Some Miscellaneous Musings For The Day...

This has been a very crazy week. Bombings in London, the G-8 Conference, Hurricane Dennis, and some changes for me at work. I thought that today I would catch up with some reactions to the world news and end with a more personal bit of thoughts about the changes at work.

The London Bombings

Along with most of the world I was very upset by the London bombings, but I was not that surprised. I had actually expected England to be a target before now because of their participation in Iraq. That does not make it any less traumatic for the people who were impacted by the events. I do try to put it in perspective, though. This will only be one of many, I am sure. I hate that. I wonder where they will successfully strike next... and when. I know that probably many attempts have been foiled, but the terrorists seem to be persistent and planning far in advance.

If we succeed in Iraq will it change anything? I don't know. I think that as long as the wealthier nations of the world hoard their wealth and do nothing substantial to rid the world of poverty and injustice, it will continue to get worse. That brings me to some thoughts about the G8 Summit. I am glad that they did something, but I am sure that it is not enough. I hope that the pressure is kept up to shame these world leaders into doing more. The world is changing rapidly and the status quo will not remain. Americans in particular had better realize that the United States may not continue to be the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. It will be a very rude awakening to many people. We are going backwards while many other nations are becoming much more competitive in the world marketplace. Americans tend to be way too arrogant.

Hurricane Dennis

We have been experiencing a lot of wind and rain from Hurricane Dennis. Once again we were spared. Pensacola and that area of the Florida Panhandle, however, are getting another taste of what they got last summer with Hurricane Ivan. This time it may be even worse. Landfall is expected around 3:00 this afternoon. It is a big enough storm that we are still getting wind and rain here and have had several tornados in the area. It is going to be a very long hurricane season this summer!

Himself received his email this morning from FEMORS that he should be ready for activation again. FEMORS is the Florida Emergency Mortuary Response Team (Service). Depending on the need for dealing with deaths, they may or may not be called. Either way, he has to be ready for the call. Typically in the aftermath of a hurricane local funeral homes have sustained damage and are not in any position to handle any increase in deaths. They may also be activated if a cemetery is washed out and bodies have to be identified. It is unpleasant but necessary. DMORT is the federal agency that handles deaths in federal emergencies or where states are not equipped with their won state team. DMORT teams may also be activated to help in any international disaster where the United States agrees to help. I am hopeful that people were smart enough to get out of harm's way after their experience with Ivan last year.

Our new pastor at church, Fr. Patrick Irwin, is now settled into his office and our new associate will be settled by tomorrow. It was sad to see Fr. Aiden emptying his office, but he seems to be very happy with his retirement... and he is still saying mass on the weekends here. We are also happy to have a good friend of his as our pastor... another Irish pastor! Yippee! Below I have posted a couple of pictures of the two of them in their earlier years when they were still green from Ireland, followed by a more recent photo taken at Fr. Aiden's retirement golf tournament.

Then...

and Now

It will take a bit to get used to the different personalities. I may have gotten off on the wrong foot with our new pastor, but hopefully we will work better together once we get to know each other better. The new associate pastor, Fr. Michael Courmier, seems to be wonderful and easy to get along with... this is his second assignment after being ordained. He was in a parish in St. Petersburg for 5 years before he was move here. It has been a hard move for him because he was close to a lot of people there. We will cheer him up quickly, though! I will try to post a picture of him as soon as I get the chance. He has a cat that will live in the rectory with him, so I know I will like him! ;o)

I will keep you posted about how things are going. I always get nervous around a new boss, but I already like Fr. Pat. Hopefully, he will get to like me too! I know that he will be good for our parish. So... it is exciting to anticipate some of the things that he has talked about doing.

I promise that my post tomorrow will be a little lighter. "L" is back, "JPR" has posted, and I am looking forward to some more time off this next week!