It’s been a while since I posted last so I figured I had better get to it since so much has happened since I left for Orlando on May 25th.
I arrived in Orlando and immediately started to fulfill my “must eat” list that I have every time I come back to the states. Chicago Dogs, chili cheese dogs, pizza, and the like were all devoured in the 1st couple of days. I also spent about $600 on fishing equipment and other odds and end needed back home in Belize. I bought every wire leader at 3 WalMart stores and lures and hooks at several fishing/sporting good stores. I hit the thrift stores and bought 25 books to add to my collection. Water shoes, flip flops, dry bags (for use in the boat) and other items are already packed in my 2 check in bags. As of this moment I still have a few more things to buy but I have to weigh my luggage 1st to insure that they are still under the 50lb weight limit. We’ll see. Carrie and I renewed acquaintances with my friends Joe and Alice, whom I hadn’t seen in close to 15 years. It was so nice to see them again and swap stories of our lives since we’d parted.
I also made plans to visit my Sister Diana in Floral City FL for 2 nights. One of the days there we spent kayaking the Rainbow River. We spent close to 6 hours exploring nature from a double kayak, eating lunch on the bank and swimming in the 72 degree water. It was a most enjoyable day!
One of my primary reasons for coming was to attend my daughter Carrie’s delayed (by almost 14 years) Catholic confirmation on Sunday May 29th. It was nice to see her finally complete her requirements for her next life. As you know she has made the decision to devote her life to God and is in the process of being accepted to the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration order which is a cloistered contemplative order and is hoping to be cloistered at the Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville AL. So the 2nd part of my trip was dedicated to driving her (she doesn’t drive) from Orlando to Hanceville, a 12 hour journey. Our trip to Alabama was uneventful and we arrived in Hanceville, which is in the middle of nowhere, around 10pm. Before checking into our hotel we drove to the Monastery to have a look. Of course the gate was closed and locked but the grounds were well lit so we had a great view of the church and several outbuildings. While we were standing at the gate looking in a car drove up and a young monk, Brother Juan, got out of the car and asked it we were ok. Of course we told him why we were there and of Carrie’s interview in the morning. He invited us to the 6am Divine Office, which was their morning prayer and chanting followed by a 7am mass being said by a brand new priest who had been ordained the day before. At the conclusion of the mass he personally blessed each of us and we were given one of his ordination cards. What a treat both services were and it was a great way to start our day. The mass and blessing ended at 8:30 which left us with a half hour to tour the church. In the lower church was a shrine to the Shroud of Turin, full size pictures of the cloth housed in France. You can actually see the blood stains of the wounds our Lord suffered during his torture which were horrific. They covered his entire body from head to toe. In the next room was the crypt where Nuns who had gone to their reward were interred. Carrie new of 2 of them, one who had just passed and the other is Mother Angelica’s mother who became a Nun late in life. At 9am we made our appearance at the information desk and were shown where to wait for her interview. Sister Isabella met with us and asked Carrie some very pointed questions as to why she was choosing a contemplative life instead of serving God as a Lay-person and having a family. Carrie’s answers, which I won’t go into, were very positive and told the Sister in no uncertain terms that she was being led to that type of life because it felt right and that having a family, a job, and serving God part time would not satisfy her desires. That brought a huge smile to the Sister. Sister also asked if Carrie had done any reading about cloistered life and Carrie mentioned that she was reading the biography of Mother Angelica. Sister then recommended she read about Saint Therese, whose story goes into great detail of the life Carrie would be living. We had told her how far we’d traveled for a 1 hour meeting and she was impressed that it meant so much to both of us to make the journey. She asked how long we planned to be in town and I told her that we would stay as long as was needed. It was another positive show of Carrie’s desire. She said that it may be up to 3 days before she would be able to see one of the Mothers and Carrie said that was fine. With that Sister said she would try to see how long we might be waiting. She returned with a huge smile on her face and said that she would have her 2nd interview at 10:45 that morning and showed us where the interview would take place, which was in the area just inside the cloister itself. I’m sure our answers as to how long we would stay had something to do with the immediate interview. So we walked over to the book store and bought one of the suggested books while we waited. At the appointed time we went to the meeting room, which is where the cloister Nuns meet with their families during family visits. The Nun is separated from her family by an ornate metal screen. They can touch hands but have no other physical contact. Anyway, Mother (I’m sorry but I’ve forgotten her name) came in and introduced herself and we to her and she asked, “What is in your heart?” To which Carrie told her in great detail. Mother asked her very pointed questions about her personal life from an infant to her 25th year. She was pleased with Carrie’s answers to some of the more important incidents. She was not the Nun who normally did these interviews and that the one who did was having her family visit day. She asked if Carrie had provided her contact information, to which Carrie replied yes, and she said that she would be contacted in the near future to start the intensive interview process, which will include a visit of several days, when Carrie will live with them in the Monastery and Live their daily spiritual and work life to see for herself if it is truly what she wants to do. So now we wait.
Following our stop at the Monastery We drove to Birmingham to tour the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), which was started by Mother Angelica in the early 80’s. That was pretty interesting. We were able to go into the studio where the shows are either broadcast live or are taped for later broadcast, the radio station, the production booths, and other areas all dedicated to bringing the word of God to the world. We also heard about their brush with the recent tornados and saw damaged apartments, homes and businesses in the surrounding area. We were finally on our way back home by 5pm. Earlier in the day I had hoped to make Orlando by late evening but not having but 3 hours of sleep the night before changes our plans. We spent the night in Atlanta and got on the road by 1pm and made it home by 11:30pm.
Now it was time for more of my “must eat” plans. On Tuesday it was lunch with my son Matt at 4 Rivers BBQ, which was excellent as always, and dinner with my son Rich at The Ravenous Pig in Winter Park. We ate like the name implies! We tried several menu items:
Lobster Tacos - cilantro, avocado, pickled jalapeño, cabbage slaw
Steak Tartare - house-made potato chips, truffle aioli, pickled ramps, roasted mushrooms, coddled egg yolk
House-made Charcuterie and Artisan Cheese – served with marinated olives and grain mustard
- toscano
- chicken liver mousse
- country ham
- lardo toast
- pepperoni
- robiola bosina cow and sheep’s milk
- bresaola
- reypenaer vsop 2 yr aged gouda
- brown sugar fennel
Rich’s dinner: Sheep’s Milk Ricotta Gnudi - oregon black morel mushrooms, zellwood corn, italian summer truffles
My dinner: Niman Ranch Lamb Leg - potato torta, eggplant caponata, charlie’s sunshine squash and vidalia onion purée
Rich’s dessert: Cheesecake - goat cheesecake, cherry compote, graham crust, cherry granite
Mine: Crisp - peach-blackberry crisp, almond streusel, toffee ice cream
Needless to say we left groaning and walking slowly back to the car… But we weren't finished yet! We went to a weekly "food truck" event in downtown Orlando. It consists of 8-10 gourmet food vendors. We meant only to look at what was being offered but Rich and I ended up sharing a Chimoo sandwich: Ribeye steak, chicken, coleslaw and sweet tater fries all on a soft hoggie roll. Now we're in pain!!! We may put off eating for the next couple of days.
Friday, June 10th is a get-to-gather with some 40+ friends that I worked with in AT&T in both NJ and FL before I retired in ’98. I’m really looking forward to that! So that’s where I’ll be at 6pm.
And, so, life goes on for the Fatboy in Orlando… And, as always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!
