On the Feast of the Annunciation

The Annunciation by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1888

Meditation for the Feast Day

Fill in the blank:

Because she said, "I am the handmaiden of the Lord; be it done to me according to Thy word," I 
 _______________________________________________________________________________.

Following is our three boys, Kevin, Jon (now Br. Philip), and Dominic with our friend, Tim (now Rev. Mr. Geckel), singing the beautiful Magnificat.  I re-post this often for feast of the Blessed Mother -- but only just looked at the date today to realize how long ago this was recorded.  Holy Moly!  This was back around 2008!  Six years ago!  My goodness, how time flies!  But I love these dear voices as much as ever -- and miss their faces!   I feel sure that many blessings have come to all four of the men singing this, for having honored Our Blessed Mother so well with their voices over the years.  I'm so proud of all of them!

The Magnificat

My soul doth magnify the Lord.

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

(And In Latin)
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,et exsultávit spíritus meusin Deo salvatóre meo,

quia respéxit humilitátemancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátamme dicent omnes generatiónes,quia fecit mihi magna,qui potens est,et sanctum nomen eius,et misericórdia eius in progénieset progénies timéntibus eum.

Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;depósuit poténtes de sedeet exaltávit húmiles.

Esuriéntes implévit boniset dívites dimísit inánes.

Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,recordátus misericórdiæ,sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,

Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílioet Spirítui Sancto.Sicut erat in princípio,et nunc et semper,

et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.

And, also, today we send prayers and greetings and lots of love (again!) to our Annunciation Day baby, Kevin.  Lucky guy, half way around the world, gets two birthdays this year.  One in New Zealand where he is, and one here in America where we are! Happy birthday again, Kev!  

Tolkien Day!

How 'bout this wisdom from the master?

Because it's already March 25th in New Zealand...

Happy Birthday, Kevvy!

(I can't believe you're a quarter century old!)

Intrepid Middle Earth questers, Ina and Kevin

We love you and miss you!

But we're glad to be missing you because 

you're off on an amazing adventure!

Just a couple things to remember:

It's a dangerous business, Kevin, going out your door.  You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.

&

Look out for dragons!

Everyone sends love and hugs!

And multitudinous birthday wishes!

All of us here at home, and these guys, too:

These four conspicuous characters ran into each other this morning in Omaha at Ordinations, it seems.
 Everyone there misses you, too, by all accounts!  Would have been old home week if you'd been there, too!

*  Check out Kevin's New Zealand travel blog at ExploringMiddleEarth.com.

Raw Oysters

Gabe.  The Walrus.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes, 

and ships, 

and sealing wax,

Of cabbages and kings --

And why the sea is boiling hot,

And whether pigs have wings."

Somewhere near Laguna Beach, CA, March 22, 2014

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"

The Walrus did beseech.

"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,

Along the briny beach:

We cannot do with more than four,

To give a hand to each.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,

"Is what we chiefly need:

Pepper and vinegar besides

Are very good, indeed --

Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,

We can begin to feed."

Anna  (The first brave soul... On a dare.)

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,

Turning a little blue.

"After such kindness, that would be

A dismal thing to do!"

"The night is fine," the Walrus said.

"Do you admire the view?"

Cathy (Had the funniest faces...)

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,

"To play them such a trick,

After we've brought them out so far,

And made them trot so quick!"

The Carpenter said nothing but

"The butter's spread too thick!"

Michelle (Popped it down the fastest. Barely had time to take pictures!)

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:

"I deeply sympathize."

With sobs and tears he sorted out

Those of the largest size,

Holding his pocket-handkerchief

Before his streaming eyes.

Gavin's Daddy, Paul (had the most grossed out audience)

Gavin

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,

"You've had a pleasant run!

Shall we be trotting home again?'

But answer came there none--

And this was scarcely odd, because

They'd eaten every one.

Raw Oysters?!

Answering the questions we're all asking...

* It's March.  Isn't there an old saying that oysters shouldn't be eaten during months that contain an R?

Actually, it's just the opposite.  Back in the day, people were advised never to eat oysters during months of the year that didn't contain the letter R.  This was chiefly because the lack of proper refrigeration methods didn't keep oysters well in the warmer weather months -- May through August.

But that's not the only reason. The meat of the oyster tends to become thicker when the water temperatures cool down in the fall of the year, a preference for oyster lovers simply because "more is better."  And the texture changes somewhat, as well. But, really, oysters can be (and are) enjoyed twelve months of the year.

* Ew.  Do people really eat those nasty things? On purpose? When they're not being dared?

Yes!  Nearly two billion pounds of oysters are eaten every year, and Americans eat tons.  Literally! From 1990 to 1995, for example, Americans ate about fifty million pounds of these popular mollusks.  (We ate exactly four on Saturday.)

* Aren't raw oysters bad for you? 

Oysters contain a whole raft of Vitamins, including C, D, B1, B1, B2 and B3. In terms of valuable minerals, if you eat just four medium-size oysters every day, you'll get the recommended daily allowances of calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc.

* No, That's Not What I Meant.  Seriously -- isn't it a bad idea to eat raw oysters, straight out of the ocean?  Can't you get salmonella or something?

Yes and no. Possibly so.  Of course you have to know you take a bit of a chance.  While oysters are nutrient-rich, you do take a risk eating them raw -- as is true for pretty much any raw food, especially something harvested wild from the ocean. In point of fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that raw oysters may be contaminated with a nasty called Vibrio vulnificus, also known as V. vulnificus, which is a pathogen that can cause life-threatening sickness. To avoid the risk, it's best to cook your oysters first to benefit from the nutrients without the possibility of illness.

 Take note: people who have low immunity systems, cancer or chronic liver disease especially shouldn't eat raw oysters.

But, what can we say?  I guess we like to live on the wild side. And nobody in this gang can pass up a dare.  No one got sick after eating raw oysters straight out of the Pacific Ocean on Saturday.  But, that said...  we wouldn't make a habit of eating them this way.

* What about radiation poisoning from the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan? Could that have affected these oysters?

Good question.  Chances are good that the kids won't start glowing any time soon. Not that we believe everything the FDA says -- not by a long shot!  But the powers-that-be do claim that they've been testing all Pacific food imports -- particularly those within proximate distance of Japan --  and have not found reason for concern.  (Found here...)  Yeah.  Hmmm....  We'll let you know if anyone starts acting funny.

* But, wait.  If you're eating an oyster raw....  is it

alive

? 

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.  Whether you dig them up, buy them at a local seafood store or order them through the mail, there's one sure way to tell if an oyster is alive. If its shell is open, you tap on it with your fingers, and it snap shut, then it's alive.  

We're not sure if ours were alive or not, as we had to force them to open their "jaws" to get the oysters out of the shells.  But, hmmm...  Maybe they were "clamping" them shut.

* The "meat" of an oyster looks more like a slimy lump of goo than anything.  Are you sure these things are live sea critters?

Yes, indeed!  Though it's a little hard to tell.  Oysters contain both gills and mantle in order for them to breathe. As the water passes through them, the oxygen is removed and the carbon monoxide is discarded. Oysters also have stomachs, intestines, and they have hearts that pump a clear blood, along with the oxygen, through their bodies. And, their kidneys clean impurities from their blood.  

* Are all oysters the same?  The colors of the "meats" the kids ate differed, and they each described the taste somewhat differently.

This is because oysters literally are what they eat.  They feed on plankton, animal waste, decayed plants- most any small particles they suck in from their locale. The color of an oysters' meat depends on what they eat. Usually, the meat is light beige, light gray or off white.  The taste varies, as well.

Oyster connoisseurs like to try to figure out what regions the oysters they are eating came from, just by their taste.  We're not oyster connoisseurs, though.  Our oyster eaters think theirs had chiefly been eating sea water and sand.

* If we kept hunting along the shoreline, collecting oysters, what are the odds that we'd find a pearl in one of them? 

Unfortunately, the odds are astronomically against us.  Doggonit.  According to askyahoo.com, "only one out of 10,000 animals will produce a pearl in the wild." Most of the pearls that are created by oysters are purposely formed. Pieces of shells or beads are inserted inside an oyster -and the natural process just goes from there. The oyster covers the foreign substance with layers of calcium and protein. In time, a pearl is produced.  The odds of this happening in the wild are very rare.

*  Does anyone here at the Crazy House actually like raw oysters?  

Just me.  (Maybe Paul.)  But, I didn't have any from the Oceanside buffet on Saturday.  Thank-ya, no.  A Mom has a certain Mom-dignity that she must maintain.  I know better than to get involved in a Davis-kid dare-athon.

Most of the information in this post, gleaned from here and here.

Entire text of The Walrus and the Carpenter, by Lewis Carroll here.

Evie's Baptism!

These two...

Picture from last June - the only shot I could find in recent
history with only the two of them in the  frame!  Sheesh!

Dominic and Theresa are the Godparents, but, since neither of them could make it out to California for the Baptism (Dominic is working in Denver, Theresa is going to school on the Western Slope), Dan and I got to be proxies.  Which was perfectly fine and wonderful for Dandad and Me!

The big day was Saturday, the 22nd, feast of St. Isidore.

Fr. Gerard officiated. Since the San Diego chapel was otherwise occupied Saturday morning, the Baptism was held in a private chapel nearby.

The big moment!

Evelyn Elizabeth

Brand new daughter of the Church!

 Gavin James

Proud big Brother!

* Photos coming later of our visit with Paul and Nicole and Grandma and Grandpa over the weekend.

Happy Feast of St. Joseph!

Gave up Coffee for Lent, But...

Getting Ready for St. Patrick's Day!

Michelle and her beau, Ben, are here to celebrate the feast day with us.  Woohoo!  The more family, the better -- always!  And we kinda like Michelley's face.

The menu tonight: Guinness Stew and fresh baked rolls with Blarney Stones and Irish Soda Bread (Recipes here).  Already watched Darby O'Gill and the Little People (Oooh, ooh! Young Sean Connory!) and will pull some other Irish dvd out of the collection later tonight.  Don't know which yet.  Maybe War of the Buttons.

Tomorrow is Colcanon and Corned Beef, followed by old fashioned Bread Pudding.  And we'll watch my all-time favorite movie, The Quiet Man. We all look forward to this meal every year.  It's the only time we serve it!  And we always relax our Lenten TV fast on St. Patrick's, too, of course.  It's tradition.

But this marks the first time we've ever celebrated the traditional Irish shindig with a boyfriend here!

Good thing it's Ben
.
 Or I don't know how I'd feel about it...  (winkwink)
 But, we kinda like Ben's face, too.  So it's all good.

(Though we sure do miss Paul and Kevvy and BroPhi and Dominic and Theresa!  I just know they're all here in spirit!  And missing the good eats if nothing else!)

Happy Feast of St. Patrick!

One story of St. Patrick, easily read aloud to children here.

The official Catholic Encyclopedia entry on St. Patrick here.

You can find a list of easy St. Patrick's Day crafts and coloring pages here.  And a bunch more ideas listed here last year for things to do on the day.

Catholic Cuisine, as always, has lots of great recipes and ideas to celebrate the feast day.

Go here to find out what "Reek Sunday" could possibly be -- and what it has to do with Croagh Patrick,  and go here to see  how you can participate in "St. Patrick's Purgatory."

Go here to keep an eye on  the live Leprechaun Cam in Tipperary, Ireland!

Then go here to find out why blue is really the color of St. Patrick and Ireland!

'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!'

Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends!

For St. Patrick's Day shenanigans spanning the six years we've been blogging....  click here.:)

Click and print for a coloring page.  .

Midnight, Sundays in Lent

Right, Davis kids?

Does everybody do this, or is it just us?