Smorgasbord #22
A very St. Patrick's Smorgasbord
The weather in Phoenix has been gorgeous this week. We’ve been enjoying mildly cold mornings and evenings with highs in the 70s. As I write this, I’m smoking some G. L. Pease Quiet Nights tobacco in my corncob pipe. The only thing that could improve this writing session would be a cup of coffee or a cocktail, but it’s too late for caffeine, and I’m saving my drinking for St. Patrick’s Day. Anyway, let’s get started.
Primus
Diana surprised me by checking out “The Complete Stories” by Flannery O’Connor from the library. She is probably one of the best fiction writers and also happens to be Catholic. I knew that she was from Georgia, that she was a writer, and that she died young—at 39, after being sick with lupus for a number of years.
What I didn’t know was that she would painstakingly write and rewrite her stories or that she was a contemporary and friend of Thomas Merton, who passed away only four years after Flannery. I also learned that a friend of hers once commented that the Eucharist was a symbol and a pretty good one at that. Flannery O’Connor stood up and, with a shaky voice, responded, “Well, if it’s just a symbol, to hell with it!”—an interesting approach to apologetics.
I started reading one of her first stories, “The Geranium,” but I haven’t finished it yet. However, I’m excited to see how her faith influences her writing. I’m having difficulty understanding how people from the south speak English, but I’m sure it’ll be alright.
Secundus
I applied to the Gibberish Writing Competition, and part of the application process requires participants to have a fiction publication. I’m happy to report that
is a new fiction publication by yours truly. I aim to publish one micro (300-500 words) or flash fiction (1,500 words) story weekly. Last week, I published Alux, a story about a tourist who encounters the zealous guardian of a cenote in the Yucatan peninsula.I also published What Does That Mean? a piece that studies the meaning of words like expiation, redemption, salvation, justification, and salvation and their relationship to the Paschal Mystery.
For the history buffs, about a year ago, I wrote about the Batallion of St. Patrick, a group of Irish men who switched sides in the Mexican-American war in 1846.
Tertius
When I think of St. Patrick’s Day, I usually think of Guinness and Jameson. But recently, I was introduced to Powers Irish Whiskey, and I was amazed at how smooth it is. Tread lightly; it is very easy to drink. It has a honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg taste and a light body. I tried it neat, but I think it would be good in an Irish Mule.
To make an Irish Mule, you’ll need:
2 oz. Irish Whiskey
1 oz. Lime juice
5-6 oz. Ginger beer
Fill a highball glass (or a mule copper mug if you have one) with ice. Pour the lime juice and Irish whiskey into the glass and top it with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel and a mint sprig (if you feel fancy). Slainte!
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Sobremesa
Have you read anything by Flannery O’Connor?
Who’s your favorite Christian/Catholic fiction writer, and why is it Tolkien?
Are you doing anything special for St. Patrick’s Day?
All of her books and short stories are bangers. I can’t pick one. Listen to them all on audiobook!
I love Flannery O’Connor! Read/Listened to most of her short stories. Listening to them is nice because the characters speak in southern accents and it is easier to be drawn into the time period and place. I love how in most of her stories she pokes fun of at Baptists and Pentecostals. Many of her works also have a priest character and show the dichotomy of the Catholicism and Protestantism. N