All the way to North Little Rock Arkansas

We made it and man it's cold compared to the 75 or so we left this afternoon in Abita.  It's only about 45 right now but Sunday morning is supposed to be 20; now that's cold.  If they even predict snow I will be heading back home Saturday after my niece's wedding.

I traveled roads I'm not sure I've been on before; could see the swollen Mississippi River part of the way then crossed the big river at Greenville Ms. into Arkansas; a drive I'm sure is new to this old seasoned traveler.

Unfortunately the drive was a little longer than we anticipated as the traffic getting away from Mardi Gras central was ridiculous and the smaller roads and highways made for slower travel.

So tomorrow my niece Jessica get's married so all my mom's grandkids will be "hitched".  Wish she could be with us.  Wendy and I look forward to witnessing the wedding.

So for now it's good night Mardi Gras world from North Little Rock!

We are home!

In less than 13 hours, from North Carolina to, well, at least to Winn Dixie.  Yep after almost 13 hours of driving we had to stop at the WD because we are out of staples, mainly edible food!  And then we had to pick up our golden girl, Delilah.  But we are home, car unpacked, mailed reviewed and first load of clothes in the wash.

We loved our visit with our NC family and Calvin and Katelynn were, as usual, lots of fun an good for many smiles and warm heart moments.  And while we will miss them, we are planning to go visit grandbaby #3 in the morning!

More posts tonight on this very HOT Wednesday back at the Talbot farm and at the abitadeacon!!

A little Tuesday night update from North Carolina

Our short 3-day visit to see the family up here in N.C. is over and Wendy and I plan on taking off early in the morning.  We are so glad we came as we have not seen the family and played with the grandkids since December.  This was our 1st visit up here since November but I spent 3 days of that trip in a hospital.

Our return trip will be dodging lots of rain from wrap around remnants from Alberto.  As long as the interstates are passable we will be good.  I always dread hitting Atlanta and we will be passing through around 11 in the morning.  That's bad enough on a typical work day but worse if heavy rain persists; time will tell.

The highlight of our trip is always to spend face time with Calvin & Katelyn.  They are growing so big as they approach their 6th and 3rd birthday respectively.  We spent most of the time swimming and playing in the yard and just hanging out with the family.  We really enjoyed the visit, short as it was.  We went out to eat together a couple of times and Wendy and I got to make mass at St. Pius X Church(see previous article).  And not only did we celebrate Memorial Day while here, we also celebrated Jimmy & Sara's 8th wedding anniversary!

So prayers for traveling mercies and good weather and no severe rain and we should be home in Louisiana by tomorrow evening!

Blogging will resume in earnest tomorrow night, Thursday sometime.  Peace!

So do we get to come home Wednesday

For the second time in a year, the inland impacts of a tropical storm may/may not impact our plans.  While this storm named Alberto has already made landfall in the Florida panhandle, thus sparring any impacts for our home town, the track now through central Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucy will put almost the entire route home from North Carolina to south east Louisiana at a heavy risk for rain and storms.

Every Interstate highway we drive will be impacted at least down to the Montgomery region.

Time will tell for sure, and we do have an option to wait until Thursday if prudent, however I do not want to delay a day if the weather impacts are still bad.  The storm track by Thursday at least shows the bulk of the rain well to the north.

Will post more tomorrow!

North Carolina for the next few days

We made it to our destination in one day, leaving home around 5:30 this morning, arriving here around 6:30 this afternoon.  All went well except Atlanta, but it's Atlanta, you expect the worst there.

No rain of any significance, in fact mostly beautiful weather.  Hoping our return trip home won't be adversely impacted by the rain left over from Alberto.

Grandkids tomorrow after a very early Mass so see you all later

Blogging momentum will be impacted by upcoming visit

So about three weeks ago I lamented the extreme run-off in normal pattern readership here at the abitadeacon.  I'm happy to report, for reasons still not really clear to me, that the pattern of normalcy has returned, well at least about 80-90% of normal.

Sometimes readership dips when new posts and updates are not published here.  Beginning early tomorrow Wendy and I will take off to see the North Carolina crew including our tow grandkids Calvin & Katelyn.  We saw them about a week before Christmas and of course they were with us when my appendix gave out on our November trip up there.

This is also our first trip away from home since the arrival of grandchild Brennan.  Of course we will see her after we return.

I will try to keep on blogging on the trip, pause to celebrate Trinity Sunday and Memorial Day and hopefully stay clear of this early season storm named Alberto.  Perhaps you will recall we had to drive through Tennessee last September to avoid whatever storm that was last year.

So keep reading us here at abitadeacon and pray for a safe trip.

Hey blog friends, just because I'm on the road, don't quit reading me!

I told my wife that since I was at work all day and on the road all night, traveling to see the grandbabies, my blog readership would be down!  I was right!!

Come on readers, read away!

Remember, I get credit for a visitor/reader if you actually lick on a post to read it as opposed to browsing.

In any event, I am in Tuscaloosa Alabama tonight and still have 8.5 hours before arriving at our destination.

In the meantime, click away.  I've has some interesting blog posts lately; come and see!

What did I hear?

Given that I have preached at least 1 Mass, and sometimes many more, over the past 5 weekends, it was a joy today to not only preach(although I love to preach and take it seriously) but to sit in a church, next to my wife, and take it all in from the pews.

As part of the homily I heard today, the Priest, who made it clear that the feeding of the multitudes was a miracle performed by Jesus, we all can be as generous as we can with everyone we meet.

He offered a quote from the then dying Archbishop John McNamara, who served with distinction in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.  He thought about his moment of death, as he laid dying and was heard sharing this:

"Everything I have here I am to lose, but everything I ever gave, in love, I am now to have forever"

That's what I heard today; thanks be to God!