Bfth's Boring Blog

  This past week, I "treated" myself to a "spring break" taking two days off in the middle of the week.  It was only 2 days long and wasn't a "real" vacation as I stayed "home" (in the Poconos) and had a variety of things that I had to do that couldn't be done on a weekend or covered in a lunch hour.  (Or even an extended lunch break.)  It was good to have the time, even if it wasn't a "traditional" vacation. On Easter itself I went to an early morning service.  This may have been a mistake on my part, as music on Easter has always been a big part of the holiday for me and this service was quiet.  So that may have thrown me off my mark.  When I got home from church, I wanted to go out with my husband, but he wasn't into it. I'll admit that I got a little "miffed."  So instead I went for a walk and thought about it.  This Easter was never going to be the one that I wanted.  My son is away, my parents are dec...

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." (A Prayer of St. Francis) I am not Catholic.  I am Christian and I am profoundly saddened by the death of Pope Francis.    I am not saddened by the fact that a "Pope" died, but that a man who truly followed in the footsteps of Jesus and lead by example has passed away.  For me, Francis exemplified what Christians strive to be.  He, like Jesus, humbled himself.  He walked among sinners and outcasts.  He advocated for those who are marginalized. He embraced...

 After a long, cold and dark Lent, we've reached Good Friday.  I still have challenges with understanding why it is "good," but that's me.  For Christians around the world (and that includes me), it is a reminder of a dark day.  The day that Jesus, without any due process, was crucified and died.  What was his crime?  He cared for sinners and outcasts.  He was kind and listened to those not like him.  He ate with the lowest of the low. (You know tax collectors!)  He called for his followers to be compassionate and to care for others.  (Yes, I'm going back to one of my favorite verses:  Matthew 25:  31-40.)  And yet in doing this the angry mobs called for his death.  A man who preached love was hated.   I know I am no religious scholar.  I know that I've oversimplifying it all here, but... For me, Good Friday is a reminder of a darkness that filled man's hearts.  A darkness that I try (and, if I...

 Monday night I attended a church service entitled Women of the Cross.  A cross between a church service and a play, it imagines what women might have said to Jesus as he was crucified.  Women such as the wife of Pontius Pilate,  Anna the prophetess,  Mary Magdalene, etc.  This service has been offered in this specific church the Monday evening of Holy Week for the past several years.  It is powerful and moving. The priest who began the service, asked us to listen and to think about what we might say to Jesus if we were at the cross.  Which, of course, got me thinking and here's what popped into my mind.       WTF Jesus?  I know, totally inappropriate, but I can't help it.  WTF?  How did this happen?  I mean, I KNOW how it happened, but I just can't wrap my head around it.  WHY?  Why did this have to be?  Why did we feel that we had to torture and kill a man who was kind and only wanted to hel...

When we purchased our home in the Poconos there were a lot of things that seemed to point out that we were doing the right thing.  There seemed to be "signs" that this house and this area were for us.  One of the owners of the house had mentored/coached a friend of my son's at college.  The person who inspected the house for us just happened to have gone to the same high school as I did in NJ.  (He was two years behind me.)  The stars were aligned, right? (Now please don't take that to mean that all is perfect here.  As much as I love the house and the land there have been plenty of hiccups along the way, some of which were more costly than I imagine.  Isn't that the way of life though?) With that said another interesting coincidence (or sign) happened recently. With the purchase of this house, my weekly treks back and forth to NJ and the experience I've had over the past several years weighing on my mind, I decided it was time for my husband and...

  I think this photo says it all.  April is CRUEL. Now, I know it's not a lot of snow.  It's just a dusting, but... I mean, at the end of March we had one glorious day where I could actually be outside.  I could actually open the windows. The heat didn't have to come on.  Spring was here.  The flowers were blooming and now this? Now, I KNOW it can snow in April.  It's done so before.  I can actually recall a few flakes in May of 2020.  (May 9th to be exact.  It didn't even make a dusting, but I was out walking that day and snow did actually fall from the sky!)  However, this is unnecessary! 2025 thus far has been a particularly tumultuous year.  I think we can all agree that we've faced some real lows and very few highs.  But still we keep going.  As for me, I've had an eye allergy, a stomach bug and now seemingly yet another cold.  (This despite wearing a mask every time I take public transportation to the off...

  Disclaimer:  if this post is a little disjointed or incoherent (or perhaps that should read MORE disjointed or incoherent than usual), it's due to lack of sleep and too much caffeine.   It was three weeks ago (yesterday) when all of Route 80 in the area of Wharton NJ was completely shut down.  Back in February, the east bound lanes of the highway had been shut.  On March 19th, the westbound lanes were shut.  This is all due to sinkholes and "voids"  (For those not in the know this article pretty much sums it up:   https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2025/04/07/when-will-route-80-reopen-nj-releases-updated-reopening-timeline-from-sinkhole-repairs/82971983007/ )  It's been a nightmare for all who travel route 80, which includes lots of trucks carrying their wares from California to the NY area.  As annoying and crazy as it all is, I'm not complaining about the work that is being done.  I know they are working...

Stairs don't usually bother me.   Okay the circular staircase that leads to the lift in our house is a bit unsettling.  (Proof that I am an old lady, but hey it is narrow and a little strange.). Maybe I hold the railing when I go down the stairs .  It may be  the stairs in my house in NJ, or the steps that lead to the basement in the Poconos house, or the stairs that go down from the street to the light rail station.  But generally I have no.issues with stairs.  And maybe that's the whole point. Every morning when I get off the light rail, I, along with my fellow passengers, climb 39 steps from the lower level of Penn Station (where the light rail drops us off) to the main concourse level.  But these are not just "steps" they are escalator steps.  Because the escalator hasn't worked in months.  As matter of fact, I can hardly remember when the escalator actually DID work.  (And I KNOW it did.)  I had to do research to find out ...

 (Note:  This is probably going to be really boring and TMI for most...you've been warned.) Dear New Dr.,  We've moved to the Poconos and it's time for me to get a doctor in the area.  Insurance says you are in network and a (somewhat) reasonable distance from the house, so I'm selecting you. I haven't had many physicians in my life.  From birth till about age 10, I went to pediatrician, Dr. U, who then retired.  I went to see him a lot and even though I am nearing 60, I can still remember his office (in his home); it's antiseptic smell. A teal sofa and the portrait of a clown (Emmett Kelly?) in his waiting room. There were two examining rooms and Nurse Barbara (who scared the crap out of me).  My mother said that as I baby I would start to scream the minute we rounded the corner to get to his office.  I recall him as a good physician.  I was prescribed tetracycline quite a bit.  The one time he was on vacation, is when I got a terrible ...

  I always thought T.S. Eliot was referring to the fact that taxes were due in April.  Yes, I was way off.  Although April is cruel for the 15th looms large.  (And instills, if not fear, anxiety, in my heart.) This year April seems to be particularly "cruel."  We've had spurts of warm weather only to be crushed by cold.  But that alone is not what makes this period of time difficult for me.  April is a reminder that my parents are no longer with me. For me it actually starts in March.  "March Madness" was one of my dad's favorite times of the year.  Once retired, he barely budge from his chair, watching game after game.  Basketball was probably his favorite sport.  He played it in high school.  I think he was disappointed that his son was not interested.  He supported the Bucknell (men’s) basketball team.  (He didn't go to Bucknell, my mother did, but to the uninformed you would have thought he did.  He was s...

 ...or at least it's trying to.  We've had a couple of warmish days (coupled with a couple of cold ones.)  I've actually had the windows open a bit on more than one occasion.  (I really can't wait until I can open them and leave them open.)  We're moving in the right direction and that gives me some hope. New life is slowly popping up around here.  Things are slowing going from brown to green.  A few flowers have actually opened a little.  The crocus was first and the daffodils are following suit.  (How I LOVE daffodils...if they were to take over the yard I'd be happy.)  The tulips are still trying.  (I've got my fingers crossed.) The birds are singing again.  I finally saw a robin here.  I've seen other kinds of birds that I can't identify. (I should really get an app.)  Hearing them when I wake up, it's sweet.  It's relaxing.  I even find the crow of the rooster (or maybe that should be roosters) char...

 A story was relayed to me some years ago by a woman who lived in Newark, NJ and went to a political event (maybe it was rally?), where a young man, who did not live in Newark, was speaking.  He was running for mayor and according to this woman, was somewhat heckled or talked over.  She, being the woman that she was, told them to settle down and let the man speak.  She wasn't for or against this man, she just wanted to hear what he had to say.   The other day, that man, who did become mayor of Newark, and who has since become a Senator for the state, spoke on the senate floor for an amazing 25 hours and 5 minutes.  There were no bathroom breaks (which amazes me), he never sat down (he would not have been allowed) and there were no real pause in his speech (fellow senators were allowed to ask questions [although they seemed more like comments] which could take several minutes, which gave the senator a bit of a break, as did a brief break for t...