Bravest Thing (He Ever Did)

  We (foolishly?) went to the mountains last week with five kids, including a colicky eight-week-old who has been crying most of the summer. It was hard. Very hard. Yet, the best things in life are hard. It turns out that little babies thrive on mountain air.  I may write more about our little adventure. But for now, if interested, here are two videos highlighting our Jasper adventure. Hiking, sweating, burning, freezing, eating too much ice cream, and even a bit of glamping. Enjoy!

  We celebrated Michaelmas yesterday. Of course there was no actual St. Michael-Mass in our parts. Tradition is so nostalgic, you know.  Tradition, actually, is for the young. Despite the Mass circumstances, we did our best. Behold, the Satan-smashing:

We just returned from a vacation to the Rocky Mountains. If you wish to tag alongside and see what it was like, check out these two videos!

How quickly time passes, memories fade, and youth withers. A couple of evenings ago my wife was reading Defending Boyhood by Anthony Esolen when she stumbled upon the lyrics of a song Esolen was mentioning in passing. "Hey, do you know this song? The words sound familiar... It goes: 'Gaudeamus igitur, Iuvenes dum sumus…" "Hmm. I'd have to see." After staring blankly at the words for a couple of minutes, desperately trying to hum various Latin tunes, suddenly the scales fell from our eyes, and we were able to recognize a treasure from our youth. We began to piece the tune together. "We used to sing that in Latin class at OLSWA! Mr. Zakrzewski taught it to us." "That's right. I can still see and hear him. He'd be so into it. It was his dream to have the old academic hymn make a glorious comeback. We used to sing that song everywhere. On hikes, in class, anywhere." And so it is, the great academic song trumpeting all youth to seize ...

On the lighter side, I present to you... my top five favourite children's songs. I am not talking about old time classics like Twinkle Twinkle , but the type of children's music that you would haul out the old record player to listen to. Think Raffi, Fred Penner, and the like. You will notice that there is no Duck Song , or Baby Shark . I'm talking real music. Here we go: 5) Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul, and Mary *Sniff* Those lyrics. I'm not crying. You're crying. "But, but... it's about DRUUUUGS!!" you say? No, it's not. Get your mind out of the gutter and stop thinking about drugs. Druggie. 4 ) Hey Dum Diddley Dum - Performed by Sharon, Lois, and Bram Fun. Catchy. And to be honest, I needed to have Sharon, Lois, and Bram on the list at least once.  3 ) The Cat Came Back - Fred Penner I could put Fred Penner songs for all five if need be. Sandwiches. Collections . So many others. But, The Cat Came Back is simpl...

Every morning at school I make a brain teaser for my students. Seeing as I teach at a public school, I never get the opportunity to create Catholic brain teasers. And so, here are some Catholic brain teasers I made. They concern all things Catholic. 1) Hint: Mystery of the Rosary 2) Hint: Sacrament 3) 4) Density x Volume 5) Hint: Mass apparel 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) Answers: 1) Crown of Thorns     (Thorin from the Hobbit) 2) Penance 3) Apollinarius Creed 4) Mass    (Density x Volume = Mass) 5) Stole 6) Holy Water 7) St. Thomas Aquinas    (Dumb Ox) 8) Easter 9) Pew 10) Bible (Bye, Bull)