Labour Day Weekend

My morning was lazy, to say the least, recovering from my trip to the City yesterday, all that driving and traffic  Opening the front door at one point, to see how hot it was, I found a little bag of British sweets hanging on the doorknob outside.  I didn't need three guesses as to where they came from.   Got Phyllis on her cell phone at the airport, en route to Chattanooga, Tennessee, she'd dropped them off going to the airport.

The situation in the Middle East has taken over all the news programmes.   I don't understand why they are giving the enemy so much information, and time to prepare.  Surely the time to strike was a few days ago when they weren't expecting it.

I went out briefly this evening which is when I took this photo.  

Isn't the Queen at Balmoral?   Or has she turned into a little Miss Marple in her old age, solving mysteries and telling Scotland Yard to look into it.

At least they are giving Camilla a break.

Thursday 29th

The Kiwanis speaker this morning was the District Attorney and he was talking about his hobby, his passion, which is collecting sportsmen's autographs on baseballs and helmets etc.  One would think they would be free, but they are not, and he has paid hundreds of dollars for some.   I think I was the only person in the room who didn't know the sportsmen, but it was very interesting all the same.   He seems to have a nice house, which he had built, and he described the room overlooking a lake in which he houses his collection.   He has two large screen HD televisions on either side of the window and on Sundays, when there are two games on, he watches both of them.   I thought, WOW, being District Attorney obviously pays well.  

He didn't want to talk about his job, but did refer to it at the end, as there is a big cold case murder  at the moment he is prosecuting, and it was mentioned.   Two years ago a homeless man was murdered and his body was found under a bridge in Shawnee, he had been beaten to death.  The DA said he goes to every crime scene and when he saw this one he didn't think they would ever find the perpetrators, but one of them got drunk and talked, and one thing led to another.  There were three of them involved;  two of them were arrested last week, and the last one was arrested yesterday.  They have been charged with first degree murder, they're all young men, and we were told they will still be in prison when all of us in the room have died.  

On a lighter note.....when I was water walking this evening someone said something to me and when I answered, the person with her asked if I was from Massachusetts.  I didn't know if she was joking but smiled confidently and said yes I was, so she said she thought so, she was from Connecticut,  and was I from Boston (!!!)  Wondering when I had become such an accomplished liar, I told her I was.   She talked about one or two places in Boston, and I thought  "I can talk about the squirrels on Boston Common, and Paul Revere's church, but don't let's go too far down this road".

The sunset was different from the other night, not quite as spectacular, but I had my camera with me so took a couple of pictures.

 

I went outside and took this, then walked round a bit more.   Someone closed the patio door so I took these last two through the window.

 



  It is a shame about the reflections.    The skies and sunsets in Oklahoma are  really lovely, I always want to try and photograph them when I'm out and see them, but more often than not don't have the camera handy.

In the news.......

Workers in Macdonalds, Burger King, Whataburger, all the fast food places, are going on strike, and it is predicted they will last some time.    Methinks - "well that will cut down the obesity epidemic".  
The minimum wage here is $7.50 an hour (£4.83) and they are demanding $15 an hour.  They won't get it, it is said they will be replaced by new technology.   It is expected the strike will spread to retail stores, like Sears and Macys.

and ....it has been found that salmonella is present in spices.   They are alright when they are cooked into the food, but are a hazard when they are sprinkled over it, particularly spices from India because the people there can't afford to dry them in ovens, and they are left outside in the air to dry and that is when they become contaminated.

Tuesday

The situation in the Middle East seems to be ratcheting up, according to the news here.  Did I hear somewhere that Parliament has been recalled from summer recess?   Are there mile long queues at the filling stations?  I think oil supplies here come from Canada and the Gulf, certainly no one seems to be worrying about the Suez Canal closing.  However, old habits die hard, I jumped in the car and filled up - all two and a half gallons.   The price seems to be escalating though, I paid $3.46 a gallon.  It was $3.16 a little while ago.

I went water walking mid morning.   There is a nice little patio off the pool area, where I took my C-Nook and thermos, and drip dried.  As you can see, it was very, very bright.

 

This is the walkway, or Lazy River.  There was only me there, ideal if you're wanting peace and quiet.   To watch the sunset though I put up with the children splashing a bit.

As well as bright, it is very hot too, but that's not news.

Afterwards I picked up the flowers from Emmanuel, took them to the hospital to put in the chapel, and had some lunch there.

 

This evening Bruce and Rosalyn invited me to the movies, and we saw Jobs (as in Steve Jobs).  It was interesting but complicated, I looked up his biography online when I got home and got a better grasp of it.

Monday

My appointment in Oklahoma City today was rescheduled to Friday.   It was at 5 o'clock so I was relieved in a way, that is not a time to be whizzing (and whizzing is what you have to do in six lanes of fast moving traffic) through Oklahoma City.  1 o'clock on Friday will be better.

Spent a good part of the rest of the day reading.   What do you think a baby falcon is called?  No, I didn't know either, but you might thank me if you play Scrabble, or take part in a quiz.  It is an eyesas, I think the plural is eyeses.   And falcons are the fastest things on earth, three times faster than a cheetah, it has been clocked at over 200 miles an hour.

As the children here have gone back to school I have renewed my YMCA membership, and went water walking this evening.  I was there between 7 and 8, and watched the sun setting through the big picture windows as I walked round, it was lovely.

The Retreat

The Retreat was very, very good indeed.  One of the best I've been to.  And it has been suggested to me that I've been on more Retreats than the Italian Army.    I'm not going to the one in Amarillo though, this last one was instead of it.

The theme of the Retreat was Praying the Hours.   The official set of prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church, and the basis of prayer within Christian monasticism.

Vigils, during the night - at midnight with some.
Lauds - Dawn prayer - about 3 am
Prime - or Early Morning - about 6am (but this was discontinued  after the Second Vatican Council)
Terce - or Mid Morning - about 9am
Sext - or Midday - the sixth hour - about noon
None - or Mid-Afternoon - about 3pm
Vespers - or Evening Prayer (at the lighting of the lamps, generally 6pm)
Compline - or Night Prayer

<sup>At the monastery in Beaumont with Fr Peter and Michael we have Morning Prayer and Vespers in the chapel, then Compline in their house before bed.  They may have observed the other times when I wasn't about.

We were given folders so that we can create our own Books of Hours, and everyone else worked on theirs over the weekend, but I think I've got Attention Deficit Disorder, and can't do these things very quickly, or easily.   I'm working on it at home though.   And I am carefully sorting and collating.

We left Shawnee about 3 o'clock on Friday, Sandra wanted some shopping in the City, then we arrived in time for dinner at 6, and had a session from 7 until bed time.  We had a full day on Saturday, leaving about 6, but didn't eat before we left so Sandra and I stopped for a meal at a restaurant chain we like.   I think I got home about 8.30.

It was held in the Catholic Pastoral Centre, a lovely building and HUGE, it is the headquarters of the Catholic Church in Oklahoma.  If it wasn't so hot the grounds might have been nice to walk around when we had a couple of spare hours in the afternoon.

We had several 'sayings', I suppose you'd call them, which we jotted down.  Two which spoke to me were "In the evening of life we shall be judged on love", and another one to ask ourselves was "how well have I loved today".    I have long believed that nothing is more important than love.  Money, possessions, material success, pale into insignificance compared to how much we love.</sup>

Thursday 22nd August

The Kiwanis speaker this morning was the Director of the School Nutrition Services, for the schools in Shawnee.   I thought she was going to talk about obesity in children, so was disappointed that she talked more generally about children and healthy eating.   She was proud, and justifiably so, that the children in Shawnee's schools generally opt to buy the schools' healthy meals, rather than bringing packed lunches from home.  

I went to Emmanuel for Communion.  I keep intending to go to the study/discussion group beforehand, perhaps one of these days I will make it.   Afterwards, Fr Bill, Fr Clark, and three of us went to lunch.   There is a new strip mall opened in Shawnee which has a BBQ restaurant, so we thought we'd try that.   The baby back ribs I had were quite nice, but a lot of restaurants here have music playing, which I don't like, because the volume is usually turned up too much, and it is far too loud for me.  Although it doesn't seem to bother anyone else.

In the news....For how many DECADES have we known in Britain that when people get more money in social security benefits than they can earn, they give up working?    Well, Americans have only just, just, woken up to that fact, and newsmen are reporting it in tones of wonderment, and incredulity.

Another item of interest is that we are accustomed - both here and in Britain - to toys being imported from China, but there is a good toy manufacturer here exporting their toys to China, because the quality is better.  And because Chinese parents can only have one child, they generally want the best for that child, and that includes good quality toys from the US.   I just wish I knew where to find them.  I scour the shelves in vain looking for presents for my grandchildren that aren't made in China.  Perhaps these good quality exports will become more available as time goes by.

I am going on yet another retreat tomorrow, Friday but it is just overnight in Oklahoma City.    It finishes Saturday and I'll be back in the evening.  I'm going with my friend Sandra, we've been before and know the person who is leading it.

Tuesday/Wednesday

Trying to recall - with my failing memory - two days activities, is a bit of a challenge.   I called at the hospital Tuesday morning, stopped by the Senior Centre, joined in with the gospel singing for a little while.

I went to Emmanuel yesterday evening, it is hosting Family Promise this week.   I used to do an overnight stay, but feel I am getting too old to rough it in a sleeping bag, so volunteered to be an evening host, from 5.30 when the guests arrive from the Day Centre, until 8.30 when the overnight volunteers arrive and take over.  

There have been more homeless families than usual on the programme, I think  the tornado which swept through a mobile home site here not long ago has something to do with it.  There are eight children and five adults this week.    Another volunteer brings the evening meal so the evening hosts just serve it up, and clear away afterwards.  

I think I've explained that Family Promise helps homeless families get back on their feet. They stay at a Day Centre during the day, and the staff there give them help and advice, and also help them find a job if necessary, so they can move on into a place of their own.

Going back to the subject of my failing memory, there is one advantage of it.  I can read a book and then not remember it, so I don't need to get any more.  I've discovered some very good American fiction writers - I didn't used to read fiction, I don't think I had time when I was young and busy - but I've got 73 books on my C-Nook (not all fiction, but mostly)  A lot of them are in series of three or four, by the time I get to the third or fourth in a series I have to start back at the first to familiarise myself with the characters.

Today I have embarked on a little spring cleaning, and rearranging.  And updating all the photos on the walls, of which there are many.  Jeremy said I've practically got the inventory of the National Portrait Gallery.