Stolen

I ran across this on another guy's blog -- he comments mostly on issues of faith -- , and he admits he took it from an unacknowledged Facebook entry.

"Sometimes I think Christianity is like an archeological dig, where you have to learn to differentiate between the real artifacts, the stuff that's covering it up, and the stuff that the locals make to sell to tourists."

April 9, 1833

Today is the anniversary of the first public library supported by public taxes -- in Peterborough, NH. Since the Carmelites used to have a retreat house in Peterborough -- Mama and Daddy saw it when they visited me in Boston -- I have been to the library a number of times. Next week will be National Library Week, and Wednesday will be the first National Bookmobile Day. So, thank you, Peterborough!

Below is a photograph of the Carmelites' former retreat house, called The Common. They sold it in 1995 or so to a private individual who wanted it as a residence. (These folks already had two other homes.) Just a few years back, sad to say, it burned down.

Easter weekend

"Very early in the morning on the day after the Sabbath, while it was still dark ..." I always like that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark. According to the gospel story, Jesus had already risen, but she did not know that yet. That little notion always holds out to me the hope that the truly good has already happened, even if we are not yet aware of it.

Friday Tom and I went to Milwaukee, stopping off at Holy Hill, where I saw Fr. Matthias and picked up a few copies of the history booklet I wrote about the shrine. The archbishop of Milwaukee was out there, too, but I did not see him.

It was a very warm afternoon, part of which we spent at Whitnall Park, just enjoying the weather. Saturday was cooler and a bit rainy in the morning. We had lunch -- Indian food! -- with Bob Mitchell and then visited the Harley Davidson Museum. More interesting than I would have expected and the day had turned sunny by the time we left. Then back to the Dells to take Peter shopping for clothes at Kahl's to take advantage of a coupon, a sale (they ALWAYS have sales) and a no-sales-tax day. Tom got a $60 sweater for about $5, I got a tie tack and Peter got pants, shirt, tie, tie clasp and belt. I teased him about getting a Mormon missionary outfit -- all black with a plain white shirt.

Easter morning dawned sunny but coolish. There is a remote chance of a thunderstorm later in the day, and better chances for showers this week. We are several inches behind average on precipitation this year and the signs are warning of high fire risks. So we will hope for rain.

In other good news, the forsythia is blooming. The finches are starting to turn yellow for breeding season. On a sadder note, one of the albino squirrels was hit by a car down at the corner where they live.

Swell

Yesterday I had a nice experience on the bookmobile. A very casual acquaintance (the wife of a casual acquaintance) had gone to the library to return some books. She knew I work on the bookmobile and asked where I was, because she wanted to talk to me. Kris told her and she tracked me down while we were at an apartment building for the elderly and others in financial need.

The reason she went to all this trouble was to tell me she had checked my mystery out of the library and read it straight through in two days. She was very enthusiastic and encouraged me to write another. She said so many complimentary things that, when she left, Kathy (the other bookmobile person) told me to put my hands on either side of my head and squeeze.

I did and she said, "Now it's back to normal size!"