Another “What was he in, Everything” actors has died. Just like Alex Rocco, as soon as I saw his picture I could hear his voice narrating his obituary. Very distinctive. He will be sorely missed.
He was also in the Supernatural family.
See where you recognize him from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0168642/
I knew him from a dozen old shows but especially from Supernatural, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The West Wing.
1. Drink lots of water. Not vitamin water, not flavored water, not tea, not coffee, not soda, no electrolyte replenishments (except when you’re doing serious physical activity).
Nothing beats plain ice cold water to refresh and rehydrate. If you’re just rehydrating, the temperature doesn’t matter, but ice cold water is the best.
2. It’s so important, I’ll say it again: Unless you’re doing strenuous, physical activity and you’re losing minerals and nutrients, H2O for you. Plain, unadulterated water. Save the mineral replacement until you’re losing minerals.
3. Sunscreen. Get the highest spf you find. For my kids I use 50 and above. I try to look for 70spf. Neutragena is a good product that we’ve used for years. Coppertone Sport is also highly recommended. The spray on kinds are convenient and work. Make sure you spray your kids’ hands so they can get the sunscreen on their faces.
Don’t forget eyelids, tips and backs of ears, noses, and lips.
4. Crack the windows of your car. Even with leaving them open a little, do not leave anything in your car. No kids. No pets. No electronic equipment. If you wouldn’t leave your cell phone or laptop, why are you leaving your kids in there?
5. Swim in pairs. We’ve been told since the 70s to use the buddy system. Why? Because it works. Do not go into any body of water, including backyard pools without letting someone know that you are in the water.
It is everyone’s responsibility to keep an eye on toddlers and preschoolers in and around pools. I don’t care if your friend is always an irresponsible idiot. If you see a child near water, shadow them or make sure the parent knows they’re near the water. Babies and children that young can drown in very small amounts of water.
Keep empty planters and buckets outside upside down so they don’t accumulate water that small ones can tumblr into (unless of course, you collect rain water. If that’s the case, make sure that the water areas are safe from children.)
Summertime should be relaxing and fun. Taking care and following some safety tips will ensure that it stays that way.
There is nothing better than watermelon on a hot summer day.
Apollo 11 landed on the moon today in 1969.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon with Michael Collins supporting their mission from the capsule.
My parents tell me I watched it on television, and I have vivid memories of visiting the Kennedy Space Center as a child. Space has always played an important role in my reading and television watching life from Star Trek to NASA to the Challenger to Pluto’s return as a planet with amazing photos.
I’ve been trying to follow weekly themes. For the most part, it gives me a place to start when I’m looking at my weekly posts and prompt suggestions. This week is Water, Water Everywhere.
I have a mixed relationship with water. For the most part, I’m not a fan. I don’t like water. I take showers and wash my hands; my problem is mostly with natural bodies of water and boats. My husband tried to propose on a boat. That did not work out for us at all.
On the other hand, I do like waterfalls. I find them calming and soothing. I’ll share one of my favorite places (after Niagara Falls, which is too far for a day trip) later in the week. I discovered when we went out to Montauk Point a few years ago that I have a real problem with the ocean. It’s too big and never-ending from the shore.
When I returned to church and Mass one week ago today, the first thing I returned to was the baptismal font. I put my fingers in, and made the sign of the cross over myself, and I was back.
For my baptism (in 2014) I was not baptised in the font; an Easter pool (for lack of a better word) was built on the church’s altar. You’re supposed to get your whole body wet. I was told to bring a change of clothes for after, and I definitely needed them.
I thought today I would share the Gospel of Jesus’ Baptism as well as some of my photos from my Easter Vigil, the first one of my baptism.
The water was ice cold, and the pitcher was full and the priest poured it over my head (and the rest of me) three times: appropriately in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Baptism
Confirmation
My First Communion
The Baptism of Jesus
Matthew 3:13-17Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son,whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Today’s homily was all about being lost, and being lost sheep, and the everyday ways we are lost and find ourselves again. I don’t know why, but my first visit to the UK kept popping up in my mind throughout my pastor’s talk. Not just the visit or the trip itself, but all the little times that I was lost there. I don’t think we were ever truly lost, but those moments seemed so big at the time, and even now they stand out in a seemingly unrelated homily that included my pastor being lost in the snowy woods with his dog.
My first thought of being lost in England was standing in the rain. I don’t think we had umbrellas, but we were looking at a map and it was raining. It was a cold, poking kind of rain that covered my glasses We were years away from little wipers on your eyeglasses.
At that time, we stayed at youth hostels and you can’t spend the daylight hours at a hostel, even in the cold, winter months, so we were up and out every morning. I don’t remember where we were heading on this day, just that we didn’t know where we were, and we needed to look at our map.
We were surprised when an older woman came out of her house and across the street with an umbrella and showed us where we were, and how to get to where we were going. She said to go across the field we were standing next to – it was faster if a bit muddy. We weren’t sure about going across someone’s property, but she said it would be alright. We took it.
It was definitely a shortcut.
When we crossed the border into Wales, I hadn’t realized that I was lost, but I knew that I had been found. I talk about this aspect of my trip often, so I won’t be redundant, but it is a significant thought of being lost even if I hadn’t known it at the time. It was, and continues to be a sacred place for me.
We also found ourselves lost on Craigower Hill just above Pitlochry in Scotland. We kept climbing up and up and up. We didn’t quite make it to the summit, but we made it pretty close. We slid down and had to start again about halfway up, and then it started snowing.
Luckily we found ourselves at the bottom eventually at The Moulin Inn for some fabulous lasagna and cider.
We became stuck in the Cotswolds having planned on leaving on Sunday, and not knowing that the buses don’t run on Sunday. The hostel warden took pity on us and let us in earlier than their usual evening opening. He also loaned us books and told us some of the history of the town, Stow-on-the-Wold.
Being lost in Edinburgh, in the snow, at two o’clock in the morning was better with a new friend than alone.
This was a three week trip in January with my college roommate, and these are only a handful of memories that popped up during the homily on lost sheep.
Being lost isn’t so bad. I know I’m never alone and what all of these anecdotes remind me is that no matter how long you’re lost or where, there is always a way out, a way to be found, a way to find yourself and that trip was one of those places and times that I did.
(Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6)
We’re (mainly my son and I) waiting for this to get to our local Redbox. We saw the first one kind of by accident. My son took it out of the library and then he was home sick right before it needed to be returned, so I watched it with him white he was home from school.
Begrudgingly.
It was so funny.
And Kevin James walks that delicate and hilarious tightrope between jokey laughs and bad puns and physical hysteria. He is probably one of the best physical comedians today.
The first Paul Blart: Mall Cop was surprising in its heartwarming story of a father, who is seemingly always on the bottom, never able to reach the next rung personally and professionally, and his teenage daughter who loves him and refuses to be embarrassed by him even as he makes mistakes and tries too hard.
It was funny and sweet and I, for one have been looking forward to this sequel for some long time.
Hopefully tomorrow. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Omar Sharif, one of the finest actors the world had known, had died. He was 83.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 