March 2022: Joy persists

Twenty-tour months into the two-week pandemic, joy persists in numerous respects, despite the frigid (-14 degrees) weather of the day

The accompanying photo is from the title page of this blog, taken in Lawrence, Kansas, circa 1984, almost forty years ago, after my Wyoming stint and before my short time in Chapel Hill, which led me to Marquette and, well, you know the rest. Lawrence was the real start of my career. Decisions I made and things I did in those years in Lawrence (1978-1986) made much of what happened forty years later not only possible, but likely, from staying single, to starting to save money for retirement, and learning the practical elements of professorial life.

Juumping forward, we have the more recent foundation for today's success by leaving employment, Loyola, Baltimore and Maryland for retirement, Harrison, Appleton and Wisconsin. Yet these are all hygiene factors, foundational and fundamental, and namely the things that make joy more possible and likely.

The primary source of joy continues to be the three most important women enemy life, their successes in their endeavors, their continuing good health, their making a difference in the world, their ability to 'make my day' on a regular basis, and their capacity to put up with me.

There is joy in our warm house, from our good neighbors, with our pastor Fr. Carl. The list of things that bring be joy is pretty long, so much so that I compiled a file of those lists of reasons to be joyful, and these are from 2021 alone.