Guess who's in "Faith and Family" magazine?

In the January/February issue, my friend Lisa Mladinich was interviewed on her powerful reversion to the Faith from a worldly career in acting in "Acting Up", and Lisa has written a piece on suggestions for catechists, "The Greatest Show on Earth". Go and visit her website which describes her "Paradox Puppets". Her puppets scripts are great catechetical tools and have been used by thousands of catechists. She has great plans to offer resources to catechists in the works, and I'm involved, but more on that later. . .

I have a piece in the article "Delightful Destinations: Faith & Family's 2008 Family Vacation Guide" on pilgrimage, cultural and fun destinations in New York on page 87. The photo of Cedar Point County Park was taken by yours truly, on a Labor Day weekend camping trip.

Labor Day Camping Trip to Cedar Point

We took our first camping trip this year to Cedar Point Park in East Hampton, LI over Labor Day Weekend, and the weather was perfect! Here are some photos of our excursion to the Cedar Island Lighthouse on Sunday.

We discovered a bird whose beak was caught in a clam, and Gabbi rescued it by pulling gently on the clam till it was free. The freed bird quickly flew away, letting us know it wasn't harmed.

The lighthouse here was originally built of wood in 1834 to guide ships to Sag Harbor which was then a big whaling town and seaport. The lighthouse was rebuilt in stone in 1868, and served until it was decommissioned in 1934. The hurricane of 1938 built this causeway to the lighthouse, making Cedar Island into Cedar Point, jutting into Gardiner's Bay on the North Shore of the South Fork of Long Island.

It is an inexpensive haven for families in a beautiful (and expensive) part of Long Island.

We had a great weekend.

No place is Heaven on earth

Yet we still seek it.
We were passing these beautiful mountains around Blacksburg, Va the week before the massacre at Virginia Tech, singing the John Denver classic song, "Country Roads, Take Me Home", and I was thinking how nice it would be to live away from the fast pace and worldliness of Long Island. In a tranquil country setting, like the one pictured here.
THEN I could be at peace, I reasoned.
One week later. . .Lord, have mercy on us! Pray for Virginia Tech.

Our day in the Blue Ridge

During Holy Week, we spent an unforgettable day north of Asheville, North Carolina, enjoying the early spring mystery of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We rode horseback and enjoyed driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, watching the different phases of springtime pass by in reverse, as we climbed towards the summit of Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi.

Here I am making sure that my stirrups on ol' Whiskey are OK, as we were headed straight up the mountain for an awesome view.