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Sunday Gratitude – 5.IV.2026
To those celebrating today – Christ is Risen! – Happy Easter!
And then there are the “weird” ones here who are still waiting another week, among which I count myself. There have been a lot of services already – yesterday, I think I was in church for nearly four hours. I’ve really struggled this Lent; from the beginning, I felt less ready for it than most years and this year… wow. For the greater part of Lent, I believed that the Orthodox were also going to be celebrating Pascha today, and it was only looking at the calendar more carefully a couple of weeks ago when I realized that no, there’s a one-week difference. I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to spend so much time in church this weekend, but I was at vigil last night, and I certainly had the feeling of moving from the darkness into the light, and by the time the service was over, there was an air of hopefulness and joy there. For that I am grateful. (My brain did fight against this on the way home, though. *sigh*)
I am grateful for the more spring-like weather, and the opportunity to be outside. I’m also grateful for my neighbor who invites me to come walking with her.
I am grateful for friends who take the time to talk even in the rain.
I am grateful for making it home in a storm the other day; I wasn’t expecting it, then all of a sudden, I was driving down this country highway with lightning flashes all around. I don’t think that they were very close, as there was only a tiny bit of thunder, but what a show! The next day, driving down those same roads, I could actually see how high the water is, and I’m grateful that there were no issues with low-lying stretches of road or the bridges.
Time to take the Christmas wreath down! I am thankful to have had a little bit of time to be outside with my kids, and I’m thankful that they have places around that they can enjoy riding their bikes through, and that they’ve been fine with this “exploring”.
I am thankful for the joy of singing.
I am thankful for the things that are showing signs of life (and even blooming) even after a very cold winter and long periods of neglect.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have been in contact with a number of people on this day, in the joy of Easter.
I am grateful for yet another sign that I’m not alone through the hard stuff.
Thank you so much for being here! Christ is Risen!
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Sunday Gratitude – 29.III.2026
I really hate it when it seems like I blink and yet another week has passed. Somehow so much of this time ends up feeling like a blur, and it seems like all that is left is a growing list of things that should have been done long ago, but haven’t been done yet.
In the meantime, though, I’ve been trying not to lose a sense of gratitude, and to also try to make the most of the days at hand. We’ve had a couple of days that have hit 70F, which has been amazing, and especially as the days are getting longer, it would be terrible if we didn’t do something to take advantage of the warmer weather. My younger son had a day off of school a couple of weeks back, and the two of us went out on our bikes and rode ten miles together, and it was amazing. He also started taking pictures with my camera that afternoon, so I’ll be sharing a few of those in this post.
A couple of weeks after the real birthday, my youngest, in kindergarten, had her first real birthday party. It was a bowling alley affair, and, per the terms of the contract, was less than two hours long, but for a group of 5 and 6 year olds, it was fine. I was completely stressed out over this for at least a week for a number of reasons, but it turned out really, really good. Even the weather held out, kind of… It started raining about the time that the party started, and it was still raining as people left. Had we started a couple of hours later, everybody would have been going home in sleet, because we had a blizzard come through the next day. The kids were thrilled to get the day off of school, and despite the crazy wind, we never lost power. The next day, our dear neighbor made a path for our car using a snowblower.
I’m grateful that even though I managed to break a spoke on the one bike (a different one than before), this happened in a place where I could ride to a place where I could leave the bike for a couple of days, and which was very close to the bike shop. On the night that this happened, I was also able to get a ride back home with one of the ladies from church. I’d never talked to her before, and she’s incredibly sweet, and lives just a couple of streets over from where I live.
I’m grateful for the amazing time I had at St. Haralambos in Niles a couple of weeks back. Not only were some very dear “real life” friends there, I finally got to meet Fr. Andrew Damick in person. We have been online acquaintances (friends) for over 20 years, and it seemed like high time to meet him in person. He actually recognized me by sight as well, which is crazy because it’s been a looong time since I posted any photos of myself that he might come across. 🙂 That was a lot of fun, though.
Breezy days and kites! I am grateful, as well, for the opportunity to visit an old friend and just enjoy sitting on the front step, having a conversation in the sunshine.
In many ways, I feel pulled very, very, very thin. There have been a lot of good things, to be sure, but there have been a number of very, very frustrating things as well. I don’t know; at this point, I’m not sure that I’ll ever have things “figured out”, but there’s a path to go forward on, and that’s the way through this all. Forgive me again for the blog silence – I truly am grateful for you.
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Wordle #578
Never played Wordle? Check out my Wordle strategy page!
Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: Not bad, “adopt” gives me an “A” and a “D”, but incorrectly placed.
Line 2: Switching the “A” and the “D” around don’t seem to help much.
Line 3: “Braid” gives me the correct places for the “A” and the “D”, and as a bonus, the “R” in the wrong place. I think it’s more likely now that the “R” goes between the “A” and “D” rather than begins the word.
Line 4: So… Words with 5 letters ending in “ARD”. First thing that came to mind was “chard”, and it worked! Nifty!
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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The Hidden Life Amongst Us
Over the course of my time living in Wisconsin, I have at least seen the outsides of most of the Orthodox Churches in the state (even the one in Cornucopia!).
One of the churches that I had not visited was the Monastery of St. John Chrysosotom in Pleasant Prairie. What makes this completely ridiculous is that we have friends whom we visit in Kenosha who live less than a mile away.
Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of very positive things about the monastery, and have even partaken of some of the delicious food that they make and sell there. (Pastitsio! Baklava!)
I was driving in the area recently and decided just to swing by. I didn’t go in the church, but the entire complex is beautiful and peaceful, even on a barren January day.
front gate
A building near the entrance
driving down the main road
The main church (I assume)
beautiful and peaceful
A mosaic icon of the Archangel Gabriel
In Germany, there are still a good number of convents and monasteries around. Pretty much all of them are Roman Catholic, and very few of them have the number of monks or nuns to keep them going. I actually stayed at one of these for a very short time in 2002. The convent and its grounds were in the heart of Munich, but the nuns who ran the place were mostly advanced in age, and there weren’t many left. As a result, they had converted part of the premises to private student housing for women. At that time, it was still an incredible peaceful place. It just seems so different to find that sort of place not just in the United States, but in a place so “hidden in plain sight” in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
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Wordless Wednesday #16 – Poorly Orchestrated Signage
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Wordle #577
Never played Wordle? Check out my Wordle strategy page!
Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: “Frock” gives me an “O”, smack dab in the center.
Line 2: Some new letters, and a “T” correctly at the end an a “P” not correctly placed.
Line 3: As the “P” didn’t go in spot #2, I decided to see if there were any words that would put it in spot #4, since the blend “PR” had already been eliminated. The first word that I could think of with five letters that ends in “OPT” is “adopt” and it worked out well!
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordle #576
Never played Wordle? Check out my Wordle strategy page!
Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: “Spire” gives me … a misplaced “R”
Line 2: And I forget to play the “R” right away in the next turn!
Line 3: I wanted to make sure I played *all* the letters I uncovered here. Being as the “C” did not start the word, I figured it would most likely be in spot 4. The “O” was in the middle already, so I thought that the word might end in “CK” or “CH”. As for the “R”, I figured that it probably was the second letter of a blend, but I was having a terrible time thinking of words that could fit. I played “brock” and was happy to see I got four of the five.
Line 4: Of course. “Frock”. “Brock” is much too much of an obscure word for this!
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Don’t Give Up
It’s been pretty grey the last couple of days in our neck of the woods. It’s made getting up and getting around difficult. It certainly isn’t warm, but the precipitation in the air is still a fine mist of rain rather than snow. It makes for a dreary, dreary atmosphere. Two years ago, I was marvelling at how many people still had their Christmas lights up. This year, the lack of that light makes everything feel down.
I read Abbot Tryphon’s Morning Offering sometimes. It’s a good read, though I think generally aimed at people who are younger adults or haven’t been Orthodox for very long. However, I see that he’s branched out into doing more videos on Youtube, and here are a couple that seem appropriate for the season.
And one that’s from 2020, but still powerful
Also, this has been sitting in my tabs for a long time, and I was debating on connecting it to a gratitude post, but WordPress isn’t letting me embed it: Watch Tyler Perry’s powerful testimony about pain, suicide and not giving up (via Not the Bee). It’s a totally secular testimony to life, but there’s also a lot of important things that are being said.
We are living in a time of insanity, where the good is being called evil, and the evil, good. I don’t think I’m alone when it seems like things both on the macro level and the micro level have gone insane. I think a lot of people perceive that even on a level that they’re not really aware of.
That being said, it’s important to not give up. No, we’re not going to be able to soldier through as if nothing is happening, but the worst thing that a person can do is to give up.
Yesterday was what would have been my friend Charlie‘s 43rd birthday. In another year and a few odd months, he’ll have been dead longer than he was alive. I hadn’t kept up with him in quite some time, and I didn’t even know that he “chose to die” until nearly four years after the fact.
Lord, have mercy.
Charlie in a tree called Peter (1996) From dust we came and to dust we’ll go, but in between we’ve got quite a gift, even in the tough times. Don’t give up.
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Wordle #575 – The Most Epic Win Ever!
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Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: “Koala” gives me absolutely nothing…
Line 2: … which obviously means the solution is “spire”! 🙂
So… This shocked me completely. I wanted to play “S” and “E” but I didn’t go with “beast” because the “A” was already eliminated (twice). Since I was playing an “E”, I figured another vowel would be nice, I saw the “I”, and the first word that came to mind was “spire”.
Here’s my stat sheet, for anyone interested:
As you can see, I’ve gotten the Wordle in two before, but it certainly isn’t common. I know I’ve never gone from nothing to getting the word before. I also realize that I probably never will again, so… I’ll do my victory dance here.
(P.S. As for the game with the “1” – way back at the beginning, my daughter said she had the Wordle answers for the next couple of years. I didn’t believe her, so when she said “play ‘x’ word,” I did, and it was correct.
)Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Sunday Gratitude
The last ten days or so have been incredibly difficult. I know that these things pass, and I’m hoping it won’t be long until things are better.
I am grateful for the friends who listen. I am grateful that most of us are feeling better, for the most part. I am grateful to have gotten a little bit of time to myself.
If you would, please keep us all in your prayers.
Rolling along some Bavarian back road.
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Wordle #574
Never played Wordle? Check out my Wordle strategy page!
Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: Just the “A” in the wrong place to start out with. Again
Line 2: Well, at least the “A” is in the correct place!
Line 3: Very glad to get the “L” here in the correct place. The “K” in the incorrect place at the end of the word is very, very interesting. “S” has already been played, so it can’t be an “SK” word. If the “K” isn’t in the second place, it starts the word, which would generally make the next letter “H”, “E”, or “I”, but “E” has already been played…
Line 4: …except for a couple of exceptions, such as “koala”.
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordle #573
Never played Wordle? Check out my Wordle strategy page!
Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: Just the “A” in the wrong place to start out with.
Line 2: Getting a second letter here is kind of helpful, maybe.
Line 3: The “A” in place 4 is different, especially considering that blends like “THR”, “SPR”, and “STR” are already ruled out.
Line 4: So… I had a hard time getting here, but here’s some of the logic. “E” is ruled out, so the word can’t have “EA”. “O” is ruled out, so it can’t be “OA”. A word ending in “AU” or “AI” is quite rare, and I don’t see anything that convinces me that the word ends in “AY”, being as “SPR” and “STR” and “THR” are all all ruled out. Therefore, I figured that it was more than likely that there were two vowels, one in spot #2 which could be “U”, “I”, or “A”, and the other one which was the “A” in spot #4. This would force the “N” to spot #5, and from there, it was figuring out the combination that would fit in place #1 and #3. It did take a bit, but I figured it out without playing another line.
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Breath of Hallelujah 