On Sunday, yesterday, we attended, or shall I say participated, in two church worship services. Both Christian churches, to be exact. But one of them was at St. Paul's Catholic where we're member-parishioners for a decade and a half, maybe. The other at a United Christian in a neighboring city where our young daughter Tintin plays piano for the church every other Sunday service-worship. That's why she's home this weekend. But she left for D-ville in the afternoon (where she works) after our lunch at D's Seafood Restaurant, and after having a get-together with her friends (way back in college) in a Tropical Smoothie Restaurant.
At St. Paul's, where my wife Freny and I have been volunteer Extraordinary Ministers for Holy Communion for years, we prayed, sang and worshiped together as a faith community with the Mass celebrant, Rev. Fr. Rory, who occasionally volunteers his priestly ministry when our pastor and/or parochial vicar are in other clustered parishes. A Canadian-born, he informed us once, Rev. Fr. Rory is currently a chaplain at a military hospital here in Hampton Roads. Since Freny and I were scheduled/assigned to distribute the consecrated wine (Blood of Christ), we did our best to do the tasks assigned us. That's what we did during the communion rites. Afterwards we left St. Paul's a little early just after the communion to go to the other church where Tintin plays piano for the 11:00 church worship-service in Norfolk.
This Monday morning, after ten, I left the house to drop off some mail in the post office. From there, I just thought of going to a nearby city park, which is less than ten miles away from where I live. (I don't know but it's been a long, long time since my family and I visited that park.)
Well, I was so thankful to God for the calm, quiet, beautiful city park of Portsmouth. Although the weather was kinda bitter cold, or freezing(?), it's such a beautiful, blessed day, Monday, to me, at the park. There were barely no people there this morning, with the exception of Public Works lawn maintenance crew. BTW, before reaching the city park, you pass by public cemeteries on both the left and the right side of the road. As soon as you've entered (in) the park, you see a Japanese garden on the right side and a well-maintained golf course on the left side. There are a number of gazebos or picnic shelters for picnickers. There are ample parking spaces on the ground. There's also a trail for joggers/strollers. Likewise, as you drive around the park, you see the children's playground on your left and a marina on your right. On the grounds are trees, a marker, a small obelisk with inscription. The area is sort of a historical place, I believe because of these markers. There's also a building where the Restrooms (one for Male and one for Female) are located. From afar, there's the Elizabeth River and a bridge, too.
Since I brought with me my camera, I tried to capture the moment. OMG, I'm so grateful to God for the place, a refuge for some, if not many, (like me), who long for peace and quiet solitude and serenity, amidst a noisy world. With plenty of sunshine today, the place is so perfect to hang on/around, even for a short period of time.
Btw, I haven't uploaded/imported the pictures I've shot from the city park. But once they're uploaded, and selected, I'll try to embed some photos in this blog post so you have an idea of what the city park looks like this morning before noon. I'm sure you like the photos. Let me give you one scenario. I saw a bunch of Canadian geese and also sea gulls on the paved parking lot. They're so amazing and incredibly gorgeous, and very cooperative while I was taking their pictures. One more thing, I had an opportunity to talk to two women who were strolling around the ground. Because they saw me taking pictures, I tried to explain it to them that I was just fascinated and excited at the quiet, beautiful environment. We had to cut short our conversation because it was so cold out there, OMG! I'm glad I bundled up, but I forgot my pair of gloves in the van.
From the city park, I decided to drop by at a public library in adjacent/another city where we maintain a three-bedroom, two baths rental house. I haven't been there for months. It's been a while. My family and I used to go there frequently to check out books and videos, instead of going to my city's. I know, I'm aware that we've a newer city library (which opened a few years ago) but it's farther. This one in Chesapeake is, to me, more accessible. Besides, we're used to it.
Well, I better sign off now, my dear folks and friends. Until next time around. Take care and enjoy the rest of the day. As always, I pray, "May God bless us all!"-chris a. quilpa, 04Mar2013
Post Script: As promised, here are some of the photos (selected) that I've just uploaded tonight for this blog post of mine. (Stand by, folks and friends, for I may post another which I might title it A Visit to Portsmouth City Park in Pictures.) Hope you like them. Thanks for your time. Have a wonderful day, everyone!-caq
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