Posted: April 23

Spring Fever

I can't remember when was the last time that a sunny, warm spring day made it impossible for me to work inside. Yesterday I arrived at the office with all good intentions of finishing the last details of the updated Social Apostolate web site and clearing off emails. Those last details proved hard to resolve; as soon as I fixed one bug, another one appeared. By the time everything was uploaded, I simply could not sit still anymore but had to get outside. So I grabbed my camera and went up on the roof to take photos of the garden in the mid-day light. The flowers and grass look great after all the rain that has drenched Rome, but even one hour of springtime was not enough. I stayed home long enough to go to the final meal to thank the outgoing minister (the Jesuit in charge of all the practical details) and to welcome the incoming one. Then I grabbed my bicycle and set out into traffic. My goal was a bike path that runs along the river, but the only way to get there is to brave Roman traffic. Normally I go out on Sundays when fewer people are about, but a weekday ride is a great opportunity for deepening one's faith in God's immediate protection.

It was a great ride, uneventful but long enough to provide a fresh-air fix. And it comes at the end of a solid two months of desk work, mostly on web pages and our communication technology at the Curia. I go through a cycle: first comes the long trip (like the six weeks in the East Asia assistancy) and then the time at home when it feels so good just to be in one's own bed surrounded by familiar things. And then comes the urge to hit the road. Tomorrow I leave for the States to go to my final board meeting for Company magazine. I have been on the board for nine years, which seems like a very long time; the magazine has been steadily improving and the staff have taken on additional services to the work of the Jesuits in the U.S. so I feel like my time has been well-spent. And a trip to the board meeting will almost certainly be an antidote to spring fever, since it is full of my friends. Plus Marty McHugh, the editor, has promised to cook Mexican food for the Saturday evening dinner. A little variety, that's what we all need.