A.G.E's Joint

ALMIGHTY  God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever.  Amen. The above is from the Book of Common Prayer service for the first day of Advent. In the Christian tradition, Advent is both the beginning of the Church Year and the beginning of the Christmas season. It is a time of preparation and introspection. It has its roots in various Roman and Goth overwinter celebrations as European humans hibernated in the winter. The first candle is hope against the darkness of the world. That the snow would go away and warmth return.  These days, it's all about commerce. No one cares about the weather or war...

 Father's Day. My kids took care of me last week. The ribs were good, and the bourbon was better.  My own father has been gone for a while. Not perfect, but he did his best under trying circumstances. As I have gotten older, I'm not as hateful toward chores. But I still don't like general grocery shopping.  As I put this together, I think about my fictional family, the Morrises, and wonder how Emily and Charlie would surprise their Mommy and Daddy on this day? Maybe I'll work that up. 

 New story or old one? Neither.  I do have one coming up, though. We're going back to Washington DC. Last time I got Air and Space, the Zoo, and the main Smithsonian museum. This go around, I'm doing Natural History, Monument Row, and I hope to return to Arlington. It will be in the middle of October, so maybe we won't roast.  We'll see.