Category: Dittmeier

It finally happened….

This afternoon I took my bicycle out for a short ride to Kroger’s and had my first flat tire. I’ve been anticipating it and wondering about the timing and where I would be. Fortunately it was only two or three miles from my home. I called my super biker brother-in-law who also has a truck and he picked me up and we took the bike to the shop where I bought it because I have never changed a tire on a bike with a motor in the hub. It’s going to be expensive to let them fix the flat but I’ll learn what needs to be done. Mike’s wife, my sister, has a twin bike like mine and Mike called her and she agreed I could borrow her bike till mine is fixed so we went to their house in the truck and picked it up and brought it to Nazareth Home. That’s it above, some funny shade of pink–or is it purple? Or is it….? Whatever the color, it rolls so I’m fixed for a few days. Thanks, Mary!

Gethsemani Retreat

The section of Kentucky is noted for what we call “knobs,” small hills 300 to 900 feet tall that dot the undulating countryside. The farms and fields and knobs are a beautiful part of the state.
Bardstown, Kentucky is the nearest small city to Gethsemani and is the bourbon capital of the world. Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark–all the big whisky names come from here. And throughout the county are these large whisky-ageing warehouses where barrels of whisky are kept for three to fifteen years before being bottled. Kentucky has more barrels of ageing whisky than it does people.
We had two conferences today and we often stay together to talk afterwards.
Fr. George Otuma is the pastor of St. Boniface Church where I help out with Sunday masses so he’s my new boss.

Gethsemani Retreat

Today was our second full day of retreat and Bishop Price spoke about knowing yourself, being aware of your good points and your weaknesses, and how they influence how people will perceive you.
Gethsemani Abbey has hundreds of acres of farmland and forests. Today in the afternoon break I rode my bike along miles of often really rough dirt roads in a forested area. It felt good. The forests told me I am home.
A view of the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani.
A view of Gethsemani from the west.

Around Louisville

Part of my transition back to Louisville is getting acclimated to Cherokee Park. Through extremely visionary planning on the part of Louisville’s early leaders, a series of large urban parks was created here by Frederick Olmsted, the designer of Central Park in New York City. One of these is the 400-acre Cherokee Park on the east side of downtown. All of my early years were in the West End of Louisville and my years as a priest in the South End so I’m very unfamiliar with the maze of trails and paths in Cherokee Park which is near my home now. Today I took an exploratory bike ride to the park and ended up at the Daniel Boone statue, one of the park’s landmarks.

68 Years Later

In May, 1958 the eighth-grade class of St. Columba School in Louisville’s West End graduated and we all moved on to high school and the rest of our lives. That didn’t end all contact, though, and some of those classmates have continued to meet through the ensuing 68 years. Today 12 classmates and their spouses got together at an Italian restaurant, continuing bi-monthly lunches together. Because I just came back from Cambodia, it was the first time I had seen some of them since graduation. It was great! [Notice the restaurant ambiance! It is quite exotic with all sorts of Italian memorabilia and photos. Of special notice: a bust of Pope John XXIII on the table and his picture on the wall.]

Bike Recall

When my brothers and sisters and cousins decided to buy me an e-bike for commuting around Louisville, they chose a brand-name, high-end model for me. I became more aware of that when I received a recall notice from the manufacturer about a defective part, just like what happens for cars. The notice said that a bolt holding the back wheel can fracture because of a faulty casting process for the bolt and that I need to bring in the bike for a replacement bolt. It turns out they have to order the replacement bolt but won’t do it until I bring in the bike and leave it for the three days required for the bolt to arrive. I asked them to order the bolt and let me know when it arrives but they said they had to have the bike first. For legal liability reasons, they don’t want to appear to be supporting my continuing riding of the bike while there is risk of the back wheel falling off.