I WILL NOT JOIN THE CHORUS OF DEFEATISTS.
I have always retreated from the early announcements of the demise of the Patriots..
But yesterday's defeat at the hands of the unworthy Dolphins was a shocker.
It seems that the Patriots are not able or willing to buy some big men to act as receivers. And Tom is left with no one to throw the football to except for the roughed up Edelman who always tries. He is not enough.
HIRE SOMEONE to do what Gronk used to do.
Tom looked so sad and not a little disgusted. I hope that they can make some changes and additions before they meet the Titans.
This Blog describes reactions that a woman who was born and raised in Pawtucket has when she returns to her native city after an absence of thirty years, recalls the sites of her childhood and registers the way she is affected by the changes and lack of changes that have taken place since her childhood.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Sunday, December 29, 2019
HOPE REIGNS IN THE BUCKET
As we advance towards the NEW YEAR 2020, I feel the usual wild awakening of HOPE!
Hope is not for easy times
a quote from Alfred, Lord Tennyson:
“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’”
Whispering ‘it will be happier’”
“Hope” is the thing with feathers - (314)
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
HOPE IS ONLY HOPE WHEN THERE IS NO CAUSE FOR HOPE.
OTHERWISE IT IS AN EXPECTATION.
HOPE IS ONLY HOPE WHEN THERE IS NO CAUSE FOR HOPE.
OTHERWISE IT IS AN EXPECTATION.
As we turn to thoughts of the New Year and begin writing those resolutions, lets be thoughtful.
Hope is not for easy times
Joan Chittister reminds us
"Hope is a thin and slippery thing, sorely tested and hard to come by in this culture. We have seen the social fabric of the country rent, not only by others but even by our own hands. We have sold violence and defended violence for years. We have cut back on social programs and increased our military spending on Neanderthal weaponry that wounds the national infrastructure and gives little or no security. We have substituted power for hope and found ourselves powerless. We feel hopeless.
But hope is not for easy times, Advent reminds us. Hope comes only when hope is gone, when our “hands are feeble” and our “knees are weak” over what is coming upon our worlds. Then hope and only hope reigns supreme.
Hope is not insane optimism in the face of palpable evil or dire circumstances. It is not the shallow attempt of well-meaning but facile friends to “cheer us up” in bad times. It’s not the irritating effort of ill-at-ease counselors who work to make us “reframe” our difficulties so that everyone around us will not have to deal with them, too. No, hope is not made of denial. Hope is made of memories.
Hope reminds us that there is nothing in life we have not faced that we did not, through God’s gifts and graces—however unrecognized at the time—survive. Hope is the recall of good in the past, on which we base our expectation of good in the future, however bad the present.
HOPE digs in the rubble of the heart for memory of God’s promise to bring good out of evil and joy out of sadness and, on the basis of those memories of the past, takes new hope for the future. Even in the face of death. Even in the fear of loss. Even when our own private little worlds go to dust, as sooner or later, they always do.
As former Czech president Vaclav Havel put it: “Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
Advent and the Birth of Our Savior on Earth call us to hope in the promise that God is calling us to greater things and will be with us as we live them.
Saturday, December 21, 2019
WINTER SOLSTICE IN THE BUCKET
FROM THE CELTIC JOURNEY BLOG
The Winter Solstice, or Midwinter, is celebrated around the world by a variety of cultures. It marks the shortest day of the year (the longest night), and when the sun is at its lowest on the horizon. This usually occurs around December 21-22 in the Northern Hemisphere. From that point onwards, the days continue to grow longer until Midsummer in June. In Celtic countries, the Winter Solstice was seen as a time of rebirth and renewal, as signified by the return of the light.
The Celtic Midwinter is also known as Meán Geimhridh or Grianstad an Gheimhridh in Irish. Solstices and equinoxes were thought to be very important to the pre- and early-Celtic people, as seen through the construction of several tombs whose passages align with the solstice sun, such as Newgrange. These solstices were seen as occurring at the midpoint of each season, hence the name ‘Midwinter’ for the Winter Solstice.
In Druidic traditions, this day is known as Alban Arthan, which means ‘Light of Winter’ in Welsh. Some also call it Alban Arthuan, or ‘Light of Arthur’, which pays homage to the Welsh legends of King Arthur. Alban Arthan signifies the time when the archetypal Holly King (who rules from Midsummer to Midwinter) is defeated by the Oak King (who rules from Midwinter to Midsummer) in a great battle. The Holly King, also seen as a wren bird, signifies the old year and the shortened sun, while the Oak King, also seen as a robin, signifies the new year and growing sun. Mistletoe is also a symbol of the Winter Solstice, as it was thought that Druids revered the plant as ‘ever green’, which signified continued life over the cold dark winter. Since mistletoe is thought to be an aphrodisiac, this is where the holiday tradition of ‘kissing under the mistletoe’ could have originated.
In Ireland, Wales, and the Isle of Man, a festival called Lá an Dreoilín, or Wren Day, is celebrated on December 26. It involves boys dressed in masks or straw suits, called Wrenboys, parading around town accompanied by musicians. Originally they would hunt and kill a wren, in tribute to the light overcoming the dark, and carry the bird from house to house, stopping for food and good cheer. Thankfully this tradition now involves using a fake bird.
In Scotland, winter festivities are held on the eve of the New Year, when there is a great celebration called Hogmanay. It is thought that the Christian church was trying to suppress the pagan solstice celebrations in the 17th century, therefore the festivities moved to the coincide with the new year. The name Hogmanay could have derived from the Scottish Gaelic word for ‘Yule gifts’. Hogmanay customs include ‘first-footing’ (trying to get your foot first in a doorway of neighbours houses after midnight), ‘redding’ (spring cleaning), torchlight processions, fireball swinging, as well as giving gifts of coal, shortbread, whisky, or a black bun (fruit pudding).
Wiki – Winter Solstice, Alban Arthan
© The Celtic Journey (2013)
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
MARXISM AND MIT
ENLIGHTENMENT IN AN MIT DORM!
Some of you--not that many--I know I see the stats-- may be wondering after reading the blog entry on MIT and Marxism-- what is the connection?
OK wait for it. It all started at those weekly mixers at MIT.
One boy kept asking me to dance and then he showed up one weekend at my dorm. And I had to meet him in the Visitors Parlour--no men in the residence hall. Then we went to a few events together at MIT.
One day I was visiting him at his dorm room at MIT that he shared with an upperclassman.
Both of them were Math majors and brilliant. Of course, being me, I carried on about all sorts of things that I probably knew very little about. I seemed to irritate John's roommate--let's call him MAX
.
So on this particular day John and I were talking about Marxism and I declared that Marx was wrong because he did not understand human nature.
Max tuned into our conversation and asked --
What do you know about human nature?
That we are too selfish to give up the profit motive, I said.
Do you think that is what Marx called for- that we give up the profit motive?
I don't know--did he"
That would be metaphysics. Norma, have you ever heard of evolution?
Of course, and I think it is a true theory.
So do you think that only animals evolve? The human animals have never changed.
No, I know that pre-historic man and modern man are different.
Do you think that evolution has stopped? Do you think that human development has reached its apex with Norma and human society political organization has peaked with the USA??
Have you ever read the Communist Manifesto?
No--I think it is on the index--
When I said those words, Max jumped from his desk chair to the floor where I was sitting with John and he said:
I am going to read the COMMUNIST MANIFESTO to you right now and end your ignorance.
He told John to hold me down as I struggled to get up and he sat on my legs and began reading--
Some of you--not that many--I know I see the stats-- may be wondering after reading the blog entry on MIT and Marxism-- what is the connection?
OK wait for it. It all started at those weekly mixers at MIT.
One boy kept asking me to dance and then he showed up one weekend at my dorm. And I had to meet him in the Visitors Parlour--no men in the residence hall. Then we went to a few events together at MIT.
One day I was visiting him at his dorm room at MIT that he shared with an upperclassman.
Both of them were Math majors and brilliant. Of course, being me, I carried on about all sorts of things that I probably knew very little about. I seemed to irritate John's roommate--let's call him MAX
.
So on this particular day John and I were talking about Marxism and I declared that Marx was wrong because he did not understand human nature.
Max tuned into our conversation and asked --
What do you know about human nature?
That we are too selfish to give up the profit motive, I said.
Do you think that is what Marx called for- that we give up the profit motive?
I don't know--did he"
That would be metaphysics. Norma, have you ever heard of evolution?
Of course, and I think it is a true theory.
So do you think that only animals evolve? The human animals have never changed.
No, I know that pre-historic man and modern man are different.
Do you think that evolution has stopped? Do you think that human development has reached its apex with Norma and human society political organization has peaked with the USA??
Have you ever read the Communist Manifesto?
No--I think it is on the index--
When I said those words, Max jumped from his desk chair to the floor where I was sitting with John and he said:
I am going to read the COMMUNIST MANIFESTO to you right now and end your ignorance.
He told John to hold me down as I struggled to get up and he sat on my legs and began reading--
"A
spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals
and German police-spies.
Where is
the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by
its opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled
back the branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced
opposition parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries?
II. It is high time that Communists should openly, in the face of the
whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, and
meet this nursery tale of the Spectre of Communism with a manifesto
of the party itself."
HE READ THE ENTIRE MANIFESTO TO ME
And when I calmed down and started to listen, I heard interesting and well-reasoned points that I could only agree with.
And I began to realize that my college education so far was not education but indoctrination.
AND A GREAT SHIFT IN MY THINKING HAD TAKEN A SHAPE THAT WOULD LEAD ME TO LEAVE EMMANUEL COLLEGE IN THE MIDDLE OF MY JUNIOR YEAR.
All thanks to John and his room-mate whose real name I cannot even remember but whose lessons I will never forget.
HE READ THE ENTIRE MANIFESTO TO ME
And when I calmed down and started to listen, I heard interesting and well-reasoned points that I could only agree with.
And I began to realize that my college education so far was not education but indoctrination.
AND A GREAT SHIFT IN MY THINKING HAD TAKEN A SHAPE THAT WOULD LEAD ME TO LEAVE EMMANUEL COLLEGE IN THE MIDDLE OF MY JUNIOR YEAR.
All thanks to John and his room-mate whose real name I cannot even remember but whose lessons I will never forget.
Friday, December 13, 2019
TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE CELTICS--ADVICE FROM THE BUCKET
WE CAN NOT PUT IT OFF ANY LONGER---ADVICE FROM THE BUCKET
I have been putting this off for a while hoping that the Celtics would get back on track and stay there until the finals.
But today after the sad loss to Philly last night and with the help of my cousin Mike, who is a major Celtics fan, we will try to give the team some advice. And Brad maybe you should pay us some mind too.
According to Mike "the Celtics play too much help defense" BY that he means -- they show this fault by the fact that when some one on the other team drives to the hoop, they double team him and leave others wide open to get a pass. Watch for that -- MIKE sees it all the time.
What I see is a long history of great first halves and awful third quarters.
I am not sure if the first half success makes them ease up and not try as hard in the third quarter. But that is when the other team smells blood and comes in for the kill.
It used to be that Isaiah Thomas would rescue the team in the 4th quarter and ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
No more Mister 4th Quarter and no one is taking his place. Instead in panic mode they try for too many threes and miss. I would rather have a two point shot in the paint that we make than a three point that we miss. That makes more sense.
Mikey thinks that we are seeing the result of no veterans on the team to provide leadership. We all know that Kyrie was a screaming failure at that and in fact hurt the team's chemistry.
Now we can't blame Kyrie (or can we?)
We both think the team has a lot of talent. But there is an energy deficit when they get discouraged in the last quarter and also a kind of sense of fatigue. Maybe this longer break will help remedy that problem.
About Brad--he is a good coach but we have been told that he does not offer much spirit or direction in the locker room at the half. SO maybe he could turn up his volume or appoint someone else to yell a bit. He lacks intensity and team players need to see that it matters a lot to their coach and then it may matter more to them.
PS. When in doubt -- blame Kyrie-- I am sure Brooklyn will take this advice.
I have been putting this off for a while hoping that the Celtics would get back on track and stay there until the finals.
But today after the sad loss to Philly last night and with the help of my cousin Mike, who is a major Celtics fan, we will try to give the team some advice. And Brad maybe you should pay us some mind too.
According to Mike "the Celtics play too much help defense" BY that he means -- they show this fault by the fact that when some one on the other team drives to the hoop, they double team him and leave others wide open to get a pass. Watch for that -- MIKE sees it all the time.
What I see is a long history of great first halves and awful third quarters.
I am not sure if the first half success makes them ease up and not try as hard in the third quarter. But that is when the other team smells blood and comes in for the kill.
It used to be that Isaiah Thomas would rescue the team in the 4th quarter and ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
No more Mister 4th Quarter and no one is taking his place. Instead in panic mode they try for too many threes and miss. I would rather have a two point shot in the paint that we make than a three point that we miss. That makes more sense.
Mikey thinks that we are seeing the result of no veterans on the team to provide leadership. We all know that Kyrie was a screaming failure at that and in fact hurt the team's chemistry.
Now we can't blame Kyrie (or can we?)
We both think the team has a lot of talent. But there is an energy deficit when they get discouraged in the last quarter and also a kind of sense of fatigue. Maybe this longer break will help remedy that problem.
About Brad--he is a good coach but we have been told that he does not offer much spirit or direction in the locker room at the half. SO maybe he could turn up his volume or appoint someone else to yell a bit. He lacks intensity and team players need to see that it matters a lot to their coach and then it may matter more to them.
PS. When in doubt -- blame Kyrie-- I am sure Brooklyn will take this advice.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
The SONGS of A CELTIC POET RING OUT IN THE BUCKET
YES, I CAN HEAR THEM FROM HERE!
The connections between Ardboe in co. Tyrone and Pawtucket are still alive and well.
I am sitting as the snow falls listening to the recording sent to me by Jack and Paddy Adair of the words written by my great-great Uncle John Coleman of Mullinahoe and set to music and sung by Thomas Davis.
It is melodic and haunting and quite vivid. I have listened to it with delight several times and I want to help spread the word of their website.:
www.theardboepoet.co.uk
You can also purchase the book of his poems that were published in the Mid-Ulster Mail a local newspaper from Cookstown.
I am privileged to have in my possession several copies of John's poems in his own hand-writing. I do treasure them and hope to pass them on to my son and grand daughter.
This is part of our heritage and it continues to flourish.
Another part of our heritage is our belief that mankind deserves a better form of economic system than capitalism.
Although my mother never embraced socialism in name, in action her fervor for the benefits of unions showed how much she treasured and encouraged the idea of workers uniting to improve and to organize their own work lives.
SHE DREW SOME IMPORTANT LINES OF SOLIDARITY.
One thing that she often said to me was that she felt great pity for house slaves. She always refused domestic work.
She preferred to be a field slave, she often said, because there you have the companionship and cooperation of other workers.
You do not have to pretend to like or even love your bosses or to be grateful for their hand me downs or left overs.
The connections between Ardboe in co. Tyrone and Pawtucket are still alive and well.
I am sitting as the snow falls listening to the recording sent to me by Jack and Paddy Adair of the words written by my great-great Uncle John Coleman of Mullinahoe and set to music and sung by Thomas Davis.
It is melodic and haunting and quite vivid. I have listened to it with delight several times and I want to help spread the word of their website.:
www.theardboepoet.co.uk
You can also purchase the book of his poems that were published in the Mid-Ulster Mail a local newspaper from Cookstown.
I am privileged to have in my possession several copies of John's poems in his own hand-writing. I do treasure them and hope to pass them on to my son and grand daughter.
This is part of our heritage and it continues to flourish.
Another part of our heritage is our belief that mankind deserves a better form of economic system than capitalism.
Although my mother never embraced socialism in name, in action her fervor for the benefits of unions showed how much she treasured and encouraged the idea of workers uniting to improve and to organize their own work lives.
SHE DREW SOME IMPORTANT LINES OF SOLIDARITY.
One thing that she often said to me was that she felt great pity for house slaves. She always refused domestic work.
She preferred to be a field slave, she often said, because there you have the companionship and cooperation of other workers.
You do not have to pretend to like or even love your bosses or to be grateful for their hand me downs or left overs.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
My First Dose of Marxism was not in the Bucket
I had not heard of Marxism while in high school.
In Pawtucket we didn't talk about Marxism--we lived it. I guess I was living the class-struggle in our tenement with my mother who was acting as shop steward for her Union
BUT I did not know what Marxism was.
Believe it or not college did not immediately change that great lack. Yes, we had a course in philosophy where they presented a critique of Marx and a critique of Freud and of Bertrand Russell,etc. But we never read a word that either Marx or Freud or Russell wrote; only what Thomas Acquinas wrote in the SUMMA.
That is one definition of a non-education. More like indoctrination.
I guess the nuns of Emmanuel were protecting us from the evils of Marxism and Psychology.
Some of that incredible ignorance came to a sudden halt in my Freshman year.
Why am I suddenly thinking of my college years? Maybe the fact that I had to drive up to Boston a few days ago to see a new doctor at Brigham on Francis St. That area is very well known to me. I wandered all over it on foot when I was a student at Emmanuel College which is on the Fenway. The best thing about that school was its location. It could not be beat.
Also being an all-girl college at that time had some hidden perks.
We were invited to Mixers to meet and mix with the male students at MIT. A bus was sent to our dorms to pick us up and as we got on the bus each of us was offered a small corsage of fresh roses. I remember my delight and surprise.
When we got to the MIT campus we had other surprises waiting us.
The dance hall was filled with young men and a woman was talking to them about dancing. She welcomed us as we paraded in and removed our coats and sat in chairs along the wall. I wondered if most of us would be sitting there all night.
She explained that this was actually a dance class, and she, the wife of a faculty member, would teach us in the next few weeks several dances from the fox trot to the tango to the waltz and the meringue and rumba. She had a lovely French accent and was very charming and seemed to realize that we all needed help .
I was so thrilled by her announcement --all the onus for us girls of waiting to be asked to dance or for the boys of asking us to dance was suddenly and magically removed. We were all lined up in two lines and the person across from us was the boy that we would dance with during the first part of class. We would switch partners as directed, and we were instructed to talk to our partners.
This lady knew the crowd she was dealing with--we needed lessons in socializing.
WHAT A RELIEF!
Perhaps you are wondering what all this has to do with Marxism--well that will take at least one more blog entry. STAY TUNED.
In Pawtucket we didn't talk about Marxism--we lived it. I guess I was living the class-struggle in our tenement with my mother who was acting as shop steward for her Union
BUT I did not know what Marxism was.
Believe it or not college did not immediately change that great lack. Yes, we had a course in philosophy where they presented a critique of Marx and a critique of Freud and of Bertrand Russell,etc. But we never read a word that either Marx or Freud or Russell wrote; only what Thomas Acquinas wrote in the SUMMA.
That is one definition of a non-education. More like indoctrination.
I guess the nuns of Emmanuel were protecting us from the evils of Marxism and Psychology.
Some of that incredible ignorance came to a sudden halt in my Freshman year.
Why am I suddenly thinking of my college years? Maybe the fact that I had to drive up to Boston a few days ago to see a new doctor at Brigham on Francis St. That area is very well known to me. I wandered all over it on foot when I was a student at Emmanuel College which is on the Fenway. The best thing about that school was its location. It could not be beat.
Also being an all-girl college at that time had some hidden perks.
We were invited to Mixers to meet and mix with the male students at MIT. A bus was sent to our dorms to pick us up and as we got on the bus each of us was offered a small corsage of fresh roses. I remember my delight and surprise.
When we got to the MIT campus we had other surprises waiting us.
The dance hall was filled with young men and a woman was talking to them about dancing. She welcomed us as we paraded in and removed our coats and sat in chairs along the wall. I wondered if most of us would be sitting there all night.
She explained that this was actually a dance class, and she, the wife of a faculty member, would teach us in the next few weeks several dances from the fox trot to the tango to the waltz and the meringue and rumba. She had a lovely French accent and was very charming and seemed to realize that we all needed help .
I was so thrilled by her announcement --all the onus for us girls of waiting to be asked to dance or for the boys of asking us to dance was suddenly and magically removed. We were all lined up in two lines and the person across from us was the boy that we would dance with during the first part of class. We would switch partners as directed, and we were instructed to talk to our partners.
This lady knew the crowd she was dealing with--we needed lessons in socializing.
WHAT A RELIEF!
Perhaps you are wondering what all this has to do with Marxism--well that will take at least one more blog entry. STAY TUNED.
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