Third Day in Appleton

This is St. Mary's Parish in Appleton where I went to Mass this morning. My home parish is St. Mary's in Rochester so it was nice to go to another. After Mass, I stopped by the Starbuck's to enjoy some coffee and to continue reading a book written by a friend of mine: Archbishop Oscar Romero: A Disciple Who Revealed the Glory of God by Damian Zynda. I took two of her courses in spirituality at St. Bernard's. This book grew out of her doctoral dissertation at the University of Toronto. The first chapter is a very useful summary of Romero's life and especially his person, spiritual, and psychological growth. She then uses insights from St. Irenaeus to explore his life and spirituality. I haven't finished it but I would very much recommend it.

When I got back to the house, we all settled in for a day of football. After Saturday's very interesting games, it was a bit of a let down to watch the Chiefs being dismantled by the Ravens. My consolation is that the Chiefs are a young team which will only get better as it gains experience and this year they over-achieved anyone's reasonable expectations. Harry came over for the Packer's game which was much more entertaining and closely contested. Thankfully the Packers won which will put everyone in Wisconsin in a much better mood Monday morning.

Bronwen came down this morning in a darling outfit and I got some nice photos of her and Harry. I will be taking Harry to lunch Tuesday anywhere off campus he would like. Apparently this will be a Thai restaurant in town. It has been a year since I had seen Harry. Immediately I noticed that he seemed thinner. It turns out that he may be the only first year student in an American college who lost weight rather than gaining the "freshman fifteen." This may have something to do with the non-existent minimum drinking age in England and the colonists' insistence on 21.

In between the two football games, I scouted around for some likely picture making sites and found a couple along the Fox River a bit upstream from the University. Appleton and the Fox River were the home for major American paper companies because of the water power of the river and thus the possibility of mills. Many of the dams creating this power are still here even though the water power is little used. The water, the dams, the ice, and the afternoon sunlight resulted in some nice though not spectacular images.

There have been some additions to the photo album. View the Appleton Visit Photo Album.