Geographically Challenged

I’ll part here from posts of a more spiritual and (hopefully) inspirational nature to share a little antidote which you may find humorous.

(Some good might as well come from my being “geographically challenged.”)

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I had been sitting at the reception desk since about eight o’clock this morning, so when I heard that Sr. Rebecca had to “run an envelope down there,” I was all too glad to offer to do it for her.

The brisk walk on a cool afternoon would be refreshing after having been tied down at the desk for several hours.

I knew it was on First Avenue, but got some more detailed directions before setting off on my journey (after having been relieved by our p.m. receptionist).

Sr. Elaine had warned me that I’d need an umbrella or something more for my head due to the heavy mist alternating with rain.  However, some time passed before I actually departed; by the time I got outside, I couldn’t feel anything coming down.  Therefore, I didn’t bother with a protective device.

Having found “Sixth Avenue,” as advised, I marched merrily on my way.  As I walked, however, I felt one sporadic drip after another.  By the time I had walked a block or two, two, I realized that I was going the WRONG direction.  I should have gone parallel to the convent, staying on Sixth while, instead, I had turned.  I also realized that the precipitation cessation was only temporary; by now, it definitely called for an umbrella to avoid having speckled glasses and a wet sweater.

I returned to the convent and grabbed an umbrella as well as a jacket; it was still nippy outside.  This time, I set off in the RIGHT direction!

(I’ll admit, civic geography is not my strong point.  (I’d ask you to try, though, finding your way around with one eye closed and the other partly covered; as independent as I try to be, a vision impairment is not without it’s effect.)

I traveled several blocks, crossing University Avenue and arriving at First.  I thought I had been instructed to turn right, there, so that I did.  Housing Authority was only supposed to be a block from that turn, but the building (which I had been to a time or two before) was no where in sight.

Surely I should recognize it from an apple-picking escapade a few years back!

“Well,” I thought to myself, “It must be the other direction, or else Sr. Rebecca doesn’t realize how far down it really is.”  So, I turned myself around a second time.

Sure enough, it was down a block past where I had turned on First Avenue.  I spotted the building, crossed the parking lot, went inside, and handed the envelope to the clerk, requesting that she please give it to the designated recipient.

Thankfully, I found my way home without any trouble.  By that time, too, I was able to do without an open umbrella as the light rain had once again stopped.

~ Sr. Christina M. Neumann, OSF

 

“…A Time to Plant…”

 

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For those of you who were reading this blog last September, my use of the phrase “plum full” should be familiar.  Some residents and I pitted many small plums from Sr. Rebecca’s nieces trees in rural western Minnesota.

Some of you may further have heard of my little experiment, planting some of the pits in our raised garden over the winter and finding them sprouted in the spring.  (I thought it would be fun for our residents to watch.)

From there, they’ve journeyed to pots, where they remained to this day.

However, early fall is a good time for planting trees, and with rains expected this afternoon, this morning was a perfect time to plant them.

Thanks to our maintenance man, Jasen, these four little trees are now snugly tucked into the ground for the winter.  (I helped a little bit, but he did most of the work, including plotting out their location.)

After all the T.L.C. I’ve given them the past several months, I hope they survive a North Dakota winter.  We’ll see. 🙂

A Day to Celebrate

I was grateful to be invited to accompany three of our Sisters from Hankinson to the celebration at the Church in Pembina; 200 years is a long time!

There were many parishioners, priests, and others.  There were even six bishops there for the special Mass!

Two of our Sisters also got to see family members in the area.

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On a side note, I wanted to get the word out about an exciting event we’ll be having here in October!

Young women (ages 16-30) are invited to “Pax et Bonum,” a Day of Reflection with the Franciscan Sisters of Dillingen Saturday, Oct. 20 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Anne’s Guest Home (524 N. 17th St., Grand Forks, ND) Get more information or R.S.V.P. to Sr. Christina by Oct. 10 at 701-746-9401 or sr.christinaosf@gmail.com.

Click here to access the Facebook event.

Here is a flyer for our day of reflection!

“To Every Thing There is a Season”

Harvest time is definitely here!  There’s no mistaking that around St. Anne’s the past few weeks!

We’ve had a lot of cucumbers and a fair number of tomatoes donated, as well as some beets and other fresh produce.

We even had a large box of small pears brought in as well as a plastic grocery bag full of apples.  I’m sure there’s more to come!

I don’t have to deal with the beets or cucumbers, but the other items frequently find their way to me.  I am grateful for the helpers who come to my rescue and ease my burden, at times even taking over a project for me.

One project, however, that I did myself (although thankfully the kitchen staff had washed them for me), was processing tomatoes.  Even there, I was dependent upon a trick I learned from my mom; I simply cut out the stem and any bad spots and quartered the tomatoes before putting them in the blender and “zapping” them.  I did this yesterday afternoon; now, we have about four gallons of juicy tomato purée. (I am looking forward to tasting tomorrow’s tomato soup.)

This season of the year is also a time to start thinking about our fall sale and luncheon.  This year, we’re starting a bit early because we’re doing some new things.  Our activity director and I are pretty excited for our “Autumn Extravaganza,” featuring a silent auction and a spaghetti dinner (along with the traditional craft and bake sale).

We’ve even started working on the decorations to make the activity room look festively Italian for the event.

As I think about the variety of seasons, about there being “a time for this” and “a time for that,” The famous passage from Ecclesiastes 3 and the subsequent Byrds’s song come to mind.

It is so nice that we have a variety of seasons.  They say, variety is the spice of life.  Can you imagine having to cut apples and tomatoes twelve months out of the year?

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