God's Great Big Beautiful World

One of these was on my patio this morning

The very first week we moved back to Florida 26 years ago, a baby pygmy rattlesnake placed itself across the bedroom threshold as I was carrying in fresh laundry to be folded. Squinting my eyes in order to see what it was, I leaned over and that thing struck at my face. I screamed and ran back into the kitchen wondering what to do. Eventually I managed to get it into a bucket, placed it outside then hysterically called my brother. Over the phone he said, "What's the matter with you? You grew up in Florida. You know we have lizards and spiders and snakes and alligators."

The MSM's Hurricane Fearmongering Porn Has Consequences

Not what my chart indicated!

As a Floridian who's lived through countless hurricanes since the age of three here're a few tips for the next time a hurricane arrives. Keep in mind that people living in hurricane zones constantly plan updates to their homes to deflect damage should a hurricane directly hit their area. They also normally already have ample hurricane supplies on hand.

1 - THE PROBLEM 

The number one tip - almost always the first rule on every list of life - is never listen to the MSM's fearmongering porn. 

An open letter to Michael Voris

Michael and the never ending battle

Dear Michael Voris,

I'm here to help you out in what seems to be a dilemma for you. I have the answer to Church Militant's problem. Whether or not you'll listen is up to you.

A) Recognize the problem

Church Militant's problem is that it's fighting a losing battle. You're constantly playing ecclesial Whac-A-Mole. No sooner does Church Militant whack down one priest, bishop or cardinal for sodomy, stealing or some other equally nefarious thing, than another worse problem jumps up and you then have to whack that problem down. It's never ending and will never be controlled. It's impossible because you're fighting against the Modernism that Vatican II placed within Christ's Church. It's everywhere in every crook and corner of every diocese in every parish in the entire world.

The Story of the Black Lace Mantilla

St Biagio (Blaise), Maranello, Italy

This is a trip down memory lane that will probably not interest many of you but I'll tell the story since it shows that God provides for us even in the tiniest detail of our lives. 

Many decades ago when I was a protestant teenager I lived in Italy while going to school in Padua and Venice. The people I stayed with, Carlo and Ann, were friends of my parents from Florida. Ann was from Tampa and had met Carlo at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. They married, lived and worked in Orlando a few years, then went to Italy where Carlo had received a research grant at the University of Padua. I was a teenager and less than happy with my school so my parents arranged for me to go to university in Italy and stay with Carlo and Ann. It was a glorious time although if I had been Catholic then I might have gleaned more from the experience. However, I look back and see how God has his hand in the course of our lives, sometimes even in the tiniest details. This is the story of the Black Lace Mantilla.

Wearing my WOMEN FOR TRUMP mask from Florida to Montana and back

My mask of choice to irritate the demons requiring us to wear them is a WOMEN FOR TRUMP mask. One day, a few months ago, I was in the local grocery store mask free; the immediate next day there was a sign on the door saying that masks were required in order to shop there, just like it says in the Bible that we have to be stamped with the Mark of the Beast in order to buy and sell. Incredibly incensed at being forced to wear a mask, I thought if I had to wear one to shop where I had always shopped I would wear a Trump mask. So I drove down the highway to the "Trump seller" by the side of the road and bought a WOMEN FOR TRUMP mask, returned to the grocery store, slapped it on my face and went in. Unknown to me at the time, my mask adventures had begun.

Coronavirus Planetary Dashboard - updated every 10 minutes

Beekeeping Coronavirus suit

Yesterday I saw a woman in a shop wearing a face mask, blue latex gloves and a cloth raincoat (the sun was shining) buttoned up to her chin. There was no chance a COVID-19 bug was going to enter her system. 

On purpose - to test her sincerity - I sidled up next to her and coughed while pretending to look at a few articles on a shelf. If she truly had been scared of getting the virus, she would have scrambled away from me, but she just stood there and continued to shop. So much for being afraid of getting Coronavirus, even though she was dressed to the nines in protection gear. I think she was wearing "all that stuff" to get attention, much like Western women suddenly dressing in hijabs wanting others to think they are Islamic. It's for attention.

I'm not afraid of getting CV. Why? Because exactly two - TWO! - people in the entire state of Florida have (sadly) died from it. Out of 23 million people living in Florida, there are 46 confirmed CV cases, and out of those 46 people, only 2 have died. So my chances of expiring from CV look slim to none.

Here is a Coronavirus dashboard - updated every 10 minutes - to keep track of CV numbers all over the world. You can reference it to see your own area of the planet, then sit down and calculate your chances of becoming a victim.

Here is the article about 17-year-old Avi Schiffman, builder of the website. and his web scraping technology to accurately report on CV while fighting misinformation and panic. 

Meanwhile, there are exactly four rolls of toilet paper in my home - and I'm having company for a week. Should be enough. 

Yes, I converted for this

I didn't gallop race horses for nothing. The absolute thrill of it all - how to control the animal so it doesn't control you. I still have a hat like that, tan chaps exactly like that, an exercise saddle like that, a whip like that, wore my hair like that and rode a horse just like that on a racetrack like that - only in Florida, not California. You think Francis scares me? Regretfully, I haven't been on a horse in years, but the challenge inflaming me now is a different race to be run. From an innate love of horses arose a life lived in desperation to be near them, with them, on them. And to love God arises a life seeking how best to worship Him, then desperate to be near Him, with Him. However, from that arises the duty to defend Him.

So, yes, I'm a convert. And, as much as we all wish there wasn't so darn much to fight against every. single. day. we. get. up and that we could just relax and enjoy being Catholic, the truth is that an easy life has never been the lifelong lot of Catholics. Not in the past, not now and certainly not in the future. So yes, I converted for this - "this" being all the horror going on in Rome at the moment - and I thank God for the daily training of years of thinking how to hold those reins and that bit just so, how to to maneuver that horse in and out of tight places, when to accelerate, when to pull back. These days I'm just riding a different pony. My computer.

Well, well, well. Wellwellwell, welllwellwell, well, well...

This is what it takes to make them listen.
And I'm tired of it.

...one small post and Fr Gerry Cunningham was silenced. A huge THANK YOU to our pastor who sent the deacon in to preach the homily. Thankfully, our pastor will return this week.

But why must the laity have to protect itself from such profane masses? Profane homilies? What did these men go to seminary for? Who's teaching them? What are they learning? Who ordains such men to the holy priesthood? And for what purpose? 

As far as I can see, the purpose for their ordination is to keep Catholics on their toes making sure that Truth is preached, that Mass is holy - in other words, their purpose as clergy is for Catholics to become, not holy or better people, but to turn us into watchdogs, always on edge waiting for the latest fashionable new (or old) heresy to infect our souls. 

"Jesus is a smart guy. He must keep his underwear dry or people will die."

The Holy Spirit in his tighty-whities. 
Are they damp or are they dry?

Somehow the above title translates into "We are the Body of Christ." I'm still trying to figure it out, even after seeking clarification by asking visiting priest Fr Jerry Cunningham if Jesus' damp underwear was the theme of his Corpus Christi homily. [Orlando Diocese, St Mary of the Lakes Catholic Church, Eustis, FL, June 23rd, 10am Mass]

He said yes, then mumbled something which was difficult to understand because he speaks too fast. It went like this...

Me: "So the theme of your homily was that Jesus must keep his underwear dry because it could make people die?"

The January 17th Trump Awards for Most Corrupt and Biased Mainstream Media Losers

Ugliest Church of the Year Award
Orlando Diocese, 2001

This is going to be interesting. President Donald Trump will announce his Fake News Awards to "the most corrupt and biased Mainstream Media losers" on January 17th!

This must mean that the losers will be added to the ranks of other Trump foes with monikers he has bestowed upon them including “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, “Little Marco” Rubio, “Liddle” Bob Corker, “Low Energy Jeb” Bush and “Crooked Hillary” Clinton.

The latest on his list is "Sloppy Steve" Bannon, President Trump's former chief strategist dismissed in the wake of a disputed book about the Trump administration. Bannon also has been accused of being "responsible for the majority of the first-year leaks coming out of the Trump administration."

"Always track the hurricane yourself." - Me

The media spinning Irma

The three safest places to be in Florida during a hurricane are (listed in official order) Leesburg, Orlando and Sanford which form a triangle in Central Florida. We live directly in the center of that triangle. Central Florida is safer because when a hurricane moves inland, its intensity weakens from no longer being fed by ocean waters. However, it still dumps many inches of rain and causes wind damage before finally dying out.

Before and during Hurricane Irma I spent 5 days telling a panicked friend who had evacuated from Jacksonville to our home NEVER to listen to the news during a hurricane because it's all about ratings and NOT the truth. The media had frightened her so much that she drove from Jacksonville to our home in Central Florida and, as it turned out, closer to the eye of the hurricane because when she first heard the news - "DOOMSDAY FOR FLORIDA!" - the media had no clue where the hurricane was or where it was going. 

Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe

Orlando’s Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen ofthe Universe  is highly recommended not only for its internal and external beauty but also for the fact that this Shrine makes one proud to be Catholic.

Primarily the church was built for the spiritual needs of millions of visitors from around the universe who travel to Orlando theme parks each year, the Shrine being 3rd in popularity of 196 places of interest in the area. Thus the Orlando Diocese “reaches countless thousands of Catholics each year, providing them a spiritual oasis”, and oasis it truly is.