On Sunday, May 11, Br. Bob went
to Mass at St. Joseph’s on Tulane Avenue and he and the congregation were
treated to a pigeon which circled the altar and landed on the celebrant’s
chair—with the celebrant in the chair.
Erika claims if it were a dove it would have been acclaimed a miracle and
believes it is unfair to pigeons to relegate them to the status of
nuisance. Erika and John went to St.
Stephen’s Church—no pigeons—and followed it up with a reconnaissance mission at
the Broken Egg Café on Magazine Street—it was as good as they remembered
it—crowded of course since it was Mother’s Day.
During the week Bob was at St.
Joseph’s everyday; the pastor, a Vincentian priest, is in Paris for
congregation meetings. Not shabby. Bob had such a fun week he is again thinking
about the relative advantages of ‘booting’ cars; the big problem is he’d have
to unlock them whenever it was necessary.
Erika has had a number of
adventures traveling to work.
Circumstances with the volunteers and her wish to be at Lantern Light
early have her taking the bus in the early, early morning. She has become one of a group of regulars,
who share information on eateries, where to get an early morning cup of coffee,
and insights into a native’s view of life in New Orleans. Armed with modern communication technology,
time on the bus is used to check up on friends, associates, and Justin
Timberlake, may his name be praised—as it is, frequently if Erika is in the
room. Sisters Pauline O’Reilly, CHF and
Nancy Hale, CHF got big bonus points for inviting Erika to view a special on
J.T. [as he is affectionately known by the chosen few] on the Oprah network
which they get. We don’t have it at our
domicile, which is tragic or lucky depending.
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| John, Claire, Kathleen, Kitty and Maura |
On May 14th, John and
Sr. Kathleen Nealon, MSC were treated to a wonderful brunch by the other
members of the Burning Bush executive committee at the home of Sr. Maura
O’Donovan, CHF. Maura, Sr. Kitty Bethea,
OP, and Sr. Claire Regan, SC, celebrated John’s Golden Jubilee and Sr.
Kathleen’s assignment to Haiti with prayer, a lovely brunch and some stories—if
you can believe John telling stories.
Lauren Zanfardino has struggled
with mononucleosis and stomach upset as well as having to watch her diet. She has a very demanding assignment at
Langston Hughes Charter School; however a real bright spot has been her
acceptance to a graduate program at Loyola Maryland in her chosen field. One of the best organized and certainly the
neatest person in our house, she has planned carefully for her transition to
graduate school life. In order to attend
to health issues, school work here, and her future plans she has decided to change
her living arrangements. She will move to
where she can live in the same place as Hillary, a fellow professional at
Langston Hughes with whom Lauren will be sharing an apartment in Baltimore when
they both move there this summer.
Hillary, who has been a guest in our home, is sensitive to Lauren’s
dietary restrictions being a vegetarian and had a roommate move out. Health issues, a demanding work situation
and planning for the future make the move a good one for Lauren who will
continue to visit with us and share community celebrations while in New
Orleans.
On the 15th of May,
before her move, Bob and John went out with Lauren and Erika to Juan’s Flying
Burrito, a Creole Mexican Restaurant, to celebrate Lauren’s and Erika’s
respective acceptances to their chosen graduate schools for next year.
On the 17th, Bob flew
to Seattle for events marking the closing of our community in that city; John
and Erika hosted a dozen or more Sisters at a “Newcomers” gathering for
religious who came to NOLA after Kartrina.
A week of cool weather ensued; Charles returned from his time at his alma mater [O'Dea HS] where he also taught, on the 22nd
and Bob, also a member of the faculty at O'Dea in Seattle for many years, on the 25th.
REFLECTION
The cat. Erika says it is not 'feral', just wild. John Petrullo named him Karen! Yet, he remains with us still.
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| Awaiting the next meal. |
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| Karen's pose for formal portraits |
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| Dining in! |
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