Our Hearts Are Restless

Yesterday morning, October 29, we were surprised here in Virginia by an unexpected snowfall.  Rumours had been bandied about that snow was coming, but all expected it to be just a flurry or, at most, a light dusting on the ground.  When I woke up that morning, though, there was a quarter-inch of snow on the ground.  By 8 a.m., there were four inches at least.  It was a wet snow, perfect for packing…and snowballs…and on a campus full of 450 young adults, what do you think will happen? Half of the campus woke up for 7:30 Mass and the trip of prayer to the abortion clinic that was planned afterwards.  However, the weather forced the Shield of Roses committee to cancel the trip.  So, after about a half-hour of prayer in Christ the King Chapel, we began a massive snowball fight! This was not just any snowball fight.  We had up to at least twenty people at one point!  It quickly turned into girls versus boys, of course.  I must commemorate the male army on their ability to organize, a skill ...

This month's poem is a suggestion by a good friend of mine here, rather a foreshadowing of All Hallow's Eve at the end of the month.  The poem rather reminds me of Aragorn's calling of the Dead Army in the Lord of the Rings! Since midterms are coming up this week, I won't be posting again until break, when I hope to post on Spirit Week and homecoming! THE LISTENERS by Walter de la Mare 'IS there anybody there?' said the Traveller, Knocking on the moonlit door; And his horse in the silence champ'd the grasses Of the forest's ferny floor: And a bird flew up out of the turret, Above the Traveller's head: And he smote upon the door again a second time; 'Is there anybody there?' he said. But no one descended to the Traveller; No head from the leaf-fringed sill Lean'd over and look'd into his grey eyes, Where he stood perplex'd and still. But only a host of phantom listeners That dwelt in the lone house then Stood listening in the quiet...

Leaves are just beginning to turn here, although we've had so much rain I hope they will not just be brown and ugly.  I plan on convincing my roommate, who being from a south-western state has never seen autumn's colors in real life, to take a drive in Shenandoah National Park when the leaves are at their peak beauty. It felt like October earlier this week, with temperatures in the mid-50's to low 60's, but now it has warmed up again.  To celebrate this month, the college hosted its annual Oktoberfest, celebrating the German culture with food and music, and of course, a dance.  This is Christendom, after all! The first original Oktoberfest was a celebration in Munich of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig, later King Ludwig I, to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810.  Christendom has been hosting its own Oktoberfest for over 30 years.  I particularly enjoyed this evening since I have a substantial amount of German and Swiss-German blood in my vei...