Lines, Apple, The Black Christ & Choices

Waiting in Comfort for Apple

Lines, I have never liked standing in lines.  There are lines in the grocery store, the bank, at the movies and lines in the Army.

Recently Apple debuted the new iPad and the lines were spectacular!  People camped out for days in front of Apple Stores and waited for the latest and greatest that Apple had to offer.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Apple products; I even ordered the new iPad online and had it delivered to my sister’s house so that it will be waiting for me when I return to the States.  No line for me!

So this past weekend we went to Esquipulas, Guatemala to see the Black Christ in the Basilica there.  We went with friends from the marina.  What do you think we encountered… Lines!  It was the most amazing thing that I have seen in a long time.

Of course it is the Lenten Season and most Catholics are busy preparing their souls for Easter.  It is a time of reflection on the suffering and death of our Lord.  To my way of thinking the Catholics of Guatemala are doing it right.  Not only do they make pilgrimage during Lent, it is all year round.  When the buses leave Esquipulas they decorate them with colorful brush ropes that make it clear to all that they are from Esquipulas, home of the Black Christ.

A Portion of the Line

The wait to see the Black Christ up close was over 3 hours!  You have a chance to be up close and personal, a chance to leave a fetcha, or milagro that asks for healing or forgiveness.  You walk out backwards so as never to turn you back on the crucified Christ.

Busloads of Latin Americans travel to ask prayers at the feet of the Black Christ.   They wait in line patiently, entire families: small children and babies on their backs without much more than a bottle of water and perhaps some tortillas.  No camp chairs and sleeping bags for them!

The Basilica

On the day we arrived we saw the line and were convinced we couldn’t wait.  We went in and looked from afar near the foot of the Alter.  We participated in part of the Misa or Mass and shopped in the Gift Shop.  We discussed our next plan of attack.  We figured that we only had one more chance to get a photo.  That would be before Mass in the morning.  The first Mass was at 06:30.  Orin, Cynthia and myself decided that we would get up and leave the hotel by 05:45 so that we would be there before Mass.

The Black Christ

We met in the dark hotel lobby and when we emerged into the dawn we found that there was no transportation.  So we walked to the Basilica.  Imagine our surprise when the line was three times as long!  We entered the Basilica and it was full to capacity with people filling the aisles.  We were able to get closer, but not close enough for a photo.  We said our prayers and turned to leave.  Again we found no transportation so we began the walk back, only this time it was up hill and Cynthia was the only one with good knees.  Orin and I were crippled, but determined.  I admit that I wimped out about 500 meters from the hotel and caught the first tuk tuk that I saw.  It was worth the 4Q or fifty-one cents!

So by now I am sure you are wondering what lines, Apple products and the Black Christ have in common.  Our lives are full of lines.  We decide which lines we will stand in and wait.

 I certainly wasn’t willing to stand in a line for a new iPad, though I only circumvented that by ordering online.  In effect I stood in a virtual line.  When faced with the decision to stand in a real line to spend a few minutes in front of the crucified Christ I looked for ways to make it easy.  Instead, like most of the Apostles I stood at the bottom or not at all.  I was not a Mary or a John.  I was more like Peter and the rest.  Standing on the side peering over the heads of others, hidden by the crowd.

Yes, we choose and based on those choices we are judged.

And It Rains in Guatemala

When we moved to Bullhead City, AZ in the Fort Mohave Desert I was so homesick for lush green of the Rio Dulce in Guatemala that I was lost in the beige.  I longed for the flight of wild parrots, egrets, cormorants and the Maria Antoinettes (Lesser Green Heron) of the river.  I missed the masses of wild orchids and Emperor Staffs that bloomed with abandon at the marina.  The Flame of the Forrest by the Marina Office and the sweet smell of jasmine as you walked the path in the evening.

Now I am on my boat on the Rio Dulce and in the morning I sip coffee in my favorite corner watching the clouds cover and then uncover Cerro San Gil.  The shades of gray and green in an every changing dance of shadow and light.

Of late the sun has been hidden in torrential rains that have raised the river enough that I have adjusted fenders on the boat.  The good thing is that our carpenter has been sealing all the leaks!  Today he even came by in the rain to make sure that his repairs were working.  I assured him that all was well with his repairs, but that I had found a new leak.  He tracked it down and assured me that he would return on Monday and do a permanent fix.

I find that my skin is no longer scaly, but plump with the humidity.  My hair is curling in ways that I had forgotten it could.

I miss my walk around bed.  I had forgotten how hard it is to get in and out of the V-Berth.  You swing you legs over your husband’s head and hope that you don’t fall out on the floor.  Because I am not as limber or as thin as I was once was I now have to grab one leg and move it over his head, I can only hope that my heel won’t drag across his nose or forehead.  Now it is time for the other leg to be assisted as it too crosses over his head.  Sliding to the floor with the assistance of a small stool I now rush to the Head, which is only 2 feet away.  However, when you have a full bladder and have just completed gymnastics for the morning 2 feet might as well be 2 miles!

We are busy cleaning out each locker and I do believe that we have removed 10lbs of old paperwork!  Old photos cause us to stop and reminisce for a moment and then Cynthia reminds us that we have work to do.  Tons of stuff has been donated to various people in the village and the orphanage down river.  May-be the river isn’t up as much as I thought, it could be that the boat is lighter and sitting higher in the water.

Think that we need a couple of weeks of good dry weather so that they can finish with the work on the boat.  Then I can start packing the things we are bringing back.  Until then I promise to try and enjoy each day in Guatemala.

Lists, I Love Them

I am a list maker.  I think as soon I could write I became a list maker.

There is even special paper numbered for list making.  There are printed grocery lists with the staples there and you add your items.  Scrap paper can be used for list making.  The ever popular note pad, index cards; lined of course.  And now there are list Apps.

I find that I get sucked into buying the list app and then using good old paper and pencil.  I do not like pen for list making.  I will admit to making a list of things that I have completed so that I can line through each item.   Sometimes you need a completed list after the events as much as before the events.

Currently I have a shopping list, a packing for Guatemala list, a to-do list for genealogy, a book reading list.  Actually the book reading list is several lists combined on a website.  You know goodreads.com where I have, books to read, books read, books currently reading, books I couldn't finish, etc.

There is the list about putting away the motorhome while we are in Guatemala.  The list to remind me of things to tell my family before I go to Guatemala.  The list about the cleaning the boat when we get to Guatemala and eventually the list about putting the boat up for sale in Guatemala.

In all honesty I must admit that I just bought a new list app.  It is called "Clear".  I will have to let you know what I think about it as soon as I transfer my paper lists to it.

Clear App

Happy list making!

Cafeteria Catholics

I admit it, I am a Cafeteria Catholic.  Most of us are, if we are honest with ourselves.  Unfortunately being Catholic is not like ordering from a Chinese Restaurant; one from column A and one from column B.

We are expected to follow the precepts of the Church, all of them.  Right now there is a large political firestorm about the HHS mandate.  I have set in the pew and have heard the Bishop's letter.  I have watched TV Spinners and I have struggled with my heart.

I have heard about who is a Catholic on Capitol Hill and it concerns me.  First and foremost I do NOT know, nor do I want to know the status of their soul.  That, like the condition of my soul is between me and my God.  It it hard enough to know that HE knows.  We must remember that they are speaking as a single Catholic.  They are NOT speaking as or for the Catholic Church.  We have Priests,  Bishops, Cardinals and the Pope for that.  Not our political representatives.

  Secondly, we as Catholics have given the press and the public in general plenty of ammo.  Many Catholics use Birth Control and we are not talking the Rhythm Method.  Many of us know of a Catholic that has either had an Abortion, helped pay for an Abortion or turns a blind eye, because it would cause a division in the family if we followed the Church Teaching on Abortion.

Thirdly, there is the Church's stand on Homosexuality.  This is where I your humble struggling Catholic have a problem.  If God made us in his image and likeness then I can't believe that he didn't make homosexuals.  I believe that he loves them as much as anyone else.  I can not believe that they are an abomination.

When you look at someone and label them Catholic please remember that they are imperfect souls, struggling with their own demons and questions.  Please don't say well there goes a "Good Catholic" when we breakdown and do something totally human, try and forgive them.  They are only 'Saints in the Making", not Saints.

Do I Still Want Facebook in My Life

I have had mixed feelings about Facebook from day one.  Originally I was sucked in because a good friend invited me to see some photos.  Turns out that if I wanted to see the photos then I had to join Facebook.

It was very exciting in the beginning.  Sharing updates, photos, little bits of our lives and then it happened.  Facebook started to dominate my life.  High School buddies started to show up.  So did ex-husbands, their current wives and various children.

It is not that I am not happy to keep up with all these wonderful people, but really, I am finding that I am not really sharing anything with them.  Nothing that really matters to me.

I miss the days of looking in my inbox and finding a chatty email with a photo attached.  Now most of my emails are from companies or blog updates.  It seems that the more connected I am the more disconnected I feel.

I have been using Facebook less and less and am seriously thinking about dropping it all together.  I long for a phone call (I hate the phone), or a chatty email.  It still care, I just am tired of hitting the "like" button.

A Website I Hope I Never Have to Use

CaringBridge.org is a non-profit organization that helps keep family and friends updated about a loved one that is in hospital or hospice.
According to their website you create a personalized patient website.  Let CaringBridge make each health journey easier by providing private, online journals.

The site helps you create a FREE easy-to-create website including a blog.

Recently I used this service. A friend's father was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  They created a website for him and I was able to follow via an updated site about what was happening.  More importantly I was able to communicate with them and offer my support.

For anyone that has had to try and keep a multitude of caring family and friends up-to-date on the daily hospital happenings knows how exhausting this can be.   By the time you get home you just want to lay down.  Now via this wonderful site you can write one update and everyone can read it at their leisure and feel fully informed.

I sure wish we would have known about this service when my Dad had brain surgery.  It would have made my Mom's life easier.

Thank you CaringBridge for your wonderful service.

The Grinder that ALMOST Stole Christmas

In my family there is a Cranberry Relish Jell-O salad that graces the dinner table at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My father's job is to grind the cranberries, apples and nuts with the grinder. The grinder currently has a place in the hall closet at my parent's home. It travels to my brother's home at Thanksgiving time so that Mom can make the salad. It is always packed in the original box in the center of the suit case.

The Original Box

So imagine our horror when on Christmas Eve Day the grinder was not in the hall closet! A room to room search ensued. Drawers and every imaginable location was searched. Even the most unlikely places were searched. Everyone was frantic...no salad. Impossible!

Before it turned nasty I texted my brother to see if the grinder had been left at his house. As soon as the text was received, he CALLED me back.He looked in the kitchen and even went out and looked on the porch as my parents had used the grinder there attached to an adirondack chair. But that is another story.

The Grinder

My brother, ever helpful informed me that the grinder would be in the last place we looked. He was not, however, able to tell me where the last place was.
Mom went back to the hall closet as she was sure that she had just seen the grinder. On hands and knees for the third time she stood up and then moved some blue towels. The grinder was there behind the towels. It appears that when she put up the Holiday towels the every day towels inadvertently were placed on top of the grinder. Crisis averted!

Cranberry Relish Salad

I did mention that perhaps we could use a food processor. Apparently food processors do NOT chop or grind the cranberries, apples, and nuts like a good old fashioned GRINDER. I won't mention that option again.

Once again the salad graced our Christmas Dinner table. It was as delicious as always. The grinder is in it's box and in the hall closet. Life is good.