Recent Posts

Friday 3 January 2014

Birthday Blast

Hey, minus 30 with windchill this morning, January 3rd, is predicted.

At nine o'clock at night on January 2nd  it was minus 20 with the wind, minus 2 temp and getting colder.

Europeans, these temps are in Fahrenheit.

It is my birthday. Sigh, in my entire life, I have only had one party because there were either 14 inches of snow on the ground, or ice storms, or freezing fog. Even when I lived in England for ten years in the '80s and '90s, the weather was less than perfect.

Oh well, this is Iowa; it could be International Falls, Minnesota, which gets much colder.

As I am not having a cake, I share this one with my readers.



Today is the Feast of St. Genevieve. I had an Aunt Genevieve, and narrowly escaped being named Genevieve.

This saint saved Paris from Attila the Hun, which was a great blessing for all. She did this by encouraging the people of the city to fast, to do penance, to pray. I like sheep, so I am pleased that she was a shepherdess.

She seems to have been a consecrated virgin.

She is the chief patron of the City of Paris.

But, I would never want to be called Jennabean in school, would you?

The name means "white wave" and may be an ancient name from Galatia. Perhaps a Genevieve of old heard the Epistle to the Galatians read in her church. Perhaps because I was born on her day, she helped me with my sea-poem last year, which one can find under the label poetry.



St. Genevieve lived to be 89, which is also a great feat. May St. Genevieve bless us all with courage today.

In addition, as I just got one card, which is usual, as no one remembers a birthday two days after New Year's Day, I am giving myself and you readers a card.