I showed up to chaperone an overnight at the Tyme Out Youth Center in Stone Bank in my PJs, slippers and Teddy Bear. I wasn't the only one. By coincidence, the gal shortening my hair Saturday was also chaperoning that night. She thought it would be fun if we showed up in our jammies, and it was.

There were 20 tenth grade boys in one room for me to help with. Many of the boys continued to talk and make noise up to an hour after the lights went out at 12:30. I felt sorry for the kids having to get up so early on a Sunday morning, (asleep by 1:30, lose and hour to daylight and up by 7:30=5 hours of sleep), but I really felt bad for Michael. Michael is the gifted musician I wrote about in a July 10th blog who's organ playing is in such high demand that he sometimes plays several churches a weekend. Today he was playing all three masses at an Elm Grove parish so he was up before 6:00 - less than four hours of sleep for him.

Because it's close-by, I visited my dad after breakfast. He's in a quiet and beautiful area. Overlooks a lake with lots of mature trees around. It was a nice morning and I noticed many deer prints in the snow and couldn't ignore the birds, especially the geese who seemed to enjoy the echo of their own honks. The only other people around were dog walkers trying to keep their balance on the icy roadway. Before saying goodbye I brushed the snow off his gravestone and said a prayer.