A Word About Losing One’s Head

Today, Aug. 29, is an important Feast Day in the whole Christian Church (except Protestantism, which generally does not observe feasts at all): The Commemoration of the Beheading of John the Forerunner, also called John the Baptist. It is a feast that is commemorated by fasting rather than feasting because of the grief the Church …

Update on My Life as a Teacher

I haven’t posted anything for quite a long time because I’ve been utterly swamped at school. Between reading the textbook ahead of the cadets, making lesson plans, the daily schedule, and grading homework, I have barely kept my head above water. (Which is what I expected, since I didn’t arrive on campus until a few …

A Word on Works

I don't know if this was intended or one of those odd little mistakes that manages to make profound sense, but Fr John Morris, pastor of St George Orthodox Church in Vicksburg, said the following this morning, in relation to the Dormition Feast: Those who do good works will go to heaven while those who …

And Now For Something Completely Different

I haven't posted for a while so it's time to catch everyone up. In a word, I'm back in Mississippi until Christmas. I will be a substitute US History and Geography teacher at Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in Port Gibson (the town where Brenda and I spent the month of July). I received a phone call a …

“Highway 61 Revisited” Revisited

The very first road trip we took with the (then) new VW Tiguan was a journey down the northern half of the Great River Road (GRR) – a route that follows the Mississippi River from its headwaters outside Bemidji all the way to New Orleans. US Highway 61 also follows approximately that same route although …

Oak Square

Our last night in Mississippi we decided to stay at a Bed and Breakfast called Oak Square located in plantation house complex in Port Gibson. Technically Oak Square is a town house rather than a plantation house. The plantation, complete with plantation house and all the buildings associated with it, was located a few miles …