Ramblin' RET

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Snow!

It snowed this early this morning. When I went out around 12:30 p.m. I was surprised to find my car covered with a couple inches of wet snow (see picture below). Note in the picture the snow on the ground and then compare with the "finished" picture below.

Start

All done, nice and clean.

Also shoveled the front driveway at the street, the sidewalk, and cleaned up the front walk to the lobby (for the post main). Much of it was just pushing slush to the side. However, I hoped that by getting the slush away, there would be less ice later and any ice would melt tomorrow.

I really know how to have fun!

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Written Tuesday 27 January 2015.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New!

I received the letter below from Fr. Hattie on January 6, 2015 via email. Much of the letter is his response to my annual holiday/end of the year letter I include with my Christmas cards.

Letter from Fr. Hattie received via email January 6, 2015.

See my Fr. Hattie page for more information on how to communicate with Father and how to donate to help his orphans in Nsumba, Uganda.

Below is my transcription of the above letter. I have taken the liberty of inserting a bit of color in an effort to try to recapture the feel of the Aerogramme stationary that Father used to use for his letters from Uganda. I have also "corrected" any obvious typos and/or light keystrokes. Father literally types these letters on a manual typewriter before someone scans them to a JPEG file and transmits via email. Overall, I have tried to maintain fidelity to the text and the presumed meaning of the original correspondence.

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My dear Rick: Peace of Christ!

Try as I might I simply couldn't find a more appropriate way to usher in the New Year than by writing to thank you for your kind & generous Gift of $XX.XX for my kids. Thanks much, too, for your beautiful Christmas Card & letter. Your kind Gift enabled the Sisters to prepare a delicious Christmas & New Year's Day meal for the kids: rice, curry, 2 vegetables, meat AND ice cream, chocolate cake & a bottle of Coke, simple things that we just take for granted. But, it gives them something to look forward to each year. Indeed, their pleasures are few & simple!

Believe me, I was so happy to learn of your new job after spending so many tedious hours on the road. And, it sounds as though it entails a lot of travel & responsibility. But, I know that you'll be a success at it. Good Luck!

I was sorry to hear about your deteriorating relations with Richard, but I am sure that he will eventually appreciate your checking up on him simply because you love him and are interested in his future. When I read the list of your annual activities, I am amazed & wonder how you can do so much.

Thank God about the colonoscopy. I had Colon Cancer about 15 years ago & have to wear a colonoscomy [Editor: colostomy] bag which, to put it mildly, is a pain in the butt...constantly emptying, cleaning & changing it. But, it is just a small part of my Cross. Tell Lynn that she is still a mere teenager...I'll be 93 in July.

I spent Xmas with my sister in N. Canton & there was a crowd; she & her husband, myself, their 8 kids (their spouses & countless grand & great grandkids). There were 45 of us crammed into the house. But, the visit was marred by the fact that I learned that my sister has been having frightening hallucinations for the past 2 months & is is very difficult to get an appointment with 1 till February. Prayers, please.

Then, while was there, 1 of her husband's brothers died of Cancer. Two days later, another (his favorite) died of a heart attack. Keep all three of them in your prayers, too.

All of you are in my daily Mass & prayers & in those of my 6 African Sisters & my kids. Do have a Happy, prosperous N. Year.

Tons of love & gratitude,

Fr. Gene, S.J.

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Links:

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/p/letters-from-fr-hattie.html

http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Uganda

http://www.aerogramme.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG

Written Sunday 31 May 2015.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Another Holiday "Hike"

A week ago, I took a long stroll on a balmy-like Christmas Day. Today the weather was almost equally sunny but a bit colder (I think the high temperature today was 34F at 3 p.m.). I wanted to take advantage of the sun and take another long walk. I had several choices, including guided hikes at six (6) different state parks. But I decided it was silly to drive 45 minutes or more to walk when I could stay home and walk.

Since there was no snow, I decided to explore the golf course up the street from me (not quite a mile). It's a full, 18-hole course. I took all the paths, to get the full tour. I had a Google map that showed what I thought were all the paths but they missed about a third (1/3).

On the fairway.

I'm not sure how far I walked (I need to get a pedometer) but I was gone for nearly three (3) hours. This time, I wasn't lolling.

View near the start of my hike,

Note the thin layer of ice (clue: the rocks are on top of the "water").

There were other people enjoying the golf course today: several people walking their dogs; a family with several children; a three-some (illegally) playing golf; a stray dog; and several other people meandering about.

The sky was fantastic: blue with wispy clouds. The sun was sunny. There was a bit of a biting cold breeze. I was blown away by the amazing variety of trees.

The solitude was quite spiritual. Several times, I stopped and looked up at the sky and watched a cloud sail by or a distant plane spew its contrails behind it. Our world is so BIG and we are so small. I imagine that the Divine is so much more awesome than we can possible conceive.