Pretty Pelusa needs pampering

Pelusa means "hairy" or "furry" and it's an apt name for the little rescue poodle I took in to foster last Friday. Unfortunately, her abundant fur was matted, so when I took her to the vet for grooming, health evaluation and shots I asked for a "puppy cut," an all-around short cut.

From early on in life, Pelusa's furry coat got her in trouble. She was owned by a Mexican family who said their children were allergic to her, so they tied her out in their yard for six years and pretty much forgot about her except for feeding her and getting her shots. She behaves as though she has never been petted, never been offered a treat, never been exposed to other dogs, never cuddled in a lap. If you throw a ball for her, she flinches as though she's accustomed to people throwing rocks at her. Her perpetually worried expression makes me want to hold her and reassure her, make her feel safe. She's frightened of my other three dogs and carefully avoids them, especially the Yorkie and the Dachsund, who chased and barked at her at first.

Sometimes having four dogs in the house reminds me of Middle School.

But day by day she is getting braver. Yesterday she barked once at the Yorkie, as though to say "Back away, b**ch!" That was the first and only time I heard her bark. This is not a yappy little dog.

She sleeps on the floor next to my side of the bed at night and during the day on a cushion under my desk, and follows me everywhere I go. Walking her is a bit of a challenge. Because she was tied to a tree all her life, she runs in circles. But she loves to be walked, and I'm convinced she'll "straighten out" (pun intended) eventually. Whoever adopts her is going to have to watch where they walk so they don't stumble over her.

If I had my druthers, I'd place her in a home with only a couple of humans and no dogs. Let her be the adored one after all those years of neglect, with someone who'd never think of tying her to a tree in the yard and forgetting about her.

Atheists: an endangered subspecies

Brethren, Peace and Good to all of you in Christ Jesus. This, from The Vatican Insider:

The figures published by the agency “Analisis Digital”, showed if we compare current figures with those from 1970, the height of the “sexual revolution” in the Western world and of communist atheism in Eastern Europe, we see that in 41, years atheism has lost 28 million followers.

In return, the number of non-religious individuals has gone up by more than one hundred million.

With the fall of communist regimes many of those who, for reasons of political and cultural expediency, particularly in Eastern European countries, declared themselves “atheist”, because state atheism was favoured by the various regimes (Moscow established the Institute and Museum of Scientific Atheism, to mention one example), went for the less bold option and preferred to plead non-religious.

Likewise, in China, after the devastating wave of the “Cultural Revolution” with all its human and cultural disasters, many people today prefer to declare themselves non-religious rather than atheist.

In any case, in the mid Twenty-first century, atheists and non-believers seem to be heading towards a definite decline.

In some cases they convert to a religion, albeit in a very superficial manner, (and this often seems to be the case of millions of people in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia, where there is a particular tendency to subscribe to the Orthodox faith with a return to traditional forms of worship). Many older people die leaving practically no children and therefore do not “transmit” faith in the non-faith.

On the contrary, religions are flourishing in the twenty-first century, with no exception. Even Judaism which accounts for a tiny minority. Which had little more than fifteen million members in 1970; less than 14 million reported in 2000, but now appears to be recovering with numbers returning to what they were forty years ago.

Christianity, in all its possible variants, totals two billion three hundred million followers, and is growing more than any other faith: according to the calculations made by the study, more than 83 thousand faithful come under the sign of the Cross. Following close behind, of course, is Islam. There are almost one billion six hundred thousand followers of the Prophet Muhammad throughout the world, and numbers are increasing at the speed of 79 thousand every 24 hours. Hinduism is in third place. Its believers add up to 952 million, who live primarily in India, but also in neighbouring parts of Asia. And this faith is growing at a rate of 37 thousand followers per day. Still in Asia, although present in statistically small numbers elsewhere, is Buddhism. At the global level, there are about 468 million followers of various “routes”, which are increasing at a rate of 13,800 per day. Taoism is a predominantly Chinese faith, but thanks to the country’s total figures, it holds an important place among religions, coming just below Buddhism. Taoism has 457 million followers who have survived all the political and religious climates of their homeland and are increasing at a rate of 9,300 new followers every day. Lastly, we have the planet’s countless “ethnic” religions, which encompass 269 million people from many different creeds. This category is growing at a rate of 9 thousand per day.

Read the entire article here.

Commentary. No wonder the neo-atheist evangelists are so cranky! Their subspecies is in danger of extinction! Not to worry. The Lord will permit some to linger to serve as a warning to others.

An L.A. Adventure

Of course being late to our appointment with Fr. Ruben was not a part of the plan but somehow it happened. I had it in my mind after reading the reminder on my phone that our meeting was at 10:00 so we left with what we thought was plenty of time to make it from La Puente to St. Vincent de Paul church in Los Angeles. Not only were we delayed from what to me is an insane amount of traffic but when we finally reached our destination there was no place to park as an episode of the show "The Closer" was being filmed both in the parking lot as well as in parts of the church.

So finally we parked a couple of blocks away in a metered one hour parking spot. We run, OK I run and pulled Abby but when we finally were let into the office the priest what opened the door for us said Father Ruben was gone to do some shopping for an out of town trip.

Why couldn't he wait for us after all we were only late for a few minutes. Oh well we will just have to postpone our meeting with him another week or two. So I pulled my phone to call him and then I realized my note said our meeting was at 9:00 am. Yeap, I totally got the times messed up. So I left him a message and then we went for breakfast.

So, we decided to hit Olvera Street. I had not been there in a very long time and I was surprised to see so many people walking there on a Tuesday morning. We definitely had a good time going in and out the different shops there and just basically window shopping. Of course I took advantage and as always went on a picture taking spree.

It was 2:00 pm when my phone rang. Father Ruben suggested that if we could get there by 2:30 he would see us. Now Calle Olvera is only about four miles from St. Vincent de Paul but in rush hour traffic it might as well be across the city. I however found holes here and there to maneuver and after parking two blocks away again and running towards the office we were only seven minutes late this time.

Success, paperwork was turned in and the meeting went well and that my friends are some of my L.A. adventures these days.





Scenes from La Placita Olvera in Los Angeles, California.

Engaged Encounter Weekend

It was a fantastic week and weekend, how does time go so fast, why does it seem like you just blink an eye and it's gone. Yes that again was the case last week. I got to La Puente Wednesday afternoon and as usual I was hungry so my lil sis and I went to Las Marias to have some Mexican food, I had the steak and shrimp fajitas which were delicious and more than enough for me to also have lunch the following day.

Thursday I spent all morning in the house and everybody was at work then in the afternoon my sis cooked a tasty steak "bistec ala Mexicana", and at that time I was surprised by Abby whom showed up a day early as I was expecting for her to get to La Puente on Friday. Now that was a wonderful surprise indeed.

Abby and I.
This plate is at the entrance of the chappel.
Our "Engaged Encounter" retreat was over the weekend and it took place at St. Mary's Seminary in the beautiful city of Santa Barbara. I had purchased the snacks we had to take to share with the other couples but being a guy I never read through the lines when I got the instructions for the weekend and forgot we also had to take a pillow, additional covers, a robe (optional), and a towel. Abby also forgot to bring her make up case which she had ready and left it back at her house so the not reading the instructions through cost us an additional hundred bucks, ouch! I hope I learned my lesson.

So we left for Santa Barbara with plenty of time but being Friday afternoon I anticipated lots and lots of traffic all the way. Although I was right it really wasn't that bad, we had to be there at 7:15 pm and according to my car's stereo we got there just in time as finally after taking like 20 left and 10 right turns up the mountain we finally found the seminary, we knew the view must be breathtaking but we couldn't see nothing as it was pitch black going up the hill.

First thing I notice upon arriving is that there is only a couple of cars in the parking lot, so we got off and went to ask where the registration was taking place. The nice couple sitting there whom we later got to know as the senior presenter couple told me, they were not even set up yet because it was still too early. Too early? It is now 7:15 pm the time the instructions said to get there, and then it hits me, not only does it get dark very early right now but my car's stereo has Arizona time which is an hour ahead. Duh! So, from that moment on we were know as the first couple to get there.



Scenes from the beautiful St. Mary's Seminary.
After registration they started promptly at 8:00 pm with their welcome speech and they dove right into the topics. The presenters consisted of a senior couple whom had been married well over 50 years and a junior couple whom had been married about 17 years, and the priest whom I though was one of the coolest most easy to understand and well spoken man. He is currently the priest for the students at Santa Barbara State University so he is used to dealing with young couples which most of them were.

His name is John and at first I did not catch his last name, but on Saturday he wore his name tag and I noticed his last name is "Love". One of the many anecdotes he told us was that before he became a priest he used to date. He dated this girl for about six years and he shared to us that her name was Gay. He said she actually didn't mind the name combo but she said it would have been fun explaining that check book signature. When he broke the news to her that he would be becoming a priest she replied that she already knew it.

So more than once throughout the weekend I got a teary eye as the couples shared their own personal experiences with us, it is very easy to create a bond with these couples and with the priest and the bare their souls in front of us for the sake of making sure our own brand new relationships and commitments take off in the right direction. At the Engaged Encounter is not uncommon to see couples arguing amongst themselves as they explore their most intimate inner thoughts with an open mind.

Abby and I with Fr. John Love.
Abby and I with Joe and Kathie.
Abby and I with Jorge and Katie.
They fed us so much during this weekend that for a moment there I thought I wan on a cruise and not on a retreat. There's a Mexican family that takes care of all the housekeeping duties as well as all the cooking and let me tell you the food they came out with was the bomb.

We had a Sunday afternoon mass and then we received our certificates of completion which are required by the church were we will be getting married, then at around 3:30 pm were were sent home.

Sunday morning we woke up to the beauty of rain and fog and lot's of food.
The gardens there are just too beautiful and well taken care of.
Looking down the hill.
The front of the chappel.
By the chappel facing the ocean.
It was a wonderful weekend, I learned a lot from it and we, Abby and I intend to use what we learned on our daily lives.

The drive back to La Puente was even faster, the GPS app on my phone is now becoming one of the most used and trusted apps I have. I think it's amazing how these computers can think and re-think the routes to our destination with such accurateness.

Book Review: “The Father’s Tale: A Novel” by Michael O’Brien

This year of Our Lord 2011 has been a very challenging to our family. Among the many challenges we’ve faced was one very trying one, one which brought my dignity and my self-identity as a father into question.

To make the story short, the series of events left me thinking that I have failed as a father to one of my sons, that I was unsuccessful in handing down the faith, the way to live a Christian life, to hold on to a holy marriage, to respect the sacraments and the life of grace. Surely it was my fault that he had to look elsewhere for what I failed to give him.

Michael O’Brien’s book, The Father's Tale: A Novel , was brought to me as a healing balm, as just the medicine that the doctor ordered.

The Father's Tale: A Novel is the story of a man about my age, father of two sons like I am, and one of them went astray. The father, Alexander Graham by name, a reclusive widower and bookstore keeper, resigned to die. He left everything behind, his bucolic Canadian town, his shop, his friends, and his eldest son, starting a desperate race against time and distance to bring his youngest son, his stray lamb, back into the fold.

Spanning Great Britain, Finland, the entire length of Russia and beyond, Mr. O’Brien gives us a tour de force that includes music, poetry, revolution; as well as deepest darkness and incredible light. We see Alex Graham’s heart expand, then break, and then expand into greater love.

Two takeaways from this book, the first one a lesson taught also in several other books by Mr. O’Brien which I have read, and that is that the battle against evil is not going to be won by any human means at our disposal. No one knows can begin to image how the battle will be won, but it will be won. In fact, it has been won already.

The second lesson reminds me of words spoken by the Francis character in Brother Sun, Sister Moon: there no more sons, there are no more fathers. But Alex Graham went deeper into his meditation, discovering that fathers will become sons and sons, fathers and above all of them, Our Father who is in heaven.

My father passed recently and I realized that I never told him directly that I loved him, and in my own ruminations I found out that, although I knew I loved God the Father, and He knew too, I never did in fact, ever told God that I love Him. For the first time in a long time, the images of both fatherhoods, that of my father, and that of my God, fused. I finally found the Source of the stream, from which all fatherhood in heaven and on earth take the name and before Whom I bend the knee.

The Father's Tale: A Novel did that for me and also reassured me that everything will be alright, everything will turn out alright. God our Father will see to it, and what I have handed down to my son s will endure.

If this book brought me to these realizations, imagine what it could do for you!

There is more, but I will not tell you anything more. I want you to find out. Read The Father's Tale: A Novel .

Thanksgiving 2011

So after a wonderful week in Los Angeles I finally left La Puente at around 10:00 pm and headed back to Phoenix, the idea of leaving late was to bypass all the traffic which I knew would be heave as the city to spend the holiday with their family. I still got caught in some slightly heavy traffic but it was flowing really good all the way.

It was almost 3:00 am when I got home and as always it felt good but truth be told it is harder and harder to leave Abby behind. Yes I know that will be fixed pretty soon but it just isn't happening soon enough.

After a short visit to my mom's I headed to the store to buy the stuff that we needed for our Thanksgiving feast, I was rushing as I thought they would be closing early but I should have known Walmart being Walmart would never close.

For the first time in many years we did not celebrate Thanksgiving in my house. Also my son and his family decided to branch out and celebrate on their own so this year Nikki and Loyiel were the hosts so I got ready and headed their way. I knew to get there early for the picture taking session which is always a fun time for sure.










Not only did we do our normal photo session but then my daughter Nikki decided to start practicing on her new found passion, painting faces, so she started with Michelle and then with Alexis and before she knew it the kids were taking a number to wait for their turn. Of course we took a bunch of pictures as all this happened and it turned out to be more fun than it was probably intended.

We did however had a wonderful time, complete with lots of delicious food, turkey and ham included and a plethora of side dishes. Two pumpkin and a peanut butter pies for desert completed the meal. Now the countdown to Christmas begins. Me, I am already in a Christmas mood, if you know me then you know that Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I don't mean it because of the commercialization of the holiday but for the reason of the season.

So, please allow me to start wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Today I'm thankful for...

• This morning's spectacular sunrise.
• God's grace and generous blessings, beyond anything I could have wished for.
• Fall weather,  my favorite of the whole year.
• My Captain, still at the helm after 23 years.
• My son's upcoming wedding and the beautiful young woman who will soon be my daughter-in-law. I even get a step-grandson out of the deal!
• Music in my life. Friends to play and sing with, the best guitar teacher in Guaymas, all the opportunities flowing my way.
• Good health. It could change tomorrow but for just for today, I feel great!
• My little dogs, who always lighten my mood and brighten my day.
• Mexico, where I'm happier than I've ever been before.
• Another successful year publishing our antique guide, and remaining contentedly self-employed.
• The return of the Snowbirds. Every day another newly-arrived friend arrives, so happy to be warm.
• My gradual growth in learning Spanish. I'm still far from being fluently bilingual, but progress is what I'm after, not perfection.
• My own home, after a lifetime of renting and dreaming.
• Blogging. I may have neglected this space lately, but I'm back.

~ Happy Thanksgiving ~

Music: “Let all things now living” – Michael Card

Let all things now living, a song of thanksgiving…

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving from Afghanistan.
May the Lord bless all of us this day and forever!