Sister Victorine

Today was the day of Sister Victorine's funeral.  She was Kathy's first cousin and she passed away at age 94. She has been a nun nearly all her life having entered the convent in 1941. She celebrated 75 years of her vocation in 2017.  She was one of ten children - three brothers and six sisters, two of whom were also nuns.  The funeral was impressive.  The bishop of Syracuse, and the bishop of Ogdensburg were scheduled to officiate.  Because of the snowstorm, the Syracuse bishop was unable to make it to Watertown.  But there were more priests on the altar than I have ever seen before, and the bishop of Ogdensburg gave a wonderful homily celebrating Sister Victorine's life.  We were so glad we could be here to celebrate her life with family and friends.

Snow in the North Country

We left Sea Cliff this morning under overcast skies, and after an hour or two we were in blue sky and sunshine.  Then we passed through Syracuse, headed north on Rt 81 and pretty soon we were in snow.  It is called "Lake Effect Snow" because the cold wind blows across Lake Ontario picking up moisture and dumping the snow on the land.  We are here for the funeral of Kathy's cousin, who has been a nun all her life, and who passed away peacefully at 94.

Father Martin

This is our friend, Father Martin.  He is a wonderful Priest who is wise, and compassionate and he has a great sense of humor.  Our church is being refurbished for several months, so Masses are being held in the school.  As we entered the school, I noticed Father Martin sitting just outside the room where the Mass was to be held, and I saw him in quiet contemplation, and quickly grabbed my camera to record this moment.

This Obsession With Food I Have...

All of a sudden all I am taking photographs of is food!  Kathy made yet another sourdough loaf and I cannot believe how beautiful this is!  We used to buy bread up at the specialty grocery, and it came from a bakery in Brooklyn that uses wood fired ovens.  This loaf looks as good as that, and tastes even better!  The bread looked so good, that instead of photographing it on the stove top, I set up one of my photographic umbrellas so that I could photograph the bread on the dining room table.  I am getting so spoiled having all this fresh bread!

Jess Didn't Want Her Picture Taken...

This is Jessica, and she didn't want her picture taken.  I explained that anyone who has coffee with me is at risk of having their portrait done.  She wasn't feeling all that great, so that has something to do with it.  We got together at Dunkin Donuts for coffee today, to catch up.  I have written of her before - she came to our astronomy club when she was a sophomore in high school, looking for help building her own telescope.  She continued to come to meetings, graduated from high school and then went on to Stony Brook University, where she graduated with three degrees, Physics, Engineering, and Astronomy!  Wow!  Now she will be heading off to the University of Arizona for beginning work on her PhD.  Wow...

"Pastrami on Rye, Please, No Mustard..."

There was a food story in Newsday the other day that said a restaurant was offering a pastrami sandwich for the super bowl, and it cost $1000.  It had truffles and gold leaf, among other ingredients!  I have not had a pastrami sandwich in probably 25 years.  I just don't go to delicatessens for sandwiches, and if I do, I usually have roast beef.  But when I saw that story I just HAD to have a pastrami sandwich.  So I went to one of the local delis and bought this!  I only ate half of it today, I will have the other half tomorrow.  It was absolutely delicious!  Oh, and note that it came with a dill pickle spear, in the top of the photograph.

Cat-In-The-Box

Kathy bought a cloche, which is a two piece ceramic  dome-shaped device for baking some kinds of bread in the oven.  It came in this box, carefully wrapped in paper.  Nice that it was paper, instead of bubble-wrap.  Anyhow, whenever any kind of box or bag arrives in the house, Grace is immediately curious about it.  She climbs under it and over it and in it, and will amuse herself for an hour hiding in the wrappings!  Endlessly fascinating are our cats!