Dear Friends,

    Today here has been a national holiday called Heroes Day.  No work.  Schools, businesses, banks are closed.  No mail.  It honors the military personnel who died in serving and defending this young nation of 51 years.  Even the national anthem was sung at the end of today's mass!  I must say, the American national anthem is much more melodic and memorable.

   Last Friday night-Saturday early morning it rained big time non stop for about 8 hours.  It just POURED all night long till dawn! The ground is still muddy.  Since then we have had various millipedes coming under our bedroom doors, hairless, ugly slugs, huge in size crawling along sidewalks and even on the sides of walls, also land snails of huge, huge size showing themselves from under their shells.  A few of the flying termites too.  Ha,ha.  Welcome to Africa where so much is big and bigger!

  During the last few days a monkey from the nearby primate park has been visiting us and wanting to steal bread crumbs put out for the birds, also looking to pilfer some papayas from our trees.  This afternoon the monkey got into our Jesuit dining room and stole a banana.  No real damage but it emphasizes now that we have to close the door to our dining room.  I saw the critter climb a tree late this morning and jump from one tree to the next and to the next.  When I first saw him I thought he was a bobcat running like a steak.  But I soon spotted it climbing a nearby tree and then I could easily see it was a monkey.  It has an interesting beard on its face!  He is cute and wily. I am glad I am no longer into trying to raise vegetables and then having to defend what I am growing from this hairy thief!  Raising roses and other flowers is much less problematical!

   In these last few days I have felt so much better, more rested and energy restored.  It is so important for me to get vigorous physical exercises every so often, the type of exercise that gets my heart rate up, makes my breathing deep, and gets me sweating.  I have done this faithfully for a number of days in a row along with extra sleep and it has paid off big time.  How this changes my attitude!! Just extra sleep is not enough.  Also, the chiropractor has given me some back exercises to do and that is helping significantly.  The masseuse told me to get my billfold out of my back pocket since it upsets the balance of my pelvis; so I put it in a front pocket.  I can already feel the difference.  Duhhhh!!!

   I am sorry to see that the Tigers exited the playoffs so quickly,without winning one game.  Really, though, I am not surprised at their early demise.  I expected such, given all their problems--especially their relief pitching core-- and it happened.  ( I am expecting the Giants to win the series in five game, six at most.) The Lions' win last Sunday was a steal, a great surprise.  I went to bed with them trailing 10-3 at the half and after breakfast turned on my computer expecting to hear about their losing.  But, I was delighted to see that they had won it is great style in the final four minutes of the game.  Exciting football!  I was sorry to see Notre Dame lose over the weekend by such a bare margin and to the #1 nationally ranked team.  A questionable referee's call at the end left all ND fans upset.

  I want to take some pictures of the spring like flowering going on now with trees and plants.  There are some stunningly beautiful flowers around here, and then the jacaranda trees.  I cannot get over their beauty.

  There has been significant excitement here among us Jesuits about the two-week synod that just finished in Rome.  Its process was a first of its kind in Catholic church circles.  And the position paper they came up with, to be debated and reflected on for the next 12 months before next year's follow-up synod, should be something to read.  I have not seen it yet.

  I need to go.  I am supposed to receive this week or next week the final edited form of the text of my book.  I want to get this project over!  I am already receiving a number of inspirations for a second book, something I vowed I would never do!  But, the taste is now there in my gut and good ideas and insights are percolating.  I jot them down and am preparing all kinds of things to say about the depths of God and the depths of the human person, one the mirror of the other.

  God bless!

Bernie owens