On this page you will find recorded what I found significant during the past week as well as my thoughts about those events and other reflections.

Last Friday was a perfect day. After lunch Mikey and I went out to the Gazebo for a cup of coffee and a bit of reading. In chapter 6 (the chapters are short and an easy read) Joshua is discovering that he can do things that are very exceptional and confides in his mother that he feels different from the other children. She explains that he is different but not to be concerned since everyone has different personalities and abilities. It is the fact that each person has something unique to contribute and share which makes society function. I like the way Girzone includes the truisms in his stories.

While thinking about this I was so comfortable that I fell asleep in my chair for almost an hour. I seem to be doing that more and more. Mikey woke me for his dinner and after taking care of that I went foraging for my weekly supply of groceries.

Saturday morning required a light jacket and my straw hat for my morning visit to the gazebo. It was cloudy with rain in the forecast. It was a totally different day but my short reading for the day from the C. S, Lewis book was on the same theme as above. He noted that when Pail wrote of the church he used a word that we translated as "member" but more closely means "organ". As the organs of the body are all required to make it work they are unique in appearance and function. What we call "members" are supposed to be uniquely functioning part of the body. Lewis points out that the members of a family are unique individuals each with a different function and each is missed if removed from the family.

We often strive to "fit in" to the group by striving to be the same and we also make the mistake of excluding those who differ from us fearing that they will disrupt the unity of the group. We forget that the uniqueness of the individuals enhances the functionality of the group and that we learn from them as they learn from us.

Saturday after my annual August 18 shower Mikey and I went to the Albano's. I wanted to get their early to get the choice parking place in front of the house before others arrived. It was the 'official' party celebrating Marc's graduation last spring. We didn't beat the rest by much and soon the house was filled with relatives, friends and neighbors. Several also took the opportunity to extend birthday good wishes to Dominick. My kids and their families were all there. Missed were Anthony, in Pennsylvania with his team and Nick, already back to school in Carbondale, Illinois. Marc's grandma Albano was there along with her daughter and granddaughter. Grace McNeil attended along with the Bergs the neighbors from the north and the south. I could go on but I am running out of electronic paper. Is that possible? Later, my granddaughters went home and brought back Milo the terier-bishon puppy and introduced him to Mikey and Sampson. They did their sniffing and after a while, Milo started barking a Mikey trying to entice him to play. But my old fart of a dog has become too much like me and prefers to lay in an out of the way place and watch. In spite of short periods of light rain, the party was a great success with plenty of joviality and exchanging of news. As darkness fell, I made my exit assuring all that I would let Mikey drive home and didn't need anyone to do it. When I got home I dutifully called Anne Marie so they could rest easy.

Sunday I had a little time in the gazebo before going to church. When I came home I had another cup of coffee out there before a light rain started. It was very pleasant hearing the rain on the roof while watching the flowers nod and bow as nature watered them. When a lull came, I went in to have a Caesar salad for lunch and the rain resumed, picking up the pace. It was a good day for writing letters and I wanted to share some photos from my recent meeting with my Copeland brother and sisters. I still have many questions and a few of them were asked.

That big pile of papers that kept getting moved from place to place is gone! Thanks to a very rainy Monday I sorted through them. some were discarded and the others were filed now that my desk file drawer has been cleaned out. I still have more old files to be shredded and with the continued rain predicted for this week I am sure I'll get some of it done. The trick will be to keep that stuff no longer than absolutely necessary and then get it gone.

I am very fortunate ... or maybe just a good planner. I didn't build my house in a flood plain. I am near the top of a hill and the drainage is good. It is especially good since I had the drain tiles put in this spring to correct the little problem on the east side of the house. Previous heavy rains had left the area soggy for long periods of time but now it drains very well. I never did have basement seepage or backups. One of the reasons we built in Orland Park was that they have adapted codes that provide for separate sanitary and storm sewer systems with adequate retention areas that collect the water from heavy rains. The large retention area at the bottom of the hill serves as soccer fields most of the time but does a great job of holding the rain water.

We see many news reports of people's homes being flooded along with streets and even parts of towns under water. They call it an act of God. Well, maybe it is an act of nature, a result of God's creation but God didn't put the people there. The fact that they live in those areas may be ignorance of the potential problem, or stupidity in ignoring the evidence of previous problems, or the greed of developers in selling flood prone land, or a simple choice to endure occasional flooding in order to be near the water. In any case, don't blame it on God. I invite you to review "Nature's Free Will"

When Barbara came Tuesday morning to clean she tried to congratulate me on the finding of my family. Two weeks ago, I was out in front to bring in the empty garbage can when her Irene, her employer, pulled up early to pick her up and so I had the opportunity to tell her about it and asked her to tell Barbara. And so, I took her into the living room to identify my parents, brothers and sisters in the photos I now have. She was so enthusiastic happy. It would be difficult for me without Barbara and I can tell that she feels a responsibility in her being here every two weeks. She really enjoys her work Later she came down to the computer room and asked me to me up to the kitchen. She had tried to pull the refrigerator out and although it rolls easily it needs two people to move it straight out from the rather tight space. When we had it out she showed me the dirty floor and said "No good!" several times. Well ... it's good now!

Nature's free will turned golden Tuesday afternoon and after lunch Mikey and I went out to the gazebo for some coffee and reading. The sun was out but it was hot and humid. Still, I enjoyed getting out of the house and a couple chapters of Joshua and His Family. Girzone does a good job of picturing what it must have been like as Jesus grew up, gradually discovering how "special" he was.

Wednesday morning brought the installer from the village water department. He replaced the water meter and the remote reader on the front of the house. Now the meter reader only needs to drive by and point his radio receiver at the house to get the meter reading. He was scheduled between 9 and noon but came at 8:30. The entire visit was over in 20 minutes. He thanked me profusely for having my meter so easily available. He said he has had to move cabinets or other items in order to do his job. After he left, I finished my breakfast and Mikey and I went out to the Gazebo for our morning meditation and reflection. It had rained a little last night and the flowers are gorgeous, especially those planted around the trees.

After doing a little work on the parish web site including the addition of part two of Fr Steve's article on our non-Catholic friends (recommended reading) and sending out the weekly newsletter to the "Include Me" members it was time for lunch. A big salad did the job. In years past I had not been a "salad person" but now you can buy a sealed bag of greens and a couple packets of all the 'fixins' to put together a delicious Caesar's salad or one of several other varieties. Quick, easy and wonderful for my health. If I had to buy the ingredients separately  and, cut them up it would not get done! It was a great afternoon for reading and Girzone left me with a gem of wisdom. Speaking of praying for the deceased he noted that even if we know they are in heaven, our prayers deepen their heavenly experience. It makes sense. Knowing your loved ones are thinking about you must lift one to a higher level of joy.

The storms came again Wednesday night and they came with heavy rain and celestial fireworks. Mikey refused to go out before we went to bed and so he woke me at 3:30. It was raining lightly at that time but the show was over so he did what he needed to do and we went back to sleep. The Morning broke with bright sunshine but after breakfast I found the cushions on the chairs in the gazebo too wet to be used. I retreated to the patio for my morning prayers ... and a slightly different view of things. The patio chairs have an open weave and dry out more quickly, especially with the warm breeze.

My different view was not only of the garden but in my reflection on the TV news footage showing on entire town in Ohio under water. I still hold to the idea that people must chose more carefully where they live but we still must have compassion for them and their losses. This kind of flooding may not happen for another 100 years but if peoples still chose to live there it will be detrimental to those who follow them. The fact that people have paved over the soil and put buildings on it, preventing the water from soaking in and replenishing the deep water tables has extended the problem. We have also hindered the free flow of rivers and streams and altered their banks contributing to the problem. We have been gifted with technology to alter mother nature's work ... but we must use it cautiously and in consort with her not to try to tame her. She is a lot bigger than all of us.

In our community when new homes of business are built storm water retention areas must be set aside and for the most part it works. When our new church was built a retention area on the property needed to be expanded and again when the Pastoral Center was added last year. It added significantly to the cost of the project. The rectory overlooks it and Fr Steve said that during a heavy rain he watches it fill and then gradually the water recedes into the ground. There have been mistakes and in one area of the village they are considering the purchase and demolition of some homes which are too close to a large pond. I think it would be wise to do the same in any area that is subject to repeated flooding. The land could be set aside for recreational use and benefit a wide community. Yes, that should include large parts of New Orleans.

Early afternoon was hot and humid and the clouds were beginning to build. I finished my Joshua and His Family book. It ended with a message, simple but elegant in its theology. Since the last chapter is meaningless without the rest of the book I'll not tell toy about it other than to say ... Read it! As a matter of fact I recommend all of Girzone's books.

At 3:30 on Thursday the skies opened again. The deluge lasted about a half hour and tapered off to a sprinkle for a while ... at least at my house. There were twigs and leaves stripped off the trees here but the north side of the city was hit very hard with many tree limbs down and many trees uprooted. The ground is saturated and when strong winds press on the tree tops the ground can no longer hold the roots in place. At about 7 PM as second wave of storms arrived and continued for some time, then continued during the night. More rain and storms are predicted for Friday. In my daily emails from Grandpa Schober down in Alabama he tells of the oppressive heat and lack of rain in his area. Our weather forecaster, Tom Skilling tells us that it is that dome of hot dry air that is blocking the flow of moist air from the gulf and sending it up through the narrow band between it and the cooler Canadian air to the north squeezing the moisture out of it as it heads east. The atmosphere is a huge perpetual motion machine driven by heat and cold. Sometimes it gets stuck in one pattern and that's when the trouble occurs. Let us hope and pray that the pattern shifts soon.

Getting stuck in a weather rut is just as disastrous as getting trapped in the idea that  a homogeneous population is best and trying to exclude those who don't agree 100% with our way of thinking or doing things. "Varity is the spice of life." That is a very old and very wise saying that applies to every aspect of our existence. Almost everything is good but ... in moderation. Even too much of a good thing is bad for us. That includes sun, rain, food, drink, work, play ... etc. I can think of only one exception. There can not be too much of unselfish love.

More next week ...
and 'till then, ... 

Let's be more kind than we need to be.

Grandpa Don Plefka 

Anne wanted everyone to be 'Nice'.
This button was in one of her dresser 
drawers I cleaned out in August of 2004

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