Ah, here’s the January weather we’d been missing in Iowa.

-3F, feels like -23F this morning.

Couple of warmer (20s) days this week, then multiple nights at -10F or lower next weekend. Oof.

2026 Reads: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd 📚

Saw Chris Thile play tonight at The Englert in Iowa City. That guy is the real deal. Wowza.

A man in a light suit on stage playing a mandolin

The plan for today:

Gym ✅
Work
Record a podcast
Dinner with my wife at a new (to us) restaurant
Go hear Chris Thile play the mandolin

Last night: vestry. Tonight: library board!

Love my AirPods Pro 3’s but this morning was the second time I’ve had them in the case overnight only to show up at the gym in the morning and find out the airpods’ batteries were completely run down. A glitch in smart charging maybe? Super annoying, regardless.

For the Vestry meeting approving the annual budget and policy updates prior to the parish meeting, we pray to the Lord.

Lord, hear our prayer.

⚓️

Unbelievable second half between the Bears and Packers. What a comeback. There will be football at Soldier Field again next week!

2026 Reads: Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence by Diana Butler Bass 📚

I found her chapter on Jesus the “way” where she describes being trapped in the world of Calvinist evangelicalism and the painful path leaving it to be particularly resonant.

2026 Reads: Katabasis by R. F. Kuang 📚