Montreal - San Antonio

October 11, 2021 Peace and Good, I finished the extraordinary chapter in Canada where things went very, very well. Then on Saturday I went to visit a summer camp which the friars run about 200 km outside of Ottawa. They open it up for Polish people, and it is well used. It is about four hours each from Montreal and Toronto. Yesterday I flew into San Antonio. Travel is tough, but I was very glad I was not flying Southwest this time due to all of the cancellations. I went from 60 to 90 degrees. The center at which we are meeting this week is beautiful, about a 20 minute walk from our friary. After this meeting I will head back to Rome. That will be this coming Tuesday. I finished some books: Lexington and Concord by Hourly History This is a short account of the battles of Lexington and Concord. It gives a sufficient amount of background information about what led to this battles. There is not a lot of depth in the account, but that is not the intend of books by this publisher. Heart of a Dog by Mikail Bulgakov This is a strange account of two doctors in 1924 in Moscow, which had only shortly before become Communist, who are working with animal parts transplanted into human beings to treat various illnesses. They are considered to be brilliant. One day they find a stray dog whom they take home, and shortly afterward transplant the testes and adrenal glands of a criminal who died shortly before into the dog. It becomes more and more human, but it also shares in many of the tendencies toward dishonesty and criminality of the human donor. To save matters, they eventually take out the human parts and transplant the dogs original organs back in it. It returns to a state of happiness as it lives a contented life in their house. The story is almost a cross between The Island of Doctor Moreau and Young Frankenstein. Trade in the Ancient World by Charles River Editors This short book deals with the growth and extent of trade in the ancient world (especially the Mediterranean world). It speaks of trade in copper and tin, oil and wine, wheat, precious metals, spices and amber. It deals with shifts in the currents of trade due to political circumstances. It is not an exhaustive treatment, but a good first look at the topic. The Miami by Charles River Editors The Miami were a tribe of native Americans living in the Ohio and Kentucky area. They were caught up in the various Anglo wars (French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War) and suffered as a result. Most of them were deported to reservations to the west of the Mississippi during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker This is a rending account of the slave trade as seen from the slave ship itself. It speaks of the misery of the slave trade as well as the time that slaves spent on what was called the middle passage. Many of them died of disease and mistreatment. All of them were horrified at their dislocation and dehumanization. The author also treats of the horrible treatment of the crews of those ships. The end of the book also speaks of the campaign to end the slave trade in Great Britain (which then served as a bastion to effect an end to the trade in the Atlantic). The Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty This is an interesting novel set in Northern Ireland during the days of the hunger strikers (Catholics in prison who starved themselves to death to fight for the right to be treated as combatants and not as criminals). There has been a couple of murders of homosexual men by what appears to be a serial murderer. A Catholic constable in the province’s police force investigates the crimes and others, eventually discovering a rather unpleasant surprise. Drunken Fireworks by Stephen King This is a very comical novella on a dissolute family who live their summers at a resort lake in Maine. Their cottage is across the lake from a wealthy Italian family from Providence, Rhode Island. Almost by accident, they start a contest as to who can explode the better fireworks for the celebration of the Fourth of July. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome - Castro Valley, CA

January 14, 2021 Peace and Good, I left Rome this past Monday to begin my canonical visitation in the province of California. Most of the visitation will probably be done by phone and skype, but at least I will be in the right time zone. The regulations concerning covid were not all that bad. I had had myself tested a few days before the flight even though it was not yet required. Now the rules have changed and flight to the US will require testing. The flight from Rome to Frankfurt was fairly full, but that from Frankfurt to San Francisco was only about 1/4 full. We hit some awful air turbunlence at the Canadian/US border, the worst I have every experienced (for intensity and length of time). I am at our friary in Castro Valley. I am quarantined to the friary for ten days, but the first five days I will even avoid contact with the other friars. I just don't want to get anyone sick. I finished some reading: Caffeine: How Caffeine created the Modern World by Michael Pollan This is an audible books presentation. It is one of their original productions, and in two hours the author is able to present his relationship with caffeine, as well as a scientific and social study of the substance. I was able to obtain it for free (they allow two free audible presentations per month as part of their purchase package). The presentation is quite well done. The Sun Dog by Stephen King I always like King’s books, for he is a master of language and symbolism. In this case, a young man receives a polaroid camera as a present, but the camera only produces a picture of a scene in which a wild dog slowly becomes aware of the picture taker and prepares to attack him. This story takes place in New England, and there is an elderly store owner who has an emporia where he sells just about everything (and also is involved in other not so favorable activities such as loan sharking). Splendid Solution by Jeffrey Kluger This is an account of how Dr. Jonas Salk and his team were able to develop a vaccine against polio in the 1950’s. Salk comes across as quite a favorable figure, while his opponent, Dr. Lou Sabin, comes across as a petty, vindictive person. The account gives quite a bit of detail without getting lost in the minutia of scientific topics. I quite enjoyed the book. 36 Revolutionary Figures by The Teaching Company This is a collection of quick biographies of important figures who changed history throughout the ages. Some of the presentations are better than others (for they are taken from different courses and at times are really not intended to be a presentation of a person’s life). Yet, it was worthwhile listening to this course. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens This is a book I had written in high school, but I had not touched since. It was a joy to listen to it. I had not remembered much of it at all. Dickens has his style which is a bit flowery, but pleasant. Rome: A History is Seven Sackings by Matthew Kneale This is a fine book which speaks about the history of the city of Rome throughout its history from its founding until the present day. It includes the attacks by various groups of barbarians and by medieval and renaissance invaders. Sometimes the defenders of Rome were more successful than others. Sometimes the defeat of the Roman forces led to a terrible sacking, other times it led only to a change of very often arrogant leaders. The author is rather good in his portraiture. Genghis Khan by Walter J. Scott This is a short account of the life of this great Mongol invader. It presents the history just before his arrival, what he did, and what followed his reign. Rather than creating an actual empire, he created more of a movement that only loosely ruled the domains which he conquered (at a horrible cost for those who resisted him). The Battle of Bunker Hill by Hourly History This a short account of the Battle of Bunker Hill when the British attacked the top of a hill outside of Boston. While it was technically a victory for the British, it was what is called a Pyrrhic victory – that it cost the British so much that they realized that it would be difficult if not impossible to defeat the Patriots. Keep safe, fr. Jude

Ellicott City - Seoul, South Korea

June 9, 2020 Peace and Good, Well, I finally left Ellicott City. The friars there treated me wonderfully, but given the peripatetic life style that I have lived in these years, I found it strange to be in the same spot for so long. On the other hand, it was great not to be suffering from jet lag which is often the case with me. I flew to South Korea via Atlanta. It was a long, long flight, especially because there was a screaming young child behind me for almost 15 hours. When I arrived in Korea, I wanted to self-quarantine in our friary where the friars had set aside an isolated room. But the authorities told me that since they were not officially relatives, I would have to stay at the government center. This is actually a hotel that the government is using for quarantine. It is very comfortable, and the only problem with the food is that there is too much. The food is brought to your door three times a day. You open the door, take the food, and close it again. That is the only time you are even close to leaving the room. I will be here until the 17th. It is really not bad at all, and I am getting some work done on my next book, a children's bible for the fifth and sixth grade level. The weather is nice, warming up. Seoul can get very hot and humid during the summer, but it has not yet hit. When I finish the isolation, I will visit the friars in this province to prepare a report for their provincial chapter (this November). I have finished some reading: Misery by Stephen King I had seen the movie with Cathy Bates and James Caan. That was scary. The book is every more so. There are some events that the film could not possibly have recorded which appear in the book. King in an incredible author in painting a scene of absolute terror. I highly recommend this book (and all of his books, which I especially like for the richness of the language used). Gene Miller by Charles River Editors This is a pleasant, short history of the band leader from the 30’s and 40’s. The book speaks about his rise in the music world, his collaboration with other band greats, his success, and his untimely death in December of 1944 in a plane crash over the English Channel when he was serving his country by organizing entertainment for the troops. The Flavian Dynasty by Charles River Editors This is a short history of the dynasty that succeeded Nero (and his immediate, short-lived successors) to take over the Roman Empire. They included Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. The first two are ranked as quite good emperors (especially after the madness of Nero), but the last, Domitian (who may or may not have poisoned his brother, Titus) turned out to be paranoid and murderous. Volcanic Hazards by OpenLearn This is a short university course from OpenLearn (which are free on kindle) concerning the various ways that volcanoes are dangerous with a definition of terms. This particular course is not all that profound in its treatment of the topic. David Baldacci by Audio Interviews This is an interview of the author concerning his new series which revolves around an FBI agent named Atlee Pine. She runs an independent office in the countryside in the West (which involves two Native American Reservations). Exploring a Romano-African City: Thugga by OpenLearn This is a short university course with audio-visual supplements on a particular ancient city in Africa near the border with Mauritania. It shows elements of Roman culture from the time it was incorporated into the empire, but these elements grew as time went by. It is interesting to see at first the imposition of Roman culture and then gradually the tendency of the local population to embrace it (although always retaining certain of their own cultural elements). Stay healthy. Shalom fr. Jude