Baby Boy Grenier Shower

        Today family and friends gathered to welcome baby boy Grenier with a baseball themed party.  Many of the guests wore baseball jerseys and baseball hats, and we all enjoyed hot dogs, potato salad, watermelon, chips and root beer floats.   And I shouldn't forget to mention the peanuts and Cracker Jacks, too.  The following pictures are all I took, but  we may get more from other guests later.

          It was a blessed time, thanks be to God, and now we are hoping and praying for an easy labor and delivery and healthy baby!  Can't wait to meet the little man!!!!

just a couple weeks to go :-)

Please remember this intention your prayers!

Thank you so much!

tee, laura and mary, and their littles.

It was a coed party with husbands and brothers

 playing corn hole in the backyard and watching baseball 

in the front room.

so, wonderfully, 

no baby shower games,

such as guessing the mother's circumference,

or trying to balance as many cotton balls on your head as possible.  

Yay!

Teresa, of course!

Kateri on her quest to remove all hair ties :-)

Don't you like her little Cubs jersey?

Kateri had a very lovely time, and enjoyed everyone and all the excitement

over her baby brother,

and especially the baby-boy blue and white sixlet candies.

Kateri also very much delighted 

in feeding Papa Myers one Cracker Jack popcorn at a time.....

more, Papa, eat more!

Several people hung out on the back deck,

including these three.

and it was a blessing to get a couple pictures of the Hillearys,

but  darn it,

i forgot to get one of Pat, Tee and Katie bird.

honestly, where was my head at!

Next Time!

Make a wish, Charlotte!

Today Laura and Mikey had a little family get together for Charlotte's birthday.

I didn't take very many pictures, but here are the few! (too few)

Charlotte was sharing a joke with

Jeanne and Kateri.

It was cold today, but that didn't stop Charlotte from playing as long as she could in the pool.

Happy Birthday,

sweet Charlotte,

and 

May God bless you!

garden news

Yesterday we had about 4 inches of rain overnight,

and the softening of the soil proved too much for the apple tree.

Yesterday morning it had tipped over 

into the neighbor's yard.

John and Mimi were amazing!

They dragged the branches back into our yard and started bagging everything.

There is still a little bit left,

but the tree was almost 20 feet tall---

it was a big job!

The salvia from Walmart that we planted last year is exuberant!

Betty spotted this lovely tray at Nonie's store,

to use as a bird bath.

Thank you Betty!

Cisco in a sprawl and crawl :-)

Now hear this!

What podcasts are you listening to lately?  

Have you tuned in to Father Hudgin's website?

He is a gifted, holy priest,

 and very generous with posting all of his lectures and homilies online.

Don't miss his lecture series on

The Ancient World of Christ;

but really all of his talks are excellent!




What are you listening to lately?

Care to share a recommendation? :-)

Last night, Ken, Mimi, John and Peter went to watch the Nationals

 beat the Mets, 5-2.

The game ended with two New York players on base, 

and two outs,

when Jason Werth caught what would have been  

a game tying home run.

Fun times!

"And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it."  John 14:13

This morning our neighbor Karen came over because she is deathly afraid of snakes, 

and she had just found one in her yard,

and she needed it moved.  

Immediately.

It was of an unusual size.

Mimi and John were happy to help her,

and they caught it and released it in our yard.

 We are not really sure what kind it is,

maybe a black snake?

but one thing for sure

he's really cute!

that's a dime he is next to!

Fearfully, wonderfully made!

The Amazing Jumping Spider

By Laura Klappenbac

Portrait of a jumping spider.

Photo © James Benet / iStockphoto.

Can you imagine what it's like to have eight eyes, eight legs, and the ability to jump fifty times your height in distance? If so, then you might have an idea of what it's like to be a jumping spider.

There are over 5000 species of jumping spiders which together make up the Family Salticidae. Jumping spiders have eight eyes: four large eyes on the front of their head, two tiny eyes on the side, and two medium-sized eyes on the rear of their head. They also have well-developed jumping skills, enabling them to leap up to fifty times their body length.

Scientists believe that jumping spiders can see in color and that their visual abilities are as acute as human eyesight. With eyes on every side of their heads, a jumping spider's view of its surroundings may actually surpass our own.

Together acute eyesight and powerful leaping ability enable jumping spiders to be extremely effective hunters. In fact, they behave in a similar manner to cats, by first spotting and stalking prey from a distance and then, using their powerful jumping skills to catch prey off-guard and pounce in for the capture. Yet there the similarity to felines ends. The predatory spider's prey consists of other spiders and insects. Before pouncing on the prey, they attach a silk thread which serves as an anchor line, enabling them to climb back to safety if a target is missed.

Jumping spiders inhabit fields, woodlands, meadows, grasslands, and can even be found indoors on occasion. They do not spin webs but do create simple silk shelters in crevaces where they hide.

Jumping spiders are charming creatures, that when approached will turn and look at you. If you move, they often follow you with their gaze, changing body angles so as to always keep you well within the sight angle of one of their eight eyes.

Maybe you have also noticed a lot of jumping spiders around these days?  

Fatima 

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope in and I love You. I

 ask pardon for those who do not believe,

 do not adore, do not hope in and do not

 love You. " 










...may God grant us a better relationship with our Lady and our angels, and may we more fully live the message of Fatima!

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;

in his arms he gathers the lambs,

Carrying them in his bosom,

leading the ewes with care.

Happy Feast of the Good Shepherd

and

Happy Mother's Day!

unusual sight--from the internet---spotted by Ken

For an intriguing glimpse of sand creatures designed and  built by a man from Holland:       here

Peter had a bad headache yesterday and this morning,

so he did not go to school today;

however after lunch he was feeling much better, so he joined us on a trip

to the water treatment plant

to feed the geese.

Charlotte appreciates uncle buncle peter!

it was a beautiful day, and a fun way to celebrate Charlotte's birthday.

Thanks be to God!!!

already two years later?

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!

Congratulations,

Cecelia Marie Irwin!

Wish i could be there,

love and prayers!

are you blue,

little bird,

are you sad?

quick,

do something for someone else!

     Yesterday Peter played in his first seton baseball game.  The team played pretty well, but still lost
8-4.  Petes had one hit and two walks.    Pitching at the junior high level is a struggle, because the fields  are standard size, rather than the smaller fields that are the domain of little league.  For both of the walks, the count was 4 and 0, and peter did not swung the bat at all.    As he was jogging to first base, peter was congratulated loudly from the seton dug out: "Good eye, Pete, good eye!"

     It's funny they should say that, because peter's vision, we recently found out, is good in one eye.  His vision needs correction, but  pete actually could get by with a monocle.

 

good eye, pete!

tiger beetle chili

meet the tiger beetle 

one of the fastest animals on the planet

and this,

dear friend,

 is the fastest chili on the planet

We had chili last night, and the time to prepare it took less than 5 minutes!  First of all, you have to have bags of browned ground beef waiting to do your bidding in the freezer, or this recipe will take a lot longer than  less than 5 minutes.

here is the recipe:

one large bag of frozen browned ground beef, waiting to do your bidding

place this in the crockpot (remove from bag first)

one large jar of salsa
one can of rotel
 4 cans of  drained  assorted beans (kidney, white, black, pinto)
3 cans of  undrained chili beans (hanover is a good brand)

set on low

run out the door to Mass, or lay down during nap time.

when you return to the kitchen, stir the chili.

the chili can be seasoned with garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, pepper, etc. even just a couple of packets of taco seasoning mix!

it is scrumptious! and serves about 10

(i hope i don't sanctify everyone around me today!)

so, who is the new kid in town?

peter put them on, looked down the street,

and said, "This is what laser vision is like!"

Unusual sights, cont'd.....thanks, Mimi!

Peter 'Armstrong'

John, not so strong  :-)

A lone tuba player near Mason

mr. incredible?

i am so thankful to have found this car for $5 at a yard sale,

what a blessing!!!

can't wait to see Kbird and Cbird enjoying it!

prom pics

The ladies at the Burgess' house

jamie was a gracious and polite, and flew in from Chicago

to fulfill the pact these two had made in 8th grade

to attend senior prom together.

the twins

one of them commented:

"red and green!  we look like Christmas together!"

Unusual Sights

Taking a page from the Grenier family, I, Ken, am providing Even the Sparrow color commentary this week. I will refrain from excessive references to the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, or the Fantasy Baseball standings.

This week, I had a three-day business trip to Southern California. A window seat on my return flight and clear weather gave me the opportunity for a spectacular coast-to-coast 30,000 foot tour of our great country. The San Gabriel Mountains to the east of Los Angeles were still green. There was even a small amount of snow remaining in the canyon shadows. The lack of vegetation and clear skies made it look very hot in the Mojave Desert even though it was a mild spring day. I enjoyed trying to identify landmarks and watching the traffic on the various highways and roads. The Colorado River and Lake Mohave in the distance reminded me of our 1982 house boating vacation and Grandpa Myers captaining it along the coastline.

Even though Lake Mohave is located in the Mojave Desert, I wonder if it was named by someone that was unfamiliar with the Southwest and the Spanish language.

As we neared the California/Nevada border, I was fascinated by three blinding lights in the distance, each surrounded by a bright reflective area in the shape of slice of pie. While each blinding white light source did not change as we flew closer, the pie shaped area on the far side shifted as our geometry with the sun changed. On occasion, there was a glint from a mirror not in the pie shaped area. I wondered if those were mirrors that were misdirected or not in operation. It gave me the impression of flying through a science fiction movie scene.

This solar power generation facility is called the Ivanpah Solar Energy Project. Built at a cost of $2.2B, it was developed by Brightsource Energy Corporation in partnership with Google, Bechtel Corporation, NRG and the Department of Energy. It is located in the Mojave Desert's Ivanpah Dry Lake Bed, roughly 50 miles northwest of Needles, California. Comprised of three separate power plants built in phases between 2010 and 2013, the facility achieved operational status in February of 2014. Covering an area of roughly 3500 acres, Ivanpah produces a net 377 megawatts of power. This is enough to serve more than 140,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day.

Ivanpah produces electricity by creating high-temperature steam to turn a conventional turbine. It uses a power-tower solar thermal system developed by Brightsource Energy Corporation to create the high energy steam. Over 175,000 software-controlled mirrors the size of a garage door track the sun in two dimensions and reflect the sunlight to boilers that sit atop three 459 foot tall towers. When this light strikes the boiler's pipes, the water is heated to create superheated steam at a temperature of more than 1000 degrees fahrenheit. This steam is them piped from the boiler to a standard turbine where the electricity is generated.

The light from the mirrors and boilers was much brighter than the reflection off of the ocean or a lake. The boilers are so bright that you cannot see their shape and while the light from the boilers does not change, the reflection from the mirrors "tracks" you as you approach the facility. Pilots have complained about the solar plant glare and I can understand their concern after seeing it myself.

There are some who believe that the technology being used at Ivanpah is already "irrelevant." Warren Buffett recently purchased the world's largest photovoltaic solar power facility for the same cost as Ivanpah. It is also located in the California desert and produces 1.5 times the electricity of Ivanpah. The economics of both is in question.

May Day

THE MAY MAGNIFICAT

May is Mary's month, and I
Muse at that and wonder why:
Her feasts follow reason,
Dated due to season-

Candlemas, Lady Day:
But the Lady Month, May,
Why fasten that upon her,
With a feasting in her honor?
Ask of her, the mighty mother:
Her reply puts this other
Question: What is Spring?
Growth in every thing-

All things rising, all things sizing
Mary sees, sympathizing
With that world of good,
Nature's motherhood.

Well but there was more than this:
Spring's universal bliss
Much, had much to say
To offering Mary May.

Gerard Manley Hopkins
Robert, Cyril. Mary Immaculate: God's Mother and Mine. New York: Marist Press, 1946.

from Grandpa Myers

It isn't over til it's over!