No ordinary Joe ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm marking Saint Joseph's Day with a photograph of my favourite 'Joes' .. my Dad and my Grandad.

In the Catholic Church, Joseph is the patron saint of workers and, in these two guys, the name couldn't have been more apt. Man, they were grafters ..

My Grandad always used to tell me he was a gravedigger and, to this day, I'm not sure whether or not he was joking. I know he used to scare me to death with stories of ghostly sightings in the graveyard ..

As for my Dad, the poor fella never stopped working, right up until the day, way back in the early 80s, when he was made redundant. Talk about being thrown on the scrapheap .. 

Tonight I'll raise a glass of Guinness to these two strong Ulstermen, now both long gone. And to Dad, an extra special thank you. He gave me the middle name of Joseph and, today, I couldn't be more proud .. 

Hail Mary ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

A year ago today we dashed out in the morning for one last bike ride before a noon lock-down kicked into being ..

That's it. End of blog. Well, it's not as if I'm the only person in the world to be going through this, is it? No, it's just an excuse to show you one of my travel shots, this one from Brazil showing care-free holidays and a bit of intercession from The Virgin Mary. Two things we're probably all praying for, right now ..