 |
| Colin and Julia--one of the last Sundays at Lourdes Shrine in Euclid |
 |
| Ed, Colin, Julia--Lourdes Shrine, Euclid |
 |
| Linda, Colin, Julia, Bob |
 |
| Fall Color in Hambden/Chardon |
 |
| Ed with Colin (the kid is very interested in the geese) |
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Lourdes Shrine in Euclid
Carolan's Poem about Autumn in Northeast Ohio
The other day I found an old poem Carolan wrote (some 9 years ago, when she was a Freshman at Ohio University) about autumn in Northeast Ohio. Our area, especially parts of Lake, Geuaga, and Cuyahoga Counties, have unsurpassed color in mid to lake October. I can't imagine that New England is even more beautiful. It's because of our climate, our soils, and the mix of trees (sugar maple, red maple, tulip poplar, tupelo, sassafras, etc.). Anyway, here is Carolan's beautiful poem:
in northeast ohio
the
buckle of the snowbelt
does
not rust slowly into
the
freeze and gloom and white permanent winter.
it
Explodes.
crimson
orange flames bursting from the branches
fireworks,
a sunset, a campfire
the
glory and celebration and excitement
sustain
the hidden embers of Warmth
of
Color
of
Life.
when
the snow doesn’t stop falling
and
the sun forgets to visit
we
will grasp tightly to the fire of fall
and
the eternal glow will keep us strong.
Carolan Coughlin
October 27, 2003
Monday, October 15, 2012
The Big Dog, The Boss, and President Obama in Parma Thursday!
My cousin Maggie Brock sent me an email the other day telling me The Big Dog (Bill Clinton), The Boss (Bruce Springsteen), and President Obama will be at a rally in Parma, Ohio this Thursday, October 18th.
I attended a rally on the Cleveland Mall shortly before the 2008 election featuring Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama. It was an unforgettable experience. I was right there in front of the stage. Behind me were a hundred thousand people (give or take). It was the second most exciting time I ever had in Cleveland (second only to game 5 of the 1995 World Series, which I got to attend with my wife and two of my daughters).
I will be there to hear the greatest politician of our era, Bill Clinton, the greatest musician of our era, Bruce Springsteen, and the unique intelligence, leadership, and charism of Barack Obama.
I attended a rally on the Cleveland Mall shortly before the 2008 election featuring Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama. It was an unforgettable experience. I was right there in front of the stage. Behind me were a hundred thousand people (give or take). It was the second most exciting time I ever had in Cleveland (second only to game 5 of the 1995 World Series, which I got to attend with my wife and two of my daughters).
I will be there to hear the greatest politician of our era, Bill Clinton, the greatest musician of our era, Bruce Springsteen, and the unique intelligence, leadership, and charism of Barack Obama.
"Colin Happy"
My two-year-old grandson Colin told Linda this morning,"Colin Happy." He has said this beautiful two-word sentence a few times before, and it is really true and you can see it in everything he does. Colin is a happy kid. He has what what it takes to grow into a secure, productive, and loving adult. He has the love and care of a mother and a father. He has the love and care of his grandparents, who get to see him often. He has the basic medical attention he needs, good nutrition, and lots of human contact. We read to him, talk to him, play with him--and we pray for him.
Colin is blessed and happy. And we pray for children who do not have the love of their mother (or someone like their mother, a loving grandmother, an older sibling, someone). Such children will have a tough road. And sometimes our society and our world pay dearly for this lack of love and care.
Colin is blessed and happy. And we pray for children who do not have the love of their mother (or someone like their mother, a loving grandmother, an older sibling, someone). Such children will have a tough road. And sometimes our society and our world pay dearly for this lack of love and care.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
First Snow at Glacier National Park
The photo above is from the Glacier National Park webcam near the St. Mary entrance (the eastern side of the park and the Continental Divide). The image was taken this morning, shortly after sunrise.
My daughter Carolan is working fairly close by, near the Jewel Basin, just outside of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. She might be cutting trees in the snow today!
Welcome to the snow!
Monday, October 1, 2012
National Public Lands Day--Hope You Celebrated!
This past Saturday, September 29th, was National Public Lands Day in America.I hope you celebrated.
Our country is in part full of fences and gates that you and I cannot cross. The city where I grew up, Euclid, Ohio, had almost no public access to Lake Erie (Of course, as kids, my brother Denny and I made our own access, going everywhere we damned pleased, swimming wherever we liked). Our home had such a tiny yard (about one tenth of an acre) that we went on family picnics all the time to the Cleveland Metroparks--that was my first encounter with public lands, the common good, the common wealth of America. This is where we could play baseball, enjoy the woods, breathe the fresh air.
A New York Times opinion piece ("The Geography of Nope," by Timothy Egan, published September 27, 2012) says America has thousands of square miles of national park, national forest, and Bureau of Land Management lands--about the size of Italy. Add to that our beloved state and local parks, and we have something more precious than gold. Politicians, industrialists, and businessmen--keep your hands off these shared national treasures!
Egan makes a point that these public lands are not guaranteed safe. These lands could be bought, sold, or industrialized. And he mentions certain immediate threats to these lands (locate the article here: New York Times article on public lands in the USA).
I am very grateful for these public lands. For those near me: Cleveland Metroparks, Lake County Metroparks, Geauga County Metroparks, Cuyahoga Valley National Park; and those far away (like Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, which I visited this past summer). These lands are our common wealth.
Our country is in part full of fences and gates that you and I cannot cross. The city where I grew up, Euclid, Ohio, had almost no public access to Lake Erie (Of course, as kids, my brother Denny and I made our own access, going everywhere we damned pleased, swimming wherever we liked). Our home had such a tiny yard (about one tenth of an acre) that we went on family picnics all the time to the Cleveland Metroparks--that was my first encounter with public lands, the common good, the common wealth of America. This is where we could play baseball, enjoy the woods, breathe the fresh air.
A New York Times opinion piece ("The Geography of Nope," by Timothy Egan, published September 27, 2012) says America has thousands of square miles of national park, national forest, and Bureau of Land Management lands--about the size of Italy. Add to that our beloved state and local parks, and we have something more precious than gold. Politicians, industrialists, and businessmen--keep your hands off these shared national treasures!
Egan makes a point that these public lands are not guaranteed safe. These lands could be bought, sold, or industrialized. And he mentions certain immediate threats to these lands (locate the article here: New York Times article on public lands in the USA).
I am very grateful for these public lands. For those near me: Cleveland Metroparks, Lake County Metroparks, Geauga County Metroparks, Cuyahoga Valley National Park; and those far away (like Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, which I visited this past summer). These lands are our common wealth.
Catholicism: A Big, Wide-Open Heart?
I attended mass at St. John Vianney's parish in Mentor, Ohio yesterday and the celebrant was a Jesuit missionary from Nepal (with the co-celebrant his Jesuit Nepalese superior).
During the homily the priest mentioned encountering a man in Nepal who asked him what his religion was. When Father responded, "I am a Catholic," the man put his hands near his heart, then extended them out as wide as possible, as if to say, "Your Church is the Church of the big, wide-open heart." I felt my eyes suddenly well up with tears--grateful that this Nepalese man had encountered Catholics who made him think so highly of our Church; and saddened that that so many bishops, archbishops, cardinals and popes of late have made our church seem quite the opposite--a small-hearted, mean-spirited church, full of angry rules and boundaries.
I remembered Pope John XXIII and the great Catholic parish priests and even some bishops of my lifetime who believed in the big, wide-open-heart Church. And I wept thinking this Church seems to be disappearing.
During the homily the priest mentioned encountering a man in Nepal who asked him what his religion was. When Father responded, "I am a Catholic," the man put his hands near his heart, then extended them out as wide as possible, as if to say, "Your Church is the Church of the big, wide-open heart." I felt my eyes suddenly well up with tears--grateful that this Nepalese man had encountered Catholics who made him think so highly of our Church; and saddened that that so many bishops, archbishops, cardinals and popes of late have made our church seem quite the opposite--a small-hearted, mean-spirited church, full of angry rules and boundaries.
I remembered Pope John XXIII and the great Catholic parish priests and even some bishops of my lifetime who believed in the big, wide-open-heart Church. And I wept thinking this Church seems to be disappearing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
