{"id":275,"date":"2008-01-22T21:56:23","date_gmt":"2008-01-23T02:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/?p=275"},"modified":"2008-01-24T06:39:06","modified_gmt":"2008-01-24T11:39:06","slug":"read-between-the-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/?p=275","title":{"rendered":"Read Between the Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Small<\/a>January 22, 2008
\nTuesday<\/strong><\/p>\n

This site gets a steady stream of fifty or so visitors a day, even when I don’t post anything new for several days in a row.\u00c2\u00a0Over the last\u00c2\u00a0forty-eight hours\u00c2\u00a0I noticed increased\u00c2\u00a0traffic to There Is Still A Light That Shines On Me,<\/a> the piece I wrote just about a year ago about the discussions concerning the future of Bishop McDevitt High School. What, I wondered, was leading people to seek this particular essay out?<\/p>\n

The answer came in this morning’s paper. “Officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg have narrowed the site options for a new Bishop McDevitt High School to three, but they’re not saying where those sites are. One diocesan official also said renovating the existing school, which has been a fixture on Market Street since the 1930s, is still being considered.”<\/p>\n

Uh-huh. Sure it is.<\/p>\n

The bishop said it is “too early in the process to reveal the sensitive information,” but the decision could be made within two months.<\/p>\n

Readers of this space know I am in a bit of a funk right now. I’ve been sick for twelve solid days, I can’t get interested in my writing, and I’m pessimistic and irritable. I am right on the edge of depression, that state in which I don’t\u00c2\u00a0know the meaning of life and feel overwhelmed by the futility of existence.<\/p>\n

Last year I said that I thought the bishop’s ambiguous announcement put us one step closer to closing the facility I love so much and where I spent so many happy days, and building elsewhere. The church of my early childhood has already secured a tract for a new building, something I thought about when I visited the familiar place on New Year’s Day to see, maybe for the last time, the camel I used to ride<\/a>. (The “Future Site of . .. ” sign has been up for nearly a year. There was a backhoe on the property a few weeks ago and I haven’t had the heart to drive by since then.)<\/p>\n

Last year I said, “I feel resigned, accepting, confident that the bishop will make the decision that is the right one, even if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the one I want.” I am less sanguine today. It’s a pull-the-covers-over-your-head-and-hide-from-reality day, that’s for sure.<\/p>\n

Love it? Hate it? Just want to say Hi? Leave a comment, or e-mail me:
\nmargaretdeangelis [at] gmail [dot] com (replace the brackets with @ and a period)<\/em><\/p>\n