Remembering President Jimmy Carter

Flags across the country are at half-staff, and will remain so for thirty days from President Carter’s death. (c)2025

More photos and remembrance below the cut:

Intentions-Inspirations-Resolutions

For readers who have been here for awhile, I rarely if ever declare or think about New Year’s Resolutions. That changes this year. After the election, I’ve been inundated with lies and misinformation, not to mention the focus on stupidity rather than real news, and I am damn sick of it. That led me to think about my life and my writing.

I may have already written about my new job, but I started working in October, and it is the kind of place that feeds my soul. I have never had a job like this before, and every day is a joy to be there, and that allows that joy to follow me home. It’s been a good couple of months.

Obviously, I’m disappointed (understatement) about the election. I hope we can get through the next two years, and use the midterm elections to return to sanity. My first Election Connection of the new year will appear in this space next Tuesday.

As I mentioned yesterday, I am really proud of my series writing, and those will continue. In addition to Election Connection, there will be more Mental Health Monday, monthly Inspired and Friday Food posts, and I’m hoping for a return to Penny Prompts – the writing prompts based on Louise Penny’s writing and her Armand Gamache mystery series.

Those are both my intentions and my inspirations and I hope to find more throughout the year. You will find more of my new year’s thoughts below the cut.

Rest Now, Good and Faithful Servant

President Jimmy Carter passes away at 100

Yesterday we learned of the death of President Jimmy Carter after nearly two years in hospice care and after the death of his beloved wife, Rosalynn a little more than a year ago in November of 2023.

I remember bits of his presidency and his family, especially his brother, Billy and youngest child, Amy, who was a year younger than me. I remember his deep southern accent and his wide smile, but mostly I remember that after he left the Presidency did his public service really begin. I can’t begin to relate his accomplishments – there are others better suited to telling those stories, but I do want to acknowledge his passion for the American people and their experiment as well as his compassion and faith that I admired and hope to emulate, although I know I’ll never come close.

To read about his legacy, visit his Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, online here and the Carter Center, next door to the Library and Museum.

For funeral arrangements and the schedule for his lying in state in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia, visit:

USA Today has a fairly comprehensive discussion of what is planned both in Washington and Georgia at this link.

This short clip on C-SPAN has President Carter talking about some of the funeral arrangements for when “his participation at the Carter Center is reduced.”

The Carter Center and The White House will have more information as it becomes available.

The state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter will be Thursday, January 9.
All federal offices and some state offices will be closed in commemoration and as part of the
National Day of Mourning.
All flags will be flown at half-staff for 30 days, beginning on December 29, 2024 at all public buildings and grounds as well as military posts, and half-mast on all naval vessels.

A Look Back Through Photos:

Inspired. December.

Now that the Catholic (Liturgical) New Year has begun, and the Global New Year is on the horizon, I thought that for this last inspired of 2024 I would share five things I’m grateful for and five intentions I plan for the upcoming months.

Inspired. November.

While we wait for the election returns (whether that’s tonight, tomorrow, or the next day, I thought I would share some of the things that inspired me in the last few weeks.

Travel – Packing for a Road Trip

We start planning for a vacation months in advance, right up until the moment that we actually get in the car to leave. In the last twenty years or so, I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve traveled by plane or train. We drive everywhere. This gives us a road trip model that works about 90% of the time, and with three kids that’s pretty much works out to 100% more or less.

Some of the most important things for a successful road trip never even leave the car!

You needs will, of course, vary and change over time, but these are the things I really miss when I forget them:

Car air Freshener – I get mine at Bath and Body Works and only one kid complains about the smell.
Pop Socket Holder – I like the one that slides into the vent. It is great for following directions at a glance and not fumbling with your phone. Hands-free FTW!
Toll transponder suction cup holder – again, keeps it hands-free, and you’re not overcharged by the rental car company using theirs.
Car Charger Adapter – my new one has slots for both USB and USB-C.
Parking pass, if needed. I have a handicapped tag, but state parks and hotels have parking passes as well.
Umbrella – keep it within reach or else what’s the point of it?
Snacks – My family criticizes but I prefer resealable 20 oz. bottles rather than cans of soda. Favorite snack: Mini twist pretzels. Least favorite snack: Cheese puff and/or doodles – I think the reasons for this one are obvious.

August Inspired

I’m not as annoyed when I see Halloween stuff in stores this early. Especially in the heat, I’m happy to be reminded that the cool weather will be arriving soon. At least, I hope so.

I’m also not a big fan of skulls. I know they’re popular at Halloween as well as Dias de Los Muertos, and my daughter loves them. She has a couple of skull designs on her hairdressing tools.

However, while I don’t want this table accessory I was taken by it and of course needed to add it to my picture collection.

Early Happy Halloween.

Salt & Pepper Shaker Skull. Cracker Barrel. (c)2024

Friday Food. July.

Continuing Monday’s theme of Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache mystery series, I thought I’d share some things from the publisher’s related blog.

There is a lovely selection of recipes and gorgeous photos to admire and to choose from for each of the books here.

^{French Onion Soup from the Gamache Series Website}

There is also a PDF download of a short cookbook, The Nature of the Feast which includes a preview excerpt of book #12, The Great Reckoning.

My own Bistro-esque recipe below the cut:

Tell Me What You Know

^{Mont Royal.}
^{Montreal, Quebec, Canada.}
^(c)2024

My first introduction to Louise Penny was with State of Terror, the book she co-authored with Hillary Rodham Clinton, which admittedly was what drew me to the book in the first place. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in mysteries and state department/political thrillers. It’s taken me a few years since then to rediscover the author Louise Penny when her Gamache Series was recommended to me recently in a writing class.

I may have mentioned in a previous note, here or on Facebook, that I’ve become obsessed with Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series. I’ve read the entire series and am less than patiently waiting for the next book that will be released in October. I am about halfway through a second read-through – did I mention that I was obsessed?! I had recommended them to a friend of mine and it turned out she was already reading them! It is so hard to talk to her about them and not give her any spoilers. I had planned to write a proper review and recommendation for next week or the week after, however, today is a special day in the books (and in my own life as I’ll explain).

There should not be any spoilers not found in the synopsis on the backs of the books.

Blessed Carlo Acutis to become Saint Carlo Acutis

The Eucharist is the highway to heaven – Carlo Acutis

I had heard about Carlo Acutis several years before his relics and Eucharistic Exhibition came to my church. I was intrigued not only by such a young man who was venerated and declared Blessed, but by how recently he had died (in 2006) of acute promyelocytic leukemia. He was near enough to my kids’ ages that it was something that pulled at me. I had seen photos of him and read brief snippets, but when I was told that this exhibition and his relics were coming to our church for nearly a week during Lent, I began to read more. I volunteered to help during the exhibition, and I attended the talks given by the woman, Eileen Wood at Catholic Quest, who was custodian of this display and his relics as well as several of the liturgies held during that week. We also had our own resident expert give a couple of talks about relics in general as well as Eucharistic miracles in particular. It was a busy time at our church, and we had over 1500 visitors in the time we held the exhibit.

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Griffins and Ginger Snaps

-I write, and I have a blog because of course I do-

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