Sunday morning we went to our newly found Parish Espiritu Santo.  As I had mentioned previously, it is a bit farther away so we needed to adjust our time a bit.  What a wonderful experience. It has the  steps leading to the raised altar and two seating "wings" almost like the layout found in a cathedral. The most interesting thing was the demeanor and dress of members of the congregation. First, there was no talking or whispering during the celebration.  Second, a quick glance around revealed an apparent respect for where we were reflected in the dress of the congregation.  There  were no shorts or jeans.   The mass, presided over by a wonderful Irish priest, not unlike the wonderful Father Duffy.  Before sending us forth, Father told a great story about a young couple.  It seems that the husband was severely burned about the face and needed a skin graft.  He was a quite skinny little man and there was no place to get the skin necessary for the graft. The wife offered to be the donor but the only place that there was enough skin was her buttocks.  After the very successful graft many people complimented the young man on how well he looked.  He told his wife about the comments and gushingly gave her his thanks.  Her reply was that it was not necessary since she got her reward each time his mother kissed him on the cheek.
       The biggest surprise came later while reading the bulletin and comparing to our home Parish.  Espiritu Santo has a registered congregation of  3854 families, quite similar to St Julie. Of that, 191 households have pledged to the Annual Diocese Appeal.  Like St Julie and other parishes a low pledge percentage is not unusual. At our other local parish the percentage was about 20% last year. That is where the comparison ends.  We had gotten the impression through some exercise acquaintances of Mary, that this was a wealthy parish.  The target number for each parish is based a great deal on total revenue.   The target for this parish, roughly the membership of St Julie is $345,883.  Last week's Sunday offering was $35.305.70 not including Children's envelopes  and other special collections. WOW.  Apologies for all the numbers but I wanted to share my amazement.  From mass we went to breakfast and then home for a quiet Sunday. I am working on a website for a friend of mine and the R.J. Sanders Foundation.  I spent a good part of the weekend scanning in the multitude of pictures that my friend set of last years golf outing, the major fundraiser for the foundation.  When the website is updated I'll link to it through these pages so my friends can take a look.  We also took a few minutes to go look at the sunset.  This is something one should do often.  Unfortunately, since this was the first time we did it from the Southern Command, we did not allow enough travel time and did not have time to settle in and enjoy.  That will change now that we have a better idea of travel time.  Look for a sunset picture soon.

   Tuesday, Mary and I setout on an adventure an mini-vacation. Her military ID card was due to expire in April. The last time we were able to renew it we did so at the Army National Guard facility in Crestwood.  Since we are not expecting to be home until early May we decided to accomplish the renewal here.  The local base in Tampa is so busy that they advise you to go somewhere else.  I called the Air Base near the Kennedy Space Center (Patrick AFB) and found that unlike the base in Tampa, nothing was required to support the request except me and my ID card.  So this AM we set out on a trip across the state to accomplish it.  The trip took just about three hours. Upon arrival in Cocoa Beach we checked into our accommodations at the Holiday Inn Oceanside Resort.  Inquiring about how to find Patrick, the very amiable Desk Clerk pointed out that the Base was not too far south of the Inn right on Route A1A.  We got our stuff into the room and set out to find the base.  In a few minutes we were sitting in a line waiting to check through Base Security.   After 9-11 even day-to-day security is tighter than my time in the service.  The Security person directed us to a nearby building housing the ID card facility and in less than 15 minutes Mary had her new ID, amazing efficiency for any government facility.  That left us time to look over a base that was much more modern than any on which I had been stationed many years ago.  A short trip to the Base Exchange produced a few needed items and then we went next door to the Burger King; a facility unheard of during this old guys tour of duty.  A stop for gas and we were soon on our way back to the hotel where we sat on the deck eating peel and eat shrimp and sweet potato fries while enjoying an adult beverage. 

Unfortunately on Wednesday we did not arise early enough to go out and see if we could see Atlantis returning from space but did jump a bit at the sonic booms upon landing.  We left Cocoa Beach this morning and headed for a quick stop at Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World to do a bit of shopping (Legos for the Grandson of course) and have a bite of lunch overlooking the Lagoon before heading back to Safety Harbor, where we arrived about 4PM.  We had taken a pass at the Wednesday night Prime Rib Special and since we were home in time wished we hadn't.  So I continued to work on a web site that I do for a Foundation Golf Outing each year.  See RJ Sanders

Friday night we went to see Dirk play the first baseball game of his career.  OK his first Tee Ball game.  It is wonderful to see the little boys getting their first taste of  team sports. They actually play what I believe is sometimes referred to as modified T-Ball.  Each team is pitched to by one of their own coaches.  There are no balls and strikes called (it is more like batting practice).  After a reasonable number of pitches, if it appears the batter is having trouble making contact the ball is placed on the tee.  A turn at bat lasts until everyone on the team has batted once and then sides are changed.  Of course, unlike games for older kids, a great deal of coaching freedom exists and little attention is paid to scores.  After the "game" all went to Dirk's favorite watering hole, Winners Sports bar.  His feelings about winners has little to do with the food and beverages and lots to do with the games and other vending machines. He is quite adept at finding quarters in Grandma B'S purse.  Unfortunately, last night many of his favorites were out of order. He is quite aware of life around him. This week, having not seen us in a while, he inquired of Mom whether B and Baboo had gone back to Chicago.  Of course, he is quite excited this week because he is going to Chicago for a long weekend with Mom and B.

Before I close for this week I would like to refer to something in my last Post.  I spent a bit of time commenting on the mass and my perception of what is emphasized.  I guess my words took on an unfortunate tone when viewed in the context of  current Catholic teaching.  I understand fully the emphasis on the "whole" mass and that the Consecration as part of the liturgy.  At no time was I suggesting that popping in for Communion and then "splitting" was acceptable behavior.  However, in addition to the "Word" both in readings and some excellent homilies, my spiritual life is most buoyed by reception of the Lord.  I probably still haven't made myself clear. One's faith or "religion" is a personal feeling.