Category: Daily Life in the USA

Here and There, Then and Now

After 42 years in Asia, I returned home to Kentucky. But it isn’t the home I left. Things I saw THEN are different NOW. Life HERE is different from life THERE. Here is another sample of the differences.

here and then

My first bank account was at Greater Louisville First Federal Savings and Loan Association. And in those days banker’s hours were 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

there and now

My bank account in Phnom Penh was with ABA Bank. Many banking practices in Cambodia call to mind banks of the 1950s in the US, but as for banking hours, ABA was the best!

Monday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Tuesday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Wednesday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Thursday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Friday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Saturday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM

Here and There, Then and Now

After 42 years in Asia, I returned home to Kentucky. But it isn’t the home I left. Things I saw THEN are different NOW. Life HERE is different from life THERE—except for Big Rock!

THEN

Big Rock is a well-known landmark in Louisville. Located on Beargrass Creek which meanders through much of Jefferson County, it has been a place of fun for generations. It was certainly an attraction for my family 75 years ago and it was probably around for several million years before that.

NOW

NOW is the same as THEN! Kids still clamber up the rock, feeling a sense of accomplishment, and then jump off into the water about a yard deep. It’s a fun place to play on a hot day and parents can picnic on the grassy shores–unless they’re in the water, too!

I still need haircuts in Kentucky

In Cambodia, I had my haircut by our Job Training Project students and I learned from running the program how important it is for training programs to get customers so the barber trainees get as much experience as possible. That led me to Tri City Barber College in Louisville where Connor gave me a haircut today.

Notable Quote

In the coming Sunday gospel, Jesus says we must take up our cross and follow him.

What would the life Jesus is offering, with its cross, look like now, in this world? It would mean becoming compassionate people, having integrity and strength in our relationships, and being courageous as we speak and act on behalf of the least among us.

What a paradox! We find our true life not by clinging desperately to ourselves, but by giving ourselves away in love.

Fr. Jude Siciliano, OP — Preacher Exchange

UP is not working!

Two weekends ago, a big thunderstorm passed over us and a lightning strike fried three of the four electronic control panels for the elevator in Cedar Hall, the independent living section of Nazareth Home Clifton. It has been a bit harrowing for the second floor residents who are ambulatory but don’t feel safe on the stairs. They are getting cabin fever after being limited to their second floor where food has to be brought up to them. The elevator company initially said the panels would not be repaired until after Labor Day but a tech showed up with them today and started installing them. He has to come back tomorrow but we hope he can finish the job then.

Here and There, Then and Now

After 42 years in Asia, I returned home to Kentucky. But it isn’t the home I left. Things I saw THEN are different NOW. Life HERE is different from life THERE. Here is another sample of the differences.

THERE

In Cambodia certainly but also in Hong Kong, backpacks were a basic element of daily life. Using all the available public transportation (ferries, trams, subways, taxis, buses) required some sort of container for carrying raincoats, umbrellas, books, notes, water, etc.) and so everyone carried a backpack when on the street.

HERE

In the U.S., backpacks are often useful but not required like in Cambodia. Here, when traveling somewhere, people just dump anything they are carrying on the front seat of the car they are driving. It’s easy and simple and convenient.

But riding a bicycle here is like Cambodia deja vu. Some sort of carrier is needed for the items I want to take with me. I have panniers that mount on the rear wheel and they’re very useful, but I don’t attach them unless I know I’m going to use them because when I arrive at my destination they are easily stolen if I don’t take them inside but they’re bulky and awkward.


So I got a couple carabiners to attach my backpack to my rear wheel mount when I’m on the road. I can wear the backpack when it’s cooler but now in the heat it’s hot and sweaty. With the carabiners I can just clip and unclip the backpack relatively easily.

One year later….

Today marks my first anniversary of living at Nazareth Home Clifton. I moved in last year on August 20, 2025 as I returned from Maryknoll, New York where I had participated in the 50th anniversary celebration for the Maryknoll Lay Missioners.
This is Room 110 where I live in Cedar Hall. I have unpacked the two suitcases I brought with me from Cambodia but am still far removed from finally arranging my room. Most pressing is reconfiguring my computer set up, basically transferring everything from a failing laptop to a desktop with two big monitors.

A bike rack and a horse–kudos!

Here’s my ride (the bike, not the horse) at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute today. I went there to follow up with a man who fell in his room at night and was on the floor there for 3 1/2 days until someone found him. Frazier is part of U of L (University of Louisville) Health, a major hospital system here. All of their centers I have been to have had a bike rack. Good on them! The horse is part of community participation in the Kentucky Derby. Hundreds of schools and businesses and organizations each decorate a full-size horse and display it permanently outside their establishments.

Here and There, Then and Now

After 42 years in Asia, I returned home to Kentucky. But it isn’t the home I left. Things I saw THEN are different NOW. Life HERE is different from life THERE. Here is another sample of the differences.

THEN

177 years ago, the German Catholics who came to Louisville needed an orphanage and St. Joseph’s Orphans Home was born and this statue of its patron was set up along the street.

NOW

Now St. Joseph (left) has been joined by a Shriner from Kosair Charities as orphanages went out of favor—and supporters of the now St. Joseph Children’s Development Center looked for additional funding to continue assisting children.
The Shriner enjoys a prominent place along with St. Joseph but maybe in a nod to the center’s Catholic origins, St. Joseph is lit up at night but not the Shriner!

Here and There, Then and Now

After 42 years in Asia, I returned home to Kentucky. But it isn’t the home I left. Things I saw THEN are different NOW. Life HERE is different from life THERE. Here is another sample of the differences.

THEN

45 years ago, the average parish wouldn’t have had much in the way of medical supplies or equipment available for Sunday mass. Maybe they would have had a simple generic first aid kit in a drawer somewhere.

NOW

Today at St. Augustine Church, a small black parish where I was substituting, I noticed in the back of the church there was an AED, an automated external defibrillator and a list of people trained to use it. Progress!