Commercial break!

I haven't finished posting about the conference yet, but I have to sneak in these pictures of the dress I finished for Molly yesterday, and of the princess herself wearing it....

I am very proud of myself because I put a zipper into the dress, something I have not done in sewing before.

Thursday: The Conference Begins!

 St. Catharine College, the conference venue, is beautiful, and it was a beautiful day.

Fr. Tim O'Connor gave us a meditation on the privilege of serving the youth.

Soon the guests began to arrive.

Sara checking the groups in

 Our religious and priest friends also began arriving......

Nashville Dominicans: Sr. Mary Olivia, Sr. Amelia, Sr. Mary Josephine

Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker: Sr. Cecilia and Sr. Elizabeth Ann

Sister Servants from Alabama: 

Sr. Louise Marie, Sr. Joseph Marie, Sr. Mary Anthony, Sr. Marie Therese

Unfortunately I didn't get photos of the men's communities: 

Dominican Friars and Fathers of Mercy, mostly. And some diocesan priests from here and there.

The dining room ladies always make us feel extra welcome.

Sr. Joseph Marie talking to the youth about the Angelic Warfare Confraternity

Fr. Joseph Aytona (Fathers of Mercy) urges the teens not to follow the crowd, 

and tells some of his own vocation story

Attentive audience

Meanwhile, our new statue of Our Lady of Ignite was being readied for the outdoor rosary procession.

For many of the youth, this is their first time taking part in a procession.

The procession ended our first day with prayer and song. 

Here we are walking alongside one of the dorms.

This is our conference Eucharistic adoration chapel at night.

Our Lady's statue (not visible in the photo) was brought here after the procession and placed on the left side, facing Her Son in the Eucharist.

Ignite: Wednesday, Set-Up Day

Packing the U-Haul here in New Hope

We start arriving at the conference location

We had 350 chairs to bring up a flight of stairs and into the gym, so we formed a human chain to do it. Teamwork gets it done fast!

Many hands make light work...

Assembling the altar backdrop

The finished backdrop—wow!

The volunteers take a rest. Tomorrow this place will be crowded with teens!

Clowning around in one of the dorms... are they in jail?! 

These are our hard-working young adult helpers, the "green shirts." And Fr. Tony Mendoza.

A Little Crazy!

I know some are wondering "where I've been" lately. Next week is our big Ignite Conference which I help organize as part of my job. Things are going well, but there's much activity at the office! Here's just a snapshot of what's going on here:

First of all, we have a new website for the conference! It's awesome, Sara! Take a look:

www.igniteyourtorch.com

I particularly love the countdown clock.

Tamara bought a new statue for our candlelight procession the first evening at Ignite. This one is ours to keep (we used to borrow one from some kind friends). It is light and easy to carry. We call her Our Lady of Ignite. See, her heart is even on fire! Here she is, sitting on my desk.

Here is Bill in the print shop, working on a cedar stand to which he will attach the statue so it can be carried in procession:

Tamara and Flannery working on items for small group activities:

Boxes, paper, folders, pens, pamphlets...... the list goes on and on.

Here I am working at my desk:

Sara making sure enough shirts have been ordered and everyone's rooms are assigned.....

We are trying to learn the names of all the religious before they come:

This is a laminated board I made, with sticky notes that can be moved around, to plan which workshops will be held when, and in which classrooms:

Tamara instructing Gianna on photography for the conference:

Stephanie creating a backdrop for the altar, which will be in the gym, so we want to try to create a more sacred atmosphere for Masses and holy hours:

Here we are playing with our fabric to see how to make the backdrop. The backdrop will be raised on the boxes.

Many others are also working on various tasks such as typesetting, printing, and copying. It is a very busy time, but we are joyful! I can't wait for next week. What I look forward to most is seeing all our wonderful priests, brothers and sisters who come each year! I will be taking lots of photos at the conference and will post them after it's over. Stay tuned!

Never a Dull Moment

So here I was, minding my own business at work, when I was told there was a big snapping turtle in the field near our office. I had to go see it. Here it is. It looks like he has moss growing on him! Look at his meaty tail sticking out in back (partly hidden by the grass).

Some of my coworkers started talking about how they'd like to catch him and eat him. I thought they were kidding, but one guy went out and caught the turtle for just that purpose. He simply grabbed the turtle by the tail. He says he is going to feed him food like hot dogs for two weeks so the turtle won't taste so wild when cooked. Ummmm, I hope he doesn't share the finished dish with us.

In the picture below, you can see how big the turtle is compared to a human hand.

My coworker put the turtle on the scale which is usually used to weigh tubs of mail. 

The turtle weighs 15.5 pounds.

Boy, he is one MAD turtle! I'm keeping out of his way!

Seen on the Way to Work

LOL!

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Spring this year was more delightful than ever since I paid close attention to it—all the different shades of colors, the different blossoms, the developing greenery. I particularly love how the trees develop an almost imperceptible pale green "fog" at first, then pale green "lace," and finally darker green leaves. The change is very fleeting—it all happens so fast, and then it's over.

As I drove to work every day last month, I constantly thought about one of my favorite poems that was archived way back in the dusty attic of my mind. It is by Robert Frost. Here it is, with photos taken on one of those morning drives: 

Nature’s first green is gold, 

Her hardest hue to hold. 

Her early leaf’s a flower; 

But only so an hour. 

Then leaf subsides to leaf. 

So Eden sank to grief, 

So dawn goes down to day. 

Nothing gold can stay.

And indeed, most of this flowery finery is has already disappeared in favor of more prosaic green grass and green leaves....

***************************

Here are some more photos of spring. Under some of them I've put snatches of other songs or poems that they brought to mind: 

"The road goes ever on and on....." (I think I remember Gandalf singing this) 

I love our winding, hilly Kentucky roads! 

On the lands belonging to the Abbey of Gethsemani

An old abandoned nest surrounded by signs of new life

"I said to dawn, Be sudden; to eve, Be soon;

With thy young skyey blossoms heap me over

From this tremendous Lover!"

Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven

This is my favorite tree ever. I don't know why, but it just totally fills me with delight every time I see it. There's just something about its shape. Here are a couple of other pictures of the same tree in the winter, starkly silhouetted against the sky: 

More flowers, flowers everywhere:

"These are a few of my favorite things...."

A fairyland of white

Both of the above are approaching New Hope, KY. You can see the church steeple poking up through the tree branches. What you can see of the town is almost all there is—seriously!

Here is the view from my window at work

Of course, I had to bring some of the spring cheer inside!