Legally Blind Governor Steps Up

As some of you may have read, the man who will be sworn in as governor of New York on Monday is legally blind! Can you tell I'm excited about that?

You know, and I know, that we are not defined by our disabilities but by your abilities and motivations. But it's nice to let the world know!

Drinking Away One's Sorrows?

Everyone knows that the focus of my blog is...not. It doesn't have any one particular (or general?) focus. This does have its advantages. When I see an astounding article like this, I can share it with you. Does it "fit" the blog? Why not? Basically my blog is whatever is on my mind or heart, or what I find interesting that I hope you may too. Without further ado, I thought you might find this article interesting. Or maybe enlightening:

Drinking Makes Heart Grow More Sorrowful, Study Finds

Although, due to alcoholism in the extended family, I jokingly refer to myself as a prohibitionist, I am not sharing this article to say, "Don't drink." (I am, after all, Catholic.)

I don't want to tell you "Don't..." about anything, but if I were going to, I would definitely want to say, "Don't drink to drown your sorrows." Very dangerous practice. But now we have a laboratory test about it. Wow!

California Fires Update

We have family in Santa Clarita, about a mile from Magic Mountain. They are doing okay, sitting tight for now, and sounding calm and cheerful. Apparently the fire is across the freeway (which to me, sounds bad, but to them, means there is a natural barrier). Also the wind is blowing the fire away from them. If they are told to evacuate they will, but so far they haven't been told. You can read about this fire here.

Thank you, Melissa, for providing the link to this blog which gives updates on the fires.

We are praying, of course, not only for our own family and friends, but for everyone in Southern California and anywhere who is affected by the fires. And may God especially bless the dedicated firefighters and their families!

Let's keep up those prayers!

Emergency Prayer Request

Please pray for the people of Southern California. The fires and weather conditions pose a very serious risk for many people. I just received an email from family there, telling us they are all right at this time. But the fires are raging out of control in many places throughout the region, "...we have had winds clocked at 108 mph, and are expecting gusts of up to 90 mph today. This is the longest drought on record in SoCal, and we are expecting temperatures in the triple digits today. In some areas, the fires are creating their own weather, in the form of twisters."

California is a huge, heavily populated state; and a large chunk of that area and population is being exposed to heavy smoke and serious concern for their property and lives, as ten fires range from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

Please pray for the firefighters, for their own safety and that they will be able to get the fires under control. Pray for the residents. Pray for miracles.

Man finds different world after 19 years' coma

Don't you just love these "woke up from a coma" stories!