Thursday, September 14, 2023

Can I Interest You in the Roman Empire?

 

Today my boss had said why didn't I work two hours in the morning when I asked about taking the whole day off, so I did. To my surprise, I learned there was a TikTok challenge where women ask their significant others how often they think about the Roman Empire, and the men say, "Every day," or, "Every week." I have never heard Travalon mention the Roman Empire, but since he was sitting right near me, I said, "How often do you think about the Roman Empire?" and he said, "Truthfully? About once a week." I was stunned, and even more so when I texted Rich the same question, and he replied, "Multiple times per day." So I posted on our Water Cooler channel at work about this, and of the two guys, our boss said maybe he had passing thoughts about the Roman Empire frequently, but he didn't sit and ponder it. The other said he thought of it every time he ate grapes, because he imagined having servants to feed him grapes and fan him. The one woman said she'd have to ask her boyfriend tonight, and the other one texted her husband. She said, "I expect he'll be like, 'Huh?'" and sure enough he was like, "Uhhhh.... seldom?" so I said, "You called that one!" Then she sent a second screen shot where he elaborated that he didn't have zero interest in the Roman Empire, but about as much interest as making friendship bracelets or playing competitive table tennis. So the jury is still out on whether this is a real thing that men are always thinking about the Roman Empire.

After my grueling two hours of work, Travalon and I went to take a boat ride, but once again the water was too low. We are now the only ones on our side of the pier, and it is the side that the river pushes against, so the silt has built up. I seem to remember that they used to dredge it, but they probably won't for just one little boat. So we took a hike at Cherokee Marsh instead.

In the afternoon Rich came to pick me up with the woman who has the fabulous porch. We talked about her name on this blog, since she doesn't have one, and she said how about her old college nickname of R Van the Terrible? We drove out to Anna Banana II's family cottage on Lake Ripley, where Anna Banana II and her husband and Jilly Moose greeted us. I immediately asked Mr. Anna Banana II how often he thinks about the Roman Empire, and he said not much, so that is another data point. Rich grilled burgers, and Anna Banana II made delicious home fries, and there was much other food we had brought, like I brought ground cherries, hummus, and pita bread to snack on. The three boys I have mentioned on this blog before came, and their mother wanted a responsible adult with them when they went out in the row boat, but she had to settle for me because I was the only person of majority age who wanted to go out on the water. The oldest boy officially became a teenager yesterday, and he is a real pistol. He did most of the rowing and managed to splash me a lot, then when his brother took over, he rocked the boat and hollered random things at the top of his lungs. At one point he lost an oar, but fortunately they float, and I was able to rescue it. The littlest boy, who I think turned three at the end of last month (I believe the middle one is ten) was terrified and crying, maybe partly because I wasn't 100% sure this was all going to end well, at least for me - they all had life jackets on, but the oldest boy was sitting on mine. Their mother did immortalize "Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub... with a lady." 



We dropped the littlest one off at the dock, and the middle boy got to row a bit, then everyone packed up and headed to a church in Madison, where the Arm of St. Jude was being exhibited.


They said anything you touched to the reliquary became a third-class relic, so I touched the rosary below on the right, which I got in Sauk some time ago and promised to post a photo of here.


The one on the left is from Holy Hill (or, as Travalon's Auntie Katie used to say, "Hilly Hole"), and it has medals of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the Our Father beads. I also touched Niko to the reliquary, so now Niko is a third-class relic. What does this mean for him? I think he can't be thrown away, he has to be burned or something. Or venerated. Maybe if you touch Niko, the healing power of St. Jude, Patron Saint of Lost Causes, will flow through you. Of course, I hadn't planned to venerate a first-class relic, so this morning I didn't exactly dress to go see the Arm of St. Jude. I told Rich, "I'm wearing a hoodie with an alcoholic beverage on it!" and he said, "It's okay - we're Catholics, not Baptists." True, and I actually got two positive comments about it at the church! This is the wildest Exultation of the Cross I ever remember!


Famous Hat


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