BIRTHDAY!

 

The Election

Trump said to vote as if he were on the ballot. Happily, that's exactly what people did.

  

Flowers in the Night

V for Villanova

As probably none of you know, the men's and women's basketball teams from the University of Notre Dame and Villanova University will be playing exhibition games in Rome on November 1st (All Saints Day curiously enough). This piece of marketing genius is creating much hoopla and will bring great benefit to both universities, the papacy, and - unfortunately - the NCAA, the governing body for American college sports which many consider to be corrupt and money-grubbing. Be that as it may, both university presidents and the heads of the respective religious orders, the Holy Cross Bothers for ND and the Augustinians for VU, are in attendance. They have made a side bet that the Roman HQ of the order's university with the lowest combined score for the men's and women's games will have the members of the winner's HQ over for dinner. Both universities and the NCAA are selling package tours, etc., etc. I'll admit, I'm getting a kick out of the whole thing.

 

Of course, this does leave Leo in a potentially awkward situation which, at the opening audience, he handled with great aplomb: 

“Growing up on the south side of Chicago, we oftentimes heard, 'Go Irish’ [the school cheer for the University of Notre Dame]. But as you all know, Robert Prevost graduated from Villanova. So, Pope Leo doesn't take sides. Robert Prevost has another opinion, but we won't go into that now...“

 

I can't tell if the pontiff is actually singing "V for Villanova", the VU fight song, or whether this is just a pose for the camera. I'm certain he did something similar for ND.

To the left of the pope is the president of Villanova; all three of us were students at VU at the same time and all knew one another.

Out & About

 

they finished [painting the pink house

More from David

As usual, David went to the Market of Farmers last Saturday, and he picked up another pretty bunch of flowers and envased them. 

Funnies

In green is the American "Midwest"

Elections

 

Various Flora

Fret not, Dear Fans, I'm still here.  Allow me to present you with some assorted loveliness: 1) cut flowers David found on clearance at the Alexandria Farmers' Market --or should that be Farmer's Market?-- and 2) some eye-catching ornamental grasses outside the condo's community center.  Enjoy!

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