JULY 2-5, 2014 - I was not able to get everything done I needed to before going to the Provincial Chapter, so after a couple of days of fun in the Bay Area, I had to return to Tucson to finish sorting and packing my things and to wrap up a few loose ends. My departure time kept getting pushed back from July 1, to noon on July 2, to 3 pm on July 2, to 4 pm on July 2nd. I needed to hit the road - psychologically I needed to finally be finished in Tucson. 2 months is a long time to say goodbye and I needed to make a clean break. But I slao had a pretty clear practical deadline as well. Iwas scheduled to celebrate the 4:30 PM Mass at St. Ignatius on Saturday July 5 and Mobile is a solid 3 day drive from Tucson.
I finally pulled out of Tucson at about 6:30 PM on Wednesday evening. El Paso would be my first stop. Then on to San ANtonio. To New Orleans the 3rd Day and on into Mpbile on Saturday morning. All went smoothly and Imade those stopsaccording to plan. I arrived so late into El Paso on the first night that I was not able to get together with anyone. Ichecked into a hotel and got a good night's sleep in preparation for the next few days of travel. I was able to get together with the family of Megan Winfrey for dinner on Thursday night in San Antonio. That was a welcome break from te road. The trip to New Orleans was relatively easy despite a major traffic delay due to an accident ahead of me on I-10 between San Antonio and Houston. I made a couple of stops along the way, but was really anxious to get this road trip finished. On Friday night Iventured into the French Quarter for the evening to watch the fireworks over the River. It was late and I was tired and the French Quarter felt way too crowded and unsafe soIcalled it a night. I allowed myself to sleep in a little on Saturday morning as Ihad only a 2 hour drive to Mobile. I arrived at St. Ignatius around 1:30 pm on Saturday to find out that not only was I scheduled to celebrate Mass at 4:30, but I was also to hear confessions at 3:30. I was able to get many of my things unpacked in the interim. Ihave arrived. Let the Sabbatical truly begin. JUNE 30 - On Sunday, I met my dear friend, Bobby Watson and his sons, Nick (my Godson)and Matt in Oakland and we took BART to the City for an afternoon of Giants baseball (vs. the Reds). The only problem was that Sunday was Gay Pride Parade day in San Francisco, which meant that more than a million people decided to ride BART that day. I have been on crowded subways before but this was crazy. We made it the City with very little incident, but the walk tot he ballpark was quite a different story. We saw things that nobody should have to explain to their 10 year old. It was, as is expected, way over the top and completely inappropriate, but nothing that a day at the ballpark could not cure. Unfortunately the Giants lost, but Iwas really there to spend time with the Watsons. I went back to San Jose with them and spent the night. They took me to the airpost this morning for my flight back to Tucson and my final days of life there.
California is an amazing state. And the SF Bay Area is, in my humble opinion, the best of it. The whole region holds a huge part of my heart. The land itself has a lot to offer, but it is really the people who are there that keeps me coming back: friends from the last 25 years who have become family to me. I always feel slightly cheated when I have managed to eek out a few days in Oakland, or San Francisco, or Berkeley, or San Mateo, or San Jose; cheated because it is never enough. I am grateful for the last week. It was, in many ways, the beginning of my Sabbatical (which technically starts today). The Province Assembly was great, but I also got to spend a few hours with various friends. I love that I can still be surprised by all that the Bay Area has to offer. On Friday, I drove up the very familiar San Mateo Coast from Half Moon Bay to the City, taking in the salt air and rugged beauty of a little hidden gems that many people don't know about (Princeton, Montara, Pacifica). The real surprises came on Saturday when my dear friend, Carrie, took me to the Sacramento Delta Region and showed me some of California's forgotten history. I know a little about the region because of Dominican history which settled our Province in places like Benicia and Antioch. But there are a lot of little communities that were at one time, very important to life and commerce on the huge rivers that feed the SF Bay. We went to the little community of Rio Vista, northeast of Antioch. Still a thriving little bedroom community, Rio Vista boasts an amazing bar called Foster's Bighorn. Its original proprietor, Foster, was a big game hunter who decorated the walls of his bar with the trohy heads of exotic species. While seemingly at odds with Bay Area sensativites, this exotic little watering hole is definitely worth the visit and represents a bygone era. I also stopped in to see the little Catholic Church in Rio Vista. St. Joseph's betrays the Portuguese roots of the local populace in its stained glass, whihch features both St. Isabella and St. Anthony of Lisbao. The real glory of this Church's decor is the huge window which features both the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary (made more sweet by the fact that we were there on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart). The visit to the Church afforded another pleasant surprise. When we arrived, we found the door locked. A gentleman who was seated on the front lawn reading offered to open the doors for us. Iguessed him to be the Pastor, but he told us he is a retired priest. I introduced myself and it turns out we had known each other before but have not seen each other since before I entered the Order (24 years). It was Fr. Dick Bane, who was an associate Pastor at St. Bart's in San Mateo during the time I worked there in the late 80's. We have both aged enough that we did not immediately recognize each other. What a serendipitous encounter!
After Rio Vista, we took a couple of ferries and a number of levy-top roads to the forgotten communities of Walnut Grove and Locke. Walnut Grove was, at one time, a thriving immigrant community with Japanese adn chinese laborers. The japanese community was still large until the Pearl Harbor attacks. There were also large chinese communities in Walnut Grove and neighboring Locke. The Asian immigrants worked in surrounding agriculture and in river commerce and transportation. Today there are many artisan shops in the little town and more than a few people still working in the Delta's agriculture. We had dinner at a little Delta eaterie at Wimpy's Marina, a drink at Locke's famous watering hole, 'Al the Wops,' and dinner at Guistie's Italian Restaurant just outside Walnut Creek. The hour-long drive back to Berkeley provided a great opportunity for more catching up with Carrie and Ifelt really blessed to have two days with her at the beginning of this year of Grace. JUNE 30: The last evening of our Province Assembly, I was in the Common Room (rec room) at St. Albert's Priory and I overheard some of our younger friars rummaging through the common room cabinets looking for somewthing to mix with Tequila. They settled upon Squirt lemon-lime and one of them said "it'll be like a margarita." I could not help bu think this is the kind of conversation that takes place in Fraternity houses all the time: just looking for something, ANYthing to mix with the liquor on hand. It was a funny memory/juxtapostition.
But it also got me thinking about the nature of fraternity. I have belonged to a lot of fraternities through the years: I grew up in an all-boy family with 3 brothers, I went to an all-men's military school, I am a member of Pi Kappa Phi collegiate fraternity, and finally, I am a Dominican Friar. These experiences share a lot in common: a certain amount of hazing, definite initiation rituals, a lot of testosterone-fueled competiveness and bravado, lots of back-slapping and good-natured ribbing, some not-so-good-natured conflict, and, above all, a strong sense of belonging. I really enjoyed our Province Assembly. We are a small Province: only 130 of us; but we don't see each other often because we are spread thinly over a huge territory. We have these Assemblies, on average every 4 years. There is always business to get done and, hopefully, that is pretty painless. But the real value of a Province assembly is FRATERNAL. We come together to celebrate what it means that we are Dominican Brothers. We fete our brothers who have been ordained for long years (This year Fr. Felix celebrates 65 years!), we remember those who have gone before by celebrating one of the liturgies in our cemetary among the graves of our deceased brothers, we gather with our classmates and othersof our "generation," we catch up on the current news, and we look forward to the near future. The same stories are told and retold. We laugh. We cry. We share a toast and a blessing. And we hold each other up in prayer. In the end what is best accomplished is a reminder that we are not alone in this life we have chosen. We entered into an Order, a Province, a Community. We have pledged our lives to each other "jusque ad mortem," and the essence of our life is best lived and celebrated in all that means to be FRATERNITY. This site is under construction and will go live on July 1, 2014.
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