Some Interesting Reading

Sunday evening here in Alabama, expecting a thunder shower but no show so far. Been reading some interesting fiction of late. Started with the autobiagraphy of Henry VIII: with notes by his fool, Will Somers: a novel by Margaret George. It is a very entertaining hypothetical account of one of history's most intriquing characters. The author remains faithful to the historical data, but of course imagines the conversations and much that is left to the imagination. What interests me is the relationship to the Reformation period and the frequent references to the "Lutherans" and Henry's opinion of Luther.  I also read "Dissolution: a novel of Tudor England" by C.J. Sansom. It too gives an insight from a fictional viewpoint on what happened when the protestants gained a foothold in England as Henry challenged Rome for national supremacy. Then I'm now on my second novel by Karen Harper who wrote several mysteries with Elizabeth as the heroine detective who with her immediate staff solve the various conspiracies that history records in her ascendancy to the crown and her reign as Queen of England. Though written as fiction incorporating history of the period you get a real sense of what the period was like.

Anybody have any suggestions to follow up these readings. I particularly like historical fiction and the subject of how the Protestant Reformation developed in the 16th century is very interesting to me.

Good News - Bobble Heads Found

Yesterday while rummaging through the TV cabinet in my home office I found a box that hadn't been opened yet that I had thought was lost in our move. Sure enough, safely wrapped inside were all my Anaheim Angel Bobble Head Dolls. I couldn't believe it. I thought I had looked everwhere and had given up that we had gotten them here to our new home in Alabama. I apologize to all the unknown people that I blamed for their loss. But you can see they were necessary to complete my Angel Shrine on the wall across from my desk. Now we can continue rooting for the Angels without any dark thoughts and remembering fondly the many game's we attended while living in Anaheim and at which we stood in line early to get those dolls. Tim Salmon, Garrett Anderson, Brian Downing and Rod Carew. Don't they look great up on my shelf?

I'm still an Angel Fan in Brave country 

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Talladega, Alabama 

Nelda and I are enjoying having our daughter Liz staying with us. She has a job with an inventory company so her hours are rather sporadic right now. She usually works at night or early in the morning and sometimes both for several days in a row. She will be registering soon for her Fall classes at Gadsden State.

We are looking forward to Tim's visit next week. He will be flying into Birmingham Airport on Monday afternoon and will here for 11 days. We hope to show him what Southern living is about. We are enjoying living here. It's been warm and somewhat humid, but not unbearably so.

The church is doing well. Attendance was up last week and the people are great. We have several members in the hospital with serious illnesses, but they are improving and God is raising them up. Many are praying and our prayers are being answered.

I am still going to our mission in Talladega every other Sunday morning before our services at Trinity. We are planning a major mass mailing to try to get some more people attending.

God bless whoever reads this. We appreciate hearing from our friends and family.