It’s hump day, and only 22 more shopping days till Christmas (the beginning of Coynezaa) and 27 till PCC(E)’s birthday (the end of Coynezaa). On this day in history, St. Paul’s Cathedral was consecrated in London in 1697 and, in 1954, the odious Red-baiting Joseph McCarthy was censured in the Senate, later to die of alcoholism. On December 2, 1814, the Marquis de Sade died. But all is well in Chicago; I will spend most of the day writing a lecture, and am blissfully free of teaching or administrative duties. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili and Cyrus are cuddled up against the chill:
Hili: Wild animals say that they do not need sofas for anything.Cyrus: This is empty rhetoric.
Hili: Dzikie zwierzęta mówią, że im sofy nie są do niczego potrzebne.
Cyrus: To jest pusta retoryka
And in Wroclawek, Leon had a hiding place and a monologue on Monday (explanation below photo); the Andrzej is not Hili’s Andrzej, but half of Leon’s staff, which got married on the weekend.
Leon: And now a gift for Andrzej’s evening. I will jump out in an appropriate moment.
Malgorzata’s explanation: “Today is Andrzej’s [the Andrzej who’s on Leon’s staff] name day, which is an occasion to be merry even if your name is not Andrzej. Small gifts, parties, plenty of special plays etc. It’s in honor of a Scottish saint Andrew. I think in Scotland it is a proper holiday but is is also very, very popular in Poland.”
Ah – St.Paul’s! I spent many happy years there re-pointing the walls, laying marble, making balustrades etc etc……
… but if you do not teach, how will the youth of Chicago grow wise without the guiding hand of PCC(E)???!
Cats are always an appropriate gift.
I like how Leon’s paws look!
What a lovely photo of Hili and Cyrus!
Great gift for Andrzej.
My birthday is soon too, although I’m not expecting a cat. I was christened in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which isn’t in Scotland, it’s in New Zealand, but it always (naturally) celebrated St Andrew’s day too. Not with cats though, just special worship, which coincidentally is exactly what cats get. The difference is they deserve it. 🙂
“The difference is they deserve it.”
At least they think they do. 😉
Blasphemy, thy name is cat-hater! 🙂
It’s important that warm mammals should stay close on cold winter days….
b&
Very unfeline. Jumping out at an inappropriate moment would be much more feline.
Ref : C.Robin, Tigger et al, ad nauseam
It’s a toss-up as to which pic is the squee-est!
From my wife’s side of the family in Lithuania, I learned that Name Days take the place of Birthdays in many places in Europe. So much so that when I enquired what their parents’ or siblings’ Birthdays were for my genealogy software, they didn’t know. The day associated with their namesake Saint would be celebrated but Birthdays often go by without notice.
Apparently the Church has associated many more than 365 Saints with a day on the calendar. It occurs to me now to wonder about the Saint assigned to February 29. Maybe all of the other Saints laugh and call him names.
One feature is that even casual acquaintances can determine which day you celebrate.
Coynezaa! Jerryism. Awesomeness 🙂
No, totes amazeballs!
I couldn’t agree more.