Saturday morning on retreat, and breakfast consists of oatmeal. Hot, solid, healthy, and filling. I add a small amount of butter, brown sugar, and craisins. My tea of choice is Bigelow’s orange spice, and a bowl of cantaloupe and blueberries round off the healthiest meal in my repertoire. I don’t know why, but I almost always take a photo of the first bowl of oatmeal on the weekend. I look forward to it every time, and I never get tired of it. It’s a wonderful start to a weekend of contemplation, inspiration, and learning.
While driving to work yesterday, the sun in my eyes, I saw a person walking on the sidewalk opposite where I was. He (this is presumed) was wearing blue bike shorts and a blue shirt, not too bright, but not navy either, in another timeline, I’d probably describe it as American flag blue, both spandex, made most likely for exercise or biking and a red do-rag on his head. See if you can picture it.
I asked myself, out loud mind you, “Is that Spider-Man?”
I did a double take, and what he was wearing came into better focus, and I laughed. I enjoyed the rest of my drive to work.
I don’t have a photo (I was driving after all), so below are some of the other things I’ve seen this week on my way to and from work:
Today is St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s Feast Day. This year marks the special occasion of the 350th anniversary of St. Kateri’s baptism here in New York. On Thursday, I’ll have a special travel edition with information on visiting her shrine for her feast day weekend happening in a few days.
In the meantime, I’m announcing a new page here on the website called Traveling with St. Kateri Tekakwitha found here. I wanted to celebrate and commemorate her baptismal anniversary while also including some of my visits to her spaces and the Mohawk lands as well as some of my research adventures as I write the book about her and her shrines.
A little something about St. Kateri:
She was born in 1656 in what is known as the Mohawk Valley region of New York State. Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother an Algonquin Christian.
When she was about four, both of her parents and her younger brother died from smallpox. She contracted smallpox and survived with lifelong health ailments, a frail constitution, and semi-blindness.
She was adopted by her uncle and was raised in the Turtle clan longhouse.
When she was ten, the village moved across the Mohawk River and formed the village of Caughnawaga. This site is the only fully excavated Iroquois site in the world. In 1666/1667, the Jesuits came to convert the Native population. They were allowed into the village as part of the peace treaties signed with the French government.
Kateri was baptized on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676 by Fr. Jacques de Lamberville.
In the fall of that year, she left the Mohawk Valley to live with her sister and brother-in-law in Kahnawake, a Mohawk/Jesuit village along the St. Lawrence River in what was known then as New France and known today as southern Quebec.
At Christmas of that year, she received her First Communion.
Despite being denied joining or forming a religious order, she formed a sisterhood with two other women and in 1679 took a vow of perpetual virginity, consecrating herself to Jesus, the son of Mary.
She died April 17, 1680. Her smallpox scars cleared up and she was in what was called the odor of sanctity.
The sketch below was done from memory by one of her spiritual directors, Fr. Claude Chauchetiere, SJ in 1685, five years after her death. She and her two companions watch as the mission chapel is being built.
The topmost photo is of the statue at the shrine at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Lake George, NY. The simplicity and elegance of the wood carving is an inspiration in my devotion to St. Kateri as well as the spiritual, sacred feeling it evokes when I visit it.
There are hundreds if not thousands of things to criticize the Trump Administration, the Republican Congress, and the Supreme Court about. Seriously. But people, could we get a grip and focus on prioritizing some of them?
I’m talking about the newly vacant Senate seats in South Carolina and almost in Kentucky.
Stephen Colbert is not running for it. He doesn’t live in South Carolina. He doesn’t want the job. There is a perfectly good candidate running right now – Dr. Annie Andrews. Donate and vote for her.
Stop talking about the suggestion that Graham’s sister be appointed to fill out his term. This is a normal suggestion when a congressperson dies in office. This is something that is done. For anyone saying she has no experience as a politician, I thought that was what we wanted from those running for Congress – outsiders?
He’s wearing jeans…..STFU – people wear street clothes in rehab. That’s the least of the questions.
Stop talking about if it’s AI or not AI – you know the picture I’m talking about. If McConnell won’t meet anyone in person, call the special election, and let him call you out on it. Personally, I think he died.
A selection of foods celebrating America’s 250: brownie, firecracker ice cream, star shaped donut, rocket pop float, stars and stripes donut with rocket pop creme, bomb pop, stars & stripes munchkins from DD, Firecracker pop Oreos. (c)2026Coca-Cola chocolate cake with ice cream, red, white, and blue stars and sprinkles, and a cherry on top from Cracker Barrel. (c)2026
Is Mitch McConnell dead? Alive? Somewhere in the middle? I spoke to him for 20 minutes and he said to me, and I quote, “As a doornail.”
Should Thomas Massie be appointed as interim Senator? SPOILERS: NO FUCKING WAY
Being against pedophiles doesn’t make anyone a progressive. Thomas Massie is a ridiculously conservative Republican who likes raw milk and taking governmental services away from the people who need it, and let’s not get into his views on the second amendment.
Not to mention that Kentucky changed the law to prohibit the Democratic governor from appointing anyone. He should call a special election and force TPTB to prove that McConnell is living and recovering. Am I the only one who feels as though Tom Kean of New Jersey was a trial balloon for something like this?
Graham Platner – Misunderstood or Nazi Rapist? Our panel of experts from a diner in Iowa weighs in on Maine’s disaster of a progressive
Vote blue no matter who is null and void when the candidate is a rapist with a Nazi tattoo, neither of which he apologizes for, not that an apology wipes away the heinous actions. We are Democrats. We don’t vote for rapists or Nazis. Ever. If that means Susan Collins gets another term, so be it. Fuck Nazis is the minimum.
The DSA is not a friend of the Democratic party. They don’t even claim to be Democrats. Stop giving them our money.
Did an Olympian athlete vandalize the reflecting pool at the Washington Mall or is Trump the fool that drove his motorcade over the national monument and then hired substandard contractors to fix something that wasn’t broken before the POTUS broke it himself? CNN investigates. Ha! No, they’re not.
If they can’t blame it on Joe Biden, they don’t report it.
Is Jew-hate the new summer trend or have we seen this before?
And how do we protect ourselves and our kids?
Also see previous DSA comments.
A group of friends spends the day on an island. The one Black man doesn’t come home. Am I the only white person seeing this? It sure feels like it.
Tragic and heartbreaking doesn’t begin to cover it.
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Mark Elias and Democracy Docket – he and his team is the only one keeping our voting rights afloat – the Supreme Court certainly isn’t.
While I know something of Native American culture, in writing my current book, I’ve discovered so much more, and it excites and inspires me. June is an important month in the Native American calendar, especially for the Haudenosaunee, as it is the season of strawberries. In addition to the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash), strawberries are a significant part of the culture, food source, and creation story. They are the first fruits of spring, and a leader of the berries. They are singled out for thanksgiving in the welcoming address before ceremonies.
Strawberries are sweet and tart, red and juicy. They can be enjoyed on their own or in other foods, mixed into salads, pureed into ice cream or yogurt, sat atop cakes or baked right in. They are refreshing and if you’re lucky, plentiful in June.
There are two Strawberry Festivals that you should know about happening in the next few weeks:
The 33rd Annual Strawberry Festival at the Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Community west of Fonda, New York on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28, and
Both events are filled with strawberry goodness, Haudenosaunee Mohawk culture, Native music and dancers, and much more! Check their flyers and websites for admission prices.
If you are in Fonda, stop by up the road and visit the St. Kateri Tekakwitha: National Shrine & Historic Site, celebrating the 350th anniversary of St. Kateri’s baptism on the site. She is the first North American Native Saint canonized by the Catholic Church.
If you decide on Kahnawake, don’t forget your passport for the border! You can also visit the Canadian National Shrine for St. Kateri where her relics are entombed. Contact the Kahnawake Tourism also to set up a tour of the village which sits on the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Today can be a difficult day for several reasons, the least of which is the shitshow that’s the current US government administration. There are fireworks (triggers for those with PTSD, pets, etc.). There are ceremonies commemorating the dead military of past wars and conflicts. There are mattress and car sales, which often don’t correlate to the reason for today’s day off from work, as well as picnics, parades, and a sea of red, white, and blue.
I’ve had flags on my front lawn for several months and as we move closer to the 250th anniversary of our country’s founding, I wonder if I should keep them up considering the fascism and lawlessness going on at the White House and in Washington, DC.
I did decide to leave them up for this weekend. Memorial Day hits harder than the other patriotic days especially when we are still at war and our “commander-in-chief” is a stark, raving lunatic who collects assassination attempts like my kids collect Pokemon cards.
I will be doing five things to get through the day today, and hope to keep my mental health on an even keel:
Wear my protest shirt.
Begin reading Heather Cox Richardson’s Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.
Spend some time going over my notes from my recent research trip for my book.
Spend time in prayer and prepare for my upcoming ten minute presentation.
Breathe, drink water, stay off the internet, and draw even if the drawings are doodles and intersecting lines in different bright colors.
What do you suggest for today to protect your mental health?
Things don’t always go as planned, and that’s okay.
The Mental Health Monday I planned for last Monday never happened.
You may not have noticed because I gave no preview; I’m trying to move away from the previews, but the planning was still there, it was on my calendar, I wanted to publish something weekly during this mental health awareness month – it just never happened.
Part of my mental health is having goals and following through on them, but also part of my mental health is allowing myself grace.
Grace to change my mind.
Grace to miss a deadline, and accept that especially if there’s a good reason.
Grace to let myself take time for myself to have breakfast after a doctor’s appointment and then go to work.
Grace to take my own needs into consideration, to put myself first, to consider my own priorites.
To accept my own importance.
To adjust for my own needs.
To sometimes save my spoons.
My recommendation to you today is to take a moment. Ask yourself what you want from today. Then try to let it happen.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 