More fauna

While I was visiting Soldiers off Post the other day, and taking photographs of the beautiful wildflowers, I also noticed some interesting critters. (Interesting to me, at least!)

I noticed a small lizard in pursuit of another and paused to watch them. The one bit the other's tail and held on. It then bit farther up the tail and held on. It didn't take long to figure out what was going on. I was pretty far away, so I apologize that the photos are not as sharp as I'd have liked.

Is it possible for a lizard to smile?

Isn't nature beautiful?

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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More flowers

SSG L and I flew up to another post earlier this week (seeing as SPC C is no longer my Chaplain Assistant, since he and the rest of my unit are going home soon). The last time I flew up there, there was still snow on the ground.

As was the case when I was in Iraq, the aviators here seem to like to receive "treats," so I've made it a point to bring M&Ms for the crew members each time I fly. On the trip up to our destination, they seemed especially appreciative that they were peanut M&Ms.

What a difference a few weeks makes!

No snow this time, that's for sure. The hills are still more brown than green, for the most part. I guess the oak trees around here don't leaf out until Spring is fairly far along.

I love this time of the year.

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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Macedonia 05 - Flowers

I just can't help myself!

If there are flowers, I feel I have to photograph them.

Go figure.

Tulips and lilacs, magnolias and wisteria, lilies and horse chestnuts -- they all remind me of my childhood.

Especially the lilacs -- I've not smelled the fragrance of lilacs in a long, long time. They speak to me of spring, and of home.

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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The National Anthem

Over the weekend my Battalion Commander had occasion to hear me singing during "karaoke night," so I dashed off an email to him asking him whether I might be able to sing the National Anthem at the Casing of the Colors ceremony we were going to have, to mark the end of Task Force Mustang's service here in Kosovo.

He wrote back to say that would be great, but that we weren't going to have a Color Guard, and that it would just present too many problems to have me sing the National Anthem.

Fine by me, but I thought I'd ask.

Ever since I joined the Army it's been difficult to stand at attention (or at "Present Arms") while a recording of The Star Spangled Banner is being played, and not sing along. It's just not done, I guess.

So Monday afternoon I showed up for the rehearsal, at which point the Commander said to me, "Are you ready to sing the National Anthem?"

I thought I was hearing things.

"But Sir, just yesterday you told me I *wasn't* going to sing it."

"Well, I've changed my mind. I'm the Commander. I can do that. You *do* know it, don't you?"

So I sang the National Anthem, a cappella, in front of my Troops, as they all stood at "Present Arms" outside the Post theater.

One of the Soldiers, whom I don't know all that well, came up to me afterward and said, "Sir, I've never felt so much pride during the National Anthem as I did today. Thank you."

Who knew?

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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Macedonia 04 - Father Srećko

SPC C, Mr Z, and I visited the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Skopje, Macedonia not long ago, and while we were there, we met a Jesuit priest who happened to be helping out there for a short time. Father Srećko was born in Croatia, and joined the Croatian Province of the Jesuits shortly after the end of World War II.

He spent many years working in the former Yugoslavia, at a time when being Catholic -- and especially being a Jesuit -- was looked upon in a kindly fashion.

Next to him, even *I* looked tall!

His smile was infectious, and he was gracious and warm in his greeting of us and the time he spent with us. He invited us to visit his community, somewhat farther south in Macedonia, though I'm not sure it's going to be possible to make that happen before I leave here.

It would be great to try, however!

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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Macedonia 03 - Roman Catholic Cathedral

Mr Z took SPC C and me to visit the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Skopje not long ago. The old cathedral had been destroyed in the 1963 Skopje earthquake, and a decision was made to build the new cathedral on another site. Like the Orthodox churches I've seen in this part of the world, the Catholic Cathedral has a very large, free-standing bellfry.

The interior of the building is suffused with light from the many windows, and the high ceiling and scooped roof communicate a sense of upward motion.

I'd have loved to have heard the organ, which has a nice case (but who knows if it's even used?). Unlike the Orthodox houses of worship, the Catholic churches in the Balkans all have pews, so that's one way to distinguish who's who in these parts, if there were ever a question.

One can see echoes of the dominant Orthodox influence even here in the Catholic Cathedral, in terms of the icons of Jesus and Mary which front the lecterns in the sanctuary. Very lovely, actually. I'm particularly fond on icons.

The Blessed Sacrament is reserved to one side of the nave at the front of the worship space.

A small chapel off to one side of the building serves as the place where daily Mass is celebrated. The very helpful nun who showed us around demurred when I asked her whether I could take her picture, so alas! I have no photograph of her.

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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Warrior Transitions

The New York Times recently published an article which slams the care being provided to wounded Warriors at Fort Carson in Colorado. Yesterday the Army Times published a somewhat different take on the situation.

I've spoken with an Army friend of mine, a physician who's familiar with Warrior Transition Units, but not affiliated with the one at Fort Carson. He told me that addiction of one sort or another often seems to beset wounded personnel, and he opined that perhaps addiction -- unrecognized and therefore untreated -- might play a significant factor in problems associated with situations similar to those described in the media.

Addiction becomes especially problematic if military personnel don't take medication as prescribed, but instead sell or barter it.

I've long wondered what might happen if the Cadre involved in Warrior Transition Units were themselves recovering addicts, active in the kinds of 12-Step programs that so many of my friends participate in. My hunch is that NCOs with longer-term sobriety (let's say, five years or more, for example) would be able to maintain good order and discipline much more effectively than non-12-Step personnel.

At least according to so many of my friends who go to a lot of those meetings, people in 12-Step programs can usually tell when another addict is trying to snow them.  They have a rather colorful turn-of-phrase to describe that phenomenon, but I'm afraid it's just not printable here.

I'd be willing to be that if there were some way for the Army to assemble a platoon-sized element of NCOs to staff one patient cohort of a Warrior Transition Unit -- without advertising that's what they were doing -- and then compare over time the medical and psychosocial outcomes of the patients involved with those from other WTUs, the former group would fare far better than the latter.

In any event, whatever else goes on, I pray that those who need care will receive care that addresses all their needs, effectively.

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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Macedonia 02 - Mother Teresa

When SPC C and I visited Skopje recently, we went to the site of the house where Mother Teresa had been born. All that's left is a plaque on the ground where the family home once stood. The area now is a big shopping mall and plaza.

On the site where the Roman Catholic Cathedral had stood, until it was destroyed in the 1963 Skopje earthquake (Скопски земјотрес), stands the Mother Teresa Museum. It's an interesting place that just opened a few months before we arrived in Kosovo. It's actually not very far from where Mother Teresa's parents lived when she was born.

There's a large statue of Mother Teresa on the plaza just outside the new museum. Because this location is adjacent to a large pedestrian mall, and just a short walk from the downtown shopping mall (where her birthplace is located), I suspect lots of folks walk by it every day. Great spot for something like this, that's for sure!

The building was designed by some civic association committee, and looks a bit as though that's the case. But despite that, the building houses an interesting collection of Mother Teresa memorabilia, including a small to-scale reproduction of what Mother Teresa's house looked like before it was razed.

On the top floor of the structure is a wonderful, light-filled chapel. The glass and aluminum building materials used in the construction of the chapel, coupled with its very high ceiling, give the illusion that the space is much larger than it really is.

Mass is celebrated twice daily in the chapel, as well as at other times on special occasions.

The skylight in the roof is rather strange, but fits in well with the rest of the space. I was fascinated by the wood carving which adorns the front of the altar.

The actual museum part of the building is set up to reflect the interior of a typical Macedonian home at the time of Mother Teresa's birth. While the pieces of furniture on display are not from her family, they are contemporary to that period and place.

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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