Firsts

Yesterday I realized that I had forgotten that this weekend is the Italian Festival at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  Oops.  Anyways, I should go, being that I attend an ethnic urban parish and should support the others.  So after Mass and gym, I hauled dupa to the near west side; had to park at 61st and Detroit because the streets were blocked.  Didn't realize they have a procession on Sunday and the festival starts later, so... oops.  I arrived at the end of Mass, but I realized that I had never been inside the place, so off I went.  Not very big.  Pretty, not St. Stan's pretty (of course), but nice.  The nuns were doing a post-Mass chorale, so it certainly added to the ambiance of the place, even if there was plenty of social hour after Mass.  Thankfully, they were serving dinner in the cafeteria, so I went (I was starved); linguine with clam sauce, quite good, and very few people were there, even better.

When I finally got home I just wasn't feeling well, and instead of powering through, I laid down and napped -- rare for me.  I slept about two hours, and while I didn't exactly feel refreshed, I felt better.   Then it was off to do some work and finish Frontier Rebels, an interesting read about colonists in 1760s Pennsylvania -- trying to carve out their own space on the frontier despite the efforts of Indians, the British government, and the colonial governor.  Not bad, and not long, which is good, as I am behind.

I was interrupted out of this by an email by one of my friends from the food pantry; they have a share of a horse that was racing tonight, and would I want to go?  I wasn't sure but decided to go, and I was glad I did.  Not only do I really enjoy going to the track, but their horse (in a trot race, of all things) came in second.  They were pleased, as it was competing against some strong horses, and, more to the point, they had a good ride; I mean, the horse ran as well as can be expected, and second is none too shabby.  Anyways, then they asked if I wanted to go and see the horse, and I said...sure.  Pretty cool, actually; literally a whole city back there -- stables, paddocks, track facilities, dorms for the crews, etc.  I never even what was back there.  Impressive.

Conservatives See a Conspiracy Around Joe Biden’s Stumbles - POLITICO
I am not sure I would call it a conspiracy, but...

Charitable giving continues to decline in the US. Is generosity dead? - Vox
My first thought, of course, is that people have less money (ahem, Bidenomics, Vox writer) to give away, so they don't.  Also, as they mentioned in the article, fewer people are going to church, so... I think a lot of charitable giving is done there and through there; I mean, if you think of the Catholic example, there are -- at first recall -- 40 charities to which you can donate money, and all are worthwhile.  But, if people don't go in the first place, they don't give, either.