Little triumphs.

It was an absolutely spectacular weekend here in the lower Hudson Valley, wonderful for the graduation ceremonies at West Point. And on my little patch of paradise as well. Some may have complained that it was too cold -- 47 degrees Sunday morning -- but that was because the humidity was so low. I loved it, my wife was a fan, and our hairy dogs thought it was an early Christmas gift. Remember, we had snow suitable for making snowballs five weeks ago, so this was plenty warm enough.

Did I get a lot done? Kill the weeds, clean the fridge, repair the front walk, and all the rest on my to-do list? No, I did not. But I had my little triumphs, and in the current conditions of the year I am happily blessed for those. Here are some:

1) Watermelon! As you may recall, the last time I brought a watermelon into this house, carrying it up the cellar stairs from the garage, it turned into the worst fumble since Jeremiah Castille ruined Earnest Byner's day in 1987.  So this time I put the big ol' fruit in a paper shopping bag with handles and carefully carried it up, bracing the bottom to prevent sudden tears. It is sitting on my counter, waiting for the knife. Triumph!

2) Tomatoes! Last week I planted tomatoes in a large pot on the porch. I've done this several times since we lived here. The deer and other pests won't come on the porch, and there's a good mix of sun and shade. I've had lots of luck with red peppers, too. But since we got dogs, who famously like to dig, I have avoided putting temptation in their way. Well, my wife misses those home-grown cherry tomatoes, so I said I would try -- but I got a late start. I set up the pot on Saturday. And less than a week later....

They're growing a lot faster than my hair is from my home haircut. Triumph! (I did have to put a barrier around the pot because junior varsity dog Nipper could not tear himself away from it -- sniff sniff sniff. And we all know the sniff is the father of the dig.)

3) Mass! Saw a great Mass online. That was not what we'd hoped to do; the churches have reopened, but the restrictions for Mass are exceptionally tough to prevent a resurgence of the Chinese Death Virus. So the Archdiocese says there's still no obligation to attend Mass in person. Indeed, most of us can't; with the crowd restrictions, the church is only allowed to have about a quarter of the usual attendees. I count it as a little victory that we exercised caution and were rewarded with a wonderful homily for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ by Fr. Mike Schmitz of Ascension Presents.

4) Speech! I mentioned above the commencement at West Point. A friend a mine, lifelong Democrat, called yesterday and said he was very impressed by what he saw of the president's commencement speech on the news. I was obliged to check out the speech, and I have to agree. Very moving, very powerful. A few classic Trump flourishes, but that's our president for ya. I loved his mention of the Great Chain at West Point that saved the nation from British invasion from Canada in the Revolution -- a chain whose links we touched on our visit in 2018 -- and used it as a metaphor for the army itself, "a great chain reaching out from this place — one made not of iron, but of flesh and blood, of memory and spirit, of sheer faith and unyielding courage." That's a great chain, indeed.

Not all these li'l triumphs had anything to do with me, beyond my willingness to participate, but it's not all about me. How was your weekend?