All's fair...

If you know the rest of that quote, then you'll appreciate this. I spent yesterday cruising around Sydney Harbor on the 47' yacht Love and War. She is one of only two vessels to ever win the annual Sydney to Hobart (Tasmania) yacht race three times. She did this in '74, '78 and '06. A gap of nearly 30 years is pretty much unheard of in the world of yacht racing due to technology advances, etc. and she did so because of the handicapping system used so that older vessels can compete. Not only that but the winning skipper of the '06 crew was our skipper yesterday. He was a delightful person whose whole goal in going out with us was to: a) Show a bunch of people unfamiliar with sailing what a delight and wonder it is, and b) to meet and have a day with a bunch of Jesuits from all over the world. And he thought he was getting the better end of the deal. Silly rabbit.

At any rate, we sailed up and around the Opera House, the Harbor Bridge, and all these other famous Sydney landmarks and I had a chance to see them in a way that few tourists ever do, from the water. Initially I was a little skeptical about 15 of us out on the boat; thought it might be a bit cramped. But it was an absolutely GORGEOUS Autumn day here in the Southern Hemisphere, just a touch light on breeze, the sailors tell me. Not that I would know. We puttered along at a leisurely pace, 'cheating' and using the motor for the parts of the day that we had no wind. It was marvelous.

A HUGE thank-you to the family who owns Love and War who were our hosts. There were absolutely spectacular. They are related to a deceased Jesuit here and bent over backwards to make sure we had a good time and were spectacular hosts.

So here I am again, posting another post that is designed to make you jealous. I find it hard to express how wonderful this year is for me. I have great classmates. I have had wonderful spiritual experiences. I have been made more welcome in Australia than words can communicate. I don't use terms like 'blessed' often to describe myself or my life. Maybe I should more often. Maybe that's what God is trying to show me is how fortunate I am and how much He cares for me by just keeping a stream of wonderful people and places flowing in my direction. I don't know. Every time I post something like this, I think, "Well, it can't last. It can't possibly keep getting better, can it?" Yet it does. God is good.


The Opera House from the water. Gives you an idea of how beautiful the day was.


The Harbor Bridge, the Opera House and Adrian K., a German Tertian.


The Sydney skyline and the Royal Australian Navy on display.