A Few Pictures

4 Priests

Cleaning up my computer here, and came across some pictures on my hard drive which I’ve never posted.

Before Archbishop Hannan’s funeral a group of us dined at Muriel’s. I had the grilled swordfish, and it was great.

Cabin in Natchez

Here’s the rustic cabin I stayed in in Natchez (or technically, right outside of Natchez…)

I have this strange phobia about staying out in the middle of nowhere all alone after it gets the dark, but thankfully there are other cabins not far away. I’ll have to delve into that phobia at some point, because it’s… well, it’s ridiculous at times.

African Queen

Every now and again I write about Bayou Gulch, or the Black Lagoon, a Fishing Camp across the lake. I was stunned one day to see this steam by in the river.

Just when it’s looking most like the Black Lagoon, it turns into the African Queen.

Though actually, it probably doesn’t really look like either boat. Hmm. Maybe if I put on a fish suit, and swim over and spraypaint “Rita” on the boat and… well, er… never mind.

Which reminds me of a strange story about a man a few years before us in seminary who, during his final internship, dressed up as Superman, in a full regalia, real deal, legit adult Superman costume, and started spying into the windows of the Rectory one night. He was swiftly, and mercifully, asked to leave.

My Bike

My bike.

Last week I went out for a bike ride and was determined to find a way from the heart of New Metairie into Uptown New Orleans, without having to drive my bike over to the levee in my car, and then ride in that way. I will never do that again. Metairie, and Jefferson Parish in general, is not for cyclists unless you don’t mind traffic whizzing by at 30-40 mph a foot away while you occupy a third of their traffic lane. Some people love it; it’s just not my thing.

To make a long story short, I cut up a side street to get out of a very high traffic situation, and in the middle of a sidewalk that looked all clear, ready to go, was a 6-7 inch concrete curb which had no shadow in the mid afternoon sun. It was like when, the night the Titanic sank there was no moon to see icebergs, and the sea was very still so you would not even have seen the waves lick up against the bottom of the berg.

I crashed full speed into the curb, went over the handlebars and crash landed unpleasantly on my elbows and head, and bent my steering tube to the tune of about $400.00

Life goes on.

Candelabra

I call this one “Candelabra”.

Clouds

And as we all know, I have this thing for clouds.

If you ever see me looking at the sky, and have to guess, I am probably looking at the clouds and wondering what shape they are making, and thinking about how God provides us with such incredible beauty wherever we go.

It’s one of my favorite pastimes.

Hawkish

I also experiment with different lenses, and snapped this hawk atop the Church steeple. They say the little guy is here every year to winter, which is fascinating to me.

Unimaginative Tart

And here, alas, is a tart I made.

This clearly has a lot of potential, and it tasted fantastic.

It does not particularly bother me that decorating is not my forte.

Still, I’ll have to revisit this one day.

What did bother me, tonight, is this:

I was asked to play the organ for a wedding in town, which I had agreed to do as I had the evening free and I’m obviously capable of doing such a task, as I did it for 30 years, working in very good circles of musicians.

A former spiritual director said the wedding, so afterwards I told him hello before I left. He looked at me and said “That sounded great!”

But, he didn’t say it as if to really compliment me. Rather, he sounded completely amazed and mystified that it could have possibly sounded great.

I guess there’s no telling what’s on people’s minds sometimes.

At any rate, hasta la vista baby. See you guys manana.

The New Ethos

I came across Fr. Don Woznicki’s website
New Ethos this morning, via a Twitter recommendation.

Very interesting. Especially given the fact that I love movies, film, cinema, the arts, music, et cetera. He’s picking up on John Paul II’s call for a new ethos in entertainment, one which acknowledges and uplifts our spirits in accord with the great dignity of our creation.

He’s got the New Ethos Blog; is the chaplain over at Act One, and is stationed at the Church of St. Mary in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

I’m looking forward to learning more about his work.

His Parish is also blessed to have Fr. Robert Barron as an occasional guest Homilist. Wow.

Desert Day

On the Road to Natchez

So I drove to Natchez up Highway 61 after Masses the other day, and made a small day of retreat in a cabin on a lake. I love driving up Highway 61 because you see interesting sites like this, which always get’s one wondering what it was all about in it’s heyday.

The cabin had a great view of the sky…

The Lake at Natchez

And I love the sky…

But I realized that I need a genuine, bona fide retreat.

Fiesta

And that’s that; more on the morrow…

The White Rose of Mary Magdalen

What a great idea for a post when I don’t have anything else to post about. Or, for when I have a lot to post about but no time to write about it.

Sombreuil Rose

Here is one of my sombreuil roses, which is doing pretty well out back. In fact they’re all doing well, except for the Lady Banks, also known as “banksia“, which never really got off the ground. I am determined to cultivate a Lady Banks at some point.

I was inspired by Fr. Stan Fortuna’s blog, in which he took a shot of a rose on a coffin and posted it. The CFR’s evidently have a charism of hipness and, while I don’t, at least I am not the only one posting a picture of a rose and calling it a day. And that after skipping two days. Of course, roses are a source of beauty, and sharing beauty is always worthwhile.

Last night I attended a lecture by Fr. Robert Barron. Well, let’s just say he doesn’t post pictures of roses and call it a day. His lecture was fascinating, although it was hovering slightly toward the periphery of my vast intellectual prowess, which absolutely surprised me. (Not.) But it was so interesting I used much of what he said in my Homily this weekend. Which was great for many reasons, the most obvious being that my Homily really needed a boost.

Humorous moment of the evening: a fellow in front of me asked Fr. Barron if he could provide some specific examples of what he was talking about, and Fr. Barron replied, “Well, that’s what the whole lecture was about.” I’ll bet the poor guy went right home and posted a picture of a rose on his blog. But the catchphrase between me and the friend with whom I attended the lecture was then, “Well that’s what the entire lecture was about.”

I’ll post the Homily tomorrow, with appropriate credit to Fr. Barron’s excellent lecture.

Cortege

My webhost’s database server appears to be down, and keeps crashing. Either that or my site has been hacked and corrupted almost beyond workability. I prefer to think that it’s the former. That being said, here is a part of the post I was working on. Various pictures of the rest of the cortege, i.e. the police escort, the crowds, the marching band, will have to be tucked away safely for a rainy day…

from dictionary.com:
cor·tege? ?[kawr-tezh, -teyzh]
noun
1.a procession, especially a ceremonial one: a funeral cortege.
2.a line or train of attendants; retinue.

cortege

Archbishop Hannan’s funeral cortege was today.

cortege

It started at the Seminary and marched through the city over to the Cathedral.

cortege

It was quite impressive, and poignant.

cortege

I somehow ended up on a balcony of the Cabildo; they are very gracious people.

cortege

The horse drawn funeral bier.

Cathedral

A brief service was said.

Cathedral

Here he lays in final state.

crypt

And his crypt awaits beyond.

The Rev. Kenneth Allen