ZAP! POW WOWIE!

Yes, that’s right, Zap, Pow, Wowie! It’s 8:00pm and we are sitting watching a thunder and lightning show over the Dragoon Mountains, the San Pedro Valley, and right into Benson. WHOOIE! That was a good one!

I know we’ve talked about the Monsoon season here in southeast Arizona. Tonight is a good example. We’ve had a little rain, not a lot, but the lightning is making the sky a living screen for dancing flashes that brighten our otherwise dark living room. We’ve opened the front door to allow the breeze in. WHOOOO! There was a big one! And the rain is back for a while. What a blessing to be able to watch and listen as God refreshes the desert!

Another blessing this evening: we invited our pastor to come and bless our new home. To sweeten the deal, we offered dinner, and we were able to serve Father Mike Suzy’s spectacular Chicken Cacciatore, a fine fresh salad, French bread with dipping sauce, and a razzleberry pie!

ZAP! More lightning. I won’t try to get pictures. I’m good, but not ready for that yet.

WHOOP! A big one!

Anyway, Father Mike did the blessing, skipping a few pages in the book as he did, and he did the requisite sprinkling of holy water. Yes, the blessing is important to us, and even with skipped pages, it was meaningful. But more meaningful to us was our opportunity to be people-to-people with our pastor. So often we see our priests as sacred, set apart, holy. But no, they are folks just like us. They grew up some place (Father Mike is originally from New Hampshire), they have family (he told us about his brother; his father was Italian, his mother English). They have hobbies (Father Mike is a pilot, with a 1/3 ownership in a small plane, and he is a ham radio buff.)

The rain is coming down solidly now. And the lightning is getting a little closer. BOOOM! That one was right above us!

A sadder note: just a few minutes ago we heard sirens moving down Highway 80 in front of our park. That’s not terribly unusual. What was unusual was a fire engine moving up our street to a site just a few spaces above us. There was already an ambulance there, must have come in a different direction. It wasn’t 10 minutes later, the ambulance moved back down our street under full flashing lights, followed closely by a golf cart (we figure it was one of the park’s managers), the fire engine, and a family car. We said a quick prayer, as these folks are our family, our neighbors, our partners here in the park. Do we know who they were? No, not for sure, but there they are, in one of our leased sites. They are ours, and we owe them some respect.

ZAP! The storm continues, and we continue to enjoy it. A small tot of brandy helps the enjoyment.

Father Mike was with us about three hours (WHAMMO!), and took home with him some chicken cacciatore, a dozen cowboy cookies, and the rest of a six-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper, his soft drink of choice. He’s looking forward to next summer, when he’ll celebrate his 35th year as a priest. He’s expecting to take a trip somewhere (B OOOOOM!) with a couple of his classmates, perhaps to Rome. He would hope to have an audience with the Pope while there (this would be his second papal audience, if it works out.) KAWHAMMMM!

Oooops, we just had a half-second of power blackout. This is getting close – must be time for bed. The whole thing is getting too exciting – we don’t want any of our readers to have a stroke or heart attack, so we’ll close this tonight, and see you later along … Our Life on Wheels!