FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREAKDOWN

Last night my mother found a bullfrog on the living room floor. Hey, welcome to Pa. A few years ago, bears in the backyard were all the rage around here. This morning was insanely foggy. Yesterday & last night the weather was in the nineties & today promises even more scorching heat. So far, I like Sam Brownback & Mike Huckabee for the election next year. They're both for all the right stuff culturally(about marriage, right to life, etc.). The catch is when in Sam Hill is somebody going to end the war in Ira? Liberals have a most poisonous agenda in store for us with the culture war. At least Cheney's not running. We can't afford to mess up this one. The library is getting crowded. So far I've only gotten one response from the people I've asked about SJB's reunion. The others must be really busy or haven't noticed my message so far.

FINALLY MY REUNION

Yesterday I got my notice for my high school class's thirtieth(Ouch!) reunion. Thank you, Wally Lace, etc. I went to St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in West Islip, N.Y. Go Cougars! I still find it more than slightly hard to believe that three entire decades have gone by since then. It seems as if it were only a little while ago. All sorts of things have happened since then. Because it's in December the weather may stink but knowing us there will still be a splendid time guaranteed for all. We always seem to enjoy each other's company when we get together. It says, unfortunately, on the card that it will be for only one night. I've always really enjoyed the weekend-long jaunts but one day's nice to. Our twenty fifth was nice for only one day. St. Gabriel's always has only one day & it turns out to be quite a smashing time too. I never get a chance to see anybody now that I no longer live in N.Y.

MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY

Nothing much of any note has been happening lately but the weather's most certainly been settling down. Today my parents got a new dresser & I helped them move it around. That's such an interesting thing to do (not!). I've been listening quite conscientiously to that Catholic station. It has all sorts of groovy things on it. There was something on yesterday about abortion, homosexuality & the radical left wing pro_abortion/homosexuality movement that's been pervading our culture for the past few decades. It always helps to keep abreast of developments in that area. I still quite desperately wish I could track down all those books I've lost track of. I just know they most certainly have to be somewhere. Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to walking around the levee lately. Oddly, though, I always seem to get skinnier by the second. I'm continuously getting comments about my insane weight loss. Today's my nephew's/ godson's birthday. His name's Michael & he goes to Hofstra. The sixteenth was also my goddaughter Kristy Nicole's birthday. Happy happy joy joy to both of them. They've both turned nineteen which is really weird because I can still remember when I was nineteen.

FLICKR MANIA

www.flickr.com More of redhotrabbit's photos tagged with catholic

RAIN FINALLY STOPPED

Yesterday's weather was quite an absolute & total nightmare. Today, though, at least it's not raining though it is unusually cold for August. That tornado that's been making the news these days has been getting the weather all out of control in other places too. I finally started listening to the Catholic radio station in this area yesterday. It's 1550 am & is known as the Station of the Cross. I even got through, on the phone, to a talk show of theirs last night. I've been re_reading that Shakespeare play too. It's a little tougher than most of the stuff I'm used to. All the obsolete language & footnotes get me stark raging nuts after a while. So far, the library is absolutely dead compared to most days. On the average summer day, I get kicked out by about the the time I've been here for around an hour_ish. Soon I suppose I shall have to get another haircut. I never used to go to the same place twice in N.Y. but over here I've so far never once set foot into anyplace except the Eighth Street barber shop. I just got an e mail from Robin, the latest birthday girl. She says she & her niece will soon be visiting Mary Anne & family. A while ago I got an e mail from John, one of my N.Y. Carmelite connections, about a site that enables one to identify exactly which accent he has. It claims I have a Washington State accent. Duh! I've never even been there. Of course, on the bright side, I always have been quite full of surprises.

ICY COLD & POURIING

Today I woke up to a stark raging miserable morning, weather wise. It's icy cold, pouring & pea soup foggy. Other than that, all's been going well. Right before 8:00 a.m. Mass at St. John the Baptist, I made sure I stopped at Unimart for the paper & a lottery ticket. It's going to be a $250.00 million jackpot tomorrow night. Plans are still under way for my cousin's big upcoming birthday bash. A splendid time is guaranteed for all. She's not supposed to find out, though, so make sure you don't even think of telling her. My mother was forced to go out for a ten o'clock doctor's appointment. Anyone who doesn't have to travel, shouldn't want to either. Oddly, people always have seemed to enjoy shopping like crazy on days like this. That's just not for me. I go bananas with claustrophobia. I'm pert near finished with that Shakespeare. Then, I reckon, it's on to yet another. The famous Bard of Avon has always been quite a regular fovorite of mine & I even took an entire course entirely about him a while ago. Cousin Robin's birthday was on the nineteenth so kudos aplenty to her.

RAINY & COOL

On Saturday night, I lectored at O.L. Sorrows. Laura somebody, who was supposed to be my sidekick, never showed up. I got stuck alone. It was more than a smidge confusing to me because, unlike my days at O.L.P.H. I'm still entirely brand spanking new to this bunch. I seemed to have gotten away with it though. After Mass, my father & I went to the legendary Pittston Tomato Festival, where we met Michelle's parents. It was a fun time for one & all. I highly recommend it. Yesterday was the big annual Carmelite day of recollection at St. Matthew's. All went well. I went with Mary Anne & Rosemary. Rita & another lady went in another car. While there, I met a woman who grew up on Long Island. Another woman even said she travels 112 miles each way for her meetings. I'd go nuts even thinking of that. There are lots of flea markets in Pa. & the parishes in that area are most certainly no exception. St. Matthew's is in the area where they have fake animals mixed in with their real ones. It's all rural & mountainous. I've always really liked that kind of environment. It was very cool & rained for a while yesterday. The weather is about the same today. I'd really rather have the sweltering heat back.

CARMELITE MEETING TODAY

This morning I went to this month's Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. We were talking about our need for new members. We're on South Meade Street in case anyone in Northeastern Pa. is interested. Our meetings are on the third Saturday morning of each month at 9:00 a.m. This month Anne, Mary Elizabeth & both Rosemary's, among others, showed up. It's too bad Mary Anne left us a while ago. Dana came at the very end of the Mass. He showed up with his three children. Besides his son & daughter_both toddlers_his wife just had another baby boy. One of the Rosemary's just came up with the interesting idea to nominate me to be the new treasurer. I gave the Carmelites my website address so now they get to keep tabs on me. Tomorrow everybody's supposed to meet at the Little Flower Manor & go to the day of reckoning at St. Martha's in Stillwater. Fr. Joseph Kakareka will be in charge. I went last year & it was very good. Yesterday & last night, the weather was an absolute nightmare. There was a tornado watch for all the counties in this general area. It was extremely violently windy all night & there were frequent hail storms throughout the day. It's especially nice & cool today though. I have no idea where in Sam Hill 99% of my billions of books could possibly be so for a change of pace I started reading Shakespeare's "Troilus & Cressida". It's a play of his I've never read before.

CARMELITE MEETING

The weather around here has been nice & cool lately each morning. It always seems to get moocho hotter over the course of each day though. Today as I was driving down Eighth Street to get back home, I ended up having to wait for at least a couple of emergency vehicles zooming to somewhere. Either there was a fire, accident or whatever in the general area. The University of Scranton sent me a notice yesterday asking for a few details about how exactly I fit into things demographically. They are required to do that to all job applicants. The legendary Pittston Tomato Festival started last night. I didn't show up but I'm hoping to get to at least a little of it. It has a really good reputation & always gets such rave reviews. Yeah, I know but hey, you have to remember this is Pa. we're dealing with here. Tomorrow morning I have to be at my monthly Carmelite meeting. Now they start at 9:00 a.m. They used to start at 8:30 a.m. By now I know my way around Wilkes_Barre like a for really & for truly goober. Mary Anne, Steve, & young uns got back from Ireland a couple of nights ago. That must have been quite an exhausting, eventful trip. I finally & at last finished that Jane Austen book yesterday. Now I shall have to start another book.

WOODSTOCK & ELVIS

On this day in 1969 the famous Woodstock Concert was going on. Exactly eight years later, Elvis(uh.huh,uh.huh)Presley died. I can still remember both those times. Cousin Larry says he even tried to go to Woodstock. Of course, he blew it because it wasn't really even in Woodstock. It was in Bethel on Max Yasgur's now legendary farm. I've never all that much liked Elvis anyway, but Woodstock era stuff always leaves me stranded in sock_it_to_me time. Things lately have been quite droll for me. Many of my internet connections are complaining of a heat wave, but I've been noticing a smidge of coolish around here lately. At the very least, I most certainly don't have to suffer in my car these days from heatstroke. It's always entirely too hot for me on a hot day. I went for a walk yesterday, though only a very short one compared to what I've gotten used to by now. I can walk at least a mile or two at a time but yesterday_or as it the day before?_I went only a fraction of that.