Category: Daily Life in the USA

Biking

I am REALLY enjoying commuting on my e-bike! Yesterday I rode 30 miles going to a doctor appointment in the morning and then to a computer shop in the afternoon. Google Maps’ bike routes take me through parts of Louisville and various neighbors where I’ve never been before.

I’m having a few problems, though. The display screen on the handlebars (for speed, gears, lights, etc.) is showing the wrong time zone. Tonight I was looking through the bike manual and found where I need to connect the bike app on my phone with the electronics on the bike, and it’s supposed to correct itself automatically.

(Unwanted) Night Light

This is my bedroom at Nazareth Home Clifton. It’s quite simple but just what I need–except for the brilliant security light shining into my room from the wall across a little courtyard. The light wouldn’t be so bad except that the blinds are plastic and translucent, i.e., they let light through. The security light is bright enough that it casts shadows in my room even with the blinds closed. My sister Mary has access to some light-blocking curtains and I’m waiting till she can pick them up.

Guess where it’s from?

When I got my new e-bike—a top end Trek model—I didn’t pay much attention to any of the labels on it. But then a day or two later, I noticed it was made in Cambodia! I knew bicycles are becoming a major export from Cambodia but didn’t know they were making high-end models and I certainly never thought that I’d end up buying one of them in Louisville!

More old friends

Today six of us alumni from the former St. Thomas Seminary met for lunch at Kingfish in Louisville. I really appreciate these gatherings. For two decades or so, my return from Hong Kong or Cambodia would be the opportunity to get together with good friends. Today it was noted this is the last time we would celebrate my return from mission in Asia.

These people are important. If it were not for my family and friends, I would not have returned from Cambodia. Life would be much simpler and easier living in Cambodia than it will be here in the United States.

A Welcome Visitor

Don Stosberg, an old friend from St. Thomas Seminary, drove from Frankfort today for a visit. We had a good sandwich at a picnic table on the old St. Joseph Orphanage grounds while we caught up on our doings over a half century. (Demonstrably, I’m NOT a good selfie photographer!)

Biking Indiana

Sunday I took a bike ride in Indiana where they have some wonderful biking and walking trails. The photo shows the Big Four pedestrian bridge on the right. Now closed to traffic, it is busy, especially on weekends, with many bikers and walkers, including whole families, enjoying the sunshine and beautiful views of both sides of the Ohio River.

Slowly, slowly…

I’m slowly accumulating the things I need for living in Nazareth Home and Louisville. Some items are major, like an e-bike for getting around. Others are more utilitarian like a toilet brush. Today I got a wooden executive-type filing cabinet. I was going to get the usual metal two- or four-drawer file cabinet but my sister saw the wooden unit above in a consignment shop and took me to see it. The price in such a shop drops regularly according to how long it stays in the shop. The nice wooden cabinet had been marked at $100 but was in the bargain room when I saw it, and I was able to get it for $20. My sister Mary and her husband Mike picked it up today and brought it to me. Thanks! Now all the papers on the couch can be filed away!

My Hong Kong flag

Last week my sister Jane surprised me with a framed flag of Hong Kong from the colonial era. I was living in Hong Kong in 1997 when Britain ceded control of their Hong Kong colony to China. Remembering what had happened at Tiananmen Square, thousands and thousands of Hong Kongers were fleeing to any place that would take them. The bishop asked those of us from the missionary groups to stay, to try to provide an element of stability and reassurance to a frightened people. On one of my trips home, I brought this flag and Jane had it in her basement and decided my return to Kentucky was the time to return the flag to me.

Nazareth Home

Independent Living

At Nazareth Home Clifton, seven of us priests abide in the Independent Living building on the right called Cedar Hall (for some unknown reason, since there is no wood in the building except some of the furniture). The building on the left is the main administration building, and between them is a lobby or large gathering space that can be used for family or other gatherings. The lobby is basically a bridge between the two buildings. It has a door that is almost never used because it requires an electronic fob to unlock it where the outside door to Cedar Hall has a keypad for punching in a security code that unlocks the door.