A Post from New England

Our ongoing trip up north, and all the busyness that has accompanied it, have conspired to keep me from posting anything on the blog. And the weather has seemigly joined the conspiracy.

I apologize now for complaining about our cold winter in Florida this year. We've been here on Cape Cod for a week and already I'm tired of the weather. It's apparent, too, that my six years in Florida have spoiled me, because the temperatures here have actuallly been fairly mild for March: 30s at night and high 40s during the day. But it's still too cold for me. To make matters worse, it just started raining and the reports promise several days of the same.

None of this, however, has dimmed the new bright spot in our llives, a grandaughter named Veronica Lynn who was born on March 2 and weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs. 1 oz. She is our second grandaughter and seventh grandchild. We continue to be blessed with beautifull and healthy little ones. God be praised.

On Saturday we will celebrate the funeral Mass for my brother, Jeff, and then inter him with our parents, Martha and John McCarthy, in Chatham, Massachusetts. I am so pleased that Jeff's elder son, Marshall, will be able to attend the funeral. Marshall lives in a rather remote corner of Costa Rica -- Pavones on the Pacific coast, close to the border with Panama -- where he and his wife, Angela, own and operate a resort, Cabinas La Ponderosa. It's a lovely spot and I'm sure Marshall won't mind if I give his place a llittle publicity. If you like the idea of adventure in the tropics with some excellent surfing thrown in, check out the website.

Marshall arrives in Boston at midnight tonight, and I'll be there to meet him and drive him to Cape Cod. And so it promises to be a long night. We've been staying with our dear, old friends, the Greens, who also volunteered to shelter Marshall during his brief visit. What good and thoughtful friends!

So far we been splitting our time with our new grandaughter in New Bedford and our four grandchildren who live in Hyannis, and enjoying every minute of it. I've included a photo below that I took just a few minutes ago. Imagine not enjoyiing oneself with these four!

Early next week Diane and I will head west and visit for a few days with our other two grandchildren who live in North Andover, Massachusetts. Then, after a quick return visit to Cape Cod, we'll begin our drive south to the warmth of sunny Florida.

Blessings and God's peace...