A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
This table has hosted countless "coffee klatches" over the decades, including a rare one this morning with our dear friend Kelly, who braved the January snow and traveling with a toddler at eight months pregnant just to come share a cup of kindness with us. 'Tis the time for Auld Lang Syne and all that!
I've always loved the term coffee klatch, as well as the Lebanese equivelent, "sobhiyeh." Here's some info on the origin of the Midwestern "klatch" from Taste of Home magazine:
The term “coffee klatch” comes from the German word, “kaffeeklatsch,” which translates to coffee (kaffee) + gossip (klatsch). It refers to a group of friends getting together over a cup of coffee, usually at someone’s house. The word “klatsch” has turned into “klatch” or even “clatch” over the years, and both are considered acceptable to use.
Coffee klatches were popular in the 1950s, when it was common for women to stay home with the kids. Ladies would get together with neighbors, discussing the latest updates in everyone’s lives. There would usually be something to munch on, too, like cookies to dunk in your coffee. It was a great way to spend a morning. Coffee klatches still exist today, though the term has become almost extinct.
Liturgical: Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot
Let us be on our guard
while the promise of entering into his rest remains,
that none of you seem to have failed.
For in fact we have received the Good News just as our ancestors did.
But the word that they heard did not profit them,
for they were not united in faith with those who listened.
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Sanctoral: The Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot (251-356) from the 3rd century. St. Anthony, the Father of the monastics, retired to the desert at about the age of eighteen in order to live in perfect solitude. Many heard about his ascetic life and came to join him in his hermitage, He laid the foundations of community life, and gave to his disciples that profound broad and sane instruction, the mature result of solitude and prayer, which forms the surest basis of Christian asceticism.
Buon onomastico, Tony!
Human: Benjamin Franklin's Birthday
Benjamin Franklin, born on January 17, 1706, not only was a world-renowned statesman, inventor, and scientist, but also was fascinated by agriculture. To demonstrate the value of gypsum as fertilizer, he applied it to a field in a pattern that spelled out, “This land has been plastered.” Sure enough, clover in the fertilized area exhibited more vigorous growth.
The Ken Burns documentary on Benjamin Franklin.
Natural: Benjamin Franklin and the "Founding Farmers"
Benjamin Franklin and the odometer: While Franklin (1706-90) was postmaster in Philadelphia, he created an odometer to measure postal route distances and attached the contraption to his carriage. However, other inventors preceded him.
Roman engineer Vitruvius (1st century B.C.) once described an odometer. He is generally credited as the first inventor, although some historians believe that the actual creator was Greek scientist Archimedes (c.287-212 B.C.). 1st century Greek scientist Heron (aka Hero) of Alexandria also described an odometer in his work Dioptra. Chinese scholar Zhang (aka Chang) Heng (78-139 A.D.), invented an odometer, as well. French scientist Blaise Pascal (1623-62) came up with an odometer prototype called the Pascaline, and English engineer Thomas Savery (c.1650-1715) invented an odometer for ships.
The Writer's Almanac edition today.
Italian: Squarciagola (the top of one’s lungs)
Industry: "Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy".
Time: "One today is worth two tomorrows". "Lost time is never found again".
Money: "If you'd know the value of money, go and borrow some". "Beware of little expenses: a small leak will sink a great ship".
Relationships: "Love your neighbor; yet don't pull down your hedge". "Hear no ill of a friend, nor speak any of an enemy".
Character: "What you seem to be, be really". "Pride dines on vanity and sup on contempt".
Work: "The master's eye will do more work than both his hands". "He that hath a trade has an office of profit and honor".
Wisdom: "What one relishes, nourishes".
Habits: "Haste makes waste". "He that would live in peace & at ease, must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees".
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