When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Ahhhhhh! A little piece of heaven, right here on earth. Linda came with me to my two doctor appointments this morning, then we went out for lunch before continuing errands. We went to New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood Company where I had an absolutely DELICIOUS shrimp po-boy. I've been having a craving for a few weeks now. The last time I had one was pre-Katrina. (Funny how everything seems to be falling into "before Katrina" or "after Katrina").

The weather is gorgeous! Sunny, mid-70s, just a beautiful St. Patrick's Day. Perfect weather for the two parades that are scheduled, as well as for the huge, and I mean HUGE, blockparty held annually at Parasol's. Hopefully tomorrow will be as nice for the Irish/Italian parade and St. Joseph's day festivities.

I am, in spite of the upbeat tone of this entry, very unhappy with a particulare turn of events here. It seems that the Vincentian community of priests who currently run St. Stephen's and St. Joseph's on Tulane Ave. are leaving St. Stephen's. Our archbishop has picked a diocesan priest to take over, and wouldn't you know, it's Fr. John, my pastor. We really love Fr. John and are very much upset to be losing him as pastor. He will announce his transfer to the parishioners at all the masses this weekend. I hope he waits until after my homily.

I saw an interview on the news this morning. One of the local news channels was interviewing the head of the St. Bernard school district about the great job they have done in getting their schools consolidated and repaired and up and running again. When asked how they did it so much more quickly than everyone else she replied, "Well, we weren't getting anything from the federal gov't, and we weren't getting anything from FEMA, so we just got together and decided that we have to do it ourselves, and we did." What a concept! Self-reliance. Wow. How long before she gets officially reprimanded for going out and doing all this without federal aid remains to be seen.

Seven days to Deal's Gap! HUGE family outing! We haven't done anything like this since... well, since we all left NOLA as Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast. Nothing like a natural disaster to bring a family closer together while at the same time splitting it up geographically.

Please continue to pray for Carlos and Miguel, and also for Fr. John and the parishioners of Holy Name of Mary Church. Take care and God bless!