These Forty (plus) Days...

 Long day... I woke up slightly earlier than usual to make sure I was up for 6:45 Mass.  I will admit I thought about rolling over and going back to bed, but my usual motivational method -- only Hope and Changers sleep in and miss Mass -- worked like a charm, and I was soon up and at them.  As always, I was glad I went, as I sort of liked it -- the aesthetics, I mean.  For a few minutes (before they cranked the altar lights on) it was quite beautiful in the dimly lit church, with the opening prayers and the shadowy figure on the altar.  Very medieval, in a way.  Now, usually you would get the holier-than-thou feeling walking about, but as I just went home (icy rain when I left Mass) and talked to no one but through Zoom... well, it was not quite the same.

Anyways, after another hectic day (but productive), I cut out just before 5:30 and zipped out to Holy Family -- one of the few parishes that actually serves a fish fry on Ash Wednesday.  It was... good not great?  Lots of food -- much of it carbs, oi -- and the cabbage and noodles was decent (cabbage cooked too much!).  Looking at the list of parishes with fish fries, I decided that I will do a West Side/East Side rotation, and definitely try to hit some new places.  Then it was off to the gym for a nice workout and some extended cardio (which was needed, and not enough at the same time).

Finished book 12 -- Hinton Rowan Helper's The Impending Crisis, an 1850s period piece about why the South should abandon slavery, using facts and figures (economic data from the census, quite interesting) and the testimony of historical/current figures of the day.  Obviously, the argument didn't take...  I ordered a few more books from the library, on the theory (misguided at best) that by seeing the pile, I will read more, independent of the other 900 things I have to do.  But if it helps...

https://scitechdaily.com/surprising-research-reveals-rampant-violence-in-early-farming-societies/
This could be me, but isn't this obvious?  I mean, taking over someone else's fields (especially in times of drought or other scarcity) means that you have more land to feed your family and people, and removing the other inhabitants from the equation means that you don't have to feed them.  Not saying that this is the best way to go, but it makes sense, economically.

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2023/02/an-ongoing-stimulus-in-the-economy-for-years-to-come/

I hadn't thought of this, but it makes perfect sense...if you are not really affected by rising mortgage rates, you have more money to spend on other things.  My rate is 3.86%, and while I feel miffed I didn't refi when I could have gotten 3%, I really cannot complain too much about it.  I do have a HELOC with rates that have climbed, with the result that any extra cash is now used to pay that down faster.  That and obviously fund all those parish fish fries during Lent...