Smorgasbord #11

Socks, themes, and NYE

Dec 29, 2023

Hello friends! This is Peregrino, a newsletter about the journey. Welcome to another edition of Smorgasbord, a self-service buffet of ideas. If you’re new here, welcome! It’s good to have you. If you haven’t subscribed, I will make it easy for you to do so.

Happy fifth day of Christmas! (FIVE GOOOOLD RINGS!!!) I hope you are still feasting and celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord. Over here, at Châtelet Cantú, we’ve been going strong with the food and the drink and spending quality time as a family (read: playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder). This is the last Smorgasbord of 2023; let’s get right into it.

Thoughts

Anonymous: The Birth of Christ — The Birth of Christ - Anonymous

I came across this 1400s painting of the Nativity of the Lord, which was part of a portable altarpiece. This luxurious piece, adorned with gold and silver, is thought to have belonged to Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Two panels are in Antwerp, and two are in Baltimore.

What’s peculiar about this piece of art is that St. Joseph is shown barefoot, cutting his stockings, most likely to have swaddling clothes to wrap baby Jesus with. It provided fodder for contemplation on things like the poverty of The Holy Family. The creator of the universe entered the world in the most unassuming way, as a helpless baby, witnessed by shepherds, in a manger of all places. A place that I’m sure didn’t smell great. Yet Joseph and Mary had each other, and that’s all they needed. Imagine their conversations as they were going from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Imagine their inside jokes and how they made the three-day trip more enjoyable. This made me think that even when we are in financial distress or facing trials, as long as we have God in our midst, we will get through these things.

As a father, I can relate to St. Joseph’s act of selflessness. It motivated me to strive to empty myself and be okay with experiencing discomfort while focused on the bigger picture, the greater good.

Finally, those of us baptized have become adoptive sons and daughters of God; we have a brother in Jesus. This was a good reminder to ask for the intercession of The Holy Family as our family. We have our glorious patriarch St. Joseph and Mary, our queen, and mother, as powerful intercessors before God.

Merry Christmas! Three out of four kids smiling is the best we could do here.

Reads

If you haven’t read
Scoot
‘s tech-noir detective story, “Duel,” you’re missing out.
Chantal LaFortune
’s piece for the feast of St. John Cantius has a quote that hasn’t left my mind since I read it: “Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.”
Catholic Manhood
’s Christmas piece called “Swaddled and Lying in a Manger” was a good reminder to embrace humility, servitude, and lack of control. Why? Because God did that for us.
School of the Unconformed
published “Simple Acts of Sanity: A Seed Catalogue,” which is chockful of ideas to resist the dehumanizing effect of the Machine. I’ve already made a short list of things I want to try, like drafting essays with pen and paper instead of Google Docs, going back to baking bread (I was REALLY into sourdough during the lockdown), reading physical books, and maybe getting a fountain pen (even though I LOVE my Pilot G-2s).

Themes

As we approach the end of the year, we may be thinking about New Year Resolutions. I know I have. However, if you’re anything like me, or anyone really, you may start strong for a couple of weeks, then maybe you have an off day and fail to do the thing you said you would do, and a spiral of shame and despair lead you to quit around February. A good friend shared this video with me, which I think could be helpful for anyone trying to make positive life changes sustainably and set yourself up for success. Let me know what you think.

Mixing

I can’t think of a better New Year’s Eve cocktail than the French 75. Named after the 75-millimeter field guns used in World War I, this cocktail is festive and packs a punch. Diana and I have been making these for a few years now, and we have to be careful because they are delicious and go down easily.

Ingredients

1.5 oz gin or cognac
.75 oz fresh lemon juice
.75 oz simple syrup
2 oz Champagne

In a cocktail shaker, combine the gin or cognac, lemon juice, and simple syrup, add ice, and shake vigorously until the shaker is so cold that it hurts to hold it. Strain the cocktail into a Champagne flute (disposable ones are okay), and top with bubbles.

If you’re staying in as we will and want to stay up until midnight—we may not, why not ring in the new year with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal by starting “When Harry Met Sally” at 10:30:27 PM? This way, the iconic New Year’s Eve scene will sync up with the countdown for 2024. You’re welcome.