The Angelus and Such

I spent the good portion of my Saturday happily pulling weeds from the cracks in my new sidewalk. I love living in town. It feels much more normal to me than the middle of bear country where we have nearly and completely vacated now.

While bent over in the dirt, pulling mint and thistle from the ground, I heard Russian, Spanish, people from England, an Austrailian, lots of New Yorkers, and an Eastern European accent wishing me and my fat, happy Yellow Lab a nice afternoon.

People offered me kind encouragement as I worked the ground. My youngest son spent most of the day with me, slashing at the taller weeds with an old butter knife and weaving tales of two-fingered aliens who can't be trusted when they exit their spaceships in silence.

Each time the sun became too hot we rolled my big red patio umbrella into our path to guard us from the sweltering rays. Every now and then we took a break and drank sun tea while swinging softly on our new porch swing in the back. We have a view of the whole side of a mountain. The kids always complained that at the other house we were actually on top of the mountain, so we had no actual mountain view. Now we do. At night we sit out there in silence, a few of us, drinking ice tea and listening to the creek run below our feet.

People who knew us honked as they drove by today, discovering that we lived in their neck of the woods now.

"You've come over to the Irish side!" yelled a friend who works at the pharmacy.

"Yeah!" I yelled back. "Those Germans on the other side were just too darn happy for us!"

She immediately got my sarcasm and drove off laughing. "Stay away from that grouchy parish!" she warned, jerking her thumb in the direction of the parish we left over a year ago.

"Don't worry about it," I assure her.

I hear the bells from the Catholic Church down the street three times a day for the Angelus, 8am, noon, and 6pm. They ring for Holy Mass as well. I love it. If you aren't Irish (I am 3/4ths) or Catholic, you are so "out of the loop" around these parts.

It's strange to be something everyone else is for a change. It is strange for Catholic to be the "in thing" to be. I laugh every time I think about it.

A Russian family passed me today as I was pulling grass up from the patch of dirt that holds the tree in front of my porch. They were arguing furiously. When they saw me they stopped and smiled, greeting me in Russian. The teenage daughter eyed up my oldest son who noticed nothing except that his father was yelling at him not to drop the dresser they were carrying out of the truck and into the front of the house.

I like it here. I don't care about it over there anymore. It's all gone now. All that sadness and worry. And three times a day, I am reminded to praise God and ask Him for His blessing whenever I find myself pulling weeds in front of my new house.

The Angelus

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.Hail Mary, etc.

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.Hail Mary, etc.

V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.Hail Mary, etc.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

LET US PRAY
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.