St Anthony comes through again, how could I doubt.

Returned, unscathed, thank you again Dear St Anthony, I will donate extra at mass this evening. 

I posted this on my Facebook page hours ago and had acknowledges from over 40 folks within minutes,.  I thought I would update here too since I blogged it yesterday,  the difference, no one sees this.  :  "   Thank you, St Anthony, you never let me down.   An hour ago  I felt an urge to patrol garden perimeter again, carefully. After all, neither the birds nor bunnies would carry the sunglasses off,  they must be somewhere,  could not have vanished, as I told friend Jan earlier.. Sure enough, middle perimeter as I stopped to pull out the pesty creeping Charlie, I spotted a glimpse of blue, victory amid the Charlie, reward amidst the weeds.."----

And at mass we had a visiting priest from southeast India who is working in our Win one, MN Diocese.  He told about the seminaries and the schools for orphans in his native Southeast  India and the extreme poverty, the starvation, the destitute.  We had a second collection which would be for his mission work back in India.  How could I not honor my commitment to St Anthony.?  If course I gave extra money to this mission.

Posting this from my tablet,  different than working on the computer.

Adding this additional information, I grew up Catholic and learned about St Anthony very early in life, I remember seeing this very portrayal of him probably at church and at my grandma's home.  I learned the chant early, "St Anthony, St Anthony, please come 'round, something is lost and must be found."  

Sometime along the way, I started to call on him as Tony.  It amused me to find  online about the prayer to St Anthony, that I am not the only one to call on "Tony" . Praying to St Anthony when something is lost is a Catholic tradition.  Many years ago my late friend Sandy became curious about this habit of mine after her sister returned from missionary work in Mississippi where she learned about the faith people placed in St Anthony. So I shared my prayer with Sandy, but told her the tradition  requires that when your lost item is found one is supposed to donate extra to  the church poor box. Sandy was not Catholic but wondered if it might be all right with Tony is she just gave a donation to a local charity. 

Nevertheless there is a more formal prayer, above,  but for me the chant learned in childhood sticks.   Saint Anthony of Padua,was  born Fernando Martins de Bulhões, August 15, 1195 to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal  and died June 13, 1231, in Padua Italy.     He was Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. 

Yesterday's photos today's St Anthony

Back yard ice pond near hillside

Up the hill side toward the front, our  house to the left,
neighbor on thr right.  Glacial remains

Late yesterday after a visit with a friend I wandered out back and along the side of the Morrison Glaciers to take some photos of the declining snow with my tablet.  It was a sunny crisp day.  With the previous over abundance of snow the  recent melts are welcome sights despite some frigid  temps the green grass is emerging.  Every year there is a small pond that  accumulates in this  spot before the downhill bank, but this year with the ground frozen down a few feet, the  yard drain is blocked with ice, slowly it has begun to drizzle out but the pond has been much bigger.  Earlier in the day I watched one of our rascally pine squirrels race across the back, they always move at   warp speed, quite the comical sights.  On his race down the hill he leaped and landed into this ice pond.  I could almost hear him as he ascended immediately about  seven feet into the air and sailed down the hill mid air shaking, "WTH was that."  Wish I'd had the camera  or phone with me, one of those funny sights provided free by nature right here in our back yard which is filled with patches of snirt and what I have dubbed the Morrison glaciers.  Those of you unfamiliar with winter may wonder about "snirt", aka dirty snow.    

The other side of the back yard off the shop where
the motor home lives.  Much more snow and less melt,
shadier there.

Side front of house where the hosta sticks linger
One wonders how they survived burial in the white all winter

I continued along inhaling the brisk colder air  happy to be outside once again without snow parka and boots.  Toward the front where there had been huge 7 foot hills of piled snow from shoveling and snow blowing we have significant melt down and a clear driveway once again.. 

The hostas which I did not trim back are triumphantly poking their sticks upright.  And one last patch of snirt is off to the right of the back garage door, in the yard.   I think that patch has a personality all its own, a ghostly remains,  as though clinging on for what little time it has left here.  By tomorrow if the melt has continued it will likely have vanished.

But later today it was still there, this I know

Snirt creature,  fading 

because  I  when I reached for the tablet today I  was missing my stylus which I prefer to use. Well where could it be?  I looked all around on the carpet and then began to think, oh it's in the house somewhere because I  showed Jerry the pictures when I came in and I  used it.  So I thought, so I was sure. I searched my jacket pockets, I looked all along the kitchen counter, the upstairs desk.  No stylus.  What to do but evoke mny loyal patron St. Anthony who always finds what I have misplaced, I have called on Tony all my life.  I mentioned to Jerry that I was missing the stylus but that it had to be here somewhere, I'd used it to show him the photos.  He suggested I retrace my steps outside. Nonsense, I had it with me.  But finally I  pulled on my jacket and shoes and walked out the back, past this same snirt creature and headed toward the middle of the driveway.  

Side of house driveway from motor home shop to the street

And what did I see as I walked along toward the driveway slowly retracing my steps from yesterday>  The stylus!  Thank you St. Anthony!  But, how in the world could it be?  I was so sure I had it with me when I went in yesterday;  I was positive I had used it.  Another lesson in maybe I should not always be so vehemently sure about what I have done because there it was, it had spent the night out in the cold but none the worse.  All Jerry said when I returned with the stylus in my hand, "wasn't that a good thing you listened to me.."  I prefer to thank Tony and  the snirt creature which must have wanted to see me yet another day.