#highland Mary lakes

[adventurealldays]

[eclecticchick]

Beach House Series

What book are you reading right now? Right now, it’s Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe. It is part of the Beach House series that is based on the Isle of Palms, S.C. What book or books are you reading? Or even listening to?

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Casts Peter Mullan as Red Jacob MacKenzie, Sara Vickers & 2 More

Kelli Boyle, TV Insider Apr 3, 2024

The Outlander spinoff, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, has added four more actors to the clan. TV Insider can exclusively announce that Peter Mullan, Sara Vickers, Brian McCardie, and Jhon Lumsden have joined the cast of the Starz series, currently in production in Scotland, and they’ll bring to life characters fans have already heard of in the flagship series.

Mullan will be playing Red Jacob MacKenzie, laird of Clan MacKenzie, father to Ellen (Harriet Slater), Dougal (Sam Retford), and Colum (Séamus McLean Ross), and maternal grandfather to Sam Heughan‘s Jamie Fraser.

Mullan, a veteran Scottish actor and filmmaker, can currently be seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and recently starred in the series The Northwater with Colin Farrell and Jack O’Connell, as well as in Barry Jenkins’ critically acclaimed The Underground Railroad. He earned an Emmy nomination for Top of the Lake and has also been seen in Ozark, Westworld, Cursed, and Mum.

Brian McCardie

McCardie will be playing Isaac Grant, laird of Clan Grant. And Lumsden will be playing Malcolm Grant, Isaac’s son and a potential suitor for Ellen.

McCardie has been seen in Outlander before, in a Season 1 cameo as Sir Marcus MacRannoch. He’s also known for Rob Boy, Line of Duty, Low Winter Sun, Snatch, and more.

Jhon Lumsden

Lumsden is a relative newcomer, with roles in Karen Pirie, Blood, Sex & Royalty, and Pancake. He’ll next be seen in The Famous Five, coming out later this year.

Sara Vickers

Vickers will be playing Davina Porter, a housekeeper in the Lovat household, mother to Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), and Jamie’s paternal grandmother. As previously announced, Brian’s father, Lord Lovat, will be played by Mary & George‘s Tony Curran.

Vickers is a stage and screen actor best known for her role as Joan Thursday in the Inspector Morse prequel, Endeavour from 2013-2023, as well as Sunshine on Leith and Shetland. Vickers played Ms. Crookshanks in Watchmen alongside Regina King and Jeremy Irons. She recently starred in Guilt.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood tells the love stories of Jamie (Heughan) and Claire’s (Caitríona Balfe) parents. Slater and Roy play Jamie’s parents in the 1700s Scottish Highlands, with Hermione Corfield and Jeremy Irvine as Claire’s parents, Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp, in the 1900s England during World War I.

#BloodofMyBlood# PeterMullan #SaraVickers #BrianMcCardie #JhonLumsden #BOMB💥#TVinsider #KelliBoyle #ScottishHighlands

Posted 3rd April 2024

[scotianostra]

On November 14th in 1770 the Scottish adventurer James Bruce reportedly discovered the source of the Nile in north-west Ethiopia.

James Bruce of Kinnaird was only the second known European to visit the isolated mountain kingdom of Abyssinia since the 1630s, and his fame on his return rivalled that of Captain Cook, recently returned from the Pacific, though back in London "his stories were regarded as being too fabulous to be true, and he found himself ridiculed by society, especially by Samuel Johnson who had translated the narrative of Jeronimo Lobo" (Howgego). 

King George III as well as the educated elite rebuffed Bruce's account of his years in Ethiopia, often believing he had fabricated his fascinating tales of butchery and barbarism.  Additionally, Bruce was condemned because he had repudiated the words of the Portuguese priest, Father Lobo, and continued to maintain that he was the first European to reach the Nile's source above Lake Tana.

Spurned by much of London society and intelligentsia, Bruce returned to his native Scotland, where he was more appropriately welcomed. He married Mary Dundas, who bore him several children but tragically died in 1788, 14 years after they had wed.

After his wife's death, Bruce yielded to friends' urgings to publish his journals, working in London with B. H. Latrobe for a year to transcribe his writings into five volumes. Travels to Discover the Sources of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1771, 1772, and 1773 was published in 1790, but Bruce refused to pay Latrobe for his efforts. Likewise, he refused to credit the Italian artist, Balugani, who had died in Ethiopia, for his many superb drawings. In fact, Bruce took personal credit for the Italian's drawings. The book's reception was dismal. Critics lampooned his stories of what he had observed in Ethiopia; most of the book was regarded as mere fiction and became the subject of many jokes.

Angry and dejected, James Bruce returned to his family in Scotland. At the age of 64, he accidentally fell on the staircase in his home and was knocked unconscious, he died the next day.

Although James Bruce and his book were reviled in England, the French regarded his contribution as serious. Indeed, the work of James Bruce was most influential in leading the French to Africa, especially to the Nile. Napoleon's Egyptian campaign in 1798 resulted in the brief French occupation of that country, further exploration of the Nile, and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone.

Even though James Bruce had erred in thinking that an Ethiopian swamp high above sea level was the primary source of the Nile, and despite the fact that he inflated his role in the exploration of the Nile River, his contribution to the history of the continent of Africa is important. Not only was he the first European to follow the Blue Nile to where it converged with the White Nile, but his accounts of his travels and the years he spent in Ethiopia are still regarded today as epic. Not until 1960 were the headwaters of the Blue Nile fully charted, almost 200 years after James Bruce climbed more than 6,000 feet to a swampy spot in the Ethiopian highlands.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

West Virginia’s Dark, Starry Parks Amid the network of artificial lights lights that span our planet like a game of connect-the-dots, darkness is a precious commodity. There are places, however, where the terrain and distance from cities help keep light pollution to a minimum. Watoga State Park in eastern West Virginia is one such place. Watoga and the nearby Calvin Price State Forest and Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park combine to span a total of 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) of Pocahontas County. Located in the highlands of the Allegheny Mountains, the parks are relatively remote—far from the glow of major cities that light up much of the eastern United States. Only a handful of small towns and farms dot the otherwise heavily forested landscape. The remoteness of the area is evident in this nighttime image, which shows the pattern of human settlement across West Virginia. The image was acquired on April 24, 2022, with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite. The image comes from the VIIRS “day-night band,” which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as auroras, city lights, and reflected moonlight. The second image (below), acquired on October 18, 2021, with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, shows a natural-color view of the parks during the daytime. Recent changes have made the parks even darker than just a few years ago. Mary Dawson and Louanne Fatora, board members of the Watoga State Park Foundation, obtained funding that allowed them to replace existing lights throughout the park with new fixtures that aim downward and use bulbs that cause less light pollution. In addition, volunteer astronomers tracked the quality of nighttime darkness over the span of a year, and the park held several events to educate the public about dark skies. The efforts culminated in all three parks receiving official status as “dark sky parks” in October 2021. They were the state’s first parks to receive the designation from the International Dark-Sky Association. Even designated dark sky parks are not completely dark. Instead, they are lit by natural sources such as starlight and moonlight. The celestial light show draws amateur astronomers, stargazers, and photographers. The photograph below, shot by Jeff Ball, shows the Milky Way over Watoga Lake. The name Watoga is the Cherokee word for “starry waters,” according to the park’s website. While dark skies are favored by stargazers, they are also important for the local ecology. “Watoga’s dark sky designation is just as much about the preservation of habitat for many unique species of animals, plants, and insects, as it is about the clarity of the night sky,” Fatora said. For example, the park is home to the rare “synchronous” firefly. It’s the timing of their flashes—made in rhythmic, synchronized intervals—that sets their mating display apart from other fireflies. Watoga State Park is one of a handful of public locations in the United States where people can view the display. The park’s protection from light pollution should also benefit the fireflies, which are sensitive to light. Visitors should be aware that firefly displays last just a few weeks of the summer, and celestial views are occasionally obscured by clouds. But as West Virginia’s largest state park, Watoga offers plenty of activities, such as hiking, paddling, and swimming, to keep visitors busy until the natural light shows return. NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Photograph by Jeff Ball. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

[blairstales]

Dracæ | Scottish Folklore

In the gameDungeons and Dragons, amimicis a monster that can change it’s shape to disguise itself as an inanimate object, and that is actually surprisingly close to the Dracæ of Scottish folklore.

The Dracae is a water spirit that takes the form of an object in a river, so that a human, walking by might be tempted to reach in and grab it.

"The Dracæ are a sort of water-spirits who inveigle women and children into the recesses which they inhabit, beneath lakes and rivers, by floating past them, on the surface of the water, in the shape of gold rings or cups." “Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales” by Sir Walter Scott (1893)

If a human does take the bait, there are two things that typically happens in stories. In one, the person is kidnapped and forced to work for them, most often to care for the Dracae children, or to be a midwife.

"The first version of the tale is told in the 13th-century writings of Gervase of tilbury in the account of the Dracae of Brittany. Early as it is, it is the complete story: the fetching of a human midwife at night to an unknown house, the ointment given her to anoint the eyes of the newborn child and the strange enlightenment that follows her casual use of it on one of her own eyes; and it is followed, as in all the later stories, by the innocent betrayal of her forbidden vision and the blinding of the seeing eye." “Encyclopedia of Fairies” by Katharine Mary Briggs (1976)

In the second type, the person takes the object home only for the human to start noticing or hearing strange things.

"It is a curious fact that this story, in almost all its parts, is current in both the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland, with no other variation than the substitution of Fairies for Dracæ, and the cavern of a hill for that of a river. Indeed many of the vulgar account it extremely dangerous to touch anything which they may happen to find without saining (blessing) it, the snares of the enemy being notorious and well-attested." “Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales” by Sir Walter Scott (1893)

After the scared person finally sains the objects or utters a prayer, the object departs.

“…the enchanted implement of housewifery, tumbling from the bedstead, departed by the window with no small noise and precipitation.” “Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales” by Sir Walter Scott (1893)

[vietnamexcursions-blog]

Travel Quang Nam and explore the beauty of remote places

Hello everybody, I moved from Hanoi to Hoi An to live since 2014. I work in the tourism industry and I'm quite nomadic, travel everywhere. And after many years living in Hoi An I have learnt more about Quang Nam province, I see that this province not only has Hoi An ancient town and My Son sanctuary but also many other tourist attractions stretching from the East Sea to the border with Laos in Tay Giang, Nam Giang…

Many Vietnamese people mistake that Hoi An belongs to Da Nang city and most of them come to Da Nang and then rush to Hoi An for a short time and take photos, so they think that tourism in Quang Nam province and Hoi An is not attractive. But actually we need more time to visit, enjoy and learn about the landscape, culture and people of Quang Nam province. It is truly a "Heritage Green Area" with not only world and Vietnamese heritage sites, diverse natural landscapes but also rich indigenous values of the Cham, Co Tu, Ca Dong ethnic groups… Whatever Vietnam tourism has, Quang Nam has it all. Every time I leave home, I have more interesting discoveries like Quang Nam is one of the cradles of the national language, is the hometown of former Hanoi governor Hoang Dieu, and is the land of Ngu Phung Te Phi (5 people who won the grand exam in 1898 Mau Tuat lunar year)…

Quang Nam beach tourism: 125km coastline from Thong Nhat/ Ha My/ An Bang/ Tan Thanh/ Cua Dai/ Cua Khe/ Binh Minh/ Tam Thanh/ Tam Hai beaches: In addition to beautiful beaches, there are many other tourist attractions: Cua Khe fish sauce village - Tam Thanh painting village - Tam Tien fish market, - Ban Than rock rapids - Phu Son tunnel pagoda in Nui Thanh district.

River tourism: Quang Nam especially has two rivers running close and parallel to the coast, Co Co and Truong Giang, with very beautiful landscapes. In addition, mother river Thu Bon flows from Hoi An up to Duy Xuyen, Nong Son to Kem Da Dung island and the basin at the foot of Ngoc Linh mountain range.

Route from Hoi An to Duy Xuyen district to Nong Son round way to Hoi An via Que Son: Tra hieu ecological village - Tra Ly lotus pond - Cham capital Tra Kieu (Sa Huynh museum, Champa/ Tra Kieu Holy Mother where the Virgin Mary appeared/My Son Sanctuary) - Vinh Trinh Massacre Remnants - Dai Binh fruit tree village - Kem Da Dung island - East Truong Son road/ elephant conservation area - An Viem hot water spring - Le pass - Hoi An. Go 1 or 2, 3 days, sleep in Dai Binh village.

Route from Hoi An to Tam Ky - Phu Ninh lake - Loc Yen ancient village: from Hoi An, cross Cua Dai bridge, follow Vo Chi Cong beach, the most beautiful road in the Central region connecting Hoi An - Tam Ky, across the Hoiana tourism complex (resort, golf, casino…), through Vinwonder, through vast white sand to visit Ky Anh Tunnel - Tam Thanh Painting Village - Monument of Mother Thu - Huong Tra Sua Village - Phu Ninh Lake, the largest lake in the Central region - Huynh Thuc Khang memorial area - Loc Yen ancient village, Tien river, Lo Thung (Tien Canh commune, Tien Phuoc district). If you have more time, you can explore the Bong Mieu gold mine from the French period and the scenic Ham Ho and White Waterfall in Tam Lanh commune, Phu Ninh district. From here, you can also continue to the Nam/Bac Tra My districts.

Route from Hoi An - Tam Ky - North Tra My - South Tra My districts along National Highway 40B: From the ancient village of Loc Yen, continue up to Bac Tra My district with tourist attractions of Hon Ba Mountain - Muong Village - Nuoc Oa tourist site, Song Tranh hydroelectric power plant. Going further, you will reach Nam Tra My highland district with 3-storey waterfall, 5-storey waterfall, Tay Du Ky waterfall - Tac Po cloud hunting spot - Ngoc Linh ginseng market - Long Tuc terraced fields - Ngoc Linh stopover bordering the Tu Mo Rong district, Kon Tum province at an altitude of more than 1500m. Ngoc Linh Mountain is the roof of the Central region, 2698m.

Route from Hoi An - Dong Giang - Tay Giang along National Highway 14G: From Hoi An through Than Tai Mountain, through Dong Giang tea hill, Bho Hoong Village, Co Tu Weaving Village - Dong Giang Heaven Gate Tourist Area - Ta Lang Ecotourism Village (close to HCM road) - Tay Giang district center - Po Ning community tourism village - Que peak - Po Mu heritage forest, Do Quyen forest, mysterious ironwood forest of the Co Tu people.

Route from Hoi An - Dai Loc - Nam Giang along National Highway 14D: Khe Lim ecological tourist area - Bang Am peak - Thanh My town - Ben Giang Bridge (2 famous places during the Vietnam war) - Zara weaving village - Hydroelectric lake Bung River - Thanh River National Park - Gran Waterfall - Dak Oc Nam Giang Border Gate. From here, continue to Laos or return to Giang port to go down Ho Chi Minh trail to Phuoc Son district - famous for red gemstones, Lang spring, Kham Duc wartime airport… then cross Lo Xo pass to Kon Tum.

Cu Lao Cham (Cham island) 1 day: Visit the island center with ancient Cham Well, Hai Tang Pagoda and beaches: Ong Beach, Lang Beach/ Xep Beach/ Chong Beach/ Huong Beach/ Diving to see coral. Stay overnight: Explore the way around the island/ Eo Gio/ Cu Lao Cham Lighthouse/ Yen Cave/ Experience fishing/ Picking wild vegetables… Vietnam family tours

TOURIST PLACES IN NAM TRA MY DISTRICT Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province is a vast land covered with primeval forests located at the foot of the 2,598 meter high Ngoc Linh mountain range. This is a pristine land with a cool climate all year round, with an average temperature of about 26 degrees Celsius. Particularly in Tra Linh commune, where Ngoc Linh ginseng is located, the average temperature is about 17 degrees Celsius. This is the settlement of Ca Dong, Mo Nong and Xe Dang ethnic people with unique cultural features. Nam Tra My district is located 95km southwest of Tam Ky city. It is the border between 3 provinces of Quang Nam - Quang Ngai - Kon Tum. Nam Tra My district has many historical landscapes as well as majestic natural landscapes, specifically as follows:

I. TRA MAI COMMUNE:

5-storey waterfall: Location: Village 1, Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My district

Suoi Doi Waterfall: Location: Village 1, Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My district

Nuoc La relic site: Location: Village 2, Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My district Located right in the administrative center of Nam Tra My district, Nuoc La historical and cultural relic site is now preserved as a primeval forest.

Tac Chum cultural village: Location: Village 2, Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My district

Ngoc Linh ginseng market and Ngoc Linh ginseng festival: Location: Village 1, Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My district Every month from the 1st to the 3rd, the Nam Tra My highland ginseng market opens right in the Tac Po administrative center, attracting thousands of attendees. Visitors will feel the honesty and sincerity of the hilltribe people. Freely choose to buy precious highland medicinal plants in Ngoc Linh mountain for health and beauty care, clean agricultural products are picked by local people and brought to the market to sell, and most especially, you can buy Ngoc Linh ginseng with strict quality inspection.

More specifically, Ngoc Linh Ginseng Festival takes place from August 1 to 3 every year, to honor Ngoc Linh ginseng - a rare endemic medicinal plant of Vietnam and the world. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the unique and diverse cultural sounds of the festival, participate in folk games and enjoy the worship procession of the ginseng God from Ngoc Linh mountain to the district center.

Ngo Dong tree: Location: Village 1. Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My district Around March to April every year and ending 1 month later, located below the 5-storey waterfall. This place is the ideal photo point for Bac Tra My - Nam Tra My route. Not only watching the trees but also watching the Tranh river flowing below with straight Cho wood trees'

Admiring the primeval forest along both sides of the road with large wooden trees:

TRA NAM COMMUNE:

Noong Lau Waterfall (Tay Du Ky Waterfall): Location: Village 4, Tra Nam Commune, Nam Tra My District

Long Tuc Terraced Fields: Location: Village 4, Tra Nam Commune, Nam Tra My District Located halfway up the majestic mountain slopes are the rice fields. The golden steps of a rich harvest season. This is the people's source of livelihood associated with extremely strange customs of worshiping the God of Agriculture. On the roads to Ngoc Linh ginseng area, visitors will have a panoramic view of vast terraced fields.

Giant bamboo garden on the roof of Long Rieu 3: Located in Long Rieu village 3, hamlet 4, Tra Nam commune and about 20 minutes walk from Highway 40B, the giant bamboo garden with tree trunks reaching over 30 meters high, perimeter up to 0.5 meters are a very endemic species of bamboo that has been preserved by people for thousands of generations. In particular, many people have tried to bring this giant bamboo tree to plant elsewhere but were unsuccessful, so this is considered an endemic bamboo species of Tra Nam land. Coming here, visitors will admire the stupendous and overwhelming beauty of the bamboo garden and its rich and diverse ecosystem.

TRA TAP COMMUNE:

Cloud hunting at Tac Po:

TRA LINH COMMUNE

Tak Ngo ginseng garden: Location: Village 2, Tra Linh commune, Nam Tra My district. Provincial level tourist destination Tak Ngo ginseng garden is about 28km from the district center by car in village 1, Tra Linh commune, Nam Tra My district. This is the place to preserve and develop the rare genetic resources of Ngoc Linh ginseng to provide plant varieties for people. Ngoc Linh Ginseng tree can only live in the core area of the primeval old forest, so it has the effect of protecting the forest and protecting the green environment friendly to human life. Coming to this tourist destination, visitors will enjoy the fresh natural atmosphere, see and touch the Ngoc Linh ginseng plant - the national treasure of Vietnam, and visit the Ngoc Linh ginseng exhibition house.

Lonely pine tree: Location: Village 3, Tra Linh commune, Nam Tra My district Located in the old village 4 of Tra Linh commune, now village 3, it is one of the most beautiful views of Tra Linh commune, standing here you can see a panoramic view of the majestic mountains. The pine tree, estimated to be nearly 100 years old, combined with the harmonious natural scenery, creates lifetime photos for anyone who wants to come here.

Nuoc Na Waterfall: Location: Village 3, Tra Linh commune, Nam Tra My district. A stream on the road from Tra Linh to Mang Lung, about 2km from the commune. Although located near the road, it still retains its wild character. Looking at the waterfall pouring from 20m high, cool steam comes out.

Konpin terraced fields: Location: village 2, Tra Linh commune, Nam Tra My district

TRA VAN COMMUNE:

Ancient Cinnamon garden on the roof of Ong Ni: Nam Tra My also has Cinnamon trees - a medicinal and aromatic plant famous in the world, known as Cao Son Ngoc Que. Cinnamon trees have been closely associated for generations with the people of Xe Dang, Ca Dong, MNong. This is one of the hundreds of years old cinnamon gardens dedicated to cultivating seeds to protect rare genetic resources.

White Waterfall: Location: Village 1, Tra Van commune, Nam Tra My district

TRA DON COMMUNE:

Hot spring: Location: Village 3, Tra Don commune, Nam Tra My district Located right next to National Highway Highway 40B and about 15km south of Nam Tra My district center is a hot spring flowing day and night from a giant rock. The water temperature always reaches from 70oC to 80oC. Here, visitors can bring eggs to boil and eat during their travel journey. Amid the coldness of the great Ngoc Linh mountain, the hot spring seems to warm visitors in a spreading steam.

TRA CANG COMMUNE:

Noc Lang Loan: Location: Village 2, Tra Cang commune, Nam Tra My district

Noc Tu Nac: Location: Village 5, Tra Cang commune, Nam Tra My district

Noc Cheng Tong: Location: Village 1 Tra Cang commune, Nam Tra My district

ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS:

Water trough worshiping festival According to the customs of the Xe Dang and Ca Dong people on the first days of the new year, the water source comes from within. The forest is clean and fresh. They busily held a ceremony to worship the water trough leading back to the village. Tourists can happily drink Can wine, eat dried meat, grilled sticky rice in bamboo tubes and bless each other, swaying to the rhythm of gongs and folk songs over jars of Can wine all night long. The villages often hold water trough worshiping ceremonies: Le village, Tra Don commune, Cheng Tong village, Tra Cang commune

Festival to celebrate new rice: In November every year, people in Nam Tra My hold a new rice celebration to thank heaven and earth for good rain and wind, and full rice and corn warehouses. This ritual takes place sequentially every family in the village. Visitors will be welcomed by the villagers to enjoy traditional dishes, drink Can wine and join the boys and girls of Xe Dang and Cadong to dance with gongs.

ROADS TO NAM TRA MY DISTRICT: With an open transportation network, traveling to Nam Tra My is quite convenient. In particular, the winding roads between the mountains are interesting places to travel and take photos.

From Tam Ky City, follow Highway 40B, tourists go to Tien Phuoc district - Bac Tra My and to Nam Tra My. Along this journey, there are many stops for sightseeing such as Phu Ninh Lake Ecotourism Area (Phu Ninh district), Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang's memorial house, Loc Yen ancient village (Tien Canh commune, Tien Phuoc district), and Tranh River 2 Hydroelectric Dam (Tra Doc commune, Bac Tra My district).

From Quang Ngai, follow Truong Son Dong road to Son Tay district and through Khe Chu village, Tra Van commune, follow Truong Son Dong road and then turn to the district center through village road 3, Tra Mai commune

From Mang Den eco-tourism area (Kon Plong district, Kon Tum province) to Dak Nen commune, go through Tra Vinh commune to Tac Po administrative center (this road is a bit difficult for cars to go because there is about 1.5km that has not been expanded yet)

From the Ho Chi Minh road: go in the direction of Dak To district through Tu Mo Rong district to the tourist stop at the border of Quang Nam - Kon Tum. This is the ideal place to check in with rolling mountains, layer upon layer of clouds, and very cold temperatures. Po Ninh village

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO NAM TRA MY:

Tuan Tu bus tel 0979337719 Departure time at Tam Ky: 4:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.

Manh Tuong bus tel 0907123007 Departure time in Tam Ky: 5:00 a.m., 11 a.m.

Dinh Hieu bus tel 0985145189 Departure time at Tam Ky: 9:30 am

Song Trang bus tel 0988377445 Trip 1: Departure time at Da Nang: 5:30 am, at Tam Ky 7:00 am Trip 2: Departure time at Da Nang: 2:15 pm, at Tam Ky 3:30 am

SLEEPING IN NAM TRA MY: Trung Nhan Hotel: Tel: 0985 961819 Nam Tra My Guesthouse: Tel: 0913 073255 Minh Quan Guesthouse Tel: 0988 617542 Thanh Nga Guesthouse Tel: 0976 993203 Bao Tran Guesthouse - Tel: 0961279039

EATING AND DRINK IN NAM TRA MY: Ngoc Linh Restaurant: Tel: 0988 610682 Nhu Y Restaurant: Tel: 0976 100647 Tuan Quyen restaurant and many popular restaurants right in the center of the district.

[hbhughes]

Catherine "Kay" L. Smith

Catherine”Kay” L. Smith, 92, of Swoyersville passed away peacefully on March 27, 2024. Born in Kingston, she was the daughter of the late James and Elizabeth (Perugino) Umbra. Kay and her loving husband of late, Charley, enjoyed 67 years of marriage.

Following her graduation from Edwardsville High school, she declined several opportunities to extend her education and accompanied her older sisters in accepting a position within the local garment industry. Throughout 45 years of employment, she served in numerous supervisory and leadership positions. In addition, Kay maintained a successful monogramming business. An accomplished seamstress, she enjoyed monitoring current fashions and designing clothing for her three daughters, specializing in dresses and formal gowns and attire. Upon her retirement, Kay became a co-founder with her husband of Kay’s T-tags, a state-certified agency for notary work and title transfers. A woman of many interests and talents, Kay also enjoyed baking an assortment of delicious cookies, cakes and pastries, often preparing decorative presentations as gifts to family and friends. Along with her husband Charley, she volunteered and entertained at various local nursing homes and served as a volunteer usher at the F. M. Kirby Center. A devout Catholic, Kay nurtured her family in the traditions of our faith. She was an active member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Holy Trinity) parish, the Christian Mothers and volunteered on various parish committees, dedicating numerous hours of service to her parish. Kay’s love of family was unconditional and passionate. She cherished spending time at family gatherings, and especially enjoyed visits from her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Kay would never miss the chance to dance with her favorite partner and loving husband of 67 years, Charley. Kay was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Charley, four brothers, Joseph, Patrick, WIlliam, and James Umbra and her sisters, Isabelle Spisak, Mary Schwartz, and Rose (Coury) Bellas. She is survived by her three children, Dr. Deborah Smith Mileski and husband, James of Hanover Township and Naples, FL, Dr. Sharon Smith Hudacek and husband Stephen, Harveys Lake and Naples, FL, and Kim Smith Proctor and husband, Mark of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL and Harvey’s Lake; grandchildren Brynn and husband Brian Lewis of Arlington, VA., Matthew and wife Dr. Kelsey Mileski of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Stephen Hudacek and wife Maria of Philadelphia and Harveys Lake, Charles and wife Dr. Jaclyn Hudacek of Dallas, PA, Joshua Pucha and fiancee Stacey of Jacksonville, FL, Paige and Tate Prucha of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.; and great grandchildren, Miles, Charley Grace, Reese, Madelyn, Henry, Drew, and Annie.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2024 in St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 116 Hughes St. Swoyersville. Family and friends may visit from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. prior to the Mass. Interment will be at Holy Trinity Cemetery, Swoyersville. Funeral services are entrusted to Hugh B. Hughes and Son, Inc.

Kay’s family wishes to extend sincere appreciation to her assisted living care staff at Highland Park Senior Living, in particular, Carol, Jim, Paula and Chrissy for their countless hours of comforting assistance and personal support, as well as to the staff of Erwine Home Health and Hospice, in particular, Mary, Joyce, Sue and JuJu for their ongoing compassionate care.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Catherine and Charles Smith Memorial Scholarship fund for nursing students in need via Misericordia University, 301 Lake Street, Dallas, PA 18612.

[adventurealldays]

[candacehughes123]

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[umichenginabroad]

Abhi in Paris Week 9: A Scottish Adventure

Hey everyone! Back again with another adventure. This week I spent a few days in Scotland & Ireland for Saint Patrick's Day! It was an amazing week filled with adventure & learning.

March 11th, Monday - The week began with a typical Monday grind, but with a twist—a midterm exam in communication systems. I grinded out some last minute studying on the train to class. Honestly, I didn't do so bad. After the exam, I decided to switch things up and try out a French cycling class. Despite the language barrier, I found myself caught up in the rhythm of the class, following along as best as I could. I've done Cyclebar in the US so that definitely helped!

March 12th, Tuesday - Tuesday brought another round of classes in the morning, followed by a French lesson in the evening. It's been a journey with French, but I'm starting to feel more confident with each passing day. Parisians are super judgy about speaking good French, but I'm still putting myself out there. In the afternoon, I managed to squeeze in a quick gym session between classes too. Just a super tiring day with a lot of commuting and class though!

March 13th, Wednesday - The real adventure began on Wednesday as I set off for Edinburgh. The journey took me through picturesque landscapes, and I arrived in the late afternoon, eager to explore this historic city. After checking into my accommodation, I decided to grab dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant. Oh my god, some of the best food I have ever eaten. As evening fell, I took a leisurely stroll down Princes Street, taking in the sights and sounds of Edinburgh. It's truly one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited.

March 14th, Thursday - Thursday was all about diving into Edinburgh's rich history. I started the day with a visit to Edinburgh Castle, where I learned about the fascinating life of Mary, Queen of Scots. If you've ever watched the TV show on Amazon Prime Video "Reign," you'd be as psyched as me. Mary's father, James V, died wile she was just a child and so Mary was the technical ruler of Scotland since she was a child. Her mother governed as Queen Regent when she was a child and sent her to France, where she had a more quaint childhood. Truly a great Queen & a great TV Show too. The castle's towering walls and sweeping views offered a glimpse into Scotland's storied past. In the afternoon, I embarked on a whiskey tour at the Holyrood Distillery, where I had the opportunity to sample some "new make" and sherry cask aged whiskies. It was amazing to learn about every stage of the Whiskey making process & see it happen. It was a sensory experience unlike any other, and I left with a newfound appreciation for Scotland's renowned spirit. I even got a bottle of Scotch for my dad! Afterwards, I took a sporadic late night bus to Inverness, Scotland, the capital of the Scottish Highlands!

March 15th, Friday - Rain or shine, I was determined to make the most of my time in Scotland. Despite the dreary weather, I embarked on a two-hour trek through the rain to Loch Ness. The lake's tranquil beauty was mesmerizing, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe in its presence. Despite the lack of a Nessie sighting, the experience was unforgettable. A huge 37 mile long lake with complete stillness in the water & no one in sight for miles - truly tranquil. In the evening, I made my way back to Edinburgh, where I caught a flight to Cork, Ireland, just in time for the weekend.

March 16th, Saturday - Saturday in Cork was all about immersing myself in Irish culture. With St. Patrick's Day celebrations in full swing, the city was alive with energy and excitement. I spent the day exploring Cork's charming streets, sampling Irish whiskey, Guinness, and cider along the way. The Thomond Bar was the perfect spot to soak in the festivities, surrounded by locals and fellow travelers alike. I got to enjoy a French vs England Rugby match at the bar, where I found the Irish passionately supporting the French, yelling "Alle Le Bleu" or "Go the Blue (French)!"

March 17th, Sunday - As the week came to a close, I found myself back in Paris, reflecting on the whirlwind of experiences I had encountered. To cap off the week, I joined my ENSEA friends for a night out at O'Sullivans Bar. A fun night that involved a bartender sliding across the bar.

In hindsight, this week was a perfect blend of academic challenges and cultural exploration. From navigating exams and classes to soaking in the sights and flavors of Scotland and Ireland, each day brought with it new experiences and memories that I will cherish for years to come.

Bientot,

Abhi Athreya

University of Michigan, Aerospace Engineering 2025

ENSEA in Cergy, France

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

13th January >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Saturday, First Week in Ordinary Time 

or

Saint Hilary, Bishop, Doctor 

or

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Saturday, First Week in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Colour: Green: B (2))

First Reading 1 Samuel 9:1-4,17-19,10:1 The Lord chooses Saul as king; Samuel anoints him.

Among the men of Benjamin there was a man named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah; a Benjaminite and a man of rank. He had a son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Of all the Israelites there was no one more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than the rest of the people. Now some of the she-donkeys of Saul’s father Kish had strayed, so Kish said to Saul, ‘My son, take one of the servants with you and be off; go and look for the she-donkeys.’ They passed through the highlands of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but did not find them; they passed through the land of Shaalim, they were not there; they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, ‘That is the man of whom I told you; he shall rule my people.’ Saul accosted Samuel in the gateway and said, ‘Tell me, please, where the seer’s house is?’ Samuel replied to Saul, ‘I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place. You are to eat with me today. In the morning I shall take leave of you and tell you all that is in your heart.’

Samuel took a phial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head; then he kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you prince over his people Israel? You are the man who must rule the Lord’s people, and who must save them from the power of the enemies surrounding them.’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 20(21):2-7

R/ O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king; how your saving help makes him glad! You have granted him his heart’s desire; you have not refused the prayer of his lips.

R/ O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

You came to meet him with the blessings of success, you have set on his head a crown of pure gold. He asked you for life and this you have given, days that will last from age to age.

R/ O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

Your saving help has given him glory. You have laid upon him majesty and splendour, you have granted your blessings to him forever. You have made him rejoice with the joy of your presence.

R/ O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

Gospel Acclamation Psalm 118:36,29

Alleluia, alleluia! Bend my heart to your will, O Lord, and teach me your law. Alleluia!

Or: Luke 4:17

Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives. Alleluia!

Gospel Mark 2:13-17 Your light must shine in the sight of men.

Jesus went out to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he was walking on he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------------------

Saint Hilary, Bishop, Doctor 

(Liturgical Colour: White: B (2))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading 1 John 2:18-25 Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning.

Children, these are the last days; you were told that an Antichrist must come, and now several antichrists have already appeared; we know from this that these are the last days. Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged; if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us; but they left us, to prove that not one of them ever belonged to us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and have all received the knowledge. It is not because you do not know the truth that I am writing to you but rather because you know it already and know that no lie can come from the truth. The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ – he is the liar, he is Antichrist; and he is denying the Father as well as the Son, because no one who has the Father can deny the Son, and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well. Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning: as long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you, you will live in the Son and in the Father; and what is promised to you by his own promise is eternal life.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 109 (110): 1-4

R/ You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

The Lord’s revelation to my Master: ‘Sit on my right: your foes I will put beneath your feet.’

R/ You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

The Lord will wield from Zion your sceptre of power: rule in the midst of all your foes.

R/ You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains; from the womb before the dawn I begot you.

R/ You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change. ‘You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.’

R/ You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:16

Alleluia, alleluia! Your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 5:13-19 Your light must shine in the sight of men.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.

‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven. ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

------------------------------

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

(Liturgical Colour: White: B (2))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

Either:

First Reading Genesis 3:9-15,20 The mother of all those who live.

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,

‘Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life. I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’

The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

OR: --------

First reading Genesis 12:1-7 All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.

‘I will bless those who bless you: I will curse those who slight you. All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you.’

So Abram went as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there. Abram passed through the land as far as Shechem’s holy place, the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘It is to your descendants that I will give this land.’ So Abram built there an altar for the Lord who had appeared to him.

OR: --------

First reading 2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-11,16 The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House

Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’ But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’

OR: --------

First reading 1 Chronicles 15:3-4,15-16,16:1-2 They brought in the ark of God and put it inside the tent that David had pitched for it

David gathered all Israel together to bring the ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the shafts on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered in accordance with the word of the Lord. David then told the heads of the Levites to assign duties for their kinsmen as cantors, with their various instruments of music, harps and lyres and cymbals, to play joyful tunes. They brought the ark of God in and put it inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered holocausts before God, and communion sacrifices. And when David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

OR: --------

First reading Proverbs 8:22-31 Before the earth came into being, Wisdom was born

The Wisdom of God cries aloud:

The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded, before the oldest of his works. From everlasting I was firmly set, from the beginning, before earth came into being. The deep was not, when I was born, there were no springs to gush with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he made the earth, the countryside, or the first grains of the world’s dust. When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there, when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep, when he thickened the clouds above, when he fixed fast the springs of the deep, when he assigned the sea its boundaries  – and the waters will not invade the shore – when he laid down the foundations of the earth, I was by his side, a master craftsman, delighting him day after day, ever at play in his presence, at play everywhere in his world, delighting to be with the sons of men.

OR: --------

First reading Ecclesiasticus 24:1-4,8-12,18-21 From eternity, in the beginning, God created wisdom

Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people she glories in herself. She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One: ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and I covered the earth like a mist. I had my tent in the heights, and my throne in a pillar of cloud. Then the creator of all things instructed me, and he who created me fixed a place for my tent. He said, “Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance.” From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall remain. I ministered before him in the holy tabernacle, and thus was I established on Zion. In the beloved city he has given me rest, and in Jerusalem I wield my authority. I have taken root in a privileged people, in the Lord’s property, in his inheritance. Approach me, you who desire me, and take your fill of my fruits, for memories of me are sweeter than honey, inheriting me is sweeter than the honeycomb. They who eat me will hunger for more, they who drink me will thirst for more. Whoever listens to me will never have to blush, whoever acts as I dictate will never sin.’

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10 The maiden is with child

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’ Then Isaiah said:

‘Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 9:1-6 A Son is given to us

The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.

For the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his oppressor, these you break as on the day of Midian.

For all the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood, is burnt, and consumed by fire.

For there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 61:9-11 I exult for joy in the Lord

Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples. All who see them will admit that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.

‘I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels.

‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow, as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.’

OR: --------

First reading Micah 5:1-4 He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord

The Lord says this:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old. The Lord is therefore going to abandon them till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers will come back to the sons of Israel. He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace.

OR: --------

First reading Zechariah 2:14-17 'I am coming', says the Lord

Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you – it is the Lord who speaks. Many nations will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people. But he will remain among you, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you. But the Lord will hold Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and again make Jerusalem his very own. Let all mankind be silent before the Lord! For he is awaking and is coming from his holy dwelling.

EITHER: --------

Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

My heart exults in the Lord. I find my strength in my God; my mouth laughs at my enemies as I rejoice in your saving help.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

The bows of the mighty are broken, but the weak are clothed with strength. Those with plenty must labour for bread, but the hungry need work no more. The childless wife has children now but the fruitful wife bears no more.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

It is the Lord who gives life and death, he brings men to the grave and back; it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches. He brings men low and raises them on high.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust, from the dungheap he raises the poor to set him in the company of princes to give him a glorious throne. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, on them he has set the world.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Judith 13:18a-19

You are the highest honour of our race!

May you be blessed, my daughter, by God Most High, beyond all women on earth; and may the Lord God be blessed, the Creator of heaven and earth.

You are the highest honour of our race!

The trust you have shown shall not pass from the memories of men, but shall ever remind them of the power of God.

You are the highest honour of our race!

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 44(45):11-12,14-17

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: forget your own people and your father’s house. So will the king desire your beauty: He is your lord, pay homage to him.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

The daughter of the king is clothed with splendour, her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold. She is led to the king with her maiden companions.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

They are escorted amid gladness and joy; they pass within the palace of the king. Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers: you will make them princes over all the earth.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 112(113):1-7

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! May the name of the Lord be blessed both now and for evermore!

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

From the rising of the sun to its setting praised be the name of the Lord! High above all nations is the Lord, above the heavens his glory.

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

Who is like the Lord, our God, who has risen on high to his throne yet stoops from the heights to look down, to look down upon heaven and earth? From the dust he lifts up the lowly, from the dungheap he raises the poor

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Luke 1:46-55

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He looks on his servant in her nothingness; henceforth all ages will call me blessed. The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy his name!

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

His mercy is from age to age, on those who fear him. He puts forth his arm in strength and scatters the proud-hearted.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly. He fills the starving with good things, sends the rich away empty.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He protects Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy, the mercy promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his sons for ever.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

Gospel Acclamation cf.Lk1:28

Alleluia, alleluia! Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women. Alleluia!

Or: cf.Lk1:45

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Alleluia!

Or: cf.Lk2:19

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who treasured the word of God and pondered it in her heart. Alleluia!

Or: Lk11:28

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Alleluia!

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise, for the sun of justice, Christ our God, was born of you. Alleluia!

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy is the Virgin Mary, who, without dying, won the palm of martyrdom beneath the cross of the Lord. Alleluia!

EITHER: --------

Gospel Matthew 1:1-16,18-23 The ancestry and conception of Jesus Christ

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother, Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother, Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother, Obed was the father of Jesse; and Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah; and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

After the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob; and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 1:18-23 How Jesus Christ came to be born

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 The flight into Egypt and the return to Nazareth

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

I called my son out of Egypt.

After Herod’s death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled:

‘He will be called a Nazarene.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 12:46-50 My mother and my brothers are anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven

Jesus was speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 1:26-38 'I am the handmaid of the Lord'

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 1:39-47 Blessed is she who believed the promise

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:1-14 'In the town of David a saviour has been born to you'

Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This census – the first – took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and travelled up to Judaea, to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn. In the countryside close by there were shepherds who lived in the fields and took it in turns to watch their flocks during the night. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly with the angel there was a great throng of the heavenly host, praising God and singing:

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy his favour.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:15-19 The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found the baby lying in the manger

Now when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:27-35 'A sword will pierce your soul too'

Prompted by the Spirit Simeon came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.’

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:41-52 Mary stored up all these things in her heart

Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere. Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have, you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ ‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant. He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 11:27-28 'Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!'

As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’

OR: --------

Gospel John 2:1-11 'My hour has not come yet' - 'Do whatever he tells you'

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said ‘Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’, and they filled them to the brim. ‘Draw some out now’ he told them ‘and take it to the steward.’ They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said, ‘People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.’ This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.

Or:

Gospel John 19:25-27 'Woman, this is your son'.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick]

HERE IS A LIST OF COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRIES:

https://feedingwestchester.org/find-help/agency-locator/

(As I am not sure as regards how up-to-date the information on their website is, a call to the pantry to ascertain their current days/hours might be advisable.)

Food Pantries, Peekskill (located using Feeding Westchester website):

Fred’s Pantry

St. Peter’s Church

138 North Division Street

914-736-1936

Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

https://www.stpeterspeekskill.org/freds-food-pantry

************************************

Church of the Assumption

Rectory Parking Lot

131 Union Avenue

914-737-2071

Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

https://assumptionpeekskill.org/

**************************************

Salvation Army

117 Nelson Avenue

914-737-0280

Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Monday through Friday, 12 Noon to 1:00 p.m.

https://easternusa.salvationarmy.org/greater-new-york/

****************************************

Mount Lebanon Food Pantry

648 Harrison Avenue

914-737-6354

Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 12 Noon

https://mountlebanonbc.info/

*****************************************

First Baptist Church of Peekskill

690 Highland Avenue

914-737-0321

Delivery only.

Tuesday, 10:30 a.m. to 12 Noon

https://www.fbcpeekskill.org/

******************************************

Jan Peek Shelter

200 North Water Street

914-736-2636

Breakfast, times vary.

https://www.chhop.org/

******************************************

Church of the Holy Spirit

1969 Crompond Road

Cortlandt Manor

914-737-2111

3rd Monday of the month, 4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

1st & 3rd Wednesday of the month, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

https://holyspirit-cortlandtmanor.org/food-pantry

*******************************************

VA Hospital-Supportive Housing

Food Pantry

(Veterans Only)

2094 Albany Post Road

Montrose

914-737-4400 Extension: 2639

Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. to 12 Noon

Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. to 12 Noon

https://www.va.gov/hudson-valley-health-care/locations/franklin-delano-roosevelt-hospital/

***************************************

The Pantry at the Museum

137 Seventh Street

Verplanck

914-323-8343

Friday, 12 Noon to 3:45 p.m.

https://letitshineonline.com/the-pantry

*******************************************

Community Food Pantry at St. Mary’s Mohegan Lake

1836 East Main Street

Mohegan Lake

914-528-3972

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Emergency bags Tuesday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

http://www.cfpstmarysmoheganlake.com/

***********************************************

[hellsitesonlybookclub]

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Chapter XIX

London was our present point of rest; we determined to remain several months in this wonderful and celebrated city. Clerval desired the intercourse of the men of genius and talent who flourished at this time; but this was with me a secondary object; I was principally occupied with the means of obtaining the information necessary for the completion of my promise, and quickly availed myself of the letters of introduction that I had brought with me, addressed to the most distinguished natural philosophers.

If this journey had taken place during my days of study and happiness, it would have afforded me inexpressible pleasure. But a blight had come over my existence, and I only visited these people for the sake of the information they might give me on the subject in which my interest was so terribly profound. Company was irksome to me; when alone, I could fill my mind with the sights of heaven and earth; the voice of Henry soothed me, and I could thus cheat myself into a transitory peace. But busy uninteresting joyous faces brought back despair to my heart. I saw an insurmountable barrier placed between me and my fellow-men; this barrier was sealed with the blood of William and Justine; and to reflect on the events connected with those names filled my soul with anguish.

But in Clerval I saw the image of my former self; he was inquisitive, and anxious to gain experience and instruction. The difference of manners which he observed was to him an inexhaustible source of instruction and amusement. He was also pursuing an object he had long had in view. His design was to visit India, in the belief that he had in his knowledge of its various languages, and in the views he had taken of its society, the means of materially assisting the progress of European colonisation and trade. In Britain only could he further the execution of his plan. He was for ever busy; and the only check to his enjoyments was my sorrowful and dejected mind. I tried to conceal this as much as possible, that I might not debar him from the pleasures natural to one, who was entering on a new scene of life, undisturbed by any care or bitter recollection. I often refused to accompany him, alleging another engagement, that I might remain alone. I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was to me like the torture of single drops of water continually falling on the head. Every thought that was devoted to it was an extreme anguish, and every word that I spoke in allusion to it caused my lips to quiver, and my heart to palpitate.

After passing some months in London, we received a letter from a person in Scotland, who had formerly been our visiter at Geneva. He mentioned the beauties of his native country, and asked us if those were not sufficient allurements to induce us to prolong our journey as far north as Perth, where he resided. Clerval eagerly desired to accept this invitation; and I, although I abhorred society, wished to view again mountains and streams, and all the wondrous works with which Nature adorns her chosen dwelling-places.

We had arrived in England at the beginning of October, and it was now February. We accordingly determined to commence our journey towards the north at the expiration of another month. In this expedition we did not intend to follow the great road to Edinburgh, but to visit Windsor, Oxford, Matlock, and the Cumberland lakes, resolving to arrive at the completion of this tour about the end of July. I packed up my chemical instruments, and the materials I had collected, resolving to finish my labours in some obscure nook in the northern highlands of Scotland.

We quitted London on the 27th of March, and remained a few days at Windsor, rambling in its beautiful forest. This was a new scene to us mountaineers; the majestic oaks, the quantity of game, and the herds of stately deer, were all novelties to us.

From thence we proceeded to Oxford. As we entered this city, our minds were filled with the remembrance of the events that had been transacted there more than a century and a half before. It was here that Charles I. had collected his forces. This city had remained faithful to him, after the whole nation had forsaken his cause to join the standard of parliament and liberty. The memory of that unfortunate king, and his companions, the amiable Falkland, the insolent Goring, his queen, and son, gave a peculiar interest to every part of the city, which they might be supposed to have inhabited. The spirit of elder days found a dwelling here, and we delighted to trace its footsteps. If these feelings had not found an imaginary gratification, the appearance of the city had yet in itself sufficient beauty to obtain our admiration. The colleges are ancient and picturesque; the streets are almost magnificent; and the lovely Isis, which flows beside it through meadows of exquisite verdure, is spread forth into a placid expanse of waters, which reflects its majestic assemblage of towers, and spires, and domes, embosomed among aged trees.

I enjoyed this scene; and yet my enjoyment was embittered both by the memory of the past, and the anticipation of the future. I was formed for peaceful happiness. During my youthful days discontent never visited my mind; and if I was ever overcome by ennui, the sight of what is beautiful in nature, or the study of what is excellent and sublime in the productions of man, could always interest my heart, and communicate elasticity to my spirits. But I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to exhibit, what I shall soon cease to be—a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, pitiable to others, and intolerable to myself.

We passed a considerable period at Oxford, rambling among its environs, and endeavouring to identify every spot which might relate to the most animating epoch of English history. Our little voyages of discovery were often prolonged by the successive objects that presented themselves. We visited the tomb of the illustrious Hampden, and the field on which that patriot fell. For a moment my soul was elevated from its debasing and miserable fears, to contemplate the divine ideas of liberty and self-sacrifice, of which these sights were the monuments and the remembrancers. For an instant I dared to shake off my chains, and look around me with a free and lofty spirit; but the iron had eaten into my flesh, and I sank again, trembling and hopeless, into my miserable self.

We left Oxford with regret, and proceeded to Matlock, which was our next place of rest. The country in the neighbourhood of this village resembled, to a greater degree, the scenery of Switzerland; but every thing is on a lower scale, and the green hills want the crown of distant white Alps, which always attend on the piny mountains of my native country. We visited the wondrous cave, and the little cabinets of natural history, where the curiosities are disposed in the same manner as in the collections at Servox and Chamounix. The latter name made me tremble, when pronounced by Henry; and I hastened to quit Matlock, with which that terrible scene was thus associated.

From Derby, still journeying northward, we passed two months in Cumberland and Westmorland. I could now almost fancy myself among the Swiss mountains. The little patches of snow which yet lingered on the northern sides of the mountains, the lakes, and the dashing of the rocky streams, were all familiar and dear sights to me. Here also we made some acquaintances, who almost contrived to cheat me into happiness. The delight of Clerval was proportionably greater than mine; his mind expanded in the company of men of talent, and he found in his own nature greater capacities and resources than he could have imagined himself to have possessed while he associated with his inferiors. "I could pass my life here," said he to me; "and among these mountains I should scarcely regret Switzerland and the Rhine."

But he found that a traveller's life is one that includes much pain amidst its enjoyments. His feelings are for ever on the stretch; and when he begins to sink into repose, he finds himself obliged to quit that on which he rests in pleasure for something new, which again engages his attention, and which also he forsakes for other novelties.

We had scarcely visited the various lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland, and conceived an affection for some of the inhabitants, when the period of our appointment with our Scotch friend approached, and we left them to travel on. For my own part I was not sorry. I had now neglected my promise for some time, and I feared the effects of the dæmon's disappointment. He might remain in Switzerland, and wreak his vengeance on my relatives. This idea pursued me, and tormented me at every moment from which I might otherwise have snatched repose and peace. I waited for my letters with feverish impatience: if they were delayed, I was miserable, and overcome by a thousand fears; and when they arrived, and I saw the superscription of Elizabeth or my father, I hardly dared to read and ascertain my fate. Sometimes I thought that the fiend followed me, and might expedite my remissness by murdering my companion. When these thoughts possessed me, I would not quit Henry for a moment, but followed him as his shadow, to protect him from the fancied rage of his destroyer. I felt as if I had committed some great crime, the consciousness of which haunted me. I was guiltless, but I had indeed drawn down a horrible curse upon my head, as mortal as that of crime.

I visited Edinburgh with languid eyes and mind; and yet that city might have interested the most unfortunate being. Clerval did not like it so well as Oxford: for the antiquity of the latter city was more pleasing to him. But the beauty and regularity of the new town of Edinburgh, its romantic castle, and its environs, the most delightful in the world, Arthur's Seat, St. Bernard's Well, and the Pentland Hills, compensated him for the change, and filled him with cheerfulness and admiration. But I was impatient to arrive at the termination of my journey.

We left Edinburgh in a week, passing through Coupar, St. Andrew's, and along the banks of the Tay, to Perth, where our friend expected us. But I was in no mood to laugh and talk with strangers, or enter into their feelings or plans with the good humour expected from a guest; and accordingly I told Clerval that I wished to make the tour of Scotland alone. "Do you," said I, "enjoy yourself, and let this be our rendezvous. I may be absent a month or two; but do not interfere with my motions, I entreat you: leave me to peace and solitude for a short time; and when I return, I hope it will be with a lighter heart, more congenial to your own temper."

Henry wished to dissuade me; but, seeing me bent on this plan, ceased to remonstrate. He entreated me to write often. "I had rather be with you," he said, "in your solitary rambles, than with these Scotch people, whom I do not know: hasten then, my dear friend, to return, that I may again feel myself somewhat at home, which I cannot do in your absence."

Having parted from my friend, I determined to visit some remote spot of Scotland, and finish my work in solitude. I did not doubt but that the monster followed me, and would discover himself to me when I should have finished, that he might receive his companion.

With this resolution I traversed the northern highlands, and fixed on one of the remotest of the Orkneys as the scene of my labours. It was a place fitted for such a work, being hardly more than a rock, whose high sides were continually beaten upon by the waves. The soil was barren, scarcely affording pasture for a few miserable cows, and oatmeal for its inhabitants, which consisted of five persons, whose gaunt and scraggy limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare. Vegetables and bread, when they indulged in such luxuries, and even fresh water, was to be procured from the main land, which was about five miles distant.

On the whole island there were but three miserable huts, and one of these was vacant when I arrived. This I hired. It contained but two rooms, and these exhibited all the squalidness of the most miserable penury. The thatch had fallen in, the walls were unplastered, and the door was off its hinges. I ordered it to be repaired, bought some furniture, and took possession; an incident which would, doubtless, have occasioned some surprise, had not all the senses of the cottagers been benumbed by want and squalid poverty. As it was, I lived ungazed at and unmolested, hardly thanked for the pittance of food and clothes which I gave; so much does suffering blunt even the coarsest sensations of men.

In this retreat I devoted the morning to labour; but in the evening, when the weather permitted, I walked on the stony beach of the sea, to listen to the waves as they roared and dashed at my feet. It was a monotonous yet ever-changing scene. I thought of Switzerland; it was far different from this desolate and appalling landscape. Its hills are covered with vines, and its cottages are scattered thickly in the plains. Its fair lakes reflect a blue and gentle sky; and, when troubled by the winds, their tumult is but as the play of a lively infant, when compared to the roarings of the giant ocean.

In this manner I distributed my occupations when I first arrived; but, as I proceeded in my labour, it became every day more horrible and irksome to me. Sometimes I could not prevail on myself to enter my laboratory for several days; and at other times I toiled day and night in order to complete my work. It was, indeed, a filthy process in which I was engaged. During my first experiment, a kind of enthusiastic frenzy had blinded me to the horror of my employment; my mind was intently fixed on the consummation of my labour, and my eyes were shut to the horror of my proceedings. But now I went to it in cold blood, and my heart often sickened at the work of my hands.

Thus situated, employed in the most detestable occupation, immersed in a solitude where nothing could for an instant call my attention from the actual scene in which I was engaged, my spirits became unequal; I grew restless and nervous. Every moment I feared to meet my persecutor. Sometimes I sat with my eyes fixed on the ground, fearing to raise them, lest they should encounter the object which I so much dreaded to behold. I feared to wander from the sight of my fellow-creatures, lest when alone he should come to claim his companion.

In the mean time I worked on, and my labour was already considerably advanced. I looked towards its completion with a tremulous and eager hope, which I dared not trust myself to question, but which was intermixed with obscure forebodings of evil, that made my heart sicken in my bosom.

[mconsent]

3 Tips For A Perfect Dental Front Office | mConsent

Is your front office overloaded with time-sensitive administrative tasks? Wondering if it’s possible to have a stress-free office, and how to go about it?

This guide will open your eyes to how front office staff feel about their administrative responsibilities, along with keying in on 2 main factors:

(1) What are the primary stress factors causing front desk burnout? and (2) What are sensible strategies that eliminate workload, resolve staff shortage issues, and create an organized, efficient front office?

What Do Studies Show?

A study conducted by Athenahealth aimed to find out how stressed out front office staff are. The study surveyed 139 healthcare administrative staff to gather feedback about their experience and sentiment toward their work environment. A comparison was made between front-office staff, office management, and back-office staff. The survey assessed the following:

How inspired were they to put in the extra effort in their work?

How much were they inclined to continue with their current work for three more years?

How motivated did they feel to recommend their organization to others for receiving top care?

The study found the following:

Only 83% of front-office staff reported feeling inspired to put in the extra effort, compared to 97% of back-office staff, and 94% of office management.

Only 75% of front-office staff reported the intention to stay another 3 years, compared to 81% of back-office staff, and 89% of office management.

Only 81% of front-office staff recommended their organization for top care, compared to 91% of back-office staff, and 93% of office management.

The take away from this study is that “front office staff reported more negative sentiment toward their workplace” overall than back-office staff or management.1 17% felt less inspired to put in the extra effort, 25% were possibly looking for a new job, and 19% did not feel that their organization offered top quality care. Mary Jo, office manager of Lift Dental hit this point on the mark, when she described her daily routine, “Every patient that came through the door, we had to have them fill out (paper) forms. I had to put it into the computer (manually), scan it in for the signature, and it was a nightmare.”

Always feeling pressed for time, Cindy McCourt, practice manager at Lake Highlands Dental, detailed her challenges with traditional intake processes: “There were six pages to fill out by hand… they had to fill it, print it and bring it in… and the staff would scan it into the computer. One out five patients would have written errors with the DOB, phone #, etc. Paperwork was around a 30 minute process.” Mundane, tedious tasks that are expected of front desk staff on a daily basis, like those mentioned by Cindy and Mary Jo, are causes of tension and negative feelings towards work, and high staff turnover rate.

Is a Stress-Free Office Possible?

Nine out of ten dental offices are looking to create a stress-free workplace with high staff retention, but haven’t found a solid solution that produces real results. By analyzing your office routine via the below insightful questions, you’ll be better equipped to strategize an effective plan:

What does becoming a perfect dental office entail?

How can we make it happen?

What mundane tasks are front office staff doing routinely that cause stress?

What steps are needed to create positive staff sentiment?

What can we automate to improve front desk operations?

Let’s go over more detail on how to produce practical answers to these questions.

3 Keys to Eliminating Office Stress

A revolutionary change has been experienced by 5000+ practices via implementing a powerful, yet simple method that combines 3 essential elements:

Empowerment | Tech Utilization | Optimization

Let’s walk through the 3 elements step-by-step

Empowerment

Empowerment, the first key to transformation, involves autonomy, making your front office feel valued by maximizing their time and energy in tasks they identify as “empowering,” and by giving them a sense of independence. Front office staff are seen by patients as the outlet for unloading all their complaints about insurance, billing, and wait time. The reality is that administrative team members feel underappreciated when they work so hard, but don’t bear the fruits of their labor, via positive recognition from patients. Automating tedious tasks (like intake processes, insurance verifications, appointment scheduling, and reminders), and training front office staff in more dental related care enables them to connect with patients better, and empowers them to feel that they are contributing at a higher level.

Athenahealth’s study backed this up by going a step further in surveying staff that reported having flexibility and empowerment at work. The results show that out of those who had more freedom and independence at work, 96% felt empowered to go beyond what was expected, 89% had the intention of remaining at their work, and 94% recommended their office to a friend or family member. The effects autonomy has on promoting a positive sentiment in the workplace speak volumes. The study proves that by giving staff independence and freedom from mundane tasks, they develop a favorable attitude, and are more likely to stay long-term.

We interviewed some of the busiest dental practices to gather more detailed feedback. Stefanie, CDA, QOA from Boonsboro Family Dentistry & Orthodontics shared her relief about having more freedom after her office eliminated manual tasks, saying: “(Automation) is definitely an asset for our practice because it helps out with not having all that paperwork, not having to scan things.” Staff at Sonja Gill Dentistry chimed in with their own experience of independence from tedious manual administrative tasks, “(Automation) simplifies trying to juggle 30 patients on the schedule who all need to have paperwork updated.”

Based on feedback we collected from dental staff, freeing them from laborious tasks (like manual data insertion, paperwork, scanning, etc) empowers them, and creates a much more positive work attitude.

Tech Utilization

Tech utilization is the second essential element needed to de-stress your practice. What role does technology play in helping build a stress-free workplace? Using advanced technology to create an automated, self-service model for patients will free up your staff of endless burdens. An effective model can include the following:

Automating your entire intake process

Allowing patients to self-schedule

Fast-paced insurance verifications

Self-completion of digital patient forms from home

Self-capturing of IDs, insurance cards, and photos remotely

Syncing all digital forms into your PMS

Instant 2-way SMS communication channel without phone calls

Technology is a perfect avenue for eliminating front office stress, and saving backbreaking hours of workload. Smart practices take advantage of streamlining with advanced technology to free up their front desk staff.

Optimization

Optimizing the capability of your front office is a third essential part of creating a stress-free office. How exactly do you optimize your front office? When you escalate the type of work your staff are responsible for to a higher level of value, they’ll feel more important and your practice will save thousands in costs. If staff are limited to wearisome tasks of entering patient data into the computer, scanning documents, printing forms, arranging clipboards, manually scheduling appointments, calling patients with appointment reminders, and so forth… their tasks become robotic and dull.

Jay, a team member at Signature Dentistry of Macon nails this point clearly when he says, “(Digitizing) makes life much, much easier for sure. We typically see 25-30 new patients a month which means we have a whole host of paperwork. Using (paperless software) saves a lot of paperwork. It’s a huge benefit that we’re able to pull out patient information as needed. We don’t have to go back in the system to enter things manually.” Optimization, when implemented via technology, can do wonders for improving your office workflow and staff satisfaction.

Steps to Transform Your Front office

Now that we’ve identified some stress-causing factors for dental front desk staff, let’s get down to actual steps that’ll get your practice on track to becoming stress-free for good. We’ve narrowed down the list of top stress factors that we’ll pinpoint:

Tiring Patient Documentation Process

Scanning/Printing/Faxing Information

Manual Data Entries & Errors

Lengthy Insurance Verification & Claim Denials

Tied to the Phone with Appointment Scheduling & Reminders

Patient Frustrations

Billing Issues

Unqualified patients wasting away time

Fear of Viral Transmission

(1) Patient Intake Forms

Paper documentation comes with a heavy load for your front desk, like waiting on patients to fill out paperwork, keeping forms organized, running after patients for missing signatures or illegible handwriting, and searching for lost charts. These administrative burdens create tension between staff and patients that lead to exhaustion.

What’s the solution?

Digital intake forms resolve these challenges, making forms and patient documents readily available with little effort from your front desk.

This innovative software syncs with your PMS, enabling you to skyrocket staff efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and improve patient satisfaction and retention, simultaneously. Small and large dental practices alike have been cutting down 35% of front desk documentation time by streamlining the check-in process with paperless intake forms that integrate into major Practice Management Systems including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and Open Dental.

Eliminating the headaches of manual administrative burdens relieves your front desk of having to juggle multiple tasks, improves staff-customer relations, and boosts efficiency. Grace, business coordinator from The Extra Smile Dental summed up her experience after taking on digital forms, “We can now use our time to get important things done.”

With HIPAA compliant Digital Intake forms, your staff will no longer feel the burden of:

Collecting or scrambling through paper forms

Manually inserting patient data into the computer

Deciphering illegible handwriting

Running after patients for missing signatures

Searching for lost charts

Keeping forms organized

Shredding files

Paperless Intake forms have benefited 5000+ practices with the following:

Customizable, branded forms are available in Digital Systems: Registration, consents, HIPAA forms, medical history, and more

Patients can remotely complete all online forms, along with capturing:

Patients e-sign and submit, all before the visit

Directly integrates into major PMS systems

Slows the spread of viral transmission

Reduces waiting room time

Decreases staff burnout - no manual labor

Creates environmentally friendly practices

Cuts down on paper-related expenses

Provides convenience for patients

IDs

Insurance cards

Photos

Medication list

For patients who prefer In-Office Digital Forms, Branded On-Site iPad Apps speed up the intake process.

In-Office iPad App Intake forms include:

Treatment Plans & Consent Forms E-signed Right On the iPad

High-resolution Patient Photos captured with One Tap

Insurance cards & IDs synced with your PMS System

Direct transfer of completed forms to the provider’s PMS

(2) Lengthy Insurance Verifications

Hours on the phone verifying insurance eligibility is definitely a contributor to front desk tension. Traditional eligibility verification methods are known for inaccuracies, costly rejections, and frustrated patients. According to an analysis by the Center for American Progress, an average of $496 billion was spent by payers and providers on billing and insurance-related administrative costs in 2019, with 50% of front desk time exhausted on insurance verification of patients.2

It doesn’t have to be that way at your dental office. Technology has advanced to enable insurance verification within 10 seconds or less. That means eligibility reports will be at your fingertips in a flash, saving your office hours each day. What will new insurance verification software bring to your office?

Reduce Billing Errors, Claim Delays, and Denials

Eligibility Reports in 10 seconds or less

Eliminates patient-front office tension

40% decrease in waiting room time

Prevents mishaps before they occur

Improves Efficiency and Productivity

Integrates with Opendental, Eaglesoft, and Dentrix, along with over 180 major insurance carriers

Reduces unexpected out-of-pocket payments for patients

Access to insurance eligibility reports 24/7 from any location

Auto-upload eligibility reports to patient’s charts in your PMS

Why fall into the endless loophole of claim denials, lost money, and wasted time, when you deserve better?

(3) Appointment Scheduling and Reminders

Front desk administrators spend hours on the phone trying to balance appointment scheduling, appointment reminders, and a plethora of other daily tasks at once.

What’s an easy, effective way to lighten their load?

Embracing 24/7 online scheduling and Automated Appointment Reminders will create happy staff and patients.

Online scheduling serves as an ultimate tool to take the weight off front desk tasks and gives patients the convenience of booking appointments without a single phone call. It’s available 24/7, 365 days a year, from any device and any location. No more tedious phone calls that waste your staff’s time and energy.

Customizable Online scheduling combines the convenience of being able to send appointment reminders and intake forms to patients via SMS/Email. Digital intake forms can be completed remotely, and patients can capture IDs, insurance cards, and any other requested documents from home. Online Scheduling integrates with Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and Open Dental, making it a breeze on your front desk.

Automated Appointment Reminders are proven to be the #1 preferred choice by patients, and guarantee higher show-up rates. Your front desk will no longer need to waste time manually calling patients with appointment reminders. Your Appointment Reminders can be customized and scheduled to reach patients via text/email, a week/day/hour prior to the appointment. Patients can reply with a confirmation that will be received by the provider instantly. Automated Appointment Reminders simplify the process, while boosting your team’s efficiency and productivity. Monique, office manager of the dental office of Christopher S Wyckoff, DMD shares her positive experience, stating, “(Automated) appointment reminders have truly changed the way we operate… allowing (patients) to be in control. They can cancel, change the date and add any appointment notes, helping our office be more productive with fewer cancellations. It’s easy to keep track, and less stressful.”

Benefits of Online Scheduling & Automated Appointment Reminders

Perfect solution for front desk staff shortage

No More Tedious Phone Calls

Improves Customer Satisfaction

Integration with Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and Open Dental

Office phone # used for SMS Services

Enables Patients to Book Appointments Online 24/7

Reduces No-Shows & Boosts Revenue

Customizable Appointment Reminders

2-Way Texting Included

Pre-scheduled reminders received by patients via text/email (eg. 7 Days / 1 Day / 1 Hour Prior to Appointment)

Intake Forms automatically sent with Reminders

Patient Confirms Appointment & Provider Instantly Receives Confirmation Response

(4) Patient Communication

When patients feel upset about not being able to get quick replies to their inquiries or concerns, their frustration will rub off onto your front desk team. Front desk staff typically receive the complaints and suffer from emotional drainage for any defaults in communication. This issue is magnified when there’s a shortage of staff.

How can this be resolved?

2-Way SMS has become the perfect channel to quickly communicate with patients. It’s a lot simpler and easier on staff than being tied to the office phone for hours. We know that the average patient uses their smartphone for texting everyday, so why not meet them where they are, by using their preferred avenue of communication? No phone call needed.

2-Way SMS keeps team members and patients in sync about inquiries, follow-up information, appointments, patient status, unexpected occurrences, and so much more.

Both staff and patients love the ease of being able to send a quick SMS message to reschedule an appointment, or to let staff know about a cancellation or a delay in reaching the office for their appointment time. Waitlisted patients can be notified of last minute openings, via text, preventing lost revenue.

Instant 2-Way SMS boosts staff productivity, patient-provider relations, and improves revenue. It enables patients to get their questions answered quickly, saves staff the burden of having to call and track down patients, and prevents miscommunication.

What are some benefits of 2-Way SMS?

Answer Patients’ Questions

Appointment Reminders & receive confirmation replies

Rescheduling Appointments

Request Insurance Card, ID & Documents

Billing reminders / Invoices

Send and receive attachments

Recovery care instructions

Important Notifications

Send Educational Resources

Video informational links

Relevant medication info

“Two-way texting is a great way to send messages to patients. The auto response is quick and easy to initiate…we can be in communication with our patients even when we’re not in the office. It’s faster than calling on the phone, and helps us note specific concerns each patient may have prior to arriving at the office,” Monique, Office Manager at the office of Christopher S Wyckoff, DMD.

(5) Keeping Track of Billing & Payments

Staying on top of overdue payments, collections, and billing can place a heavy burden on your front office. Relieve their load using an organized and accurate accounts receivable tool that enables you to send & collect online payments from patients, and track balances. It keeps your practice alert to payment status, and provides the following:

Providers Collect payments immediately

Practices can Text or Email payment links to patients

Helps Practices avoid collections or missing payments

User-friendly dashboard for tracking balances with a few clicks:

Integrated with Open Dental, Dentrix, and Eaglesoft

Faster payment verification process than EMR systems alone

Outstanding Balances

Pending Payments

Payments Received

(6) Unqualified Patients Taking up Time

Booking appointments for patients without knowing if you’ll be able to offer treatment, or if you’ll need to refer them out, can be a huge waste of time for your front office and staff. What if there was an easy way to qualify patients before the visit?

Virtual consultations offer cosmetic dentists the convenience of one-on-one communication by directly connecting providers with interested prospects.

Potential clients can request a virtual consultation via the practice’s website, submitting the needed information, like selfies of their teeth, and what the consultation is for. Dentists can customize the available time slots to accommodate their schedule, even outside of work hours. Virtual consults are tailored to meet the needs of growing dental offices.

5 Reasons Patients Prefer Virtual Consults

Convenient Way to Find out if their Dental Issues are Fixable

Perfect Opportunity to Evaluate the Dentist Before Committing

Estimated Cost Can be Given in Advance

Eliminates the Need to Sacrifice Work Hours

Personal Engagement from the comfort of their own home

5 Reasons Why Cosmetic Dentists Love Virtual Consults

Qualify Patients Before They Take up Chair Time

Convenience of Connecting with Prospects on Provider’s Own Time

Directly Interact with Patients - Breaks Down Communication Gaps

Prevent Delayed Decisions by Conveying Information Upfront

Affordable & Fully Secured

(7) Telehealth and Viral Transmissions

The fear of viral transmissions is real for front desk staff, who are in continuous face-to-face contact with patients. What if there was an avenue to lessen the amount of in-person traffic and accommodate patients from home?

Telehealth’s virtual visits do just that. By providing dental care delivery to patients in the comfort of their own home, these virtual visits have become indispensable, and have enabled dentists to streamline office operations, including patients’ record maintenance, appointment scheduling, patient registration, and management of inquiries.

Patients use Telehealth for a number of visits:

Initial Consultations

Triage Emergency Visits

Pre-visit Screenings

Posts-Op Visits without the Hassle of In-Office Appointments

Discuss Treatment Plans with Patients Virtually

Live Group Video Interactions with Referrals

Dental practices embracing low-cost telehealth software enjoy many features:

Interactive HD video and audio

Link provided for communication services

Accessible on any device

Send online consent forms, packets and reminders to patients via email and text

Customer support services

Send payment requests to patients via email and text

Collect payments remotely and provide online receipts

Detailed billing information

Secured end-to-end encryption of collection, storage and transmission of data

Conclusion

Front office stress in dental practices is more common than ever and leads to negative work sentiment. If you’re noticing increased staff fatigue, frustration, and inability to keep up with tasks, you’ll benefit from innovative solutions that ease the strain and workload on your team. The success of your office depends heavily on your front desk. By making healthy adjustments to office operations, you can eliminate the heavy burden on your team’s shoulders, and improve work sentiment. Streamlining your office with self-service tools for patients, and automation including: Digital Intake Forms, Online Patient Scheduling, Automated Appointment Reminders, 2-Way SMS, Accounts Receivable, and Virtual Consultations & Telehealth, will save hours of manual labor, and improve staff and patient satisfaction. Learn how mConsent can help you achieve the perfect dental front office.

References: 1 Athenahealth study 2 SRS Web Solutions, Inc survey of 2,500 dental practices

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Here is a 3-day travel plan for Tagaytay, a city in the province of Cavite in the Philippines known for its cooler climate, beautiful views, and numerous attractions:

Day 1:

Start your day with a visit to Taal Volcano, an active volcano located within Taal Lake. You can take a boat ride to the volcano island and then hike to the summit for a breathtaking view of the surrounding area.

After your hike, head back to the mainland and stop by the Tagaytay Picnic Grove, a popular park with a variety of outdoor activities such as ziplining, horseback riding, and a cable car ride.

In the evening, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant and try some of the city's famous bulalo, a type of beef stew.

Day 2:

Begin your day with a visit to the People's Park in the Sky, a park located on top of a mountain with panoramic views of Taal Lake and the surrounding area.

Next, stop by the Our Lady of Lourdes Church, a beautiful religious site with a grotto dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In the afternoon, head to the Tagaytay Highlands, a resort and residential area with numerous attractions such as a golf course, a butterfly garden, and a zipline.

Finish off your day with dinner at a local restaurant, followed by a visit to the Sky Ranch, an amusement park with rides and games for all ages.

Day 3:

Spend the morning exploring the Antonio's Garden, a beautiful garden and restaurant with a variety of plants and flowers, as well as a shop selling locally made crafts and souvenirs.

After lunch, visit the Tagaytay Zoo, a small zoo with a variety of animals such as tigers, elephants, and primates.

In the evening, enjoy a relaxing dinner at one of the city's many restaurants with a view of Taal Lake.

Overall, Tagaytay is a beautiful and diverse destination with something for everyone, from outdoor adventures to cultural attractions. This travel plan should give you a taste of the city's many attractions and allow you to experience the best that Tagaytay has to offer.