawing maps of my future vineyard and orchard. I even tried to make it real, or as real as I could, given my circumstances.  For example, I planted grape vines at several of the rented places I lived. I tried to buy a farm once but my first wife opposed the idea. I still look at Landandfarm.com and listen to farm reports on the radio. I keep up with my local ag industry, too.   I tried to talk about owning a farm with Athanasia but she didn't like the idea either. 

This morning something occurred to me.  I am completely free to have a farm now.  So here is the plan: 

1.  Get a job
2. Get out of the San Francisco Bay area (eastern Oregon?  Michigan?)
2.  Get my student loans out of default (or maybe, move to another country and not worry about the student loans.)
3.  Buy a small farm close enough to a city so I can work a job during the week and take care of my vines and/or trees on weekends.

It might seem unrealistic, but at this point in my life, I think I'd rather have this unrealistic dream than my too real reality.  Oh, man, I start a fast food job for way less than I need in just a few days.  Who am I kidding?  This life is over.  I'll probably die in poverty, on a sidewalk, covered in an old cardboard box. But there is Micah 4:4  Someday, not in this life but the next, I'll have a farm.

Deficits and Lies

While driving to Concord yesterday, I listened to the President's press conference.  I wasn't surprised by anything he said.  However, near the end of the press conference he said, "You know, if you're concerned about long-term debt, that's a good thing to be concerned about, but don't pretend as if America's going bankrupt at a time when the deficits have been cut in half."  

Cut in half?  Really?


Here are the budget deficits for the last few years:

FY 2013     $973 billion (Obama)
FY 2012  $1,087 billion (Obama)
FY 2011  $1,300 billion (Obama)
FY 2010  $1,294 billion (Obama
FY 2009  $1,413 billion (Bush)
FY 2008     $458 billion (Bush)
FY 2007     $161 billion (Bush
FY 2006     $248 billion (Bush)
FY 2005     $318 billion (Bush)

So, here is my question.  How is the current deficit of $973 billion half of any of Obama's previous deficits?  How is $973 billion half of Bush's largest deficit? So, the President lied.  Or he's stupid. 

And quite apart from that, these deficits do not even include all the increase in our national debt. The federal deficit is the amount each year by which federal outlays in the federal budget exceed federal receipts, but the gross federal debt increases each year by more than the amount of the deficit each year. That is because an enormous amount of federal borrowing is not counted in the budget.

Cocktail of the week: Daquiri

I have a pet peeve.  It really bugs me that bartenders and their patrons are so unimaginative that they can't think of new drink names.  The adulteration of the name Martini is probably the most extreme example (The use of a cocktail glass does not make a mixture of apple brandy, crème de cacao, and vodka into an "apple-choca-tini".) but it happens with other drinks, too.  For example, there are mint Daiquiris, mango Daiquiris, strawberry Daiquiris, and Vanilla daiquiris.  And all these drinks have in common is rum, sugar and ice.   Dumb.  Why not call the mint daiquiri a Tropical Frost?  Why not name the strawberry Daiquiri after the place it was invented? (That is how the original Daquiri got its name.) Or why not call it a Plant City Cocktail, which is a semi-tropical Florida location famous for strawberry cultivation.  Well, I'll get down off my soap box and post the recipe.

The Daquiri (The way Hemmingway liked them.)
Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime in to a glass.
Add simple syrup so the sweet and sour are balanced. (You have to taste to make sure.)
Add ice.
Fill to the top with rum. (I prefer Mount Gay)
Garnish with slice of lime.
Drink.

Napa, Friends, a Festival, and Music

Today is Tuesday. The job hunt continues.  Frustratingly, I have had horrible problems with unemployment insurance.  I worked a temp job for a day and a half in July and it messed something up.  I haven't received any unemployment insurance payments for the last part of August or any of September.  I thought I was broke before, but now I am really broke.  I have half a tank of gas and $4 in my wallet. I thought the unemployment insurance problem was fixed last week, but if it was I should have received money yesterday.   I will have to go visit their office today.

Basil chopping tomatoes

In other news, I had an interview at a restaurant today.  They asked me to come back for another interview on Thursday.  I hope I get it but, gosh, there is no way it pays enough for me to live.  When you have to make 3 dimes but the best opportunity you can find is only offering 1 dime what do you do? 

Saturday was fun.  I took Anselm and Basil to V. Sattui Winery.  It was a group outing.  My friends Jeff, Keith, and Brian and there families were with us.  The winery was beautiful.  It is harvest time and they were in the middle of the crush.  It was fun to take all the kids through the winery explaining how the process works.  (I know how because lived next door to the Parducci Winery in the Ukiah Valley for two years when I was a kid.)



Anselm and Basil helping in the beer booth

I can't believe it was my first time in the Napa Valley.   It is a beautiful narrow valley with one main road running the length of it; wineries and vineyards lining both sides.  I want to go back again.

After the winery we went to Jeff's house for supper.  Each family had a part to play.  Me and my boys made the salad. Basil chopped the tomatoes, Anselm cubed the avocado the right way, and even taught Jeff, who beats me 2/3 of the time in cooking competitions, how to do it.  I love that one of my sons is spreading culinary knowledge!

After supper we drove to my sister's house in Sunnyvale to spend the night.  In the morning we went to Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas in Saratoga and then worked in the parish festival.  It seems to have been a huge success.  I know that where I was working, the beer booth, we brought in an amazing amount of money.  (We sold Baltika #3, #6, #7, and #9)  A really neat thing was getting to see my brothers and sisters from other parishes, whom I do not often get to see.  It was a bit like a family reunion.  Much fun!

The festival was a lot of fun.  It's like an added benefit of Orthodoxy.  When I became Orthodox, I really only did it for two reasons: Apostolic succession and the real Body and Blood of Jesus.  I wanted real bishops and real communion.  I wasn't even aware of parish festivals.  Another really amazing thing for me is the music.  It, too, is like an added benefit.  Here are some of my favorite Orthodox songs:

This is my favorite short hymn.  If you love the Bible as I suspect you do, you will know the words: 

 

The final prayer sung at the funeral of Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas (several languages)

 

This isn't a church song, per se, but it captures I think the joy of Pascha as experienced by Orthodox, (translation can be found in the comments). 

 

This is, probably, my favorite hymn about Mary, notice how Mary, the Church, and Zion are all conflated in the song as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. This is typical of Orthodox theology; everything points to something else and is part of something else. This is, actually, a very small part of a long hymn called the Paschal Canon.

 

And this is probably my all time favorite.

 

Well, I have to apply for more jobs and get ready for tomorrow's court hearing.

Saturday Sound Track: Johnny Cash, Live@ S.Quentin - Folsom Prison Blues

I wonder, do other countries produce so many songs about prison as America does?  And if they do, are the songs as good as this one?

I finished another chapter of my book: Romancing the Vasilopita

Well, I've never tried to sell a book before. Something I have learned is that books are usually sold before they are written.  So, even though I haven't finished the whole thing, I have begun sending proposals to agents.

I put the first chapter on here a few months ago.  Here is the 16th.  I. don't think I'll put the whole book on here, though.  I hope to sell it and make some money.

Well, here is chapter 16 which I just finished today.

Chapter 16: 

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Romancing the Vasilopita

In which the oldest Wilcox son learns to make vasilopita, and finds a girlfriend he didn't know he was looking for.  Recipe for vasilopita and instructions for playing the coin game included.

Dropping out. Going off-grid. Disappearing. Is it an option?

Well, I still have no job.  I am on my 4th address since I moved out of my ex-wife's house a few weeks ago.  I do not get enough money in unemployment insurance to pay my student loans, my phone, child support, and my car each month. A few days ago I got a letter from the IRS.  I haven't opened it.  What will they do, put me in Club Fed?  That might be a step up for me at this point.

Civilization isn't really turning out too well for me.  I'm thinking about going off into the woods.  Of course, it will be against the law. One isn't allowed to live in national forests.  But I seem to be running out of options.  I don't want to be supported by other people.

A big concern is my sons.  But what good am I to them now?   I don't see them but a few hours a week.  I have become Disneyland Dad but without the money to even take them to Disneyland.

If I do this I will have to be concerned about bears, exposure, and being found by rangers.

Summer is almost over and I think its going to be a hard winter.  I probably shouldn't try it before next spring.  But by then it might be too late.

So, I have done a quick inventory of what I have that can help me survive in the woods:

Knowledge
Fishing
Water gathering and purifying
Hunting
Field sanitation
Soap making (It is the easiest thing.  Sometimes, I wonder why I ever buy it.)
Outdoor cooking
Sewing
Gardening
Orienteering
Survival food gathering  (I took a 1 week course in the army, but I need to brush up.  About all I remember is how to prevent scurvy.)



Equipment and Supplies
1- Trailhead-6 tent
1- Army cot
1- wind-up rechargeable AM/FM/Shortwave radio receiver
1- axe
1- wind up electric lantern
1- Leatherman super tool
1 - double barrel shotgun, 12-ga
1 - pump action shotgun, 12-ga
100 - #8 and #6 bird shot cartridges
40 - #00 buck shot cartridges
1- shotgun cleaning kit
1-  6lb sledge hammer
1- fishing pole with assorted hooks, lures, and other tackle
1- cast iron grill, with fork and spatula
1-one cast iron skillet (it was a wedding present from my grandmother to my mother)
1- .380 semi-auto pistol, with about 50 cartridges
1- pistol cleaning kit
1- hunting knife
1- fishing knife
1- whet stone
1- magnesium fire starter
2- sturdy trousers
3- packets of cabbage seeds
1- packet of radish seeds
1- packet of fennel seeds
1 - good coat
1 - water proof bag
1 - 100 square foot waterproof tarp
1 - pair low-rise hiking shoes
2 - pair wool socks
3 - durable long sleeve shirts
1 - pillow
1- bolt/chain cutter (you never know)
1 - assorted other hand tools (unfortunately, they are mostly for working on machines)
1- turkey call
1- compass
1- mirror


Things I will need to get
A. a good back country emergency medical kit
B. spade and hoe
C. box of nails
D. map of destination (Idaho?  Nevada?  The coastal states have too many people.)
E. 100 feet strong rope
F.  candles
G. matches
H. wool blankets
I.  carbolic acid (50 lbs?) and a large supply of toilet paper (takes up so much space.  Alternatives?)
J. thermal long underwear
K. sturdy boots
L. water containers
M. empty 55 gallon drum
N. 5 gal gasoline can
O. animal traps
P. a spit for cooking
Q. rice, dry beans, barley, wheat flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, oatmeal, and salt to last the winter, hmmm.  Maybe 20 pounds bacon to last me till I kill something. If I eat 1/4 pound a day that will last 80 days.  Surely, I'll be able to find a bear or an elk in 80 days.  Hmmm.  Shotguns are only for close range.  Maybe I should find someone who'll swap me a an old 30-30 or an SKS for one of my shotguns.
R. cotton undershirts, more wool socks
S. water-proof and pest-proof containers for food and clothes
T. Dutch oven and tri-pod w/chain
U. several 12" to 18" pieces of re-bar
V. plastic sheeting
X. a cup, a plate, a spoon, a fork, a cutting board
Y. sewing kit
Z. Seeds and grape vine cuttings


Things I'll need make on site:
A. a fish trap (so easy)
B. a rain water trap (rain water is usually cleaner than stream water.)
C. charcoal
D. smokehouse
F. outhouse

Ethnos

"Lutherans also face a challenge because of the church's central and northern European roots. When many ELCA congregations were planted, Scandinavians and Germans were migrating to the U.S. in droves. Now, Lars and Gretchen have scattered and neighborhoods have become more ethnically diverse. Meanwhile, churches are still catering to their charter members."

I just read this story about membership decline in ELCA and thought, "Hmmm.  Part of this applies to the Orthodox."  Certainly, the ELCA has other much more serious problems than ethnicity, but it is clear to some Lutherans, at least, that their ethnic focus is a problem.

Last week for vespers of the Dormition of the Theotokos I visited the magnificent Ascension Cathedral in Oakland.  Except for one litany and the Trisagion prayers every word was in Greek.  And who was in attendance?  Five chanters, one priest, one deacon, and nine other worshipers.  And, shockingly, because Oakland is a famously predominately black city, not one black person.  Now, having said that, several people talked to me and welcomed me.  The people I met there were very friendly.  But who goes to the Orthodox Church to make friends?  Anyone who visits a service of the Orthodox Church is looking for God. Why hide Him behind a wall of language? 

And I don't mean to pick on the Greeks.  The same problem occurs in the OCA.  In Berkeley the OCA parish, St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Church does all the services in Slavonic.  Slavonic!  It isn't even a real language!  It's the Orthodox equivalent of Esperanto. 

Who puts a light under a bushel?  The Orthodox, that's who.

Job Search

Today is Monday 13 August 2013. 
Last week I spent a few nights at my sister's house while I worked (volunteer) for the Cub Scouts during the day.  I also had three job interviews at an Acura Dealership.  Haven't heard anything from them since last Wednesday.  Yesterday I applied for 15 more jobs.  Have been sick to my stomach since Saturday.  Talked to a recruiter yesterday who said he would have something for me by the 19th.  Today I talked to another recruiter who said I am unemployable because although I have a fabulous education I don't have any skills that are in demand.  That wasn't helpful.  I think I'll talk to another recruiter.

Traditional Food for Transfiguration

In the middle of the Dormition Fast falls the Feast of the Transfiguration.  I was looking around for traditional recipes for the feast and came across a neat "book" at the EWTN website.  It has lots of recipes for various feasts, including these two for Transfiguration:

Dormition and Dolmas

The Orthodox Church's two week long Dormition Fast starts in a few hours.  It is a time when, in preparation for the feast, we abstain from meat, dairy, fish, wine, oil, and sex. 

For the past couple of years I have not been able to get one of my fasting staples at Trader Joe's:  Amazing vegan dolmas in an octagonal glass jar. They also used to carry some in cans which were very good but not quite as good as those in the glass jar.  I know it is possible to get dolmas from other sources, but the jarred dolmas sold by Trader Joe's were the best.    

And the other great thing about them was that you could  burn the leftover oil from the dolmas jar in your lampada!  It was like an answer to the prayer I used to sing at every chapel service at Sunnyvale Christian School.  What prayer you ask?  This one!  But back to the story...

Yesterday, while in a coffee shop, I ran into the Captain of a Trader Joe's store.  I told him about how we Orthodox depend on Trader Joe's dolmas, how we would stand around after services and talk about how great Trader Joe's dolmas in the glass jar are.  He had no idea they had a fan base.  Today he sent me this message:

"Hello Matt.
To follow up on your quest for Dolmas, I have good news.
My computer tells me that we will be getting Dolmas again.
What I know is that it will be $2.49 for 9.9 ounces.
What I don't know is the exact arrival. Could be a week, could be a month.
Could be a can or a jar, I won't know until it arrives.
Feel free to ask at the front desk periodically for an update when you are in shopping.
Thanks, Randy
Trader Joe's Pinole Captain."

In other news, I am a little bit worried my depression is coming back.  All I want to do lately is sleep.

Checking in

Today is Tuesday. I am at a coffee shop in Pinole, using their WIFI to look for jobs.  My son Anselm is at Boy Scout Camp High Sierra for the week.  Basil is in San Jose with his mother.  

Yesterday, Monday was Jeff's birthday so I made supper (champagne risotto garnished with paper thin slices of New York strip) and his wife made an apple pie.  They have an apple tree heavy laden with fruit.  Everyone should have such a tree! 

Sunday morning I drove down to San Jose, picked up Lara and we went to Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Church in Saratoga.  I was worried about that.  Would people think it is too soon after my divorce to be with another woman?  Would people think Lara was a home wrecker?  Would people think I had left Athanasia to be with Lara?  (She isn't and I didn't.  We met in the bar at the Hotel De Anza just before Holy Week.  It is a beautiful room.) I had no reason to be worried.  Everyone wanted to meet her and was excited to talk with her.  Interestingly, my son Basil's Sunday School teacher from St. Stephen's Church was visiting my parish.  It was fun hearing her talk about Basil's participation in her class.

After Liturgy, Lara and I went to my sister's house for my great-niece's birthday party (I gave her a leather-bound copy of The Wind in the Willows). After the party I took Lara home, then I drove back to Pinole.

On Saturday I drove from Pinole to San Jose to hang out with the boys.  We did nothing too special but we did go to Vespers in Saratoga.

Back and Forth and All Around

Life is kind of weird right now.  Here are my activities for the past few days.  I write them here just so I can remember them later. 

Today is Sunday. On Thursday I drove from Pinole to San Jose to stand in front of a judge.  It was strange.  Athanasia and her lawyer were on one side. I was on the other (I can't afford a lawyer.

Lara (I lived with her for two weeks after I moved out of Athanasia's apartment, but now I live with my friend Jeff in Pinole.)  and I saw a movie at the Stanford Theater.    The film was "The Devil to Pay" with Ronald Coleman and Loretta Young. I wasn't feeling well (I'll blame it on having to be in court earlier) so we left before the start of the second feature.   Then I drove back to Pinole.

On Friday I had a job interview in San Jose, so I drove down the side of the Bay again and pitched myself.  If I get the job I'll be paid for writing.  It would be the first time for that.  I really hope I get it.  Well, I was paid for writing in the past, but it was always in a sales context.  This job would be writing for a company blog and all of their social media.

I can't remember what I did after the job interview. It is strange.  It is like several hours are just gone.

I spent Friday night with my sister in Sunnyvale. They have a very comfortable house.   On Saturday morning I picked up the boys at Athanasia's work, the Stanford Guest House, and had fun with them all day.  We went to the athletic field at Palo Alto High School were for Scout promotion requirements I recorded their ability in sit-ups, push-ups, standing long jump, and 1/4 mile run.  We watched a little bit of a girls water-polo match (Water polo might be the most physically demanding sport I have ever seen.) in the school's pool.  Then we went to Café Barrone in Menlo Park.  There I bought the boys lemonade and a frosted mocha.  The lemonade is real and made fresh daily. The frosted mocha is an amazing blend of chocolate ice cream and dark roasted coffee beans.

After the drinks we went to Kepler's bookstore.  It is much reduced in size from it's previous glory.  But the children's section is still good.  While there I read a book to the boys that was much fun.  It was, I think, their introduction to non-Biblical epistolary literature.  It is a fun book and worth reading.  I also saw a copy of The Year at Maple Hill Farm, a book I read often to the boys.  Basil, especially, was excited to see it again.  His remembering with such happiness my reading it to him made me happy.

From there we went to the Gamble Garden.  We used to go there often when Basil was just very little, when Anselm was only five or six.  Now Basil is 7 and Anselm is 11.  Basil had no memory of the place but Anselm was super happy to be there again.  We played hide-and-go-seek.  Several varieties of apples and pears were ripe.  We picked and ate.  There was a Washington navel orange with ripe fruit on it.  We tried that, too.  We concluded that the Washington is sweeter, but California navel oranges are easier to eat.

After playing in the garden I showed the boys were I used to live on Middlefield road in Palo Alto, where I went to school at Fairmeadow Elementary School, and Mitchell Park which is situated between where I lived and where I went to school.  Basil said "you got to go to the park every day after school!"   They wanted to play in the fountain. I let them.

We left the park and I took them to their house in San Jose (It used to be my house, too) to change clothes.  Athanasia wasn't home so it was okay.  I made them something to eat, they showered and changed clothes and we went to Saratoga for Great Vespers at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.  We all went to Confession.  Basil served in the altar.  Each boy asked me to buy them a candle so they could pray.  After church I thought to ask what they were praying for.  Basil said he prayed for his brother Billy.  Anselm said he was praying for me and his mother.

After vespers I dropped them off at their house (Athanasia was home) and went to see Lara.  We talked briefly in a park near her house.  She is buying a new house.  Then I made the long trip back to Pinole.  Caltrans was working on the freeway and had closed half the lanes.  Instead of driving 65 mph the whole way I had to drive 40 for about 2/3 of it.  during the drive I had a strange experience.  I was on the elevated portion of the freeway in Oakland when all of a sudden I thought the road in front of me was gone!  It was very frightening.  I guess it was a combination of darkness and the way the road curved and dipped.  I slammed on my brakes and nearly caused a wreck behind me.  It was so strange.  I hope nothing like that ever happens again.

When I got to Pinole there was a black out in the neighborhood were I am staying.  PG&E trucks were all over the place and men were working furiously on fixing what ever the problem was. When I woke up this morning there was still no power.  I am writing this at a coffee shop.

The Right to Disagree

From Justice Scalia's dissent:

"In the majority’s judgment, any resistance to its holding is beyond the pale of reasoned disagreement. [It is to] “dis-parage,” “injure,” “degrade,” “demean,” and “humiliate” our fellow human beings, our fellow citizens, who are homo-sexual. All that, simply for supporting an Act that did no more than codify an aspect of marriage that had been unquestioned in our society for most of its existence—indeed, had been unquestioned in virtually all societies for virtually all of human history. It is one thing for a society to elect change; it is another for a court of law to impose change by adjudging those who oppose it hostes humani generis, enemies of the human race."