Respite

 

Since beginning this blog in May 2007 I don't know that I've missed more than perhaps one or two Monday and Thursday entries. But that is coming to end with this post. After 10 years of 24/7-365 days of ministry to our wonderful community, Anne and I are taking an extended break to unwind, relax and become "our everyday selves" again. The ones without the constant responsibilities, decision-making, worry and endless availability. 90% of which was really no problem, it's just the everyday life with 85-100 other women (and many more in the friends and family category!) with whom we are on our monastic journey. But these "down" weeks have to include my taking a break from writing LTSGW.

I know that your life won't be the same without it!!!!! So many of you, faithful beyond my imaginings, have expressed to me such kind remarks about the little daily "stuff" that is shared here. Thank you...you're very nice. I'll be back Sunday night October 4th, Feast of St. Francis. Until then, try some of our other blogs that perhaps you haven't followed so much. They are very good at sharing a tiny glimpse into our life, also. Blessings to you and yours...stay healthy and come see us as soon as we get this virus under some sort of control. We miss seeing you very much.

Deep into summer

 

After a busy May and early June of hummingbird activity, the summer's sightings tailed off greatly and we seldom saw them at all for a while. But lately they have made a great return and I'm filling our feeders at least once a week, if not twice. Here's a little fellow sitting on the smallest of branches "guarding" my feeder from any other hummers that decide to come by!

In our COVID-19 "return to nature" summer the sisters are continuing their reports on our resident wildlife. These include two young-ish bucks that come around almost daily; a growing fawn and its mother that come separately from the bucks; more chipmunks than normally (so the sisters attest); and the occasional appearance of our coyote, wild turkeys, ground hogs and other "critters." The wide variety of birds continues to be the most enjoyed, however. In fact that's what our Birds and Blooms magazine reminds us, "Feeding birds in the summer is for human enjoyment, feeding them throughout the winter is actually for the birds health."

BTW if you haven't had a chance to go to our website or Facebook page lately, I think you'll enjoy a picture collage of our golf tournament and Jubilee celebration, both held last week. Even though we seem to be able to make our own fun, so to speak, we are missing our guests greatly. It will be a wonderful day when we can have our friends and visitors back with us.

debbie or susan?

So according to my mother the name was going to be Debbie...I guess the alliteration was too tempting. But when this totally bald (yes, I've seen the pictures) baby arrived with huge dark eyes....it became Susan. And these days I'm thinking of my Mom a lot...as we are awash in Black-eyed Susans everywhere! Thanks, Mom. 

 

Cliff dwellers

We took our annual hike along the cliffs that over look Presque Isle Bay. This trail begins at the foot (north end) of Peach Street and winds its way west to Liberty St.--about a mile, I'd guess. The views on a beautiful summer day such as this were nothing short of stunning. 

 

Here's the Sheraton Hotel and the Convention Center, along with a small number of boats. 

 

Lots of bushes and trees along the path provide natural habitat for our many summer birds. 

  

Here is the restored building that serves as the Erie Water Works, 

really a lovely masterpiece of the architecture of its time.

 

Here is a large marina right in the bay. 

 

And, finally, Niagara Pier. A heavenly place to live, at least in the summer. 

I don't know about those howling, cold winter winds!

Shoring up...our shoreline

The erosion along the shore of Lake Erie has been considerable over the last few years. With the rising water level and the storms and high winds that are inevitable throughout the year, all property owners along the whole length of Lake Erie lose a lot of beach and cliff wall annually. We have been talking for the last year or so about options for our primary lake access area and this week our conservative, yet people-friendly plans became a reality. 

Thanks to our multi-talented building maintenance guys, we replaced the old broken and bent wire fencing with a natural wood 5' high fence, including new wiring on one side of it. Earlier we had new cement steps put in to replace the eroding ones--all the way down to the beach area. It's nothing fancy or overdone, just  a simple way to continue to enjoy the great blessing we have of beach and lake--for us and for our guests. 

COVID in everyday life

At St. Benedict Child Development Center they may not always have success
getting their one and two year olds to wear a mask,
but they surely model it for them--
both on the staff and on the "paper children" in the halls!
These are so cute.

Our local library branch is back in full swing--thank goodness.
That's my car, the blue one on the right. After I parked and got out
I got laughing right out loud as I noticed that the drivers
 of the red car and the white car and I had (subconsciously??) 
practiced social distancing in our parking practices!

Social butterflies' migration

This week I'm like a (COVID-19) social butterfly. We had to celebrate a special occasion, so we chose the new Courtyard Marriott right on Presque Isle Bay. Here are two indoor shots of Erie's latest bayfront ediface:

But, of course, we were outside on the beautiful deck 20' from the bay itself, in 80 degree weather, with a lovely breeze off the water. The prices were reasonable, the sandwich platters (which we all chose) were delicious and even with social distancing and masks when appropriate, the evening was great. That fluttering you hear is my social butterfly-ness floating by!