I am often tired and coughing, which I believe is due to the pollen levels. I decided to take most of Sunday off and relax after church. Sorry, it will be a less interesting story, dear reader.
Erik Larson writes history with footnotes and quotes that become page-turners, and that is true of this American Civil War book, The Demon of Unrest, which covers the causes and start of the war. I decided to read at the end of Sunday, and I read about three hours of the story. And while I have read this story before, Shelby Foote’s version comes to mind — this one, with the footnotes, quotes, and fast pace, is excellent. I stopped a few times and went online. The ten-volume history of the Lincoln administration published within a few years by John Hay (here) has my attention, but a smaller book of John Hay’s writing is now on its way to me.
I also started a wheat bread in the machine to run overnight. I make one loaf, slice it, freeze it, and then use it for a month. I do not buy bread. Instead, I make it in a cheap but functional Amazon bread machine. I have learned to toss and buy new yeast after making a brick once.
With the bread machine running, I added a bit more water, as the wheat flour seemed to drink it all up. I returned to reading, and as midnight neared, I put the book away. My sleep was difficult until I took my inhaler. I then drifted off.
The day started with me rising closer to 8 than 7, my new time for waking after waking first at 6ish, falling back to sleep, and rising later. Gravity, unlike the previous day, was not overly strong, and I was able to assemble the coffee and use the last of my frozen French Bread-style loaf to make toast without issue. With the toast cut into small squares —never triangles — and covered with peanut butter — smooth, not the abomination that is crunchy — I enter the office to start my morning.
US Bank refuses to send transactions during its Sunday window for limited access, but I can get a few other updates done from other banks and credit cards. The house payment, insurance payment, and my payment to AMEX from all the travel cleared, emptying my banking account, as planned. I prefer to make money on my money, and my old checking account, opened in 1996, is a no-fee, no-interest checking account. A good deal from the days of high fees, failing banks, and paying to deposit a paycheck. They also pioneered connections to MS Money (which was discontinued in 2009) and Quicken.
I manage to check my finances, read my email, and check the news. I also read the political polls on a right-wing MAGA website, RealClearPolitics, as it has a good list of polls. I ignore the articles, as it has collected more strange sources. I do notice that their polls are missing many that I used to read with care. It is becoming an echo chamber, and I will have to find a new site. Hmmm.
I skipped the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival again and saw some notes about it. I hope it went well. I did see that some gaming is back, and I might fit it in next year. The first weekend of October has many claims on it.
I wrote the blog and rushed the last bit (later I removed the boring section about car prices), and soon was dressed in a dress shirt and vest (I forgot the tie and had to turn around and get it) and headed to First United Methodist Church. I reached the church in Air VW the Gray on time, at 10:30 for the 11:00 service. I ushered for Dondrea.
We had some chaos, as Pastor Anne could not make it for communion and Pastor Ken was out on leave for a family issue. Dondrea declared a love feast, and the regular service words were not used; Dondrea did not, as the lay pastor, participate. It was a volunteer come-and-get informal process. Michael showed up late, but took over the sound and graphics, freeing Z and Dondrea to do what needed to get done. Z was the liturgist and also ran hospitality.
Dondrea was a solo act again and did the sermon on the difficult Philippians 3:4b-14. Paul words in his letters are often harsh. Dondrea took the text to mean that the past haunts us too much, and that good work remains to be done now, with people who need us. That past failures, and Paul, then Saul, had a long list of failures, but he had to focus, he wrote, on the future and the goal. Dondrea took this to mean that we must not forget the past, but we cannot let past traumas control us. That we are forgiven, and each day is a new chance to be in the present and walk into the future. The past is garbage — failures or accomplishments — according to Paul (and Dondrea said that translation was too kind; Paul’s word in Greek was much more brazen); the present matters.
I was busy and only heard some of the sermon. We had multiple visitors during the service, some to just use the bathroom, and others stayed for the whole service. During the Lord’s Prayer, I walked one child over to get some donut holes before they left. I am always watching for trouble, as the US is in an election year and both extremes are attacking the middle, which is where United Methodists are found. So far we have been safe.
I leave after most folks are gone after the service. I return home, take off my tie, and heat up Costco Irish Stew, which is somehow tasteless (Deborah and I both agree it is missing something), and watch a bit more of For All Mankind, and then rest for a while. I nod off but can’t sleep for long.
I rise and start editing my Dungeons & Dragons adventure I want to play soon. I convert it to 5E. I am making my second or third edit (I have lost track) of the first part. It is over 50 pages (and I shortened it). I invested the evening in this work until I tire of it and start to read.
And that takes me full circle. Thanks for reading.
