I
On Wednesday afternoon, my father got a call from his Canadian distributor asking if he would be able to go pick up a group of six international adventurers who were stranded 130 miles north of town, where the van that picked them up after their 64-day wilderness trip across the continental divide and down the Yukon River had had its transmission go out. He brought them home for supper, and I wish we had been there to hear their stories! We heard some of them second-hand, and it sounds like it was just incredible. At one point they portaged their canoes 95 miles through the mountains, for crying out loud. I hope we eventually get to see the documentary they are making!
II
Pretty much anything else I can come up with will be small potatoes after that, but we do have some exciting news: Little Bear is really walking and running now! He spent Thursday evening giggling as he hurtled from one of my siblings to another.
III
Don't forget that Pope Francis has asked us to make tomorrow a day of prayer and fasting for peace! I know first hand that it can be unwise, even dangerous, for pregnant and nursing moms to fast (and that's why we are explicitly excused from it), but there are still ways that we can physically fast without causing concern for the child: only eating bland foods, choosing to eat things you dislike, skipping sweets, etc.
IV
Today, as he began Mass, Father announced that because of the Syrian situation they had been given permission to use the prayers from the Mass in Times of War. Truly unsettling. And did you hear that Putin said that if Syria is attacked, Russia will defend her? Please, Lord, do not let us begin a war! Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us!
V
Today Little Bear and I spent all. day. long. in town: dropped Matt off at work at 8, got groceries, ran errands, went to Mass, went to the beginning of the school year homeschoolers' picnic at a downtown park. My napless young'un fell asleep at 3:29pm, two blocks after leaving the park, so I drove to the university and just sat in the parked car letting him sleep for an hour, until he woke up and we caught a shuttle to the library (it was raining, or I would have walked) and read stories. I love that the university library has a little children's section up on the sixth floor!
VI
We also got to meet the newest priest in our diocese, Father Radoslav, on loan from Poland for three years. He's only been in Alaska for four weeks so far, and I didn't get the impression he'd spent much time in English-speaking countries before this; his English isn't bad, although you have to pay careful attention to be sure of what word you're hearing through his accent. He came to the homeschoolers' picnic, and had many questions about homeschooling; it's not done in Poland, he said. He described the Catholic schools they have there, and if we had schools like that here, we would have much less reason to homeschool!
VII
Unfortunately the kidlet is sick, still or again I'm not certain. We all got better, ish, for a while but then started getting worse again, and now this is the second night he's had such a runny nose he is having trouble sleeping. The poor little boy. So that's all I have, and I need to go to sleep so that I can wake up with him all night. Pray for us!
Have a lovely weekend!
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