Close To The End

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks, and I have not had a lot of time to write in this blog. First let me say that the Lord is awesome and I thank him for all the good people and things that are in my life! So, where to start…I guess at the end of my last blog I was in L.A. so I think the outdoor Mass at the Ice Caves is next. I planned an outdoor Mass at the Ice Caves up in the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest just a few miles outside of Granite Falls. It was an amazing backdrop for Holy Mass and 30 people showed up to explore the area and celebrate the Mass. My good friend Colin was able to make it and he and I made an ambo for the readings out of rocks that were lying around. There was a huge rock that we used for an altar too. We also drove up the road a little way and I showed him where Monte Cristo (an old mining town that was run by Rockefeller) was.

The next weekend Colin and I went down to Fremont and got a little grub and hung out with Lenin for a little bit. We then bounced down to Vancouver and went to a huge Sausage Festival at St. Joe’s parish. It was so much fun with young people (not that I am old or anything) all around, good food (I had a sausage and some really spicy mustard, the kind in Chinese restaurants that come with the pork and the sesame seeds and ketchup-I don’t like spicy mustard it hurt the nose really bad like a million needles comeing out of it!) and the best part, Fr. Stan Fortuna was rappin’. So Colin knows the priest at St. Joe’s and so we stayed at the rectory and guess who stayed there with us (that last statement makes me sound like a high school girl :(, Fr. Stan! So we had a beer with him and talked about NY and the Bronx, his faith journey and life, his perspective and experience were amazing. That next morning we went to Holy Mass celebrated by Fr. Stan and afterward he taught a workshop on prayer, terrorism and hope, blew me away!

So after we went down to Mt. Angel Abbey/Seminary in Oregon and hung out with the Benedictines (they are freakin’ hilarious!) and prayed Vespers with them and toured the area. They invited us to stay for dinner and of coarse you can’t say no to dinner with the Benedictines.

Flying back up to Portland we went to this mountain fortress overlooking the city and did something really stupid. I was joking at first as I climbed this 30 foot rock wall until I got ¾’s of the way up and then was looking down like, oh crap this was a bad idea. I made it up and so did Colin, after he fell down about 10 feet.

At the top is a huge light that would strobe around and it had the Batman symbol painted on it, very impressive since it was surrounded by a fence and barbed wire. Now onto the Rouge Brewery and a little adult beverage, mmm chocolaty.

The city is gorgeous and so we walked around it in the evening time to really get the vibes of the city. I then got the honor of driving up at 12 at night to E-town as Colin got the sleep (I stopped at the Capitol in Olympia and walked around the huge buildings in the dark with the lights illuminating the huge pillars and dome. I also got to sit down and reflect at the mini Vietnam veteran wall they have there, read some names, touch the smooth, cold black marble and run my fingers over the names to really feel who they might have been and their story (I am listening to Coldplay right now and the song is “Fix You”, an eerily perfect song for this time). 4:30 am I finally got what I had longed for, my head on my pillow.

That Sunday I had the honor of taking my mom and uncle out for dinner for Grandparents day, my mom’s first grandparent’s day. Life just seems to be flying away and has a sense of the great surreal. Thanks mom for everything, I love you very much and don’t worry about a thing, God is in control. I also was able to go over to my Dad’s house and catch up with him. We exchanged stories, and went for a walk around his orchard trying different fruit (grapes need a little more time) and sharing life, it was perfect. We had dinner and looked at each other’s pictures and it was one of the best times I have had with him in a while. We both have had been through a tough year and so it was good to have some reprieve in each other’s company. I love you a lot Dad and thank you for all that you have done for me and the strength you give me, even though you may not know you do (Coldplay again, very surreal that these songs are coming up at the perfect time, “Don’t Panic”).

There are many other events that were great, like SAYM meetings, lunch with Val, Michael G’s mothers birthday (my prayers are with you and your family), Sherms, Mike and Kristine, Matt Maher concert, solitude and prayer, Dick’s Drive In and chasing bunnies with Colin (all my fun is sober) OYYAM meeting and hangin’ over at Mike G’s with Val, Ian and others, seeing Jonny, John Dobson and Karaoke singing of YMCA at a seedy local establishment, Cool Coffee Cream’s, deep talks and catching up, Youth For Life and the Gunn invasion, talking with Mike Gunn after a month or more of no talky (he is such an awesome dude and I love him like a brother!)… and now I am in the midst of another adventure as I write this super huge entry which I will share in a little while. Thanks for sticking with me to the end and I pray that this all finds you well and full of grace, peace, joy and love which I send to all of you as well as my prayers.
God’s Love,
Brett
Song: Coldplay’s “Fix You”, & “Don’t Panic”