a.d. elliott - Take the Back Roads

Dear Henry, We had a bunch of hotel and airline points that were about to expire. With the city of Orlando's post-COVID push to bring in tourists, I decided to schedule a trip to the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, for the solemnity of All Saint's Day. I've always felt like any trip that comes together quickly means that it is a trip you are supposed to take, and so, even though I'm still not sure how one "pilgrims" off, I flew to Orlando to check out the shrine. The concept for this basilica began in the early 1970s, after the completion of Disney World and the large influx of tourists that the theme park brought. It was designed by Rogers, Lovelock, and Fritz and is adapted from St. Peter's Basilica floorplan. However, it would take nearly 15 years of fundraising before the ground was broken on August 22, 1990, on the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Completing the 2,000-seat church would take more than two and a half y...

  Dear Henry, I'm currently in the middle of a class on the Holy Spirit by Father Dave Pivonka called The Wild Goose. During the film, Father Pivonka spoke of being on a flight that, because an unruly passenger had locked themselves in the bathroom, had to be re-routed and land so that the passenger could be removed by the police. The plane, then again, had to re-route because it needed to refuel. He used this as an example of how life can get out of control and how, through our faith, we should be able to speak to one another with love and kindness (aka talk with the Holy Spirit), even in bad situations. Immediately, I thought about the worst flight I was ever on, from Hawaii to Dallas, where I was stuck in the back of the plane, in between two big guys and behind another - who was super awesome and laid his seat all of the way back. It was a grueling eight-hour flight, and I was in so much pain that I practically crawled off the plane in Dallas, and despite wearing compression so...

 Dear Henry, Do you remember the song "This Land is Your Land"?   The song always brings back memories of elementary school. One of my teachers was an avid Woody Guthrie fan and would always (with his guitar) play us this song. Still, I knew very little about Woody Guthrie himself until the other day when Fish and I went downtown to see the Woody Guthrie Center. The first part of the tour starts with a short biographical film and then a self-guided biographical walk that details Woody's life. He has a great story. Woody Guthrie ( see his Everyday Patriot biography here ) was an Oklahoma native. He was born in 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma, a small town about an hour southwest of Tulsa and an hour east of Oklahoma City. The land was once Quapaw and Osage ( read a story of the Osage Nation here ) but was relinquished to the US Government in 1825. The government assigned the land to the Muscogee (Creek) people in 1830. The town's land opened up for purchase by people of non-n...