LEFT OVERS

ALL RIGHT! It's Thursday night, and I haven't written a blog. I'm sort of overwhelmed finishing all the various annual reports that have to be done this time of year–the State of Florida gets one, my Bishop gets on, the national church gets one, my congregation gets one. Then I am preparing two Bible studies each week and shortly have a series to do for Lent along with all my regular duties. I keep carrying heavy tomes home to work with, but don't get a lot done.

Then there are some silly nuisances I must take care of. My answering machine quit working and my telephone didn't always work, so I had to get a new one. Then my clock radio has gone nuts. The alarm on it won't work and something has gone amiss with the display so that I can't tell if it's 9:00 or 3:00. So I'll have to get a new one of those, but I'm not paying a fortune for it. Then our government in its great wisdom has decreed that TV stations must stop broadcasting in analog (although that's been delayed). I only use an old rabbit ears antenna so I have to buy a converter box and see if I can get any wort of signal. I get two and a half fuzzy stations right now. I suspect if I'm lucky I'll get one decent station with the box. Fortunately, I think it will be ABC and not Fox.

I should send out some emails to some of my online friends. I have fallen sadly behind. And I simply MUST get to work on my taxes soon.

So I was looking through some blogs I had started but not finished. None of them could be finished without a lot of work. There's one about Benedictines (that's an order of monks) and one about oblates (a sort of associate of a Benedictine monastery) which I thought was interesting because I am an oblate. There is the long promised one about Lincoln's speeches. (Happy 200th Birthday, Abe.) I have a grumpy one about evolution. (I am a proponent of the theory of evolution,) Another blog about my great-grandfather who I never met and one about my mother. And oh yes, one about coal which I had mapped out in my head pretty well, but only wrote the first two sentences. Maybe someday I'll finish them.

So what can I write?

Well, for you northerners I have some good news. The robins have arrived in Ocala. Every winter at about this time the robins begin their northern migration again. There have been hundreds of male robins at the church for the last week. They won't stay here long before they continue on their homeward journey. And after the males get things straightened out, the females will join them. They're no fools. They're staying where the weather is warmer. I have a very small, blurry picture of one of the robins, but it's on the office computer. Also tried to take picture of the hawks circling the church looking for a robin snack, but didn't get the camera in time. Maybe the hawks would prefer a couple of squirrels. One can only hope.

For you local folk, I'm going to do a unpaid commercial for a new restaurant in Ocala, Grace Sushi, 8075 SW HWY 200. It's in the shopping center with the new Publix. They've got a full Japanese menu as well as sushi. My friend Fr. George and I tried it out last week, and we can vouch for the quality of the Pork Katsu and Chicken Teriyaki. Go at lunch time an order a Bento Box. It's huge and served with soup and salad (try the ginger dressing). I am anxious to go back and try the teppan yaki, yaki soba, shrimp tempura, and maybe then some maki sushi. I'm pushing the place because I'm afraid it will fold like so many of the restaurants here. By the way, the chef is Japanese, but the wait staff is Chinese so don't try to impress them with your "domo arigato."

I've never been to Japan and can't imagine going there, but I am a fan of Japanese food, Japanese art, Japanese architecture, and Japanese gardens. (There's the excellent Morikami Garden in Delray Beach. I took the picture at head of the blog there ) I even own a Japanese car–only because I wanted one that's reliable. Unlike all my previous cars, this one has required no repairs in it's first year.

Let's see. How about a picture of a bento box lunch to close?


Yummmmmm!

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne



Food image from www.pachd.com




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