Ladydale Diary
Saint Bernardine of Siena, 2021

Since tomorrow afternoon is looking a little cluttered, I’m writing this week’s Diary a day earlier than usual. It’s Thursday afternoon and I’ve spent the past hour or so recording this week’s three podcasts for the inner Sanctum. Check them out!

Where to begin?

Last Friday, I taught my customary online class for Red Cultural in Chile. Currently we’re covering mediaeval English literature. I concluded our discussion of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and commenced the discussion of The Canterbury Tales.

On Saturday, I met some friends at a local bar to watch Chelsea in the English FA Cup Final. Although the Blues dominated much of the game, they lost one-nil. Somewhat deflated, I returned home with just enough time to get ready to go with the rest of the family to a piano recital, at which Evangeline was playing. The feast of Chopin, Liszt and Beethoven was enough to lift my spirits.

On Sunday, after Mass and the subsequent brief but mandatory siesta, I spent three hours in the garden doing hard vigorous labour. First, I dug out the two drainage ditches on the south side of the house, and then, after a brief rest, I put on my waders and dug out the duck pond, which had silted up and was in need of serious attention. When I say “silted up”, I really mean “sludged up”. Surprisingly enough, I actually enjoyed it. I find the employment of such brainless brawn invigorating, which probably explains why I’ve been going to the gym for the past thirty-four years.

Susannah had invited a friend to dine with us on Sunday evening, which ensured a leisurely and highly enjoyable end to the weekend. Roast pork, red wine and a scrumptious homemade desert.

On Monday, as is customary, I recorded the FORMED Book Club with Father Fessio and Vivian Dudro, continuing our discussion of the best of Chesterton’s essays. Yesterday, inspired by these discussions, I wrote an essay for the Imaginative Conservative on Chesterton’s “extraordinary genius” as an essayist. I imagine that this will be published this weekend. The only other essay I’ve written this week was on “heroism” for the forthcoming August issue of Legatus Magazine.

On Tuesday I again took time out to watch a Chelsea game. This was a much happier occasion, with the Blues playing well and winning convincingly. And then, in the evening, I met Father Dwight Longenecker at a local restaurant for dinner. Ribeye steak, medium rare, washed down with a Manhattan, Father Longenecker’s cocktail of choice, and a glass of cabernet sauvignon. Convivial company, good conversation and fine fare. There are worse ways of whiling away an evening!

This morning I was interviewed for the Mike Church Show and then settled down to write the essay on “heroism” already mentioned. Then, after eating lunch, I had planned to leave for the gym but found myself succumbing to a wave of fatigue. Deciding that a quick nap was in order, I slept surprisingly soundly for a whole hour. I must have needed it. As for the gym, I don’t feel too guilty because I’d gone two days in a row, on Tuesday and Wednesday, which, at my age, is probably sufficient.

Tomorrow, I’m not teaching the weekly online class for my Chilean friends because it’s a public holiday there. I am being interviewed tomorrow morning via Zoom by the University of Mary in North Dakota and then I’m giving an online talk tomorrow afternoon for an online homeschool conference, jointly sponsored by Homeschool Connections, for which I teach, and Ignatius Press, for which I write. It was the latter event which has prompted me to record the podcasts for the Inner Sanctum and write this week’s Diary a day earlier than usual.

I’ll sign off with a prayer that all my friends in the Inner Sanctum have a blessed and Spirit-infused Pentecost.