el Papa Francisco, John Denver, and Angelina county, Tejas

It’s a good day for random thoughts, of which I seem to have many. 

Image from Just Call me Frank

Here are three of them:

#1, I loved the recent Catholic News Service article highlighting some favorites of el Papa Francisco, as listed in "Pope Francis: Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio" by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti, originally published in 2010 as "El Jesuita" ("The Jesuit")—and not yet available in English.

Tango. Soccer. Poetry by Friedrich Holderlin. Anything by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Argentine Jorge Luis Borges. Thérèse of Lisieux. And the 1987 movie "Babette's Feast."

Got to love this guy!

You can read the rest of the article here.

#2, did you know that only one county in the Lone Star state is named after a woman?  Angelina County, seated in Lufkin, is the only one of the state’s 254 counties named after a woman—a girl, really. Each of the other 253 Texas counties is named for a man or a geographical landmark.

Angelina was a Hainai Indian girl who welcomed the first Spanish explorers and priests to East Texas in 1690. They called her Angelina—“Little Angel”—and she adopted the name. Angelina National Forest and the Angelina River also bear her name. 

I married a Texan and three of my four children were born in Austin. Yes, I do love Texas trivia!

And #3, If you enjoy John Denver and remember his music as much as I do, you will love a new tribute record just out: The Music Is You, showcasing some of Denver's most beloved songs and performed by a cross-genre, cross-generational and impressive mix of musicians — including Lucinda Williams, Josh Ritter, Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris.

You may recall that Denver died 15 years ago when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed off the coast of California. 

It took me a bit to adjust to this collection of voices performing Denver songs, but it didn’t stop me from singing along. I can still remember the lyrics to most all of them! I also realized that taking away Denver’s familiar voice even helped me “hear” the songs with a new set of ears.

Surely, there’s a metaphor for the spiritual life in there, too?!

The Music is You: trailer #4