This is Sage, my grandson, who likes to live simple, green, and magical in his tiny house in Boston. (Don’t you love that cedar siding?)

He also makes guitars.

And gets light from microbes

Just a simple — and sage — guy.

~~~

The house moves.  And Sage sings about it.

Much later (May, 2013) Sage was visited by a couple from Lisbon interested in tiny houses.  Here is what they wrote about his Gypsy Waggon, translated (loosely) from the Portuguese.

I read the translation and see a view of myself from far away … it is a very nice view .. thank you to Paulo and Catarina for visiting from Lisbon .. and seeing me with fresh eyes while my own have sometimes gotten jaded and faded .. feel hope and motivation .. i like how Roslindale is “a neighborhood almost chic” and golf balls are “small white balls come here to stop as meteorites from a hostile galaxy” ..

“” The ecological consciousness, the philosophy of do-it-yourselfers, the financial crisis and the real estate sector were the conditions for the movement to break out. In the U.S. and all over the world, more and more people choose to build their own home, tiny, and live in it. Just feel like owners of their lives

Since the address is odd. “Backyard No 50 Street W …” Yard of the number 50? Sage Rad lives in a backyard? No doubt, it is here. The number 50 corresponds to a huge house, wood, identical to all others in Roslindale, a neighborhood almost chic not far from downtown Boston. But access to the garage is covered by an old Dodge van with a stranger pegged wood. Next door there is a bike with a trailer too long where you can get a person. And then the cabin.

This is the abode of Sage, one wooden shack he built himself four years ago in a backyard borrowed. There are also materials all around, and trash, boards, logs, tables, mirrors, buckets, chairs and tables, services porcelain, plastics, clocks, vases, ladders, lamps, guitars, chickens …

Your world escapes any logical arrangement. Or so it seems. Includes the cabin and the land around it, and the garage converted into workshop. Adjacent to your yard, there is a huge golf course. Sometimes, small white balls come here to stop as meteorites from a hostile galaxy. Never returns.

Inside the small house chaos reigns. It is the first impression. But there is a stove for cooking and a stove to heat. Electricity is provided by solar panels installed outside. A bed, a bunk bed, shelves and walls with hundreds of bottles, cans, containers, knives, kitchen utensils, fruit, turnips, onions, eggs, cups and teapots, paintings, paper hanging. Underneath the bed is the place of clothing. It’s hard not to consider that is crumpled. On top of the mattress and sleeping bag behind the wrinkled, have the books, lined up like a showcase. Featured at the head, The Origin of Species, Darwin.

The chickens roam up on the shelves of food, pecking here and there, flitting through the house. Sage Rad (short for Radachowski, your apelino Slovak) sits on a bench and makes coffee. Beard, shaggy hair, 39 years old, a t-shirt with colored spots and the phrase “Legalize Life”. It would be easy to tell who has a crazy look. Too easy.

Your lifestyle is radical. Do not agree with the present organization of society, so decided not to spend money. Get everything in other ways. “I have what I need. Food, water, shelter, warmth. I try to simplify my life as much as possible. ” It has everything but does not buy anything. “This is my way. I’m going to look for food in garbage containers, food cultivation, gathering food in the forest. Chickens give me eggs, honey bees. There are ways to get food. Does not have to involve money. I live here, paid a small income, but hopefully not have to pay anything in future. To be free, I have to live on the margins of the system. ”

To show that this is true, will get some cabbage leaves stored in a pile of manure. Caught them in the trash and will cook them, explains. Almost everything that has been caught and that consumes the trash. The materials to build the house, clothes, shoes. “I still buy some things, but not much. I would spend a whole year without buying anything. ”

What is your profession? “Carpenter” answers. He adds with a sheepish grin: “I also work at Harvard in the field of electronics.”

In the world’s most prestigious university, Sage Rad is involved in important research project. Is it better to be explaining: “At this time with a Chinese teacher working on a project to produce water purification technology, which will be applied in China. Remove arsenic from water, eliminate pollution. Working with microbes and electricity. Microbes are electric. The process is called bio-electrosíntese and basically consists of living microbes have a piece of graphite in the slurry. Another electrode in the water produces some metabolic reactions that help purify water. ”

At university, he was asked to work full time, but he refuses. Will there only one hour per day. We also offered jobs in large companies, not accepted. Has worked in software and high technology. Let all the carpentry. Builds houses and paint walls. Another activity that is engaged in the construction of guitars. Already have many hanging in the workshop. The format is strange, invented by him, and serves two purposes: ease of transport on the bike, and the production of a unique sound.

For this purpose, Sage surrendered to the deep study of acoustic science. After many experiments, invented their own techniques. Inside the box resonance places a wooden structure shaped Nautilus, inspired by investigations of Leonardo da Vinci. And to tune the instrument arm adopts models approximate tonal scales, following the example of Bach’s tuning in Well-Tempered Clavier, because the song explains, completeness and accuracy are not the same.

“Many builders guitars use mathematical models to define the measures of the frets. But the music mathematical formulas do not work. You need to find some imperfection. Everything is compromise. ”

Grab one of the guitars and start playing. The sound is pure and perfect pitch. Performs Cantata 147, Jesus, Joy of Man, Bach, interpreted blameless, clean, moving.

As with so many other things he can do, Sage did not learn music. It comes from a poor family, and, after high school, he studied Anthropology at the University of Connecticut. But soon traveled to Nepal, where he lived in villages, teaching sociology, English and Computer Science. Where’d you learn that?

Prefer to explain how she learned to live simply, in the nine trips he made to the Himalayas. On his return he began working in carpentry, construction of houses. “I have built many, for others, but had no chance to build my own home. This shows how the system is not right. Have to pay simply to exist on this planet. We were born here. Because we have to pay for the privilege of living here? I believe we can build our own home. But the fact that some people possess the land and others have to pay just to exist is not right. Is not moral or ethical. ”

One day Sage found a book about the life of Gypsies. It was then decided to build his tent. Even created a site on the net called Gypsyliving.org , but as has not paid the annual fee for accommodation, canceled it.

It took four months to build the house, working only on Saturdays and Sundays. Live here, alone but not lonely. “Nothing like that. What I need is more time alone. People are always visiting me. Spend some time alone, but I need more. I’m still in the system, and wasting a lot of time to make money. Each day brings more cards in the mail. Accounts of the Government. I try to have more time for me, cutting the things that mean nothing. I do not need more stuff. I just need more time. ”

In the backyard there is a roost with nine chickens and a bee hive. Sage that was built, after much study on their own, as is his habit. Shows the book that’s been read – The Democracy of Bees, Thomas Seeley. “They have a process of decision making. Bees have more democracy than the U.S.. ”

Want to show the hive, but when it gets there waiting for a terrible surprise: all the bees had died. Soon finds an explanation: “It was pollution, chemicals. Stress. ” Removes the boards of the tenement, with a razor, and finds thousands of dead insects inside. But also swollen combs of honey, which brings home. His eyes no longer seems crazy, just immensely sad and human. Makes plans to capture a new swarm by the flowers of spring, and build a new hive. “It is a sweet tragedy,” he says, sucking his fingers full of honey. “I will build a hive very good, so they want to go there to live. Bees choose their own home. ”

Sage Rad chose this cabin and does not intend to ever go back to living a “normal” house. Will build another hut for his girlfriend, and maybe one day buy land where they can live a few dozen people, each in their tiny house. Sage thinks it will be possible, because not alone. Despite all their uniqueness, belonging to a movement.

I’ve been following Jennifer Fulwiler’s blog,   Conversion Diary, ever since I discovered the blogosphere some three years ago so I am delighted to have discovered this very recent interview in which she traces her journey to the Catholic Church. It is so good to “meet” her in person after having read about her questions and answers and growing family over the years.

She writes:

Research led me to the shocking conclusion that God exists, and the more shocking conclusion that he became man in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. While trying to figure out what Christian denomination to join, my husband and I both agreed that we’d consider anything but the Catholic Church: he said it was corrupt and not Biblically-based. I said it was oppressive, anti-woman and archaic. We were both surprised, then, when months of research led us to the one place we said we wouldn’t go—-

Meet Jennifer, now 34, married for seven years, and mother of five children — a living, breathing, intelligent, struggling, writing Catholic!

Conversion of an Atheist – Jennifer Fulwiler from Renewal Ministries on Vimeo.

Seniors at the Clark Retirement Community lip-sync “Feeling Good.”

Our pro-life group gathers at Nick’s Restaurant once a month to celebrate the birthday(s) of those with birthdays in that month. I was the only July person so the party was all mine. What a pleasure to get together with like-minded people for a good meal, good conversation, sharing and singing.

Here I am, with a ribbon corsage and a superabundance of pinkness

Singing and blowing are required:

Too bad the light from the window prevents a good look at our gang. Joan in the forefront, Helga and Bernhard in the shadows.

Mike and Dolores

We were so happy that Gary drove Mary to Nick’s and that she was able to join us after her stay in the hospital and rehab.

Life-long prolifers, Ben, ex-jet pilot, and Bob, ex-fireman.

Pics thanks to Deirdre.

~~~

A family with an old person has a living treasure of gold. — Chinese proverb

Thalma Tavares is 85, can barely walk, and she teaches – of all things – BOXING! Meet a tough ….and tender….lady.

Long, long ago, way back before I was born, way back in the olden days, there was a thing called marriage. From the beginning it was apparent that men and women were attracted to each other and they had discovered a thing called sex. They had also figured out that the thing called sex caused babies. They believed there was a Person called God who was in charge of the world, who had told them how they were to live.

Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. – Matt. 19:4-6.

In the olden days, marriage was a holy convenant, a promise before God and man, “for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, until death shall us part.”   Such a thing was not to be taken lightly; it was no casual hook-up. The promises were the glue, society would watch over the union, and God would provide the grace to make it work. Rings were exchanged which were a sign to others that they were in a convenant relationship. No wonder people cried at weddings! A marriage was a beautiful, awesome, holy thing. A vow was made before God.   Friends  were asked to be witnesses. Two young people with stars in their eyes and love in their hearts were serious about making this union work! And they were committed to caring for any offspring that might result.

Ronald Sider, President of Evangelicals for Social Action, writes:

The core idea of marriage–as a relationship between a man and a woman that obligates them to work together to nurture their biological children–has been important to every known civilization. Why? Because it corresponds with three fundamental realities of human existence: It takes both a man and a woman to make a child; any society that wants to survive must have children; children deserve both their mother and father.

In the old days when marriage came before sex and the baby carriage, society was more stable.  Vows were taken seriously.  Even if the actuality of living out the marriage left something to be desired (which is usually the case!) there was more belief that with God’s help they could make it work.  The world was not full of single moms desperately trying to feed their kids, and single men out on the prowl. The men had a woman to go home to and the woman had a man to provide home and food while she cared for the babies. Babies had a present and available mother. It was a plan. One might even say it was God’s plan.  It provided parents for the kids. The kids knew who made them and knew who would care for them as long as necessary.

From Janet Smith

Think of the difference between these two phrases: “I want to have sex with you.” and “I want to have a baby with you.” It’s awesome – the difference. Our society says, “I want to have lunch with you, I want to go to movies with you, I want to play tennis with you, and I want to have sex with you.” No big deal. But if someone comes up to you and says, “I want to have a baby with you,” you should be knocked off your feet. Because, if they have any idea what they’re saying, they’re saying: “I want to be with you from now till forever. First of all, we’d be bringing forth a new immortal soul and we have an immortal link through this immortal soul that wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t engaged in this act. It also means, I like you eyes and your smile and the way you walk and I want to bring another one of you into this world. And I like the way you think and I want my children to think like you. And I’m willing to be there for midnight feedings and breakfast and PTA’s and weddings and the long haul. I want to have a baby with you.” That’s an incredible thing to say to someone. “I want to have sex with you.” We say that with the greatest of casualness. “I want to have babies with you.” If you know what you’re saying, it’s an incredible statement. You are expressing the desire for an incredible bond with a person when all of your acts of sexual intercourse leave open the ordination to procreation. Whether it’s literal or symbolic, at least it’s there and preserved in some sense.

Janet Smith obviously takes the fertility as a gift and I cannot recommend highly enough the article from which this quote was taken.

Steven  Greydanus, in his article Redefining Marriage, writes:

And yet whatever cultural vagaries or ambiguities have existed, whatever wiggle room has been permitted, tolerated or carved out, there remains a clearly recognizable institution, found everywhere that human beings are found, in which a man and a woman are socially recognized to have formed an enduring union, a union that is the socially sanctioned context for sexual relations between a man and a woman, from which it is generally expected that children may arise.

Activists have labored mightily to avoid this conclusion. Historical and anthropological records have been scoured with vigilance for any possible departure from the pattern. Numerous proposed precedents for same-sex have been compiled: accounts of this or that Roman emperor “marrying” a male slave; reports of curious customs in this or that African culture. Nearly all these supposed precedents collapse on second glance, and none of them provide a true precedent for gender-blind marriage, or pose a serious challenge to the universality of marriage as the enduring union of a man and a woman.

Catholics believe that Christ changed marriage, that for baptized Christians marriage is a sacrament, the sacrament of matrimony. Marriage itself, however, is a natural institution that still exists for all men of any religion or of none.

A thoughtful essay on sterile marriages

Is real marriage “just one of a range of legally-recognised options” as one writer put it?  Well, yes, because it is one of  many things people do.  But, no, it is not on a par with other sexual hook-ups.  It is not only God’s plan but demonstrably a better plan for society and for children.   Time will tell, won’t it?

(Vital statistics:  Dorothy Agnes Hodson, first child of Agnes and Frank Hodson, born July 11, 1923, in Detroit MI, weighing 6 lb 6 oz)

Most of us, even when we were young, have caught a glimpses of ourselves in a store window as we passed by and thought: “Is that how I really look? So, er…….un-wonderful!?” That happened to me again this morning. I saw myself in the door window as I entered church and thought:   “That is definitely an old lady. See her posture. See how she moves. Look at that face?”   Well, duh, what can I expect?  I am old.

I see a lady friend from a distance crossing the street. She is more than ten years younger than me and I think, “Omigosh! She’s turned into a little old lady, too!” Her hair is white and she seems to have gotten smaller. She’s still spry and sharp but she’s one of us.

Another friend has come out for the summer – into summer clothes, that is. He has gotten leaner over the winter. Arms are scrawnier.   Knees and elbows are knobby. He should have stayed under wraps. But we’re all in this together. When I asked him how he liked “this growing old thing” he said he didn’t.

It surprises me how often I leave church in the morning after mass with something already in my mind to blog about that day. Lately I have been comparing the seasons of life with the “seasons” of a pregnancy — something I am quite familiar with. You start out amazed that such a thing has happened to you — you are actually PREGNANT! — and then you settle into it and await developments. It goes on, and on, and on and on. And on and on. You get more and more uncomfortable and more and more looking forward to the end, with both fear and anticipation. The birthing thing doesn’t sound like much fun. The baby thing — what will it be like to have a wee human counting on me for every little thing? All day. Every day.

In the meantime, what is the baby inside thinking? Perhaps in some way it knows it has eyes, and ears, and arms and legs. Does it wonder why? Is it looking forward to being held in loving arms, tasting sweet milk, seeing a beautiful world, running, dancing, singing, enjoying a new and wonderful freedom? Of course not. It hasn’t a clue.

On the one hand, I feel like the pregnant woman at 9 months. We old folks have beening going on and on and on for some time now. And it’s not getting any easier. Sometimes it’s a serious drag. We look forward to the end with both fear and anticipation. The dying thing is inevitable — and scary. And then what?

On the other hand, I feel like the infant still in the womb, awaiting a new birth! What potentialities do I have that will then be actualized?

I came across this darling video just a day or two ago. It runs through all of a pregnancy in two minutes. And then? Voila! Le denouement!

Genevieve Damascus goes from skinny to full-on preggo in this time-lapse video. We took photos every week during her pregnancy, and what you see here is the progression from nine to 39 weeks pregnant… and beyond!

In another video we are given the privilege of watching Genevieve actually giving birth. She thanks God it is over and thanks God for the outcome.

We old folks (and Genevieve) are in the hands of a master designer. We have seen the polywog grow legs, the butterfly emerge from the cocoon, the baby robin go from hatch to dispatch in a three weeks. And we have known the blessing of a baby.

How can you wonder that I am anticipating the next scene?

He has shown me he is able, and he has promised.

~~~

Our times are in His hand
Who saith, ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God, see all
Nor be afraid. — Browning

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. — 2 Cor. 2, 9.

Some very intelligent men like Thomas Aquinas and Mortimer Adler and Joe Blow have reasoned that there has to be a God. They think this awesome universe couldn’t just up and start itself from nothing, that there has to be some super-intelligence behind it. Then along comes Jesus and he says, in essence:   “Hello, I’m God. I made the world.  I am Emmanuel which means, ‘God with you.’   And my name is also Jesus which means Savior because I came to save you.  You guys have really screwed up.”

He tells us some things we could never know just from reason, like he’s a three-in-one God. His Father sent him, and he’s going to send the Spirit, and they are all one God and they are all Love.

He did miracles to prove he was God.

He started a church.

He told us to love one another and that he loved us. Then he died on a cross to prove he loved us – to make up for our screw-up.

Then he rose from the dead.

Then he left us with his image on a shroud to prove once again that he had risen from the dead.

His last prayer was that we might all be one in Love.   Look at the mess we’re in now.   God’s church is splintered. We can’t even love others as we love ourselves, much less love others as Jesus loved us.

A third of the people in the world (some two billion)  identify themselves as some kind of Christian.  They live, and even die, because they believe he lived and died–and rose.

Supposed God really did visit us, dwell with us, speak to us. Wouldn’t that be important? Doesn’t it make sense to investigate?  And heed?

I pray for a special move of the Holy Spirit on everyone who reads this far.

Did Jesus Claim to be God?

The search of Alex Jones

~~~

There is enough light for those who want to see and enough darkness for those who are otherwise inclined. — Blaise Pascal

If Christ is not raised, your faith is worthless –1 Cor 15:14.

The Father has sent his Son as Savior of the world.  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,  God abides in him, and he in God.  — 1 John 4:14,15

If there is one lesson that we need to learn in life it is that our stay here on earth is a probation. We commonly speak of the trials of life. We should say that our life on earth is a trial. It is a test. It is God’s way of enabling us to prove our loyalty to Him. That is what life, as we correctly say, is – a valley of tears. It is an opportunity to prove our fidelity to the God from whom we came and the condition for our eternity with the God for whom we were made. – Fr. John Hardon

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Nothing could be more appropriate to hear on this day, the Fourth of July, than the declaration of independence of the American colonies from the tyranny of their government. And so, listen to the whole thing, probably for the first time……

This is a nation blessed by God – Rush Limbaugh

Ten Things You Might Not Know About America’s Independence

Senior citizens are constantly being criticized for every conceivable deficiency of the modern world, real or imaginary. We know we take responsibility for all we have done and do not blame others.

HOWEVER, upon reflection, we would like to point out that it was NOT the senior citizens who took:

The melody out of music,
The pride out of appearance,
The courtesy out of driving,
The romance out of love,
The commitment out of marriage,
The responsibility out of parenthood,
The togetherness out of the family,
The learning out of education,
The service out of patriotism,
The Golden Rule from rulers,
The nativity scene out of cities,
The civility out of behavior,
The refinementout of language,
The dedication out of employment,
The prudence out of spending,
The ambition out of achievement or
God out of government and school.

And we certainly are NOT the ones who eliminated patience and tolerance from personal relationships and interactions with others!!

And, we do understand the meaning of patriotism,
and remember those who have fought and died for our country.
Just look at the Seniors with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts as they stand at attention with their hand over their hearts!

YES, I’M A SENIOR CITIZEN!

I’m the life of the party…… even if it lasts until 8 p.m.
I’m very good at opening childproof caps…. with a hammer.
I’m awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.
I’m smiling all the time because I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.
I’m sure everything I can’t find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

Yes, I’m a SENIOR CITIZEN and I think I am having the time of my life!