Getting Adjusted

 I noted last week how this is a new chapter, and as the dust begins to settle the chapter is yet still in its opening stages now, so a lot has yet to be determined as things continue to fall into place.  I can say though with confidence that God has guided every step of the way, and although at this point I am tired, wounded, and in need of restoration, I feel it is coming soon enough.  That leads to a recap of the week and a couple of observations.  I attempted to write this earlier but am convinced the "prince of the power of the air" is a demonic entity that screws with cyberspace, especially when many important things need to be said.  So, we will try this again.

As of tomorrow, it will be a week since I moved into this new place in downtown Baltimore, and it has been interesting.  I have two decent roommates for one thing.  One is a fairly smart and courteous young Mexican-American man from California named James (my new landlord Andy kept calling him "Jason" for some reason, but luckily I got his real name).  James is a student at a local college, and he also earns his living expenses as a part-time worker at Fedex.  He and I have had some interesting talks since he thinks largely along the same lines I do.  The other guy, Joel, is a middle-aged stonemason who originally is from New York.  Joel is a bit, well, free-spirited - he does indulge in the "devil's lettuce" a little (thankfully he is discreet about it and I never smell or notice it), and he is a bit more blue-collar and gritty.  And, he has an adorable little dog named Carlo who loves everybody.  The guys are good roommates, and we all sort of live our own lives with friendly but infrequent conversation.  That can get a bit lonesome for me at times, as I am used to Barbara and she and I were a lot closer - even being divorced we are like brother and sister, and I do have days I miss her a lot.  Right now, she lives in a place she shares with five other guys in Rockville, and she too has some loneliness too.  So, we still talk to each other and try to get together as much as we can.  I am not planning on staying in this neighborhood for a long time - it is mainly to get acclimated to my new position as teacher at Christo Rey School, and then I plan on moving closer to the school, such as maybe Fells Point or Dundalk, as to be honest I am a bit uneasy about this neighborhood - it is in the heart of Baltimore after all, and it is therefore a place where you have to be vigilant despite the fact this particular neighborhood is pretty quiet.  That leads me into some observations about Baltimore itself.

It has been 50 years since I lived in Baltimore, and at that time (mid-1970s) we lived on the other side of town in the community called Irvington, located roughly between Frederick Highway and Wilkins Avenue.  Back then, our entire family practically lived in that community, although as many of them became financially able they moved to the suburbs.  For decades now (even when I was a kid here in the 1970s) Baltimore has been essentially a majority Black city.  As I ride the buses, I stick out, I will just put it that way.  Many of the Blacks here though are just normal people - many indeed are actually very friendly and helpful, especially when asking for directions to get around downtown and on the transit system.  But, Baltimore is also notorious for violent crime stats as well, but that was true for probably the better of 70 years in all honesty.  It would be easy for people to conclude that there is a connection between the Black demographic and crime statistics, and it would be a plausible conclusion to make, but in all honesty there are evil White people too - the scariest person I encountered here in the past few days, as a matter of fact, was a creepy-looking White guy up on Reisterstown Road when I was up there yesterday to do my fingerprinting for my new position.  With the Blacks in town, they will respect you if you respect them - don't act scared of them, and be courteous and polite to them as they are fellow human beings.  Most of the time, if you do that they will respond in kind, so my policy is to treat Black residents of the city like the human beings they truly are, and not to resort to stereotypes and idiotic rhetoric.  The key to improving race relations is not to give preferential treatment to anyone, but to utilize respect and good manners, and to be yourself without trying to say "Yeah, I have a Black friend" or something stupid like that.  The more one is their true self, the more respect that will earn.

Baltimore has always had a connection to me for some reason.  After all, I lived here as a kid, even going to kindergarten just a couple of miles from where I am sitting at Stuart Hill Academy over on Gilmor Street, and also enjoying the delicious local cuisine at places like Bay Island Seafood and Kibbie's out on Wilkins.  Over the years, I have had so many dreams about being here that there are places in town that give me deja vu moments.  So, was this where I was meant to be?  That is something that I need to ponder more and seek God out on, as it has been nothing short of a miracle that I landed what is practically the dream job with a great salary, and everything fell into place - not without struggle though, as it has been a battle too.  But, I see my faith growing, and thanks to the love and support of good people like my cousin Elvira, my friends Elaine, Fran, and Amy, and two wonderful churches (Fr. Grassi at St. James in Charles Town, and Fr. James at St. Mary's in Hagerstown), as well as a good-hearted former boss (Danny) and the generosity of my present boss (Dr. Mitala, the principal at Christo Rey).  And additionally there is Barbara - we went through a lot of this stuff together, and our combined prayers sustained us through many things.  Then, I even have to credit the former landlord who made us move, Valerie - despite having to follow orders from her evil bosses, Valerie was actually very gracious to us and thanks to her we were able to save Lily, our cat, as well as being able to salvage a great deal of our stuff.  Then there is my current landlord of this place, Andy - Andy is a good man, and as a devout Evangelical Christian he has been very workable with the whole situation of moving here.  I thank God for all these folks and others I may have forgotten to mention, because without them we would have been in a mess.  You learn quickly how to depend on God, and it is a humbling experience for sure. 

In addition to all those dreams about Baltimore though, there were other dreams over the years too - many times I have had dreams of tornadoes and floods, and the odd thing about those dreams was the fact that in many cases the storm or water looked frightening, but it never touched or harmed me.  I remember a particularly intense one a few years back I had about this enormous funnel cloud - the thing must have been 20 miles wide, was as black as tar, and it loomed over the horizon as we drove toward it.  In that particular dream, Granny was still alive, and she, Mom, and I were in a car going to her house, which in the dream was at this intersection and was in a wide-open yard with no trees.  That huge funnel cloud went right past a living room window, but never touched the house!  Talk about shelter in the storm, that was a good image of that.  I also have had dreams of floods coming so close to a doorstep that they practically were within centimeters of touching me, but they just stopped.  It is highly possible that dreams like that do contain some glimpses of the future, and if so, then I am now feeling what that meant in real time.  The same feelings I had in those dreams are feelings I have had the past month with all that I have faced.   Could the dreams have prepared me for this?  I cannot say, and I may even be completely wrong.  Perhaps as I look back on this time in my life later I will see things clearer.  

The week itself has been quite interesting as well.  Last Saturday, Barbara and I were able to retrieve the stuff Valerie set aside for us, and the church was gracious enough to lend us a truck to pick it up.  We have all that safely in storage, and there were surprises in that.  For one, they packed my new alto sax, which I was very happy about.  Also, I got several of my boxed set LPs, some very collectible items, and I even was able to get my Louis Prima collection.  Additionally I got all my family history books and they are now safely in storage.  Overall, that will be a good start once I am able to move to a more stable place and can start the rebuilding process.  

Secondly, I got to visit this beautiful church that is a ten-minute walk away.  SS Philip and James Church is a 130-year-old parish across the street from Johns Hopkins University, and it is perhaps one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in.  It is a Byzantine/Romanesque style church with beautiful Byzantine iconography inside, and it is administered by the Dominican Friars.  It is also a very sound parish theologically, and I felt at home there as it reminded me of Fr. Grassi and St. James in Charles Town in a lot of ways.  For the tenure of my stay at this place, I will probably use that as my home parish too.  It was a blessing to go there for sure.

Third, it has been a busy week overall so far with positives and negatives.  The negative was minor,but it entailed Liberty University.  You see, after I completed and received my Ph.D. a couple of months back, I was contemplating doing a postdoctoral certificate in some kind of educational discipline to help enhance my skills at my new vocation.  However, the one weakness with Liberty is that it is addicted to mass marketing, and they enroll people on a revolving-door basis almost robotically.  They registered me for the Fall semester, and I supposedly got a financial aid package for it.  What they didn't tell me is that because my dissertation defense course, although completed, lasts until the end of the Fall term, I couldn't take anything that did not apply to that degree (which was completed and conferred).  So, that led to a huge issue with them I had to fight on Monday, and I accepted that this was not the time to be going back to school - for one thing, it just isn't practical as so much is going on and I am still trying to get back on course.  Hopefully though, I don't end up with a $500 bill over it though, as that is the last thing I need, so I disputed it.  God has worked everything else out though, and he will this too.

Fourth, yesterday I was able to also get my fingerprints done for my new position as well as updating my ID, which had expired.  For the first time in my life, I got to go on the subway - yes, Baltimore does have a subway!  That was an interesting experience and I really liked it.  I only wish I would have had some money to spend at Lexington Market in downtown Baltimore, as I want to check that out.  Soon though, that will happen too.  I still have to get a replacement Social Security card though, and I may still do that Friday as the subway goes right to the Social Security office.  That gives an idea of how my week has been so far.  I also want to thank my new boss and the principal of my school, Dr. Mitala, for providing the means of getting everything done - he really does have a good heart, and may God bless him for that. 

That gives you more of glimpse of life the past few days for me, and I will continue chronicling my journey as it comes together. I start teaching next week, so things will begin to really come together in the next couple of weeks or so.  Thank you for allowing me to share, and will see you next time.