I have also been unpacking my office stuff and have not completed it yet, but getting there. Plus I have had to prepare my first homily for this weekend. I am so excited about meeting my new parishioners.
I am physically and mentally exhausted from leaving Macon, selling my mom's town house in a day and trying to settle into a new assignment. But I am up to the task unless it kills me. Thank God I am in good physical health. But the heat and humidity of the Savannah area isn't helping. Today the heat index as well as the humidity index will be 110!
I haven't said Mass in our beautiful new church yet, tonight will be the first time at the Vigil at 5:30 PM. I can't wait. However I have been saying daily Mass since Wednesday in our old church built by Henry Ford. It seats about two hundred. It is great for daily Mass. Eventually I will post photos of the interior of it as well as of the new church. The new church has very beautiful statuary and Stations of the Cross. The tabernacle there is over 200 years old. It is beautiful.
I actually was laughing out loud the other day when I returned to the rectory, nine miles from the church and out in the middle of a tidal marsh and rivers, when I saw about 20 vultures (what we call in the south buzzards) in the backyard. I was a bit shocked to see them as I would never had seen such a thing for the past 31 years in the downtown parishes I have been assigned. They were eating a dead armadillo in the yard. Yuck, but thanks for cleaning it up.
So I took the photos above with my iPhone and of course these huge birds flew away as I got closer and I could feel wind from their huge wings flapping. They then landed on top of my rectory! About 20 buzzards at the peak of my rectory! YIKES!
It was like a scene out of a Alfred Hitchcock movie. I wondered what my neighbors thought with these vultures on the top of the rectory's roof! What kind of omen might this be? It was a great scene from some horror movie. Again, I was laughing out loud and I wonder if any of my neighbors saw or heard me!
As I type this I can heard these doggone birds outside again and they are back there again finishing off the armadillo or something else that has died back there. This is scary! These birds are huge and if they decided to act as a team, they could eat me alive!
3 comments:
I consider any contact with nature good for me, especially if they are eating an armadillo and not me. It is very good to have scavengers where you are. Imagine the smell if there were none. Also, you may be aware that armadillos are a vector for leprosy to humans, so, double thanks to the buzzards. Perhaps you should make the buzzard part of the Parish coat of arms; Temus fugit; Memento mori.
I know that this moving has been a real ordeal. YOU ARE NOT OLD. But.... like you I am about your age and just the thought of moving I can't imagine. I also recently had to sell my parents home. All of that is Emotional as well as physical. I wonder did you have any idea that you would get moved from Macon. I just admire you so much because you were willing to pack up everything and move to a different world from what you know. You might find that you really enjoy living away from the church in a neighborhood. You will see more of family life and neighborhood activities. Make that rectory your home. The birds will go away... now that you have a home in a neighborhood get a cat or dog. They will keep the birds away.
I really really do admire you. After living in my house for 15 years when I think of moving I don't know if I have the energy. I also know in your heart that you favor the old fashioned little church. Just like I would be. I bet that little church will be the one you love. I envy you..... a new life, not downtown but in a neighborhood, in a house with a lot of room.... away from the office. You are going to love it.
I'm sure moving away from a rectory that also contained the church offices was a big relief! I would not be able to stand living where I worked. Especially having other people in my "home" all the time. I think getting a dog and/or cat is a great idea. We have more than one of each in our home and don't have to worry about uninvited human guests (thanks to our dogs) or uninvited rodent/bug guests (thanks to our cats). I see you as a clean, organized person, Father, so a pet may not be for you. However, enjoy living away from the church and offices. You'll feel a lot more refreshed when you are at the office and church, without the constant feeling of personal space invasion.
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