Pictures from October NJ Snow Storm

Despite the snow, we ventured out to grab some breakfast at the diner... here are some pictures of our first snow storm of the season - and it's not even Halloween yet!

Rainbow Brite and Wordsworth

Rainbow Over Our Condo - October 20, 2011

Rainbows apologize for angry skies. - Sylvia A. Voirol

As it just so happens, last week I was having a really pain-filled day (the kind where I can hardly move without feeling like my entire body is in a giant vice - and my bones are getting slowly crunched together).

It was also raining.

During my hour-long commute home from school, the fog and rain were so terrible that I could hardly see. I have to say that between the pain and the weather, I was feeling pretty glum. About 5 minutes from home, the rain stopped; and as I pulled up to our condo, a beautiful rainbow appeared.

Along with every cliche rainbow saying in the book, Wordsworth's poem sprang to mind... and Rainbow Brite (one of my sister's favorite cartoons). Say what you will - Rainbow Brite and Wordsworth were on to something...

 My heart leaps up when I behold
       A rainbow in the sky:
   So was it when my life began;
   So is it now I am a man;
   So be it when I shall grow old,
       Or let me die!
   The Child is father of the Man;
       I could wish my days to be
   Bound each to each by natural piety.
(Wordsworth)



"Hey glum face, the next time there's a rainbow, look up.
You'll feel better."
(Rainbow Brite)

Six Years After Hurricane Katrina

Monday was was the 6-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005.

In the summer of 2006, I went to New Orleans with a dozen other Marianist volunteers to help with the rebuilding efforts. The devastation was unfathomable. I recently came across some papers from that trip, including a catalogue of items found in the first house I ever helped to rebuild... the list speaks more to the tragedy than anything I could write here.

List of Items Found in Home - Lower Ninth Ward (June 23, 2006)

unopened prison letters - marked "censored by staff"; "Vote for Kerry" campaign button; insulin needles; soaked polaroids of small children; rosary beads; mardi gras beads and coins; baby shoes; bible; rotting food in the refrigerator; bail bond receipt; IOU note for $195; small batman action figure; heart shaped wood block with two little boys on it; David and Goliath picture book; a plastic bag on the door with a picture of a family sitting on the lawn; china - some broken; baby shampoo; coats and dresses stuck together with mold; The Joy of Signing: The Illustrated Guide for Mastering Sign Language; candle sconces; bills - some marked paid, some not; a purse with a social security card in it; cards from grand kids; insurance papers; 1 tie.

We salvaged what we could, and the rest was thrown out with the gutted mold encrusted drywall and cockroach infested floor boards - until nothing was left but the house's frame... an entire family history of love and heartbreak, washed away by the storm.

As I was working, I couldn't help but worry about the fate of the family member who was in prison. I knew that most of the New Orleans prisoners had to be moved last minute when Katrina hit, and were haphazardly scattered across jails in several states - without clear records of placement. For example, one college kid - who had been in an overnight holding cell for public intoxication - was "lost" in a TX jail for nearly 4 months before he could be processed and released. Also, many of the court files in NO were not electronic, and were damaged in the flood - a litigator's nightmare. These violations of due process were almost wholly ignored by the media - I only knew about them through a fellow social justice worker, Bill Quigley, who is a Loyola University law professor in New Orleans. As I brushed off the prison letters and moved them to the "keep" pile, I felt this profound sadness - for both the physical and spiritual loss this family had suffered.

I was so incredibly moved by the experience that I vowed to return - with students from Archbishop Riordan HS (where I was the Campus Minister and Director of Service Learning, as well as an English teacher).

In 2007, a brave colleague (ARHS Director of Operations) and I took 16 students and 3 parents to New Orleans over spring break. Below is a news report (I'm the one in the white jacket, leading the prayer) and a few pictures from the trip:




The tradition of going to NO during spring break has continued at Riordan every year since - maybe it's time to bring this same tradition to Paramus Catholic HS.

Links:

Hurricane Irene vs. Hurricane Katrina: How They Stack Up
S.F. students join Katrina relief | Staff report | Local | San Francisco Examiner
Marianist Reflection: My Everyday Struggle with Justice (April 2007)
Casey: My Hero is a Bus Thief
Just Faith Ministries: Prayerful Reflections and Faithful Responses to the Gulf Coast Disaster
Catholic Charities - Volunteer in New Orleans

NJ Pictures of Hurricane Irene

Flooded Road in Sea Isle City

After the 5.8 earthquake on Wed - Hurricane Irene hit Saturday night. Here are some pictures of Hurricane Irene's impact on parts of NJ. We were lucky; our power was only out for two days and we didn't have any property damage. Most of the roads, however, around our place were flooded - and we couldn't leave.

Outside Our Condo
(two of the many trees brought down in the hurricane)

Spotswood

(click HERE to see video of a Spotswood family getting rescued)

Parking lot of Immaculate Conception Church in Spotswood

Pictures of Milltown
(taken by one of Gary's students)

My cousin also took VIDEO FOOTAGE of the damage in Northern Jersey, by my uncle's place - his footage was used on News 12.

I love this picture of a boarded up place in Asbury Park - it reminds me of the picture I should have taken, but didn't... the house across from us in Sea Isle was boarded up and had "No Wake" spray painted across the planks - wish I had snapped that one.


This is the place next to ours in Sea Isle - we woke up Friday to the sound of a table saws (cutting boards) and at least 50 seagulls squawking out of their minds - flying in circles.

Surfing Irene

While most of the island is trying to get away from the ocean in preparation for hurricane Irene's landfall - NJ surfers rush in... There were at least 15 surfers right in front of our Sea Isle place tonight. (We are evacuating tomorrow.) Sorry, Gov. Christie.