Watcher of the Morn'

Spring in Annapolis

2010-04-05T20:18:00.001-04:00

No disrespect to my hometown, but who needs the Tidal Basin when all of this is within 3 miles of home?! Enjoy...and Happy Easter!

Sometimes I need a reminder...

2010-02-21T12:59:00.002-05:00

Long-time readers of this oft-neglected blog might remember the stories I used to tell about my Sunday school class. I'm still teaching the same class. I'm in the middle of my third year, and boy have the record snows around here messed up the schedule! We'll be able to make up the time, so that's good, but Lent's going to be a long one, I'm afraid.

This is the time of year when getting motivated to teach class is always hardest. I don't know why. But between Christmas and that special "light-bulb week" somewhere before the last class in April, it's a slog. It's the time of year when I tell myself "this is it, I'm not doing this again next year."

But then inevitably I have moments like the one this morning.

After a pretty good class this morning, I had to run across the parking lot to read at the 10:30 Mass. I was a little harried, and the church was packed...at least three deep in the back. Probably the busiest it's been in weeks. At the end of Mass, I gathered up all my stuff, stepped out of the pew, genuflected and as I stood up, was greeted by the smiling face of a former student. But not just any former student.

Long-time readers will also remember my stories about my student, Alex, who battled a brain tumor toward the end of his first year in class. The tumor meant that his sacraments had to be administered from a hospital bed prior to surgery. But he returned last year to be confirmed. He was still undergoing chemo treatments, and wore his trusty knit cap for his confirmation.

This was the smiling face I was greeted by this morning -- minus the knit cap and his braces. He's doing great, and apparently saw me reading and wanted to come up to say hello.

The Lord knows I need little reminders of what it's all about to keep me motivated this time of year. This morning, my reminder came in the form of Alex. :)

Blizzard of 2010 -- Round 2

2010-02-10T08:36:00.003-05:00

Guess what? It's snowing again. Blessedly, the forecast is sunny and clear, but cold, for about four days after today.

Here are some fresh pictures. Wish I could offer more than just images of my parking lot, but getting out to the grocery store yesterday (less than a mile up the street) was an adventure in and of itself thanks to the poor plowing job around here.

I had to laugh this morning when I was spending a few minutes of prayer time before getting to some work. I read this quote and thought, "That's perfect!" Hope it helps some of the other folks out there who are getting a little stir-crazy:

"God gives us no more than we can bear, and he gives patience first." (St. Teresa of Avila)

UPDATE: (6:30 Wednesday night) We've now surpassed the all-time record in this part of the world for the snowiest winter. As I type it's still coming down. Here's to another historic event to add to the list of them that I've lived through. But at this point, heading into day #7 of the snowy captivity, I think we're all ready for it to just stop! Enjoy some of the new photos below.

Ready for round #2?!

2010-02-09T09:48:00.002-05:00

What's that everyone keeps saying about global warming and climate change?

We're gearing up for Round #2 here in the mid-Atlantic. Another 18-20 inches expected in the Baltimore/Annapolis area tonight and tomorrow. I have no idea where they're going to put it all. There are already 8 to 10 foot mountains of snow throughout my complex parking lot. And the snow pack getting in and out of the neighborhood is already at least 10 inches high...my little car can't get over anything much higher!

But we're restocked and don't have much choice other than to sit tight. Here's hoping we'll be able to get out for the weekend.

More pictures to come as things progress.

Blizzard of 2010

2010-02-06T13:41:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures, as promised. So far still warm, lit, and entertained.

UPDATE (Sunday, 2/7): Snow's finally outta here. Praise the Lord we didn't lose power (unfortunately can't say the same for my parents who were in the dark for about 6 hours on Saturday)! New photos have been added to the slideshow. Enjoy!

(Click on a photo to see it larger.)

Snowed in

2010-02-05T19:13:00.002-05:00

As I type there are a few inches of wet, sticky snow covering my car and my apartment complex parking lot. Forecast is for two feet if not a bit more by this time tomorrow.

We're all praying the lights and the heat keep working through the duration.

And a lot of us, myself included, are grumbling about weekend plans ruined for the second week in a row.

But, you know something, when it comes right down to it, I don't think I'd mind a day or a couple of them where all I did is curl up with a good book (or some things to proof for work...but at least they're uplifting and spiritually gratifying things to read).

I'll post some pictures as we go along (and as the electricity allows).

Let it snow!

For such a time as this...

2010-01-17T19:38:00.002-05:00

To say this past week was a busy one would be an understatement, but it was one full of reminders that sometimes we're placed in certain situations for a very specific purpose.

I found myself in a similar place in September 2005. I was a reporter working for a daily paper in South Carolina when Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans. A family from the suburbs of the Crescent City fled to Upstate South Carolina to stay with friends and await word of their home and family. I was sitting in the friends' living room talking to these refugees when they finally received word that their home had been spared, and that family members were safe. I wrote a story about their worry and relief and determination to return home. I was grateful to have had the chance to meet this family and to share their story. How many times in life do you really get a chance to witness human resiliency and Christian charity?

Earlier that year, in April 2005, I had found myself in a secular newsroom during the last earthly hours of Pope John Paul II. I was part of the team that covered the local reaction to this great spiritual leader's death. I remember waiting around outside a small Catholic church -- a little, white, wooden structure that looked like something out of a Hallmark movie -- waiting for parishioners to emerge from morning Mass the day of the pope's funeral. I couldn't join them in grieving the loss just then, but with my pen, I could share their grief, gratitude, and hope.

Sometimes we're put in a place "for such a time as this."

This week was another one of those times. The earthquake in Haiti hit closer to home than I ever expected. The religious order for which I work has members stationed in Haiti. And my particular province has a seminarian who hails from Port au Prince; for awhile he didn't know whether his family survived. For most of this week we kept an uneasy vigil with him and all the other members worldwide, waiting for news. By a series of miracles, none of our guys were killed...though some lost family members (our seminarian's family is safe).

But while we waited for news and then began to process the news that trickled in, I was tasked with starting an online fundraising effort. I found myself harnessing my journalistic skills for the sake of moving people to give to our Haiti fund. The motivation behind my writing wasn't solely to inform, but to spur to action, to move hearts. I hope I was at least a little bit successful.

But more important than the money, at least for me personally, is the fact that our regular online updates have provided a steady stream of news for people who are somehow connected to Haiti and our men stationed there. I've received emails from across the country and as far away as France. All people grateful for some kind of personal connection beyond the images making their grim procession across our TV and computer screens. (If you've seen pictures of rescuers digging through the rubble of a school, St. Gerard School, that would be our school in Haiti...I'm told pictures from that site have found their way on to front pages of newspapers across the country.)

It's been a privilege this week. To be in some small way part of the effort to bring relief to so many hurting people. To be in this place "for such a time as this..."

If you'd like to learn more or find out how to help, click here. And thank you.

Into a New Year...

2009-12-31T19:26:00.008-05:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for anotehr day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

(Robert Frost, 1916)

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of men;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
he came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name, who were born
not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by man's decision
but of God.

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father's only Son,
full of grace and truth.

(John 1:1-14)

Happy 2010 everyone! Prayers for a blessed, peaceful and grace-filled New Year!

Christmas in Annapolis

2009-12-27T10:46:00.001-05:00

I love my parish church, but I especially love it at Christmas! The building was built in the late 1850s and dedicated in 1860. It was fully restored a few years ago.

Cookie Day 2009

2009-12-19T14:26:00.005-05:00

Some more pictures. These from Cookie Day 2009. And with this post, Thomas Brooks, my godson, makes his debut on my blog! :)

It took a blizzard...

2009-12-19T14:23:00.004-05:00

....to get me to pay attention to my poor blog. That's sad. What can I say, I'm a sucker for historic events. Enjoy the pictures and I'll try to make sure this isn't my lone appearance for the next four months.

back to work

2009-09-07T20:57:00.003-04:00

In the spirit of back-to-school and getting back into the swing of things with the unofficial end of summer, I promise to update this terribly neglected blog this week with an appropriate post: How I Spent My Summer Vacation.

And here's hoping I can get inspired with something I can use to spur some more regular posting. The suggestion box (aka comments) is open....

Happy Back-to-School and Work everybody!

More fireworks

2009-07-05T13:13:00.001-04:00

The start of the finale. The racket you hear at about 50 seconds in is the boats in the harbor and up the creek blaring their horns in appreciation.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-05T13:12:00.001-04:00

Enjoy a glimpse of the sights and sounds from Annapolis on the 4th of July. The show takes place in Annapolis' harbor. Thousands of people cram into the heart of downtown to watch. A group of friends and I, however, staked out a spot on the Spa Creek bridge and had a lovely view without having to get up-close-and-personal with quite so many of our neighbors.

A wonderfully unexpected journey

2009-06-14T16:59:00.004-04:00

It's been more than a month since I last posted, so I guess it's time for an update!

Like I wrote in my last entry, my Metro commuting days have come to a merciful end, and I have embarked on a new and entirely unexpected journey. Looking back I really couldn't tell you how this all happened. It just did. I mark my one-month anniversary this Thursday, and I still pinch myself on a regular basis.

I don't really have the words to articulate how much I love my new job. Aside from the surface things -- the money, the location, the greater responsibility -- this opportunity is really turning out to be something special. I haven't felt so "at home" in a situation since I was a college student.

When I was in high school and was first bitten by the journalism bug, I dreamed of doing such noble things -- giving voice to the voiceless and righting wrongs. With my pen and paper and keyboard, my writing could have an impact, my work had a purpose for the greater good. Well, I did write a few stories that fit that description and I will be forever proud of those efforts. But not everyone in the business strives for or considers such lofty ideas.

For the first time since I realized the power of the pen, I'm waking up in the morning filled with that same sense of purpose. My byline isn't on the front page of the paper or online every morning anymore. And I'm not chasing after the governor or some other high-profile state official.

No, instead, I'm traveling up and down the Northeast coast meeting and getting to know a group of men who've given their lives to the service of the Church, specifically the poorest and most abandoned of her members. My abilities are now at their service. My words -- written and spoken -- and my photos are the tools that will help them support themselves in the future, and, God willing, draw more to their ranks.

I really don't know how I got here, and I don't know how or why these men have so quickly found their way into my heart, but I know my priority every day is to do my best for them. They are and have been a gift to so many. My prayer is that they continue to be such a gift for years to come.

The end of my Metro days

2009-05-12T15:56:00.003-04:00

Yes, yes, I know, I fell off the face of the earth there for awhile. But Easter, interviewing for a new job, accepting said new job, preparing 26 kids to become Catholic, and resigning from my existing job have all kept me kinda busy.

At the moment I'm enjoying some long-awaited downtime before I start this new chapter in my life. Last week was my last one as a commuter on the D.C. Metro, and true to form the nation's capital's public transit system just couldn't let me go without a little drama on my last afternoon ride home.

I had a seat in the middle of the first car on the train. We were stopped at the last station in the District. The doors opened, people got off the train and there was the usual few second lag before the driver closed the doors again. In that lag of a few seconds, a black kid, probably 18 or 19, comes running on the train through the first door in the car. He was pursued by a police officer -- short black guy wearing a navy blue vest that said police on it. The kid exited the train through the car's middle door, still pursued by the officer who was yelling into his radio that the kid was coming back toward what we all assumed was more police officers.

There was zero reaction among the train passengers, by the way, through all this -- no screams, no talking. Everyone simply looked up from what they were reading or watching on their iPods and watched the cop chasing this kid.

When the cop and the kid exited the train, we all started craning our necks to see behind us where it seemed the kid had been caught and the chase was over. But then, a few seconds after the kid and the cop left, another police officer boarded the train through the door the previous two had just exited. This was a short white guy, again same blue police vest...this guy had his gun drawn and just stood there looking around the car.

At this point, a number of passengers spoke up and told the cop, "they went that way!," pointing in the opposite direction. The cop looked bewildered and hurriedly left the train. How he got on the train without seeing the swarm of his colleagues around this kid, I'll never know. But he left us all on the train in stitches. Everyone got a good chuckle out of it.

Once the second cop had left the train, the doors closed and we proceeded on our way. There wasn't really any delay...all of this happened in the space of maybe two minutes.

But I guess I simply couldn't end my days as a Metro commuter without a little drama.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T18:13:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone's enjoying the start of this joyful feast of Easter! I love that we have eight days to celebrate this day, and a month-plus to continue the celebration!

This morning my parents and I piled in the car to go to 9 a.m. Mass. We arrived to find a line of cars backed up on the street waiting to get into the parking lot. We didn't think much of it...must just be the usual Easter crush. When we got inside the church we discovered why the traffic was so bad. It was 8:40 a.m. and the 7:30 a.m. Mass was about two minutes from ending! The church was full, and everyone who had come for the 9 a.m. service was waiting around in the lobby.

Suffice it to say it was chaotic once the 7:30 Mass got out because all the people standing the lobby promptly began filing into the sanctuary before the previous congregation had exited.

But the priest celebrating the 9 a.m. Mass handled it beautifully. He walked about halfway up the center aisle, vested for Mass and with his microphone turned on and told people not to worry. He knew the parking lot was a mess and traffic was a nightmare. But he wasn't worried. He was going to wait another few minutes before starting Mass. He knew there were more people than there were seats, and he apologized for not being Our Lord Jesus Christ who would then be able to create more seats. But he reminded us that all those inconveniences paled in comparison to what we were there to celebrate. In his previous assignment as a Navy chaplain, he'd celebrated Easter Masses on the front lines and in other desolate places, but the bottom line was the same ---

Jesus rose from the grave and became our Redeemer. That's all that really matters today.

It reminded me of a saying of some friends in college who worked in the chapel and served on the liturgy committee. Holy Week and Easter were nothing short of exhausting. But in the end, they had a saying -- no matter what happens, Jesus is still going to rise on Sunday.

Nothing else matters.

Holy Saturday

2009-04-11T12:52:00.002-04:00

And so we wait. After the drama of the last two days -- the Last Supper, the betrayal, the trials, the beating, the torture, the execution, the burial -- we wait in silence outside the tomb. And ponder the gravity, the power, the redemption that we have seen.

Enjoy one of my favorite meditations on this last day of the Triduum:

"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son.

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.

‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.

‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.

'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.

`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.

‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.

"The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages."

A reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

Unless a grain of wheat...

2009-04-07T11:40:00.002-04:00

More from Pope Benedict's Palm Sunday homily. I, for one, found a lot to relate to in these waning days of what has been kind of a long Lent. (read the whole thing here)

"The saying about the grain of wheat that dies is still located within Jesus’ response to the Greeks, in fact it is his response. Then, however, he goes on to formulate once again the fundamental law of human existence: “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (Jn 12:25).

"In other words, the one who wants to have his life for himself, living only for himself, keeping everything to himself and exploiting all its possibilities – is actually the one who loses his life. Life becomes boring and empty. Only by self-abandonment, only by the disinterested gift of the “I” in favour of the “you”, only in the “yes” to the greater life, the life of God, does our life also become broad and great. Thus this fundamental principle established by the Lord is ultimately identical to the principle of love.

"Love, in fact, means letting go of oneself, giving oneself, not wanting to possess oneself, but becoming free from oneself: not retiring into oneself – (what will become of me?) – but looking ahead, towards the other – towards God and towards the men that he sends to me. And once again, this principle of love, which defines man’s path, is identical to the mystery of the cross, to the mystery of death and resurrection that we encounter in Christ.

"Dear friends, perhaps it is relatively easy to accept this as the fundamental great vision of life. In practice, however, it is not a question of simply recognizing a principle, but of living according to the truth that it contains, the truth of the cross and resurrection. Hence, once again, a single great decision is not enough. It is certainly important, it is essential to dare to take the great fundamental decision once, to dare to utter the great “yes” that the Lord asks of us at a certain moment of our lives.

"But the great “yes” of the decisive moment in our life – the “yes” to the truth that the Lord puts before us – must then be won afresh every day in the situations of daily life when we have to abandon our “I” over and over again, placing ourselves at the Lord’s disposal when deep down we would prefer to cling to our “I”.

"An upright life always involves sacrifice, renunciation. To hold out the promise of a life without this constant re-giving of self, is to mislead. There is no such thing as a successful life without sacrifice. If I cast a glance back over my whole life, I have to say that it was precisely the moments when I said “yes” to renunciation that were the great and important moments of my life.

"At the end of the passage, Saint John uses a modified form of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Olives in his redaction of our Lord’s “Palm Sunday” sayings. First comes the statement: “my soul is troubled” (12:27). Here we see Jesus’ fear, amply illustrated by the other three evangelists – his fear before the power of death, before the whole abyss of evil that he sees and into which he must descend. The Lord suffers our fears together with us, he accompanies us through the final anguish into the light.

"Then, in John’s narrative, Jesus makes two petitions. The first, expressed only conditionally, is this: “What shall I say – Father, save me from this hour?” (12:27). As a human being, even Jesus feels impelled to ask that he be spared the terror of the passion. We too can pray in this way. We too can grumble before the Lord, like Job, we can present him with all the pleas that arise within us when we are faced with the injustice of the world and the difficulty of our own “I”.

"When we come before him, we must not take refuge in pious phrases, in a world of make-believe. Praying always also means struggling with God, and like Jacob, we can say to him: “I will not let you go, unless you bless me!” (Gen 32:26). But then comes Jesus’ second petition: “Glorify your name!” (Jn 12:28). In the Synoptics, it is expressed in another way: “Not my will, but yours be done!” (Lk 22:42). In the end, God’s glory, his lordship, his will, is always more important and more true than my thought and my will.

"And this is the essential point in our prayer and in our life: learning this right order of reality, accepting it intimately; trusting in God and believing that he is doing what is right; that his will is truth and love; that my life becomes good if I learn to adhere to this right order. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are for us the guarantee that we can truly trust God. It is in this way that his Kingdom is realized."

At the start of Holy Week

2009-04-06T20:49:00.001-04:00

"Sacrifice and renunciation belong to the just life. Whoever promises a life without this continuing gift of self is fooling people."

Pope Benedict XVI, Palm Sunday '09

Hope for us works in progress

2009-03-26T19:47:00.003-04:00

I especially enjoyed this reflection at this point in Lent. Here's an excerpt (courtesy of the National Catholic Register's commentary section):

God is an artist who has given his works the tremendous gift of being able to participate in their own creation. In his Letter to Artists, John Paul II tells us, “All men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: In a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece.”
But becoming a masterpiece is not easy. It requires courage. The man who gambles his entire life for pennies will never win big. Or, as Kierkegaard puts it, “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”
Imagine if St. Joan of Arc had decided that it would be better to just stay in Rouen and be a nice, pious, good little girl? Or if St. Peter had decided that it was irresponsible to leave his fishing nets untended? If St. John the Baptist had tried to find a way of calling Herod to repentance without offending anyone? If St. George had been too modern and sensible to believe in dragons?
The courage required to become ourselves is, more often than not, the courage to be taken for a fool. “We are fools for Christ’s sake” (1 Corinthians 4:10). The respectable Christianity that is so often mocked and abused by atheist writers deserves every ounce of venom that it receives; Christ never called anyone to be respectable.
Why? Because heroes are never respectable.
They are very often respected (though generally not until after they have completed their quests), but, nonetheless, they are always a little odd. There is a kind of glamour that hangs around a Bilbo Baggins after he returns from the Misty Mountains, but the upright, ordinary folk will continue to warn their children that people who go in search of treasure are liable to become a dragon’s dinner.
Now, not everyone is called to be a public hero.
. . . . .
The soul that risks little cannot accomplish its own being. ...

Yet, it is frightening, because we do not know what we are called to become. Our identity is a mystery, hidden in the mind of God. It cannot be penetrated by our attempts at knowledge, “for no science can say who man is, where he comes from or where he is going” (to quote Benedict XVI’s address to a conference on “The Changing Human Identity”).
It cannot be discovered through navel-gazing and self-realization workshops. It can only be discovered in the process of living. ...

Read the whole thing here.

And that has made all the difference...

2009-03-25T09:55:00.003-04:00

It's Wednesday. Two more days till Friday. Can't wait for the rain they're calling for tomorrow so it washes the pollen out of the air.

The economy still stinks. Obama's still apparently on track to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame. And we've got 18 more days till Easter.

But the good news is that a little more than 2,000 years ago, a poor young Jewish girl said "yes."

And that has made all the difference in the world!

Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation, the commemoration of the Word made flesh and dwelling among us!

Definition of a near-perfect day

2009-03-22T17:15:00.002-04:00

A near-perfect day (n.) -- a day in which the sun is shining in an almost cloudless sky, a light breeze is blowing, birds are singing, the daffodils and crocuses are out and the bare tree limbs are beginning to be blurred by a faint haze of color created by new buds. The day starts with a GREAT Sunday school class during which about three-quarters of the time was spent answering a flurry of only somewhat related questions from the students. That's not something we have time for on a regular basis, though we would like to, but the teacher and I decided to go with it this morning and we covered A LOT of ground.
After a GREAT class, the day continued with a leisurely stroll through downtown Annapolis, including a stop in the quaint used book store where the owners typically spend 20 minutes chatting up the customers, finding out everything from where they're from to how old their kids are to where they've lived before Annapolis.
The outing concluded with a stop at Graul's, an Annapolis grocery store and an institution in itself, where I finally found the key ingredient to a favorite Lenten meatless meal -- a small package of Velveeta cheese! Graul's, I think, is quite possibly the savior of all single people!
And since I was in the neighborhood, I topped it off with a bagel sandwich from Naval Bagels -- the best bagel place in Annapolis.

Why only "near-perfect"? Well, it was a bit chilly out...

Two public service announcements

2009-03-19T19:56:00.002-04:00

For lack of anything substantive to contribute this week, here are two "public service announcements."

#1
In light of the tragic death of actress Natasha Richardson from a head injury, please, I beg you, if you or someone you know falls and hits their head hard, PLEASE, go get it checked out. I don't care if you feel fine -- go to the ER. Closed head injuries, the type that don't show any visible trauma, are hard to diagnose just by looking at a person. The Richardson case is a perfect example. Obviously, thoughts and prayers go out to her family.

#2
On a much happier note, here are a couple tidbits of news regarding the pending sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II. Take these with a grain of salt because the Vatican has said nothing yet. But the sources cited in these reports have a good track record.

Read this first, then this.

Mondays

2009-03-09T20:12:00.002-04:00

I don't necessarily despise all Mondays. They're not all onerous. How can you not like a day that is synonymous with a fresh start?

And yet, Monday is often a tough day. Whether the weekend's been too busy and I feel like I need another day just to rest, or if, like this past weekend, it was delightfully calm and filled with not much more than hours spent lost in the latest installment of a favorite mystery/historical romance series and thus a weekend I simply didn't want to see end, Monday inevitably interrupts my plan for what I want to do.

This morning, I was pondering an update to my Facebook status, and I decided to at least attempt a positive attitude. I wasn't really awake yet and the office was already in bit of a tizzy for a Monday morning. But I decided to make an effort to be charitable toward Monday.

Afterall, what did I really have to be grouchy about other than losing an hour of sleep due to the time change and not being at home curled up on the couch finishing my book? My situation is a lot better than other people's, as evidenced by the depressing news that I'm just about ready to stop reading/watching/listening to. And I had honestly had plenty of sleep and spent more than enough time with that book already.

And it's also Lent. I think I get so caught up sometimes in what I gave up for Lent (my regular daily trolling of cycling news Web sites -- it's a lovely escape from all the bad news out there, if you're a cycling fan that is) that I forget about other opportunities for sacrifice out there. Mondays happen every week, not just for six weeks before Easter.

So today I made an attempt to be at least even tempered about the day, and I think I did okay. It was afterall another day of life, and it seems to me rather ungrateful to cast aspersions on such a gift.

Happy Feast Day!

2009-02-27T09:25:00.000-05:00

I can't let today pass without mentioning the fact that today is the feast of one of this blog's (and it's author's) patrons: St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Click on his picture down along the righthand side of the page for some biographical info, etc.

He's my confirmation saint, and while his feast isn't celebrated in the Church calendar anymore outside of his religious order (Passionists) and a handful of other places (Italy, I suppose), he's an appropriate example to celebrate in these first couple days of Lent.

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!

How many days?

2009-02-26T19:32:00.002-05:00

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?" (cf. Lk. 9:22-25; Gospel reading for Thursday after Ash Wednesday)

I don't usually start counting the days till Easter this early in Lent. But I guess that means that what I chose to give up was in fact something I needed to give up.

I'll let you know in about six weeks.

In the meantime, my prayers are with everyone else who might be finding this self-discipline thing a little more onerous than usual this year.

Ashes to ashes...

2009-02-25T10:02:00.002-05:00

Happy Ash Wednesday.

"Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relentand leave behind him a blessing, offerings and libations for the LORD, your God" (cf. Joel 2: 12-15).

"We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor 5:20 - 6:2).

A little perspective

2009-02-24T11:34:00.003-05:00

I had an experience this past weekend that helped remind me how trivial some of my little complaints are...and how comparatively easy my Lenten sacrifices will be.

Check it out.

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

2009-02-24T11:28:00.002-05:00

Lent is such a cool time of year.

Today, being the day before the start of Lent, you can apparently get free pancakes at IHOP. In addition to being Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday, I hear it's National Pancake Day, too.

And for the next six weeks you can get a fish sandwich at Wendy's.

I love it how these classically Catholic traditions sneak into mainstream culture for an albeit brief stint.

So feast it up today!

I, for one, plan to because it's gonna be tough giving up what I'm giving up for Lent!

The odyssey

2009-02-19T21:04:00.003-05:00

It's been a loooong day.

I should have known better when the first thing I heard when I turned on the TV this morning was a breaking news story (at 6:30 a.m.) about a piece of machinery that had derailed on Metro's Orange Line right along my regular morning commute. They were predicting 20-40 minute delays.

Sure, I thought about driving. A derailment is never a good sign of things to come. But I said, surely it won't be that bad and besides they'll have it all cleared up by the afternoon.

Well, it took me an hour and 15 minutes to make a trip that should have taken about 30 minutes. And after all that, I was forced off the train because it was turning around to go in the other direction. And I was still a good 5 to 8 miles from work. Faced with the choice of waiting for yet another train that was going nowhere fast, I decided to take my chances on the bus.

I waited another 30 minutes for a bus that I knew existed (because it had passed me while I was walking to the bus stop), but alas, no further sign of the bus.

Thanks to my sainted coworkers I finally got to work two hours late. I wasn't all that far away actually, but there was the little matter of the Potomac River that had to be crossed somehow.

There was another long wait for a train this afternoon because that piece of machinery that mucked up the works this morning, believe it or not, derailed a second time further down the line. I have no idea if they ever got the thing back to the railyard today. But once on the train, the afternoon ride was a million times better than the morning trip.

And to make everything better, there was the latest stage of a multi-day bike race to catch up on and a nice cup of my special recipe hot chocolate waiting for me when I got home.

It's the little things in life, I'm telling ya!

Book plug

2009-02-08T20:03:00.003-05:00

I have to put in a few words for a book that I just added to my reading list over there on the righthand side of the page.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is fantastic! I just picked it up while browsing in a bookstore a few weeks ago, was intrigued and bought it. I NEVER do that! I'm more likely to go find it in the library first and then buy it than spend the money on a book I know nothing about. But this is a pleasant find.

If you like stories set in the World War II era, in Europe, with a eclectic set of characters and written entirely in letter format, go find this book!

Pope Benedict's public relations problem

2009-02-03T19:46:00.005-05:00

UPDATE: Seems I'm not the only one with this opinion on the situation. At least someone's acknowledging the problem:

See what the Vatican spokesman has to say here.

A friend of mine asked my opinion on the latest public relations storm swirling at the Vatican over Pope Benedict's recent lifting of excommunication of four traditionalist bishops, one of whom subsequently declared in an interview that the Holocaust never occurred. This isn't a terribly well crafted argument, but here are some initial thoughts:

This is the latest in a series of bad timing coincidences that the pope has gotten himself caught up in. My brain's a little fried at the moment so I can't remember all the other instances, but I know this has happened before.

In short, what the pope did to the four bishops in question is lift their excommunication, which means they can now receive Communion when they go to Mass, among other things. But the society they're a part of, which happens to be an extremely traditional group, has not totally reconciled with the Catholic Church, i.e. they haven't acknowledged the validity of the Second Vatican Council, among other things their founder took exception to.

That's complicated enough a situation to understand if you're not familiar with the inner workings and nuances of the Catholic Church, which describes most of us!

And here comes one of these bishops who mouths off his opinion about the Holocaust and the interview where he shared all this happens to come to light at the same time the pope lifts the excommunication.

I don't believe for a minute that the lifting of the excommunication is in any way, shape or form an endorsement of this bishop's statement on the Holocaust or that the lifting of the ban was a result of this guy's remarks. Every reasonably intelligent person knows that people who deny the Holocaust, like the president of Iran, are living in some kind of alternate universe. And I think this particular pope, and the people he's got in leadership positions at the Vatican, are a little more than reasonably intelligent.

I can understand the reaction from the Jewish community and other people who are taking the pope to task on this because it looks bad. Without clarification and immediate denunciation, there are people out there who will believe that the two separate events are related.

The problem this pope has run into a couple of times is that he's not quick when it comes to communicating clarifications of his statements. I'm remembering the outrage of his speech a few years ago that set the Muslim world aflame. I think he's also got a bit of a mediocre adviser in his press secretary. Benedict is definitely no John Paul II when it comes to the ease with which his statements can be understood and packaged for and by the media. There's a lot more to what he says and does than meets the eye, and to really understand his actions and his words, you have to listen very carefully and understand at least some of the context.

Do the people who are angry over all this, i.e. the rabbis in Israel, the German chancellor, etc., have a right to be angry? Yes. But not so much with the pope as with the bishop. I can see why they might be a little peeved with the pope because he wasn't as quick to denounce this guy's remarks as they would have liked. But I don't think that's reason to cancel meetings or call for the pope's resignation.

There are years of history and hours upon hours of discussions and deliberations related to Catholic-Jewish relations that are behind some of this outrage, too. And, again, you have to take the time to understand this pope. Admittedly his style doesn't translate very well to the 21st century's 24-hour news cycle and digitally connected world. But I don't for a minute believe there is an anti-Semitic bone in his body.

Everybody just needs to take a deep breathe and give him the chance to explain himself.

Prescription for a little Dickens

2009-01-29T13:55:00.002-05:00

I've been cursorily following the recent backlash aimed at Nancy Pelosi over her comments about the need for millions in funding for "family planning services" in the economic stimulus package being considered by Congress. Thankfully, the provision has been pulled for the moment because the idea that children are the reason for our financial woes was abhorrent to enough people that she backed off.

But in reading something today, I realized who this woman sounds like: Ebenezer Scrooge.

Yes, Charles Dickens' famously beloved miser from my favorite book.

Here's the passage I was struck by...tell me it doesn't fit our current situation:

From Stave One "Marley's Ghost", the scene with the two gentlemen soliciting donations for the poor:

"I wish to be left alone," said Scrooge. "Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned -- they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there."

"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."

"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides -- excuse me -- I don't know that."

"But you might know it," observed the gentleman.

"It's not my business," Scrooge returned. "It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!"

And now the rub:

From Stave 3 "The Second of the Three Spirits", the Ghost of Christmas Present answering Scrooge's question about whether Tiny Tim will live:

"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

"Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! To hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust."

Ah, Mr. Dickens, your words are truly timeless!

36 years and counting....

2009-01-23T14:11:00.001-05:00

A brief reflection on how I spent yesterday afternoon:

Colors of life

God bless you, Mr. President.

2009-01-20T10:37:00.003-05:00

Well, the inugural planners and local officials around these parts seem to have succeeded in scaring everyone to death, prompting them to either close their places of business or arrange to telework today. I had to remind myself it was actually Tuesday and not Sunday this morning on my drive to work.

Sounds like the National Mall maxed out its capacity about an hour ago. The Metro stations are jammed. Someone's already been hit by a train...lost her balance off the platform. (She's okay, by the way...but what an awful welcome to give to all these visitors!)

And it's pretty cold out there!

All this to have a chance at being part of history. Being a local, I guess I don't have the same urge to physically be on the Mall for the festivities today. I'm perfectly content to watch on the office TV.

But regardless of where we all are today, I hope you'll join me in offering a few prayers for our new president. He's got a lot of big problems to deal with and a lot of expectations to live up to.

God bless you, Mr. President. We may not agree on some pretty big issues, but my prayer for you is for the wisdom, humility and courage to do what is best for this country...for all members of this country, from the youngest to the oldest.

Time to take a deep breath

2009-01-13T19:24:00.002-05:00

One week from today, this country will inaugurate a new president. The 44th one in this country's 233 years. And the first African-American. Aside from the tremendous historic nature of the man who will assume that responsibility, Washington's seen this show a couple times before. You'd think we'd have it down to a science by now.

But the way everyone's talking lately, you'd think this was the first time.

For much of the last week, we've known that you will pretty much be unable to access the city unless you take public transportation or lace up your tennis shoes. While I don't live in Virginia anymore, I do work there. And I agree with those who find the complete closure of all but two bridges that connect Virginia with neighboring jurisdictions absurd.

Maryland had avoided such outrageous announcements until today when our governor announced that locals would be doing the visitors a favor if they avoided the Capital Beltway on Inauguration Day.

Excuse me?!

People. Seriously. Everybody put down your Blackberries. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath...now exhale. Feel better now?

Come on, folks. Every estimate of hotel vacancy rates, charter bus rentals, etc., that had been so hyped after the election has, in actuality, missed the estimate by A LOT. Yes, there will be a bigger crowd at this inaugural than previous ones. The public transit system around here will likely be taxed beyond its limits...but sadly that doesn't take much.

D.C. has seen large crowds before and has dealt with them.

But if you really want to just give us all the day off on Inauguration Day, which is the subliminal message I'm getting from all these public officials who are warning us to stay off the roads, then I suggest you talk to the outgoing president or the new Congress and get someone to propose a bill to make Inauguration Day a national holiday like Christmas or New Year's Day so then everyone will have to stay home.

If that's not in the cards, though, I'll just stick with my plan to crash at a friend's place Monday night and hit the local roads on "the big day" armed with plenty of coffee, some good tunes and two or three alternate routes to get to work.

The Muse: Morning colors

2009-01-02T09:38:00.002-05:00

This is the first of what I hope will become a regular feature on this blog. A little bit of writing about whatever happens to strike my fancy that particular day. This morning it was the sunrise. When you live near the water like I do it can be spectacular!

The horizon warms to a pale golden glow, lightening the water from black to a deep royal blue and edging the blue-gray clouds with pale pink. Rays of light cast sheathes of mauve and deep rose on the tips of the tallest trees and on certain patches of forest -- but not all -- leaving most in an indistinct steel-gray shadow, as if the light were filtered through a pock-marked concrete wall.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T21:22:00.002-05:00

"The year is ending. This means, as always, that we spend a few minutes in reflection. We draw up balance-sheets and make an effort to anticipate what the future may bring. For a moment we become conscious of the strange thing we call 'time,' which otherwise we simply use without thinking about it.

We feel both the melancholy and the consolation of our own transiency. Much that caused us distress, much that weighed us down and seemed to make progress impossible, has now passed and become quite unimportant. As we look back, difficult days are transfigured in memory, and the now almost forgotten distress leaves us more peaceful and confident, more composed in the face of present threats, for these too will pass. The consolation of transiency: Nothing lasts, no matter how important it claims to be.

But this consoling thought, which gives patience its character of promise, also has its discouraging and saddening aspect. Nothing lasts, and therefore along with the old year not only difficulties but much that is beautiful has passed away, and the more we move beyond the midpoint of our lives, the more poignantly we feel this change of what was once future and then present into something past. We cannot say to any moment: 'Stay a while! You are so lovely!' Anything that is within time comes and then passes away.

Our feelings toward the new year show the same ambivalence as our feelings toward the old year. A new beginning is something precious; it brings hope and possibilities as yet undisclosed. 'Every beginning has a magic about it that protects us and helps us live' (Herman Hesse)... What can we as Christians say at this moment of transition? First of all, we can do the very human thing the moment urges upon us: we can use the time of reflection in order to stand aside and widen our vision, thus gaining innner freedom and a patient readiness to move on again."

--Pope Benedict XVI (printed in Christmas supplement of "Magnificat," 2008)

Unto us a Son is given

2008-12-30T17:45:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Yes, it's still Christmas according to the Church. And it'll be Christmas till Jan. 11 (or Feb. 2 depending on who you ask).

If you followed the link in the previous post and read to the end of the piece, you'll get some sense of what I left at the crib this Christmas.

But there's another profound lesson about Christmas giving in this post from my dear friend Christine about her adorable 4-year-old.

Oh to have the simplicity of a child!

Patience rewarded

2008-12-23T10:34:00.001-05:00

...well, hopefully rewarded. For those wondering about what else I've been busy doing this month, this will give you some idea.

Happy two more days till Christmas! :)

Watching and waiting

2008-12-20T17:11:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of activity of late. I knew the first half of December would be busy, but I had no idea how busy. Note to self: next year, don't do this again.

It was all fun, don't get me wrong. But I've decided next year will be a lot less busy...or at least activities will be spaced better!

Check out Good Company for pictures of cookie day. Fun was had by all! I did take some pictures, but it might be awhile before I get them posted anywhere.

And as for what I did last weekend, you'll just have to wait a few days until the next issue of the Catholic Herald is published. I'll post the link.

In the meantime, are you ready for Christmas? No, I don't mean all that stuff.

Are you ready for Christmas? It's not too late....

Advent songbird

2008-12-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

I was on the Metro this morning, on a running-late train, minding my own business with my nose in my Washington Post. We were stopped at a station. The doors closed and a man's voice behind me said, "Good morning. Excuse me, please." And he began to sing.

A lovely tenor with a foreign accent, Middle Eastern or Indian maybe, but I never saw his face so I don't really know. He sang three verses of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." He was on key and he did a wonderful job. If you've ever tried to sing that song in public, believe me it's not easy. That song is a serious exercise in breath control!

He finished his song to some scattered applause, wished everyone in the car a blessed day, and left.

I never know quite what to think when something like that happens on the train. Sometimes it's a person who's a little unbalanced and it becomes an annoyance. And I always wonder what's going through other passengers' heads in this politically correct, relativistic world.

But sitting there listening to that song this morning, it made me grateful that I live in a place where that man could do that. For all the rhetoric in the world, he still has a right to do what he did, and there is still enough of a Christian bedrock in our society that no one booed him or told him to be quiet or otherwise prevented him from reminding us the true reason for the season.

Happy Advent!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T10:24:00.002-05:00

Or maybe it should be "Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!" At any rate, I decided it was simply time for another post -- time to move beyond the election a bit.

Today I'm one of the skeleton-crew workers who showed up to the office today. I know I'm not the only one because I had plenty of company on the Metro this morning. But my brain is admittedly already on vacation. I'm ready to go home tonight to bake a pumpkin pie and pack a bag before driving home tomorrow morning. Actually, my brain may have decided to go on vacation as early as yesterday.

But as hard as it is to get and stay motivated today, I'm thankful to have a job. Lord knows there are lots of people out there who aren't so fortunate. A recent spate of e-mails among some fellow J-school (journalism school for those unfamiliar with the shorthand) grads has really made me feel fortunate. The majority of them, if they weren't already employed in a related but still non-journalistic field, were attending way too many going-away parties for colleagues or sweating out the latest round of newsroom cuts themselves. And these mostly are folks who've graduated within the last five years...not people with 20-some-odd years of experience.

We're all feeling the pinch these days, but I for one am especially grateful for what I do have this year. I hope you are, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My thoughts on the election

2008-11-09T18:39:00.003-05:00

The dust has settled and I've had some time to digest the monumental events of last Tuesday. So, here's what I'm thinking.

1. The historic nature of Barack Obama's election gave me goose bumps. It literally took my breath away. The parallels are incredible -- 40 years ago in August Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered that iconic speech. His words were echoed Tuesday night. And while the comparisons concern me (for reasons to be explained further down this list), the allusion to a second "Camelot," the sense of the start of a new era, is something that's hard not to get caught up in.

2. I'm somewhat excited and relieved by Obama's victory. Eight years of preemptive strikes, arrogant swagger and lame verbal gaffes have become pretty wearisome. When the president of my country speaks, I like to be able to watch and listen to him...not be distracted by his inability to correctly pronounce certain words or his difficulty reading off a teleprompter. And in the face of global threats, arrogant cowboy diplomacy doesn't get you very far. That's not to say there shouldn't be or don't need to be conditions for discussion with certain world leaders. But a little more respectful dialogue and less saber-rattling at this point is probably a good thing. And here's hoping the Democrats reign in their impulses for political revenge. McCain extended the olive branch, calling Obama "my president."

3. This was the first decisive presidential election I've ever voted in. My first general election was 2000. We all know what happened then and four years later. It was refreshing to go to bed Tuesday night knowing we had a clear winner. But Tuesday night's results were also a reflection of a very normal trend in politics -- the pendulum swung from one side to the other as it has many times before. The economy is falling apart, and we have decades of polling data and statistics that tell us people vote with their pocket books when that is the case. Yes, there were moral and social issues at stake, but those issues don't affect voters' ability to pay the mortgage, or put food on the table. Also, Obama's win can be attributed to the fact that he dramatically outspent his opponent. I'm no fan of the private financing of elections, but his campaign was a prime example of how the money game works.

4. The Obama win does concern me. I'm concerned by people and media reports who are painting Obama as some sort of hero or savior. Case in point, the illustration on the front page of the Washington Post's Outlook section Sunday -- Obama wearing a Superman suit. Yes, it's exciting to have a black president-elect, and he is certainly a charismatic figure -- in many ways the exact opposite of our current president. But he's also largely untested; though I agree with those who point to his masterful construction of his campaign as evidence of his potential in the executive aspect of the job. I worry about the jubilation on the part of some around the world; are they exuberant because they're hoping for a more diplomatic, refined leader of the world's last major superpower, or are they rejoicing because they see the next president as a liability? Hard to tell at this point. And my hope is that Obama will continue his trend of picking some of the smartest people he can find to fill out his administration. That tactic -- surrounding himself with experience -- should serve him well.

5. I'm also disappointed by the Obama victory because of what it means for some major social issues, chief among them abortion and stem-cell research. The pro-life lobby clearly lost out in this election. But the conclusion I've come to is this -- politics isn't where the bulk of the pro-life camp's energies should be focused. It's an important aspect, yes. But the nature of our political system means that every few years, the balance of power swings to the opposite party. Putting all the proverbial eggs in that basket -- counting on the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice or the passage of federal law -- can very easily result in disappointment and less than incremental progress.

I found it interesting that, among the major socially relevant ballot initiatives across the country, the bans on gay marriage all passed, even in California. Yet the initiatives related to abortion all failed. I think that says a lot. Why were successful coalitions able to be built to defeat gay marriage but not measures related to abortion laws? Are people tired of the abortion issue? Do they think it's settled law not likely to change? Or has the pro-life lobby failed to win the hearts of supporters, failed to organize on a wide grassroots level, failed to change minds?

In the last few days I've listened to and read a number of commentaries on the election from people reflecting on the impact of this election on life issues. And the common theme has been that the focus now needs to turn away from the broad federal goals and return to the hyperlocal level. To the individual women coping with crisis pregnancies. To the charities that support them. To the state laws. To the conversion of hearts.

They couldn't be more right.

Blessings of friendship

2008-11-08T19:09:00.003-05:00

For anyone waiting for my musings on the election, don't worry, they're coming. Tomorrow.

But tonight I just have to celebrate friendship a little bit.

I happen to have a friend from college who entered the Poor Clares about a year and a half ago. She'd discerned that this was her vocation and she patiently waited for a number of years while she paid off her student loans before she was finally able to start her life with the sisters. Last Saturday, on the feast of All Saints, she became a novice, which means she received her habit and her new name. She also removed her shoes -- except for working or praying outside in their gardens, these Poor Clares go barefoot.

This afternoon a group of about two dozen friends got to visit with the new novice in the convent's parlor. The Poor Clares are cloistered, and according to old custom, our newly-minted sister visited with us from behind a fine wire screen. We could all see and hear each other, but we couldn't touch, couldn't hug. The closest we got was to touch palms through the screen; the warmth of our hands the only sensation of contact.

There was much laughter and scattered bits of personal and family news shared with the young woman none of us had seen since the Sunday before she entered the convent. But despite her new clothes and her new name (Sr. Marie Ancilla of our Holy Father Francis), the same sweet, silly, contemplative woman shown through.

It was truly a privilege to spend those 90 minutes that way, sharing in her obvious joy and seeing how the Lord was beginning to reshape her toward the mission to which He has called her. Of all the family members and friends she could have invited, I'll never know why I made the list, but I'm grateful for the gift of such a friendship.

Please pray for my friend, Sr. Ancilla ("ancilla" is Latin for "handmaid," a reference to Mary's "yes" to the angel's message that she would be the mother of the Savior). And know that she's praying for you, too.

Wow.

2008-11-05T10:06:00.002-05:00

I haven't managed to sort through the jumble of emotions and trains of thought running through my head yet in light of last night's election results. But one thing I do know is that last night took my breath away. Literally. Watching the Twin Towers go up in flames took my breath away, too. But that was a different sensation entirely.

Regardless of your feelings toward the outcome, it is undeniable this morning that history has been made, a major glass ceiling has been broken, a huge page has been turned in this nation's civil rights history.

There is euphoria on one side and disappointment on the other. But our democracy worked the way it was meant to work whether you agree with the decisions of your fellow voters or not.

And that is something awesome.

More to come when I find the words.

Happy Election Day!

2008-11-04T09:45:00.003-05:00

N.B. -- This post has been edited to remove a few typos and grammatical errors. Management regrets the errors.

Today is one of my rare days to break my rule of posting to this blog from work, but I can't help myself.

It's Election Day! Have you voted?
Yes? Great!
No? Why not?! Whatever else you do with your time today, make time to go vote! I don't care if you're standing in line to elect the first female vice president or the first African-American president. Well, I do care, but each individual's vote is a matter of his own, hopefully well-formed and informed conscience, and I don't have any control over that.

But like I said it's Election Day! And it's a historic Election Day to boot! I stood in line for an hour at my polling place this morning. I've never seen a line like that at that rinky-dink little American Legion Hall in the three years, one gubernatorial election and one presidential primary election I've lived in Maryland. But people were in good moods. A gentleman behind me in line brought a chair. A couple people were discussing everything from the Redskins' pitiful performance last night to the growth in Annapolis in the last 40 years to 9/11 memories to gun control to the excitement of voting for the first time.

If you get a chance, check out the essay in the Style section of the Washington Post this morning. I enjoyed it and it summed up some of my thoughts today.

For all the standing in line, worries over voting glitches, drama of watching the returns and the heartbreak that will afflict a large swath of voters and candidates at some point later tonight -- we still live in a country where we can safely and securely cast our ballots for the next leader of our nation and tomorrow (or perhaps later tonight) there will be no bloodshed, no violent rioting in the streets, no upheaval.

We will have peacefully elected our new president. Not every country in this world can say that. And my vote, your vote, helped make that happen.

All Saints & All Souls

2008-11-01T18:08:00.002-04:00

Today and tomorrow are a pair of special days in the Catholic calendar. Today, Saturday, All Saints' Day, we celebrate that great cloud of witnesses, all those saints, known and unknown, who are now in heaven in the presence of God. They pray for us and remind us of our ultimate goal...and that that ultimate goal is attainable by the grace of God.

I had the privilege today to attend the groundbreaking for a new church building for the parish where I grew up. They've needed a new worship space for decades, and it was a real treat to finally see the start of this longawaited project. I covered it for the Catholic Herald, so if you're interested in learning more keep an eye on the Web later this week.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is All Souls' Day, when we remember all those who have gone before us, especially those who may not have been entirely ready for their heavenly reward at the moment of death and are now atoning for their imperfections and sins in purgatory. I like the idea of purgatory -- it's nice to know that we have another chance after death to purge our souls of the detritus of sin. The thought of having to do it all during our earthly lives, while the saints prove it's possible, is still daunting!

Anyway, in the course of the last week, I came across a quote from Pope Benedict XVI that was really beautiful. It's related to All Souls' Day, so I thought I'd share:

“With regard to turning out right, which is what we all hope for despite all our failures, Purgatory plays an important role here. There will be few people whose lives are pure and fulfilled in all respects. And, we would hope, there will be few people whose lives have become an irredeemable and total ‘No.’ For the most part, the longing for good has remained, despite many breakdowns.... God can pick up the broken pieces and make something of them. In any case, we need a final cleansing, a cleansing fire, to be exact, in which the gaze of Christ, so to say, burns us free from everything, and only under this purifying gaze are we, as it were, fit to be with God and able, then, to make our home with Him.... For who would dare say to himself that he was able to stand directly before God. And yet, we don’t want to be, to use an image from Scripture, ‘a pot that turned out wrong,’ that has to be thrown away; we want to be able to be put right. Purgatory basically means that God can put the pieces back together again, that He can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with Him and can stand there in the fullness of life. Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being” (God and the World).

What's really important

2008-10-27T20:35:00.002-04:00

Like I said a few posts ago, I'm part of a two-woman team responsible for preparing 25 kids for some combination of the Catholic Church's sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation and Eucharist) in May. So far, the group is still exceptionally easy to manage. We'll see how they do at the end of the two-week hiatus we're currently enjoying.

It's hard to tell at this point how much they're absorbing what we're telling them. That "aha!" moment comes much later in the year.

But I had one of my own "aha!" moments last Saturday while I was reading the products of one of the "busy" assignments we give the kids at the start of each class. I had asked the class to write a thank-you note to God. At the end of every class, we go around the room and have the kids share one thing they're thankful for or one thing they're praying for...it's an introduction to praying. Most of the responses have something to do with "a great day," "life," "food," "good grades on a test," etc. Your basic stuff kids come up with when put on the spot.

But what I discovered while reading their thank-you notes was a stark contrast to what I expected to find. I'm thinking a group of mostly 8- to 10-year-olds are going to be thanking God for things like video games or a favorite toy.

Nope.

There were thank-yous for:

food
a roof over their heads
parents who give them what they need to do well in school
the ability to play soccer
good friends you can trust
family who loves them

These are basics. A reflection of the current mood of the nation? A factor of a 9-year-old's reaction to an assignment from his Sunday school teacher? I don't know.

But I do know that that kind of mentality is sorely needed in a lot of places in our world these days. Because it's those basics that form the foundation of a good life.

Autumn glory

2008-10-14T20:59:00.002-04:00

I love this time of year. In this part of the world, the leaves just started to turn colors about a week ago. We're nowhere near peak, but I don't always like the peak of the color. I don't feel like I really get to appreciate all the different colors at peak.

But this time of year, it's like someone's taken a paint brush dipped in fire engine reds and flame oranges and lemon yellow, and dripped the paint on a hunter green canvas. They're little spots of color here and there that shock you when you run across them.

And it's just great!

Big responsibility

2008-10-14T20:54:00.003-04:00

Sorry for falling off the face of the earth again. I promise all is well.

This past Sunday I experienced a first. I taught a class of almost 30 kids, ages 7 to 13, for a little more than an hour. Yes, Sunday school has started again, and yes, my class this year is twice the size it was last year. Thankfully, on a normal weekend, there are two of us at the helm of the class.

But, also thankfully, these kids are, so far, incredibly well behaved. I'm not sure if its the size of the class or if they're just still feeling out their boundaries.

But it should be a fun year!

"We had nowhere else to go"

2008-09-17T20:38:00.006-04:00

I really feel for all the folks along the Texas Gulf Coast, including my uncle and his family, and a friend from college who got married the weekend Hurricane Ike blew through Houston, who are facing months of hard work before life returns to anything resembling normal. It makes me wish we had some way to control hurricanes.

But what really irritates me is how, in this post-Katrina environment, people still think they can ride out these monster storms. When the National Weather Service and local officials are telling you that you face "certain death" by staying and that you will not have access to any public services -- utilities or emergency aid -- after the storm for an undetermined amount of time....WHY DO YOU STAY?!

I heard one woman interviewed on TV say she and her children stayed because "we had nowhere else to go."

Had nowhere else to go?! Had nowhere else to go?!

Then what were the government officials doing loading all those people on buses before the storm hit? Taking them to Disney World?

And now those people who stayed behind have had to be rescued from their flooded homes. Scared half to death. Those rescues have to be done before the clean up can start, before people can be let back in their homes...not to mention those rescues are endangering the lives of those first responders and costing a lot of money.

I can't imagine being faced with losing my home in a storm like that. But I know if I were given advanced warning of a devastating storm, I'd pack up, gas up and hit the road. My life is worth sitting in hours of stalled traffic and sleeping in something other than my own bed. I can buy a new bed and a new TV, I can pack up the mementos and things that are most precious and take them with me, I can wrestling my cat into a carrier with, hopefully, a minimum of bloodshed.

I can't replace my life or the lives of people trying to rescue me after the fact.

Sarah Palin thoughts, at long last

2008-09-17T20:38:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the delay if anyone was waiting with bated breath for my thoughts on Sarah Palin as McCain's VP pick. I do hope you're not turning blue.

What did I think of her speech at the Republican convention? It was extremely well-delivered and it was an extraordinarily well-written speech. Some have told me that she had more than a cursory hand in crafting it, but I have to think that large chunks were written by McCain's speechwriters and they did a masterful job. As a speech in and of itself it was very good. And her delivery was exceptional considering the national stage she had to deliver it on within a mere 48 hours (or something like that) of stepping into the national spotlight.

But I was left wanting to hear more, specifically, how she responded in an less scripted setting. Having covered politicians and their speeches before, I know how much work goes into those speeches -- they are nowhere near an accurate measure of a politician. Major speeches like that are policy statements, yes, and a good road map for where that person wants to go. But the proof comes in how well they back up the high-flying rhetoric with action -- the real politics of it, the trolling for votes -- and words.

So, I've been interested to see how this whole Palin craze has unfolded in the media. Sadly, I have not yet had the time to watch her interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC. All I've really seen are the clips from her now infamous flub over the definition of the "Bush doctrine." Personally I think Charlie could have phrased that question differently -- I think the only people likely to know what the "Bush doctrine" is are people living within a 40 mile radius of D.C., or maybe even people living within a 5 mile radius of the White House.

But her response to that question, and subsequent reports about what she was really in charge of in Alaska, and the whole "trooper-gate" controversy that won't go away....all of this backs up my opinion that she was a VP candidate chosen for (in no particular order):
a) her shock value-- an answer to the radicality of Obama's candidacy in the history-making sense;
b) her pro-life credentials;
c) the fact that she's a woman -- makes the Republicans look competitive with the Democrats;
d) her age
e) her "maverick" reputation as governor, something I find appealing, but not a trait I'm counting on seeing if McCain gets elected due to the fact that winning -- elections or legislation -- requires a move to the center.

In other words, I'm not impressed with her as a potential VP. Granted, Dick Cheney's pretty much broken the mold when it comes to the power and profile of the vice president. He's in a class all his own. I think Palin definitely brings some starpower to the ticket that McCain simply does not have. Charisma is a natural gift -- you've either got it or you don't, and unfortunately, McCain ain't got it.

I hope I don't sound like I'm calling Palin just this pretty prop he's shipped in from Alaska. I think Palin's still a great asset to the ticket. What I'm saying is I don't buy into all this fervor and excitement she's generated, these people who say they're more inclined to vote for McCain now that Palin's his running mate. I'm sorry to disappoint you, folks, but the VP ain't the one sending troops to foreign countries or bailing out Wall Street or fighting with Congress over taxes. The VP doesn't carry that kind of clout (Cheney being the exception).

So I like Palin. She's made the McCain ticket a lot more interesting to listen to. But does her presence get me more excited to cast my vote in November? No.

100 book meme

2008-09-12T20:25:00.005-04:00

So ya'll have Maria over at Ordinary Time to thank for this one. I'm a sucker for anything having to do with books, what can I say?

Bold--I've read it.
Italics--I started it.
Gold --I want to.
Nuttin'--I don't care.
Red -- Have no interest and will never have an interest.
Green -- Seen the movie.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible (most of it, anyway)
7. Wuthering Heights -Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
10. Great Expectations -Charles Dickens (an abridged version)
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read pretty much all the major ones...and acted in a few.)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife -
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (made it through 3/4ths of it)
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (made it through 3/4ths of it)
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (read three of the books)
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
37. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
38. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
39. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
40. Animal Farm - George Orwell
41. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
42. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
43. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
44. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
45. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
46. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
47. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
48. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Dune - Frank Herbert
52. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
58. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
65. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
66. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
67. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
68. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
69. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
70. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (an abridged version)
71. Dracula - Bram Stoker
72. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
73. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
74. Ulysses - James Joyce
75. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Emile Zola
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
79. Possession - AS Byatt
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (I read it every year)
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. Charlotte's Web - EB White
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
91. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (and I've read the two sequels)
97. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
98. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (in this case, I've seen the musical twice.)
99. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
100.The Outsiders -S. E. Hinton

Remembering the heroes

2008-09-11T10:00:00.002-04:00

Honest, my promised thoughts on Sarah Palin will come soon.

But today's a day to remember those who died on that crystal-blue skied day seven years ago.

Thank you to the heroes.

And our prayers are with the survivors and families left behind.

1,000th visitor!

2008-09-03T20:20:00.001-04:00

This blog passed a milestone in the last week or so. So thanks for reading, folks! Hope you're enjoying it.

A week late...

2008-09-03T19:39:00.003-04:00

...but hopefully not a dollar short.

I know as I type the year's traveling political sideshow has moved to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention, but I couldn't let the party in Denver pass without a comment about the closing act.

Now, let me be clear that this blog by design doesn't generally stray into politics, mostly because that's not what I want it to become. But there are certain things that I simply cannot in good conscience let slip by without some acknowledgment.

So, last week on the last night of the Democratic National Convention, I found myself tuned in to Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech. For starters, the setting -- a football stadium -- was novel and a nice gesture to the masses who would have otherwise watched the speech on TV. But it was also, I think, a bit over the top. And the much-criticized stage, lampooned as a bad evocation of the White House, wasn't that bad, especially when viewed through the lens of the historic day on which it was used.

Remember Obama accepted the nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Could the white columns flanking the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party have been an echo of the imposing white columns that framed Dr. King's famous oration? That idea didn't occur to me until I heard a commentator mention it...someone on NBC, I think.

And what about that weird blue catwalk-looking wing of the stage? A coworker pointed this out -- could that perhaps have evoked the memory of the Reflecting Pool that stretches between the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial? Hmmm....

But aside from the props, say what you will about Obama (personally I cannot vote for him because of his support for abortion rights and gay marriage...though there are other things I could support him on), he has a gift for oratory, much like the last Democrat to inhabit 1600 Pennsylvania. He's a masterful speechmaker, and I can listen to talented speakers for hours. His acceptance speech, especially in the last few graphs, his cadence almost had me thinking I was listening to an echo of Dr. King. It was a superb piece of oratory.

Two other things I found interesting:
1) Talk about attention to detail -- Obama's tie that night matched his wife's dress (and his two daughters' for that matter), which was a mix of muted fuschia and paler pinks...the whole family was very color-coordinated.
2) After playing "Only in America" at the end of his speech, the background music segued into a more instrumental piece as fireworks exploded overhead. It took me awhile to place it, but I finally realized what it was -- the score to "Remember the Titans," one of my favorite movies. For those not familiar, "Remember the Titans" is the story of how the football team at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria helped the school and the community navigate the first days of racial integration. Again, talk about attention to detail...quite an appropriate piece of music for the occasion.

A much needed feel-good story

2008-08-17T21:04:00.003-04:00

Thank you, Michael Phelps. After being glued to the TV in the evenings for the last week-plus, all the build up and the hype have finally been rewarded. With so much else going on in the country and the world -- a contentious presidential election, the rising price of everything, wars in Iraq and I guess now the former Soviet Republic of Georgia -- it's nice to revel in an American success story. It's especially nice to enjoy the successes of this 23-year-old Baltimore native because he's done it without being pompous or overly cocky. Considering his talent he could have been justified in those attitudes. But instead, after winning his record eighth gold medal last night (or Sunday morning, Beijing time) his first words out of his mouth on the pool deck were words of thanks to his three relay teammates who helped pull out a win.

That's class of the highest caliber. So, thanks to Michael Phelps and the rest of the men's swim team for a classy meet and a great story with a fairy tale ending.

A lovely summer evening

2008-08-12T21:13:00.000-04:00

Guess what I did tonight?

I listened to the Navy concert band perform the likes of a John Williams medley (Indiana Jones & Star Wars themes plus the Olympic theme), a few Sousa pieces, "Don't Rain on My Parade," "Fly Me to the Moon," etc., all while enjoying a lovely, low-humidity summer evening at the City Dock. There were sailboats cruising in the harbor behind the band! And the weather was definitely un-August like for this part of the country!

It was wonderful. But it's a special kind of Annapolis wonderful.

Olympics...at a price

2008-08-09T12:46:00.002-04:00

I'm conflicted.

I generally enjoy watching the Olympics -- both winter and summer. Figure skating is about all I pay attention to in the winter, but at the summer games I'm typically keeping tabs on the swimmers and the gymnasts. And who can help but watch the opening ceremonies!

But these games in Beijing are different. I half-heartedly watched parts of the opening ceremonies last night. What I saw was as spectacular as everyone said. But I couldn't help but think about all the Chinese citizens who have been mistreated in the process of getting ready for the games -- all the workers who've been laid off or been unable to get to work because of efforts to curtail pollution; the people who lost their homes in the name of construction of an Olympic venue; the farmers who can't maintain their crops because water is being diverted to the capital for __decorative__water features; the human and religious rights protestors who've been jailed.

And then there's the overkill, in my opinion, from NBC, the main U.S. broadcaster of the games. They have not only "flooded the zone," as it were, with practically every anchor (and I assume the accompanying producers and other behind-the-scenes people) at their disposal, but they're offering thousands of hours of coverage on-line and on about a half-dozen TV stations. Seriously, who's minding the store back in New York? or Tehran? or London? The Olympics are a big deal -- they do only occur every four years and they are usually a wonderful example of how sport can bring people of different nations and cultures together -- but there are some other major things going on in the world right now that we won't hear about, at least in the U.S., because all the attention will be in Beijing. Personally, I think that does a disservice.

So I will watch some of the Olympics. I do enjoy the spectacle and the beauty of the sports. And as I've said before, I'm a sucker for the historic moments...who wouldn't want to watch Michael Phelps try to become the most decorated U.S. Olympian of all time? But I'll watch with a heavy heart. And a prayer for the people of China.

The poor, oft-butchered English language

2008-08-06T20:38:00.003-04:00

There's a guy in my office who's from Venezuela. He's been in the U.S. for less than a year, and has only learned English in the last 10 months or so. He's pretty good, but there are still some moments of confusion. But he's not afraid to ask for help, and he freely offers to correct our varying degrees of fluency in Spanish.

He was reading something on a Web site the other day and came across a phrase he didn't understand. He asked what "pretty ugly" meant.

Now, I never realized what an oxymoron that was until he asked about it. "Pretty" and "ugly" to this guy were two words that were complete opposites...they made no sense together. Which is it? Pretty or ugly? He got it once we explained that "pretty" in this case was a substitute for "very," but it hadn't hit me or another coworker until he asked about it what a hard phrase that is to grasp if English isn't your native tongue.

Non-native English speakers complain enough about how hard our language is to learn with all its dipthongs and usages that exist only in English because they're combinations of other forms (if you've ever studied one of the Romance languages you'll understand the problem of trying to equate the finer points of the dative or ablative noun cases or the future perfect verb tense into a remotely close English usage you'll understand).

And our slang (we were asked to explain, "Duh!," the other day) doesn't help either.

But did we have to also invent such puzzles?

An eloquent soul

2008-08-01T20:14:00.005-04:00

This was sent to me via email, and I'm sure it's floating out in the ether of the Internet, too. But regardless of where it came from, it's a powerful piece of writing. This guy was so eloquent...if you've read bits of his commencement address to Catholic University in Washington you'll see more of this beautiful writing. But in addition to being an eloquent communicator, he had a beautiful soul. Read on and enjoy.

Tony Snow Testimony: This is an outstanding testimony from Tony Snow, President Bush's Press Secretary, and his fight with cancer.

Commentator and broadcaster Tony Snow announced that he had colon cancer in 2005. Following surgery and chemo-therapy, Snow joined the Bush administration in April 2006 as press secretary. Unfortunately, on March 23, 2007, Snow, 51, a husband and father of three, announced the cancer had recurred, with tumors found in his abdomen, leading to surgery in April, followed by more chemotherapy. Snow went back to work in the White House Briefing Room on May 30, but has resigned since, "for economic reasons," and to pursue another interests." It needs little intro... it speaks for itself.

"Blessings arrive in unexpected packages, in my case, cancer. Those of us with potentially fatal diseases - and there are millions in America today - find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God's will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence "What It All Means," Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.

The first is that we shouldn't spend too much time trying to answer the "why" questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can't someone else get sick? We can't answer such things, and the questions themselves often are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer.

I don't know why I have cancer, and I don't much care. It is what it is, a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out.

But despite this - or because of it - God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don't know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face.

Second, we need to get past the anxiety. The mere thought of dying can send adrenaline flooding through your system. A dizzy, unfocused panic seizes you. Your heart thumps; your head swims. You think of nothingness and swoon. You fear partings; you worry about the impact on family and friends. You fidget and get nowhere.

To regain footing, remember that we were born not into death, but into life - and that the journey continues after we have finished our days on this earth. We accept this on faith, but that faith is nourished by a conviction that stirs even within many non believing hearts - an intuition that the gift of life, once given, cannot be taken away. Those who have been stricken enjoy the special privilege of being able to fight with their might, main, and faith to live fully, richly, exuberantly - no matter how their days may be numbered.

Third, we can open our eyes and hearts. God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease,- smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see - but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance; and comprehension - and yet don't. By His love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise.

'You Have Been Called'.
Picture yourself in a hospital bed. The fog of anesthesia has begun to wear away. A doctor stands at your feet, a loved one holds your hand at the side. "It's cancer," the healer announces.

The natural reaction is to turn to God and ask him to serve as a cosmic Santa. "Dear God, make it all go away. Make everything simpler." But another voice whispers: "You have been called." Your quandary has drawn you closer to God, closer to those you love, closer to the issues that matter,- and has dragged into insignificance the banal concerns that occupy our "normal time."

There's another kind of response, although usually short-lived an inexplicable shudder of excitement, as if a clarifying moment of calamity has swept away everything trivial and tiny, and placed before us the challenge of important questions.

The moment you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change. You discover that Christianity is not something doughy, passive, pious, and soft. Faith may be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But it also draws you into a world shorn of fearful caution. The life of belief teems with thrills, boldness, danger, shocks, reversals, triumphs, and epiphanies. Think of Paul, traipsing through the known world and contemplating trips to what must have seemed the antipodes ( Spain ), shaking the dust from his sandals, worrying not about the morrow, but only about the moment.

There's nothing wilder than a life of humble virtue - for it is through selflessness and service that God wrings from our bodies and spirits the most we ever could give, the most we ever could offer, and the most we ever could do.

Finally, we can let love change everything. When Jesus was faced with the prospect of crucifixion, he grieved not for himself , but for us. He cried for Jerusalem before entering the holy city. From the Cross, he took on the cumulative burden of human sin and weakness, and begged for forgiveness on our behalf.

We get repeated chances to learn that life is not about us, that we acquire purpose and satisfaction by sharing in God's love for others. Sickness gets us part way there. It reminds us of our limitations and dependence. But it also gives us a chance to serve the healthy. A minister friend of mine observes that people suffering grave afflictions often acquire the faith of two people, while loved ones accept the burden of two peoples' worries and fears.

'Learning How to Live'.
Most of us have watched friends as they drifted toward God's arms, not with resignation, but with peace and hope. In so doing, they have taught us not how to die, but how to live. They have emulated Christ by transmitting the power and authority of love.

I sat by my best friend's bedside a few years ago as a wasting cancer took him away. He kept at his table a worn Bible and a 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. A shattering grief disabled his family, many of his old friends, and at least one priest. Here was an humble and very good guy, someone who apologized when he winced with pain because he thought it made his guest uncomfortable. He retained his equanimity and good humor literally until his last conscious moment. "I'm going to try to beat [this cancer]," he told me several months before he died. "But if I don't, I'll see you on the other side."

His gift was to remind everyone around him that even though God doesn't promise us tomorrow, he does promise us eternity - filled with life and love we cannot comprehend - and that one can in the throes of sickness point the rest of us toward timeless truths that will help us weather future storms.

Through such trials, God bids us to choose: Do we believe, or do we not? Will we be bold enough to love, daring enough to serve, humble enough to submit, and strong enough to acknowledge our limitations? Can we surrender our concern in things that don't matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?

When our faith flags, he throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up - to speak of us!

This is love of a very special order. But so is the ability to sit back and appreciate the wonder of every created thing. The mere thought of death somehow makes every blessing vivid, every happiness more luminous and intense. We may not know how our contest with sickness will end, but we have felt the ineluctable touch of God.

What is man that Thou art mindful of him? We don't know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us who believe, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place, in the hollow of God's hand."
T. Snow

Essence of summertime

2008-08-01T20:04:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite things during the summer is peaches. But I've bought peaches at the grocery store multiple times this year and they're pitiful.

But, there's hope! There were two extraordinarily good things that came out of the 20 months I spent in South Carolina (July '04 to March '06). One was my cat, Twinkles. The other was peaches from Abbott Farms in Cowpens, S.C.

Seriously, if you like peaches it's worth the expense of purchase and shipping to get them from this family-run operation near the South Carolina/North Carolina border along I-85. Last year wasn't such a good year, but apparently they bounced back this year.

I just got a box in the mail this week and I had to stand over the kitchen sink to eat one without worrying about dripping peach juice all over the place.

Yum!

Life on two wheels: Lessons for living II

2008-07-27T23:08:00.001-04:00

The Tour: When riding in a huge pack of 180 riders like that, you can’t really see where you’re going. You’re eyes are glued on the wheel in front of you, and you have to trust that the guy in front of you is paying attention and won’t let you run into a curb or a traffic circle or a traffic island that could cause you to crash.

Life: Sometimes we have no choice but to pedal along on blind faith and trust, huh?

*** ***

The Tour: Even for the most fit, fine-tuned athletes in the world, riding thousands of miles day after day in the heat of the summer through valleys and over some of the highest mountains in the world in all kinds of weather, isn’t fun. In fact, long about the 12th day, the commentators all start talking about the pain and suffering the riders are beginning to feel…pain and suffering that doesn’t end until the last day in Paris. You have a choice – do you stop, step off your bike, and retreat to the safety of your team car? If you do, that’s it, you don’t get back on your bike the next day and continue on. Or do you grit your teeth and push through the pain because tomorrow’s stage might suit you better?

Life: Living hurts some times. It’s hard. But pushing through the pain – learning how to suffer – ultimately leads to an even greater reward.

*** ***

The Tour: When you’re riding in the pack or with a handful of teammates, there’s less work for you to do. And, thanks to the physics of it all, if you drop out the back of the pack, it can be almost impossible to catch up on some days, but you definitely will expend much more energy than you would otherwise.

Life: Stay in the boat! Life is a lot easier that way!

*** ***

The Tour: A moment’s inattention or distraction can mean disaster. That’s how most crashes happen – a glancing brush of wheels, a moment’s turn away from the road and you miss the traffic island, a slight miscalculation on a curve.

Life: It’s like that driving, too!

*** ***

The Tour: The leader of the Tour, the man in the yellow jersey, and his team, must defend the jersey. You will be attacked as the leader and if you want to keep your standing you have to fight for it.

Life: There are lots of things you work hard for and then have to protect to keep it. But those are the things that are usually worth fighting for.

Life on two wheels: Lessons on living I

2008-07-27T23:05:00.001-04:00

The Tour: In the end, despite all the technological advances in the construction of the bicycles, aerodynamic improvements in bike helmets, new formulations in the nutrition bars and gels the riders eat while riding, etc., the only way for a rider to advance and become a better rider is to put in the work. In the end, it all comes down to the individual rider and his abilities.

**** ****

The Tour: On a team of 9 riders, everyone has a role. Sprinters are the fast guys…they don’t do mountains. Climbers live for the high peaks of the Alps, the 8 percent gradients and the thin air. All-around riders are good at just about everything, but they can either be a workhorse or the one everyone works for to give him a chance to win the entire race. And then there are the riders who spend three weeks as what is known as “domestiques.” They’re the ones who go back and forth between the front of the group and the team cars in the rear to ferry water bottles and food to the guys at the front. They likely will never win a stage, but without them the winner couldn’t win.

Life: Talk about unity among many parts. And what would we do without the servants among us?

*** ***

The Tour: The team leader, the guy with the best hopes of winning the race, historically, cannot win without the support of a team. A road race is technically won by one man, but the race isn’t a solitary activity. The sprinters need the help of their teammates to lead them out the front of the pack, give them a slipstream to follow before they break free and fly to the line. The climbers preferably need a teammate, but will settle for competitors, in the mountains to share the work of the climb. The winner needs a team around him to help him protect him from falls, to sacrifice their own bikes in the event of a mechanical malfunction, to help him preserve his energy by riding in their slipstreams.

Life: While you can go through life as a loner, it’s a lot easier and more enjoyable with help from family and friends, isn’t it?

*** ***

The Tour: Teammates will sacrifice everything for their team leader and, ultimately, for the team itself – water bottles, bikes, food, bodies whether by expending the last ounce of energy you’ve got or being the first one to hit the deck at a high speed (never on purpose, but you expose yourself to that danger).

Life: There are people in life that are worth sacrificing for. And no matter how much pain it brings you, sacrificing for those people brings benefits that far outweigh the suffering. And, on the flip side, as the person on the receiving end of the sacrifice, sometimes you have to let people serve you.

Life on two wheels: The chess game

2008-07-27T23:04:00.000-04:00

For those unfamiliar, the Tour de France is the granddaddy of all road cycling races. It was the first tour and is the most storied. The riders, in teams of 9, strap on their helmets and get comfortable on their bikes for a three-week, 2,000-plus mile trip around France. There are 21 stages of an average 100 kilometers each day and two rest days where there is no racing.

There are flat stages that offer the best opportunities for the sprinters to win; there are two time trial stages that pit each rider against the clock…the fastest man wins; there are five mountain stages, divided among the Pyrenees and the Alps. To complete the Tour, all you have to do is finish each stage within the day’s time limit.

But to win the Tour, to climb the top step of the podium on the Champs Elyssees on the last day, to stand on that podium in the yellow jersey of the race’s leader, there are certain things that are necessary.

Of course, you have to put in the hours of training. You need a good bike and need to know something about the aerodynamics of your particular body on that bike. But you also need a team.

Cycling, a little contrary to what you might think, is a team sport.

And watching the team dynamics and the strategy – they don’t call the Tour a “chess game on two wheels” for nothing – has left me thinking about how much the Tour can teach life lessons and, in some ways, be a metaphor for life.What the next post are a few things I’ve noticed in the last three weeks. Some of these are applicable to a lot of sports, but I think this event sheds a particularly narrow light on these universal principles.

Life on two wheels: Mesmerized by the bikes

2008-07-27T23:02:00.002-04:00

One of the great spectacles of sport ended today. The almost superhuman, epic journey of 180 men and their bicycles through the valleys, flats, hills and mountains of France known as the Tour de France. (And, I'll admit, that's one of the reasons for the lack of posting lately.)

It’s a beautiful event that has, sadly, been under a pretty dark cloud in the last few years as the transgressions of entirely too many have sullied the reputations, dreams and livelihoods of everyone else. But the three-week odyssey that ended with a triumphant circuit of the Champs Elysees in Paris, I believe, started a new chapter in its 100-plus year history this year with the rise of a number of impressive young riders and a handful of new teams that have taken a stand against the cheaters and for the beauty, integrity and courage of the sport.

I was first introduced to cycling three years ago while watching the final days leading up to Lance Armstrong’s final of seven straight victories in the Tour de France. It was a historic moment in the world of sports and I’m a sucker for historic moments. I never watch the World Series, but the year the Red Sox foiled the curse, I tuned in with everyone else. I never watch college basketball, but when George Mason went to the Big Dance, I watched, and I did the same for the University of Maryland’s women’s team when they won their first championship.

But after witnessing the end of the Armstrong era, I couldn’t help but tune in again the following July to find out who would step up…again, an historic moment in sports. I watched the tour from start to finish. I found myself glued to the TV every night for three weeks straight – mesmerized by the glory of the French countryside, the dazzle of 180 multi-colored jerseys flying through fields of sunflowers like a cloud neon Skittles, the drama of the sudden and sometimes spectacular crash, the dashed dreams, the heroic triumphs over injury and physical suffering.

And I was hooked. I’ve watched the last two years, start to finish, and I have to say no other sporting event captures my imagination quite like the Tour.

Civility lives

2008-07-19T19:42:00.004-04:00

In addition to the random characters that abound on public transportation, every so often riding mass transit gives you a front row seat to some extraordinary acts of human kindness and civility. In a world where people are capable of walking past an elderly man lying in the street after being hit by a car, or ignoring a mentally-ill woman who's collapsed on the hospital waiting room floor, it's nice to know that people still notice each other.

I was on the Metro the other day, a few stops from mine. Living in this area there is often a smattering of military personnel in uniform riding the rails. On this particular day there was a young black woman in Army fatigues standing in the aisle next to my seat, peacefully zoning out a bit with her iPod. All of a sudden, out of a group of people further down in the car, comes this young white guy. He was maybe in his early 20s, maybe a little younger. Looked a little rough around the edges -- white t-shirt, raggedy black shorts, a biker's glove on his right hand. He walked up to the woman in uniform standing in the aisle and wordlessly stuck out his hand.

She looked at him a moment, took the earbuds out of her ears, and looked at him.
"Thank you," he said. She took his hand, and then he turned around and walked away.

I wasn't close enough to hear if she gave any response. But she put her earbuds back in and she and I both exited at the same stop.

It was a touching scene, especially because it took place in such an intimate space. This wasn't a crowded shopping mall or a bustling airport terminal. This was a subway car, a half-empty car at that, during the morning rush when there isn't usually much noise other than the scream of the air and screech of steel as the trains move through the tunnels. People are either reading their newspapers, catching a few more winks or zoning out on their iPods. In a word, this guy had a captive audience.

And yet there was something about this young soldier that prompted him to thank her for her service to her country. Something that transcended race, gender, feelings for or against the U.S. involvement in Iraq, and everything else that prevents people from reaching out to others in a show of human compassion and solidarity.

I think that something was this young man's sense of patriotism, yes, but also human decency. It is, afterall, polite and decent to thank someone when they've made a sacrifice for you, isn't it?

So just in case you were wondering, it does still exist.

Visual interlude

2008-07-14T21:41:00.007-04:00

Posts are coming, I promise. But in the meantime, please enjoy some photos of Annapolis on Memorial Day. :)

Looking down Fleet Street toward the harbor. This just struck me as a very quaint Memorial Day shot.

Ego Alley, a little causeway/inlet/whatever you call it, situated at the City Dock is usually the province of the big boats and their cocky captains eager to show off their piloting skills in such a narrow space. But on Memorial Day, the jet skis decided to have a go.

Sweet little angel tucked in a corner in the gardens behind St. Mary's Church in downtown.

I just really liked this picture with all the shadows and lines.

For more check out my photo page.

Did I hear that right?

2008-06-29T20:32:00.003-04:00

When I overheard this conversation last week on the shuttle to my building from the Metro, I almost couldn't believe my ears. I didn't think people actually talked like this outside the movies. But apparently somebody does.

Here are the snippets of the phone conversation. The names won't really make much sense because I wasn't actually taking notes. I typed this up when I got to my computer at work. It was just too priceless not to record. But it's what I overheard as another passenger, a young professional black man, was talking on his cell phone one morning.

So Storm and Quick are at the girl’s crib. They bounce from the crib to go to the store. To the PNC to localize it for ye.
Then Quick’s cell phone rings but he duzn’t hear anybody talkin’. It sounds like scuffling, like muffled movement. And then he hears this girl’s voice saying, ‘they’re fightin.’
So they bounce from the store and head back to his crib. They go up to the dude’s crib, up to his apartment. And there’s big guy on top of Quick….beatin’ him. So of course he jumps in ‘cause that’s his people.

They break it up or whatever and a course the police are called. And this dude’s arrested and charged with assault and robbery and sumthin else.

But it turns out that this dude was fightin’ with his girl and the fight got physical. Then she left the crib to go to this dude’s and then Quick followed her and kicked in the dude’s door. So the big dude was just defending his crib. This guy kicked down his door!

So it’s just ridiculous.

Two cities

2008-06-18T21:42:00.002-04:00

This is a quote (from Augustine's "City of God," I think...it sounds like it, but forgive me it's been a few years since I read it and I don't have time at the moment to pull it off the shelf and look it up) that really struck me today. Something I've been mulling over recently. It's too long to go in the "Words of Wisdom" list to the right, so this will have to do.....

Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord.

For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, You are my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. [Ps. 3, 4]

In the one, the princes and the nations it subdues are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love, the latter obeying, while the former take thought for all. The one delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of its rulers; the other says to its God, I will love you, O Lord, my strength. [Ps. 17, 1] And therefore the wise men of the one city, living according to man, have sought for profit to their own bodies or souls, or both, and those who have known God glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise—that is, glorying in their own wisdom, and being possessed by pride—they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. For they were either leaders or followers of the people in adoring images, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. [Rom. 1, 21-25]

But in the other city there is no human wisdom, but only godliness, which offers due worship to the true God, and looks for its reward in the society of the saints, of holy angels as well as holy men, that God may be all in all. [1 Cor. 15, 28] — St. Augustine

Another brush with history

2008-06-18T21:38:00.002-04:00

So I was on my way to the chiropractor this morning, driving along a winding, two-lane road next to a monstrous brand new Hilton hotel/conference center/theater complex that's erupted on the far end of the historic district of Annapolis, just across the street from the veterans' cemetery. I came around the bend and started heading up the hill toward the police department when all of a sudden traffic came to a halt. I could see a cop on a motorcycle at the top of the hill with his lights on, but couldn't see over the ridge. Was it an accident? I've seen some near misses there. Or some very early funeral procession? (It was barely 8 a.m.) The governor rarely stops traffic around Annapolis. And the General Assembly's been out of town for months now.....

Then I saw a caravan of limo-buses...the kind of swanky buses that VIPs get shuttled around in. And that's when I stopped wracking my brain. I realized what was going on in town that would stop traffic:

the U.S.-China economic summit, being held this week at the Naval Academy.

The buses were coming from the service road that runs behind the Loewes Hotel in downtown where, presumably, the dignitaries are staying.

Annapolis doesn't experience motorcade gridlock like Washington does on a daily basis. The closest thing we have is what could best be described as pedestrian gridlock, and that only gets bad when the General Assembly's in session and during the height of the summer tourist season.

But every so often, you just get lucky.

Overheard on the Metro

2008-06-16T20:37:00.003-04:00

(our train has emptied onto the platform, and we're all now funneling like cattle down the staircase toward the turnstyles, dodging rain drops from the leaking platform canopy because the tail end of a line of thunderstorms is rolling through)

(young black man) Man, I need to start listening to the weather. I'm totally unprepared today.
(middle-aged white woman in dress and sneakers) Yeah, me too! I looked out the window this morning and said, it's not gonna rain!

Now, I ask you. If you rely on public transportation to get to work...whether that means catching a bus in front of your house or driving to the nearest commuter rail station...wouldn't you make it a point to be prepared for all kinds of unexpected weather events? Especially in the summer when we get into this pattern about this time of scattered afternoon thunderstorms? Granted, snow storms in the winter are pretty unpredictable, so I could understand someone getting caught off guard by a snow storm. But thunderstorms are pretty standard fare for the summer, aren't they?

And, on another point, that man's comment about his need to pay attention to the weather is an example of one of my problems with this emerging model of news as a tailor-your-own commodity. The problem with news sites that allow you to design what headlines appear in your email or on your BlackBerry or wherever is that if you don't want to see what the weather forecast is, you don't have to. Am I the only one disturbed by the idea of hundreds of people wandering around this world without a clue as to what's going on around them with the exception of the small handful of headlines and stories they've chosen to follow?

Working off my time in purgatory*

2008-06-14T17:32:00.003-04:00

Traffic and commuting headaches are a fact of life in the D.C. area. But this week will, I think, go down in history as legendary.

It actually started 10 days ago when some exceptionally nasty thunderstorms blew through, knocking trees and live electrical wires onto the tracks of one of the Metro lines, the Orange Line to be specific. I was not caught up in that chaos, but the track obstructions caused hundreds of people to be left out in the rain and power-outage-plagued neighborhood either waiting for shuttle buses that were woefully slow in coming or taking matters into their own hands to find a way home.

But this past Monday, a car on a Metro train on the Orange Line jumped the tracks just before the start of the afternoon rush. Suffice it to say I was not going to make it home on the rails that night. Thankfully, a coworker who also happens to live in Annapolis was kind enough to give me a ride to my car. But the A/C in his car was, unfortunately, on the fritz, and his route home leads him through downtown D.C. and all its accompanying traffic lights.

On Tuesday, my morning commute was normal. But my afternoon ride on the rails alone took me 2 hours. One train was off-loaded due to mechanical problems at one station, only to completely konk out a few stations later, which led to a second train being taken out of service and off-loaded so it could be used to push the totally disabled train off the tracks. My train got stuck behind all that.

On Wednesday, my morning commute was slowed by a signal problem outside the first Virginia station on the Orange Line. And Wednesday afternoon, as I was preparing to leave early to make it to a church function, I learned of a track problem at the station where I usually board. I took a crack at boarding at that station, unaware of which direction was affected by the problem, only to be told by other frustrated passengers that I couldn't get a train downtown from that station. Luckily, I was a) on the leading edge of the afternoon rush, and b) headed downtown away from the track problem, which turned out to be a stretch of track that had been warped by the very early summer heat. But when I arrived at the next station via bus, I was met by a station supervisor who, for some incomprehensible reason, directed everyone to the wrong track to catch a train downtown. You can only imagine the stampede and flaring tempers that ensued when we realized the downtown-bound train was arriving on the opposite track.

After all that I chose to drive to work the rest of the week. At least if I got stuck in traffic, I would have the comfort of the reliable WTOP traffic report, the ample air conditioning and a decent music supply (no, I don't own an iPod).

Thursday afternoon, it took me an hour to cross from Virginia, over the Wilson Bridge, and in to Maryland. That's an hour to go about 5.5 miles.

I almost changed my mind Friday and took the Metro. But I decided to stick with my plan and take my car. Friday morning's drive was pretty typical. And while I was sitting in about a 2-mile back up to cross the bridge, I heard about a power outage that had crippled a large section of downtown D.C. -- about 30 city blocks -- including 5 Metro stations, 3 of which are on my Metro route. Thank God I drove!

It took me only about 35 minutes to get across the bridge Friday night, and that was after I'd waited an additional hour to leave work. But I stick by my decision that driving was better than taking the train.

So, how much time in purgatory do you think I worked off this week?

* Explanatory note: Purgatory is a very Catholic concept. Purgatory is the place where Catholics believe souls go after death if they have been judged to be free of mortal sin, which would have sent them directly to hell. Purgatory is the place where souls essentially make restitution for their sins, which must be completed before they can enter heaven. It is a place of temporal and spiritual purification...being scrubbed clean before beholding the absolute purity of God. But, Catholics also believe that suffering here on earth, if endured with hope and united to the sufferings of Christ on the cross, can be beneficial. One of those beneficial effects of suffering is the satisfaction of some of the temporal punishment of purgatory. Hence the saying "working off time in purgatory."

Requiescat in pace...

2008-06-13T20:51:00.002-04:00

The worlds of journalism and politics, and perhaps more importantly, the world in general, today lost a giant. Tim Russert's sudden death this afternoon of a heart attack has been the one and only headline in the D.C. area all evening.
I was stunned when my editor walked out of his office this afternoon to share the news. All of us in the room sent up a collective, "WHAT?!" And we're still reeling.

In a political and journalistic environment full of spin and gotcha-games, scandals and corner-cutting, Tim Russert was a class act. Tough but fair. Pleasant but firm. Consumate student of his craft and his subject.

He was one of the guys I really respected. I always enjoyed watching him on TV and listening to him on the radio. On election nights, Tim Russert was who I wanted to hear break down the results. Whether watching him or just listening, you could see and/or hear his enthusiasm. You could hear him smiling through the radio. He always reminded me of a kid in a candy store. And I have never seen him more excited than during this presidential election cycle.

This is truly a historic election and one that has been more exciting than most people alive today ever remember. It is unfathomable to me how we will navigate our way between now and November without Tim Russert. Election night will be historic, regardless of the winner. But it will be empty and disappointing for winner, loser and supporters on both sides, and for us, because we will not have the pleasure of seeing such a historic event through the eyes of someone who not only knows the significance and history of that event -- knows it like he knows the back of his hand -- but who loves and appreciates that significance with a "gee whiz" kind of affection and awe.

This country of ours and our political system is something awesome. Too often we forget that in the midst of the bad stuff that's constantly flying around. But despite the warts, Tim Russert loved this system and conveyed that love in the caliber of his reporting and his respect for the game and the people who played it.

I think it was Thomas Jefferson who once wrote that a democracy would be lost without a free press to keep it honest (I'm paraphrasing). I'm grateful to have had the privilege to watch such a skilled journalist and principled man provide that service for us.

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T19:31:00.003-04:00

How we got to Memorial Day already is beyond me. But it's here...and as I type almost gone.

Growing up, my family never really had a tradition of going to the beach or on some other vacation on Memorial Day weekend. In middle school and high school I remember spending many a Memorial Day weekend holed up in my room working on end-of-the-year projects and/or papers and/or studying for final exams. And in college, Memorial Day weekend was simply another weekend spent working at the florist -- the end of prom and Mother's Day season, but the start of high school graduation and dance recital season.

This weekend was a quiet one for me. Aside from a brief visit from my mom Friday night and Saturday morning, I spent much of the first part of the weekend enchanted by a wonderful historical mystery, enjoyed either in the splendor of my balcony on a GORGEOUS weather weekend or curled up with my cat on the sofa.

But this morning, I headed down to the City Dock (newly refurbished and quite lovely) to take some photos of the water, and take in the city's Memorial Day parade. Aside from the small band of Naval officers that led the parade with rousing renditions of "Anchors Aweigh" and "The Marine Corps Hymn," there were the small groups of veterans from Vietnam and World War II. There were re-enactors/representatives from the Buffalo Soldiers and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. And there were the classic cars and the fire trucks that are the thrill of every little kid at a parade.

But the poignant part of this slice of Americana was the applause that greeted each and every group of veterans that passed by. In the midst of all our parties and the glory of a three-day weekend, that is afterall what it's all about, right? The men and women who have given their lives in service to our country.

I've always had an appreciation for days like this. I'm the granddaughter of a Naval aviator on one side of the family, and the granddaughter and daughter of Marines on the other. And I've lived near Washington, D.C., most of my life. If you're not inspired to patriotism by the memorials that dot that city, then I don't know how to help you.

But I think these holidays have become more poignant in the last few years. As I've had friends serve in Iraq. As I've watched now two classes of young midshipmen graduate from the Naval Academy. As I've reported on the funerals of two young men who died in Iraq.

Memorial Day is no longer just the official herald of the summer season, or some nebulous day that has something to do with flying the flag and laying wreaths at the cemetery.

It's a day to say thanks. Because without today, and the sacrifice that is honored today, the celebration of the start of summer just wouldn't be as sweet.

So, thanks.

Dispatch from the other side of May

2008-05-26T19:21:00.002-04:00

Once again I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Blogging just never seemed to make it high enough up on the priority list for the last month or so.

Thanks again for your prayers for my students who received their sacraments the first Sunday in May. They all showed up for Mass on time and looking just lovely/handsome. I can't say the same for all of their parents, but the kids were great. It was a really special day.

The one student who couldn't be there with the rest of the class, the one with the brain tumor, had at least been released from the hospital by the day of the Mass. Last report is that his post-surgical screenings and tests are all 100% clear. He'll still have some chemo and radiation treatments as a precaution, but he's getting fantastic care. And it looks like he'll be back at least part of the time for class in the fall...he still hasn't been confirmed.

The rest of the month was spent preparing for and publishing the annual graduation edition of the newspaper...one of our largest papers of the year. We're all very glad we're over that hump because it means --- at least theoretically or perhaps it's a rationalization created to soothe our tired minds --- things will slow down!

Thank you!

2008-04-29T19:43:00.001-04:00

Thanks, folks, for all your prayers for my student. A priest from my parish was able to baptize him and give him his first Communion Monday, and he came through surgery just fine this afternoon (Tuesday).

He's still in ICU, and it'll be a few days before they know the details of the tumor. But he's responding well to all the tests. He'll likely still have to go through some chemo and radiation, but right now things look good.

Again, thanks so much for your prayers. I know they were much appreciated.

Please pray

2008-04-27T20:22:00.002-04:00

A week from today, 15 kids, ages 7 to about 13, from my parish will receive various sacraments that will make them full members of the Catholic church. Five will be baptized. The other 10 will be confirmed and receive their first Communion. Those three sacraments are big deals in and of themselves, and they're usually spread out over time between birth and about age 15. But these kids will get all of them in one day! So, keep them in your prayers this week!

But especially pray for one young man in my class. He's been diagnosed with a brain tumor and will be having surgery this week. That's pretty heavy stuff for an 11-year-old. He's a great kid, really smart, one of those joys to have in a classroom. I know he, and his family, would appreciate your prayers for a good outcome and a speedy recovery.

Still processing

2008-04-27T20:13:00.003-04:00

So, it's been a week since the pope returned to Rome from his U.S. pilgrimage. And I had hoped by this time to post some thoughts/reflections/observations gleaned from personal experience and, especially, the pope's various public addresses. But I have to confess I'm still processing much of that.

I will say that I agree with the responses of many commentators who've said that Americans now feel like we've really gotten to know this pope. Prior to this visit, we knew him as he was portrayed in the media prior to his election as pope -- as the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog. Rather a gruff, unyielding caricature. And then, upon his ascendancy to the chair of Peter, we learned that this eminent theological scholar is actually quite shy. I remember noticing his stiffness and reserved manner in the early days of his pontificate.

But what I saw during his six-day trip to the U.S. was the gradual growth of a smile. I don't think I'd ever seen a real, genuine smile cross his face in any other public appearance....it always looked like this forced grin plastered on his face for the sake of manners and the cameras.

But during this trip, it warmed my heart to see him genuinely, warmly smiling on a number of occasions -- most involving greeting the general public. If there's one image that sticks in my mind, that's it.

Like I said, I'm still digesting the bulk of his speeches, but here are some one-liners, as it were, that have stuck out so far:

"Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted." (address to U.S. bishops, I believe)

"Those who have hope must live different lives." (homily, Nationals Park Mass)

"What is God whispering to you?" (address to seminarians and young people, NY)

More pope photos/resources

2008-04-18T20:59:00.002-04:00

Because I'm very proud of the work done by my colleagues, check out the Catholic Herald's Web site for more photos of the pope's time in D.C.:

www.catholicherald.com

Click on the "more photos" link on the right to see more shots. (Disclaimer: the "more photos" site is hosted by a third party; the Diocese of Arlington is NOT responsible for the advertising on that site.)

Also, if anyone's interested in reading some of what the pope said this week, check out the Vatican's Web site for the trip for texts in English.

everybody wants to see the pope

2008-04-18T19:58:00.004-04:00

Opening of Papal Liturgy

2008-04-18T19:56:00.003-04:00

The popemobile cometh!

2008-04-18T19:55:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Nationals Park Mass

2008-04-18T12:32:00.002-04:00

I'm breaking my rule about blogging from work.

But check out my photos from yesterday:

www.flickr.com/stephaniekatherine

Make sure to click to the second page. I'm still working on getting the video up.

Mass with the pope

2008-04-17T20:12:00.004-04:00

Suffice it to say, the Mass this morning at Nationals Park in Washington was glorious.

The weather was picture perfect for the third day in a row (This has to be some kind of record for the D.C. area....I seriously want to know who the Archbishop of Washington had on his team praying for the weather this week....must have been the Poor Clares or something). The ballpark was in fact an outdoor cathedral...that wasn't just some analogy coined by the media. It was indeed a very prayerful atmosphere. The liturgy itself was simply beautiful -- flawless -- not a glitch to be seen.

I got some pretty good photos of the altar, a few shots of the popemobile on its ride around the stadium, and some video. But those are currently still on my colleague's camera.

And besides, this is about all you're gonna get out of me tonight. I was up at 4 a.m. to make it to the stadium. So further commentary and, hopefully, some pictures, will have to wait till the weekend.

The pope's words

2008-04-16T20:32:00.006-04:00

It's been said all week by Catholic commentators leading up to the pope's visit -- this pope is a pope of words. John Paul II was very much a pope of gesture -- camera ready and very hard to misinterpret. Benedict XVI, however, is at heart a teacher -- not quite as readily translatable in our multimedia world, but badly needed nonetheless.

I'm reading his most recent encyclical, "Spe Salvi" (On Christian Hope) as I type. I meant to read it before he arrived, but I was a little busy getting ready for his arrival. But I'm also trying to listen closely to his speeches, and find the text to read again later. All in an effort to really hear his message.

There was a passage in his remarks at the White House this morning that I really liked:

Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience – almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24). Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that “in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation”, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul (cf. Centesimus Annus, 46). Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent “indispensable supports” of political prosperity.
The Church, for her part, wishes to contribute to building a world ever more worthy of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27).

--Source: USCCB

I've bolded the phrases I found particularly profound. I especially like the phrase -- "in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation," and a democracy without values can lose its very soul. It's a quote and paraphrase of the writings of John Paul II, but the words were particularly apt in that they were spoken this morning in the shadow of the White House and a presidential campaign.

I was also struck by the idea of "building a world ever more worthy of the human person." Wow. What dignity we have as human beings that the world must be made worthy of us by virtue of our sharing in the image of God.

Happy Birthday, Papa!

2008-04-16T20:08:00.006-04:00

Well, D.C. rolled out the red carpet for the pope today, right down to the absolutely PERFECT weather (I'm serious, it really doesn't get any better than it was today) and the pothole-free popemobile route from the White House to the Vatican embassy (that's one way to get the D.C. streets fixed.)

The pope started his day with an adorable serenade of "Happy Birthday," in German no less, by a group of Catholic school students who were camped out across the road from the embassy's front door. To I think everyone's surprise (given the EXTREME security around him), the pope walked over to the group before getting in his car to thank them and shake some hands. I think he's been grinning from ear to ear all day.

At the White House, Papa B was treated to a beautiful rendition of the "Our Father" sung by opera star Kathleen Battle, and the President's Own along with their chorus offered a rousing "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The South Lawn of the White House was supposedly packed with about 9,000 people, all of whom spontaneously broke into yet another round of "Happy Birthday." It was clear that President Bush's speechwriters had done their homework as the president mentioned the need to fight against "the dictatorship of relativism" -- not only a key theme of this pope, but a quintesential phrase of Pope Benedict. The pope's remarks centered on the real meaning of freedom...full of lots of food for thought. (See related post.)

After the White House meeting, which I found out late today included a birthday cake and more singing, the popemobile made its first appearance. The streets were lined with people, but it looked like they were driving a little faster than most of us are used to seeing the popemobile move. In essence, it looked like a whole lot of people waited a long time this morning for all of about a 10-second glimpse.

This afternoon was the pope's meeting with the U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Incidentally, if you've never been there, go. It's on the level of St. Peter's in size and grandeur. Anyway, I didn't expect his address to be televised, but was pleasantly surprised to find his face on the TV when I got home tonight. He addressed just about every major issue on the table -- clergy sex abuse crisis, immigration, combatting secularism and relativism, vocations, etc. At the end of his address, he even took questions -- albeit prepared questions that he had corresponding prepared answers to (I think he's chosen to stick to prepared texts in an effort to avoid misinterpretation of off-the-cuff remarks in the media).

But what struck me tonight was how happy he looked. Toward the end of the meeting, it looked like age and jetlag were taking a bit of a toll, but he was so clearly enjoying himself! He seemed to have a decided spring in his step as he was leaving the shrine and heading back to the car.

So tomorrow's the BIG day! Mass for 45,000 people in Nationals Park. I'll be up at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning to be sure I get to the stadium and make it through security in plenty of time. The weather's supposed to be postcard perfect again...a bit warmer than today. I've been tasked with trying to find local folks to interview since our reporters are confined to their assigned media places on the field. As part of that I'll have a digital camera with me, so I'll hopefully have some pictures to post!

Welcome, Pope Benedict!

2008-04-15T21:20:00.004-04:00

The pope is here! The pope is here!

After months of anticipation, Pope Benedict XVI arrived today at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland 10 minutes ahead of schedule. And he stepped off the plane to be greeted not just by President Bush, Laura Bush and Jenna Bush, but clear blue skies, bright sunshine and a bit of a breeze. First time the weather's broken in the D.C. area in weeks!

We watched the papal arrival on TV in the office while trying to get this week's issue of the paper off to the printer. Granted, the TV was one of those rabbit-ear, black and white sets that won't work come next February, but the reception was better than what we were all able to get over our Internet connections.

It still strikes me to see the pope bounding down the stairs of an airplane and strolling across the tarmac. I'm too young to remember much of John Paul II's younger days. It just amazes me the energy this 80 (soon to be 81)-year-old has.

Anyway, the pope's safely tucked away at the Vatican embassy in D.C. and tomorrow starts the whirlwind of activity. I'm packing my patience for the Metro ride, and hoping to get to bed early tomorrow night ahead of the Mass at the stadium!

I'll keep you posted!

Bible stories on stage

2008-04-13T21:00:00.002-04:00

...or at least at the front of the classroom.

I taught Sunday school this morning. The kids will receive their sacraments in a few weeks, and after today we only have two more classes until the big day. Today was a lesson meant to fill in some gaps. The class knew the story of Christmas and the birth of Christ, and they knew how Jesus got up on the cross and that he rose from the dead. But we always seemed to get blank stares when we asked the kids to tell us another story of Jesus.

So today the kids put on mini-plays. Sort of. They're kind of a shy bunch.

At any rate, they were paired up and each pair drew a card with a Scripture verse written on it and the title of the story found at that verse. The cards included parables, miracle stories, healings, etc. The kids had to look up the verse in the Bible (great way to see if they remembered how to do that!), then read the story and figure out with their partner how they could act it out.

We had a couple of boys lying on the floor -- one was supposed to be the dead Lazarus, the other was the man beaten up by robbers who was helped by the Good Samaritan. And then there were a pair of sheep following their classmate around the room after reading Jesus' discourse on the Good Shepherd.

It was a fun day, though it would have been nice to get through more of the stories. But in the end I think they got the point!

Please keep them in your prayers as we enter the home stretch.

Pope Benedict XVI in the U.S.

2008-04-13T20:40:00.003-04:00

As mentioned below, the pope is coming! He arrives in Washington Tuesday afternoon and will be here until early Friday morning. I'm not one of the credentialed media that will be traipsing around after the pontiff this week, but I work with two ladies who will be part of the pack. And, yes, I am one of the blessed 45,000 who has a ticket to the Mass at Nationals Park, so you can look forward to reading some firsthand accounts in this space.

If anyone's looking for some up-to-the-minute Catholic commentary on the visit, here are two good sites:

pope2008.com (blog maintained by the National Catholic Register)
American Papist (see the link on the right)

There's enough punditry and polls in the mainstream media right now to satisfy anyone's appetite for analysis of what this visit by the Holy Father may mean for American Catholics. Suffice it to say that most of what I've read of the pre-visit press has been decidedly negative -- Catholics don't agree with the pope; the Church in America is still reeling from the sex abuse scandal of 2002; young people are going to send the Church back to the 1950s, etc. Yes, we're a fiercely independent bunch, and yes, there are lots of us in this country that struggle with the demands of what the Church -- and therefore Christ -- asks of us. But I'm a little more hopeful than all that.

There's a lot of good going on in the Church now. I'm excited by what I see among my peers. It's about time we start living like Catholics, and stop being ashamed of what sets us apart. Our 2,000 years of tradition have a lot to offer a world that's lost its sense of the divine. Other groups with much louder voices, larger bully pulpits and deadlier strategies are flooding the airwaves and the culture with messages of hate, relativity and intolerance.

The world needs the message of hope that can only be brought by the truth of Jesus Christ. The truth that the Catholic Church has taught for centuries -- we have a God who loves us infinitely and desires only that we love him back, by obeying his laws and loving him in the people we see around us.

That, and nothing more, is what I expect to hear from Pope Benedict this week.

My poor, oft neglected blog

2008-04-13T20:35:00.002-04:00

My computer returns from two weeks in the electronics hospital and what happens? My blog continues to languish in writer's block imposed limbo.

But this week I don't have much of an excuse NOT to blog because.....

THE POPE IS COMING!!!

HAPPY EASTER!

2008-03-23T20:42:00.001-04:00

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

And don't forget, Catholics celebrate Easter for 50 days! From now until the feast of Pentecost!

So feast it up!

More later...my computer is finally back from the shop! Yay!

Happy, holy Triduum

2008-03-21T13:18:00.003-04:00

Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday -- the three holiest days in the Church year, the three days that commemorate the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ.

The Church's liturgy is the same from year to year on these three days. We hear the same readings over and over again. They become like old friends. And because we proclaim those words...not just read them...we infuse them with a certain life not found in the printed word on paper.

One line that particularly struck me last night at the Liturgy of the Lord's Supper, from the Gospel reading (John 13, I believe):

"Do you realize what I have done for you?" -- Jesus to the Apostles after he had washed their feet on the night before he died.

"Do you realize what I have done for you?"

Daily giggle

2008-03-10T21:31:00.003-04:00

I forgot to post about this last week. Here's a funny sight from the wilds of the D.C. area roadways.

I was stuck in traffic on I-66 westbound on a Friday night on my way out to my parents' house. We were at a crawl, as usual on that particular stretch. I was behind a white, older model pickup truck plastered on its back window and part of the tailgate with all manner of hunting stickers, fishing stickers and an assortment of "support the troops" ribbons.

Underneath the license plate and wedged on top of the hitch area was what looked like a 12-inch tall stuffed deer, positioned to look like it was sitting up. Can you say country boy? But wait, it gets better.

I didn't notice it at first, but every time the driver hit the brakes, something happened to the deer. It took a few times for me to really see it. The deer waved at me every time the driver applied the brakes. This deer was waving at me in traffic! One little front leg was flapping around in the air! I looked again, and a spot on its belly lit up, too, when the brakes went on...lit up bright red.

Every time the guy hit his brakes.

And who said Prince William County was becoming suburbanized...just an extension of the Fairfax County sprawl?

Not when there's those kind of people driving around on our roads! :)

Meet my roomate!

2008-03-10T21:29:00.003-04:00

I don't usually allow her on the dining room table, but this was also one morning before work...this is more recent. Twinkles -- a member of the family since October 2004.

what could it hurt?

2008-03-08T17:42:00.003-05:00

One of the fun parts of my job is that I get to read the entire paper before anyone else. And oftentimes I walk away with some new nugget of news or tidbit of inspiration.

This week, I was reading a story produced by a student-staffed wire service in Richmond, similar to the program I was part of in grad school -- covering the General Assembly for subscribing clients.

Anyway, there was a story about a bill in the Virginia General Assembly that would have required abortion clinics to have the same emergency equipment as doctor's offices and outpatient clinics. The bill was struck down, I believe, because of concerns such requirements would put an undue burden on the abortion provider. Opponents also argued that the most common abortion procedures aren't very risky.

I ask you, for an invasive procedure like that, what could it hurt to comply with the same regulations as doctor's offices?

update from computer-free land

2008-03-08T17:34:00.002-05:00

So, my computer's still in the shop. Thank God for the business center at my apartment complex! But this whole experience (an entire week!) has shown me how attached I am to having the Internet at home. I always tell people I don't use it much because I'm on a computer all day at work, but maybe I'm a little more attached to it than I thought.

Crossing my fingers that they can find the spare part they need.

Other than being computer-less from home, life's been pretty normal around here. The banner headline of the day yesterday was that I FINALLY caught my cat, Twinkles, and got her to the vet for her looooooong overdue shots. Everybody who's ever owned a cat says they understand how hard cats are to cage and take anywhere. But, I'm sorry, if you've never owned a feral cat, you really have no idea. This is a one-time WILD ANIMAL, who admittedly is quite attached to me now and after four years with me you'd never really know she was feral unless you tried to grab her to put her in a cat carrier. But I'm happy to report that the deed was done yesterday morning with little to no drama. And I only got one scratch on the side of my left hand. So far I give high marks to the top-loading cat carriers. The prisoner had to spend the night at the vet, but she was sprung from the pokey this morning and has spent the rest of the day sleeping. She has allowed me to pet her a few times, so I think I'm forgiven.

It occurs to me I don't have any pictures of my four-legged roommate on my blog...will have to fix that once my computer comes back.

thanks anyway

2008-03-03T09:43:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who voted for my friend in the photography contest. They didn't win. :(

But you made an engaged couple feel very loved!