Hilton Head Island: THE GUARDIAN OF MERCY; wrong

 I finished THE GUARDIAN OF MERCY two days ago.  It continued, with an exception, to be a unique pleasure to read.  The exception is the six page epilogue, which has some slight interest in telling us what became of some of the people in the book, but then devolves into a paean to Pope Francis that seems stuck on and I expect was insisted upon by the publisher to make the book seem more contemporarily relevant.  I highly recommend the book; not the epilogue.

Here are some quotes used in and from THE GUARDIAN OF MERCY:

As they waited for the attack they knew would be the last, one of them said he had heard the Persians were so numerous that when they shot their arrows, they hid the sky.  "Good," said another.  "Then we will fight in the shade."  --Herodotus, THE HISTORIES

This is the true joy in life:  being used for a purpose recognized as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn-out before you're thrown on a scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish, little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. --George Bernard Shaw, MAN AND SUPERMAN

Art is actually one of the only ways through which a troubled soul can express what he carries inside.

Then she asks as if speaking to herself, "What have we done to deserve all this?  There are thousands in the world without a roof over their heads, and we are in this divine home.  Why us?  In life, it's only a matter of luck how you start out...how can there be justice?  It's pure luck if we find ourselves here, instead of in a huge building managed by the Camorra (the Mafia) in Scampia.  There, it's one in a thousand who can break out and have a life.

The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is shot through with  beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter; and in these, the spirit blooms timidly, and struggles to the light amid the thorns.  --George Santayana

The heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good; and thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burdens of the past.  --Gabriel Garcia Marquez, LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA

"This is life, my dear one," she whispers, "don't worry, keep laughing--the worst is yet to come."  And we burst out in laughter.

For a time, I rest in the grace of the world, and I am free.  --Wendell Berry, THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

Ustitched on Monday, I resumed my full workout on Tuesday and am again back in the routine.  Weights Wednesday.  Push-up/crunches/knee bends workout Thursday.  Weights yesterday.  Push-ups today.  Resistance bands tomorrow.

An update to the Apple iPhone health app contains a number decided by an algorithm of VO2 which is supposed to be the volume of oxygen your body can use.  It states that mine is low and I will have difficulty exercising.  From this one can only conclude that the algorithm is flawed.