it might have been that I forgot to say it to people, for a while... say it to those who know you, when you can!

$$\begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{XLI} & \mbox{Foreign adventures}\\
\mathrm{XLII} & \mbox{Safe returnings}\\
\mathrm{XLIII} & \mbox{Surprises}\\
\mathrm{XLIV} & \mbox{Reunions anticipated}\\
\mathrm{XLV} & \mbox{Room left for Providence}
\end{array}
$$

Silence need not betoken ignorance

I haven't done a gratitude post for some while (or so it seems), though not for any shortage of blessings. Goodness, it's embarassing, this heap of graces under which I don't know what to do but flounder a little. It's just they don't lend themselves even to enigmatic enumeration, of late.

Nonetheless, let us give thanks for all manner of good things!

Vultum tuum deprecabuntur omnes divites plebis

On this (Extraordinary Calendar) Feast of The Holy Name of Mary,

$$\begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{XXXVI} & \mbox{Solid ground underfoot}\\
\mathrm{XXXVII} & \href{http://introibo.fr}{\mbox{Chant and such-like}}\\
\mathrm{XXXVIII} & \mbox{Cream}\\
\mathrm{XXXIX} & \mbox{Work, temporal or }\href{http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/09/benedict-xvi-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-superfluous-or-useless-prayer/}{\mbox{spiritual}} \\
\mathrm{XL} & \mbox{Roman numerals, as it happens...}
\end{array}
$$

Happy feast day. Try the croissants!

A short while later

$$ \begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{XXXI} & \mbox{The quiet of the middle of nowhere}\\
\mathrm{XXXII} & \mbox{Excellent words, like "corruscating" and "edify"}\\
\mathrm{XXXIII} & \mbox{The way a clear sky turns lemony-yellow in a sunset}\\
\mathrm{XXXIV} & \mbox{Clean water}\\
\mathrm{XXXV} & \mbox{Puzzles!}
\end{array}
$$

Out of Mrs. C's Enchiridion

Let us recall

Evening

Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world round me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?

--Uncle Gilbert

And so I am reminded that it's much too long since I did one of these.

$$ \begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{XXVI} &\mbox{All this crazy internet}\\
\mathrm{XXVII} &\mbox{Friends with excellent Common Sense}\\
\mathrm{XXVIII} & \mbox{Small towns just a train-ride away}\\
\mathrm{XXIX} & \mbox{The stars over cornfields}\\
\mathrm{XXX} &\mbox{Birthdays in the family}
\end{array}
$$

Samuel Clemens once quipped...

So, I live in a region which is laughably called the "temperate zone". The name must have been invented in Southern England. Anyways, what this means is that we get all sorts of horrible for our weather (or we like to think so... or it comforts our frailty to 'brag as though that were so) whereas people in more "extreme" places only get one or two sorts of horrible --- desert heats, or monsoon half the year, or glaciers... A friend has reminded me that this means we don't get those noxious toxic tropical insects: it's too complicated for them. I might counter that Monarch Butterflies spend more than half their lives as tropical insects, but they're so pretty it doesn't matter.

Anyways, all that is preface or context for

$$\begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{XXI} &\mbox{Rain, in proportion}\\
\mathrm{XXII} & \mbox{Wind, with or without bicycle}\\
\mathrm{XXIII} & \mbox{Electricity}\\
\mathrm{XXIV} & \mbox{Devices that exploit [23] to effect [22]}\\
\mathrm{XXV} & \mbox{Night quiet}
\end{array}
$$

... propter magnam gloriam...

Most excellent Theophilus,

I submit for your diligent consideration


$$\begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{XVI} &\mbox{safe travels}\\
\mathrm{XVII} & \mbox{safe returning}\\
\mathrm{XVIII} & \mbox{familiar faces}\\
\mathrm{XIX} & \mbox{cozy blankets}\\
\mathrm{XX} & \mbox{all that tells God's glory}
\end{array}
$$

There's no end!

In case my gloomy tone was getting contagious...

$$ \begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{XI} &\mbox{Fresh baking}\\
\mathrm{XII} &\mbox{Thoroughly opaque curtains}\\
\mathrm{XIII} & \mbox{Sunday brunch with friends}\\
\mathrm{XIV} & \mbox{The voices of infants}\\
\mathrm{XV} &\mbox{That a dull job is really the worst of my troubles}
\end{array}
$$

The Good God just keeps on giving

Dear Fellow,

For future reference

$$ \begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{VI} &\mbox{Intercessors}\\
\mathrm{VII} &\mbox{The moon one night past full}\\
\mathrm{VIII} & \mbox{Sanctifying frustrations}\\
\mathrm{IX} & \mbox{An internet's worth of }\href{http://csparks.com/Bookbinding/index.xhtml}{\mbox{crafty }} \href{http://danielmitsui.com/}{\mbox{artists}}\\
\mathrm{X} &\mbox{Glue}
\end{array}
$$

That's all for now.

one who would exhort you to rejoicing

More Evidence of God's Goodness

Dear Self,

For future reference

$$ \begin{array}{rl}
\mathrm{I} &\mbox{That strawberry}\\
\mathrm{II} &\mbox{Roses that look --- and smell --- like peaches}\\
\mathrm{III} & \mbox{Whoever it was thought to breed the previous item}\\
\mathrm{IV} & \href{http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG0jMkoKLJo}{\mbox{Tchaikovsky}}\\
\mathrm{V} &\mbox{My mountain bike --- and my survival in spite of that}
\end{array}
$$

That's all for now.

a grateful sinner