Laetare Sunday

Just got back from a few days away .... I took off last Sunday after Mass and started making my way to northern Michigan. Yes ... I WANTED to head for the snow. I got as far as South Haven, MI, (just south of Holland) and decided to stop for the night. All was well as I snuggled into my hotel room ... until I awoke around midnight in extreme discomfort and GI distress. That means I was sick as a dog. For the next several hours I was back and forth between bed and bathroom. Come daylight, things had "settled down" a bit, and I was faced with some decisions. I heardly felt like getting back in the car, and I still had three hours to drive to get to my destination. If I wanted to stay another night, I'd have to change rooms because the room in which I was holed up "was already sold" for the night. AND the forecast had a big snowstorm coming through lower Michigan (where I was) later that day. So my options were to plug ahead, get snowed in at a Hampton Inn in South Haven, or turn around and go home. In the end, I medicated what needed medicating, sipped some herbal tea, and decided to push on. All things considered, the day's drive wasn't so bad (with the help of some Vernors and a nap at a rest area) and I amde it to Bear Lake somewhere around midafternoon.

The rest of the week was spent between the bed, the couch and the kitchen ... because that's what I had planned to do, nondisirregardless of my GI distress. That's the way I spend my vacation (I'm a very dull guest). From the couch I looked out over a spruce grove drifted with snow, and could watch the wind swirl about the snowy fields as I snuggled up with the dogs.

But now I'm back ... for the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Unfortunately, we don't have a rose vestment, and I haven't had time to whip something up. Maybe for Gaudete.

Have I mentioned that I'm going to New York City in April when the Pope is there? The Archbishop (of Indianapolis) invited me to attend the Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral for Priests, Deacons and Religious. It will be me and several thousand others, but not nearly the Yankee Stadium crowd. A friend has an apartment not too far from St. Patrick's, so that will be convenient. I won't be surprised if we have to go through a security check to get OUT of the airport that weekend ....

For now, I have mail and messages to finish going through before looking to the afternoon Confessions and Mass.