Mostly in the Afternoon

Mouchette doesn’t have cancer. “Break out the champagne,” said Dr. Haddock. We didn’t, but had a happy evening anyway.

That was a few days ago. I’ve been dealing with Christmas presents while doing my best to forget that Christmas exists. Never mind why: it’s okay. I just want to get some work done, take a lot of walks and maybe see a movie.

These days, I routinely enter sweepstakes—I know the odds, but at least they’re free, and I wouldn’t mind a trip somewhere or a hunk of cash—and came across this:

Prepper Podcast—Post Election Gun Giveaway–new
That’s right Prepper, you can win a .45 caliber handgun from the Prepper Podcast Radio Network! This gun is the three things you never want to meet in a dark alley: Big, Ugly, and Heavy. Made here in the United States, it’s so rugged, if you run out of bullets and you have to beat the bad guy into submission, they will replace it for free if his thick skull damages the gun. FREE! And this warranty is transferable to the next owner.

Oh, America. When will you grow up? We love our children. At the Cathedral today, as I was leaving the Christmas party, I held the door for 12 or 14 choristers on their way to music practice–so many bright, smooth faces; soft, nimble bodies in sweatshirts and jeans. They looked like fresh air and spring branches, waves in sunlight, like the dense loam of the earth. People, but touched with everything that lives, blossoms, sustains, abides.