Day 65, Tuesday, April 29, Return Home

Regrettably, I must now add one more ship to this list. The MS Amsterdam is at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas The Crystal Symphony is in Shimzu, Japan. The Crystal Serenity is in Livorno, Italy.

We have continued to play cat and mouse with our schedule. I woke about 6 and we were on time, but we were back 20 minutes late by the next stop. The issue was signal problems, it was too foggy to see the rising sun but that did not delay us.

At breakfast I dined across the aisle from a couple who had cruised out of Miami, the Silver Star is quite well timed for returning cruisers. We continued across the Carolinas and Virginia, while we were under way I accomplished a lot on my compilation of views of Amsterdam limited view cabins. The final meal for a while not my responsibility was a nice lunch burger, and soom we’ll cross the Potomac and ready for the final brief leg. I stepped off the train in Richmond, and it’s clear we’re not in Florida any more. I had packed my sports coat while waiting in Ft. Lauderdale, but will want it for the final transfer.

Richmond was the last stop where the Silver Star picks up new passengers, and from there on the train goes as fast as possible, even if ahead of schedule. We were just about on time in Washington where we switched locomotives to electric power. We had a few minutes to stretch there but it was raining quite hard and I stepped off only briefly. We arrived in Baltimore at 3:55, about 20 minutes early, with a drizzle as I entered the station. The Airport Shuttle was waiting at the door, and I was home about 4:30.

Extended trips are wonderful, but there sure is a price to pay on return. I
I’ve spent about an hour just sorting accumulated mail to 2 large batches of junk and another 6 inches of stuff I really need to look at, that will keep me busy for a while.

Roy

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Day 64, Monday, April 28, Disembark Amsterdam, Board Silver Star

The Crystal Symphony is in Kobe, Japan. The Crystal Serenity is in LaSpezia, Italy.
I set a wakeup call for 5 but actually awoke at 4:45 with lights far closer to the ship than I expected. When I got out on deck 15 minutes later the condos at the entrance to the port were behind us. I walked 7 laps (2 miles) and the lines went out about lap 4. I finished my walk about 5:50 and returned to my room to make some final online checks. The sun came up an hour later, largely hidden in a few low-lying clouds, but the colors immediately before sunrise were beautiful. The Coral Princess arrived in port about an hour after us.

My tag was Blue 3 with an estimated time off of 9:15-9:45. Some things about disembarkation went well and others not so great. A nice thing is that we do not have a deadline to be out of our rooms. What I would like to see improved is the information process. Numbers are called when it’s your turn but it would be nice to know what the different tags are and the order they will be called. As it is, all we know is pretty much “not yet” until it is actually your turn. Mine came at 10:15. I was quite lucky not to have a problem leaving the ship. I had been wearing an old shirt that isn’t coming home with me, and left it in the trash about 9:30 when I went to the Queens Lounge to await my final call. About 10 I realized that I did not have my room key. With a quick trip back to my room it was still in that shirt pocket. As we left the ship Hotel Director Henk and Cruise Director Gene were at the gangway with “thanks” and “farewell”.

The terminal was a bit chaotic. Most luggage colors were marked by signs but blue was not. There also didn’t seem to be much order to the numbers, once I found the blues, the 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s were not very well defined. I walked around for quite a while before locating my second bag. Customs and immigration, which I had feared, was a breeze. When I walked up to the line, every agent was busy but nobody was ahead of me in the queue. I was at the curb in about 5 minutes. It was about a 15-minute ride to Amtrak’s Fort Lauderdale station. The service there was a little less than I was hoping for, apparently with just one agent. My luggage is now sitting on a cart, and will not be checked until the final hour before the train leaves. I had hoped to check my bags and head out to McDonalds for wifi, so I’m glad to have been online before leaving the ship.

My train arrived on time and I was soon settled into my cozy home for the next 24 hours. It wasn’t long before I was in the diner for lunch, at a table shared with a couple from the Amsterdam who had done the full world cruise. The journey through Florida brought back memories, having spent many Christmases in Central Florida with my parents, first in Lakeland (the drive-in theater across the street from their mobile home park still appears to be open) and in Kissimmee, where my mom spent her final 10 years. Some things have changed, but it’s still very familiar.

The sun went down as we approached Orlando, and a steak dinner soon followed. We played cat and mouse with the schedule. When I called it a night about 10 we were about 20 minutes behind.

As a parting shot, I’m sure many things have changed while I’ve been gone, but some things are stubbornly stable. I was back on the Crystal Symphony when Flight 370 went down, and not too far from the crash site. Since then I’ve been halfway around the world by ship with many stops, but there still is no trace of the missing plane. May the families of the victims soon get some answers.

Roy

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Day 63, Sunday, April 27, At Sea, MS Amsterdam

The Crystal Symphony is in Kobe, Japan. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Monaco to LaSpezia, Italy.

My final full length walk was uneventful under pleasant conditions and partly cloudy skies. While the major activity of the day was packing (some bags were even in the hallway Saturday), there was a busy program.

Protestant worship at 8 in the Queens Room was well attended. It was my turn to read the scripture (Beatitudes). At 9:30 Hotel Director Henk Mensink was Gene’s guest on Good Morning Amsterdam, followed by a Paul Goltz lecture on Che Guevera. At his midday update Captain Mercer indicated we would pick up the pilot at 4:45 AM, and would berth at Pier 26, where the World Cruise had begun many months ago.

The final redemption of Grand Dollars came after lunch (my 10 were just enough for a lanyard), and Jill Eyers closed out the enrichment series with a talk on fossils. Despite it’s weaknesses, I still haven’t gone through all my internet time (about 2 hours left), but also am still unable to log into Cruise Critic, either from my laptop or the ship’s computers. That gets frustrating after a while.

All 10 of us were present at table 311 for the closing dinner; I and several others enjoyed the Chateaubriand. At the end we had a crew parade and they sang us a farewell song. There was a single show of the orchestra in “Take 5″, mostly jazz and mostly solos by band members but also including a number where they demonstrated playing a number on portable devices from a keyboard on a laptop screen to a phone sized device. As I left the Queens Room the last glow of dusk was hanging over the bow.

Today’s parting shot covers the world of unintended consequences, usually presumed to be a bad thing. I really never intended to take this last voyage, but backed into it when I found myself looking for a way home from Cape Town. This is actually the longest time I’ve yet spent on a single ship at once (a brief record to be broken at least twice in the near future), and I think the longest I’ve yet been away at once. As long as it’s been, I can’t believe how quickly the end is coming. I would have to call this a very good unintended consequence.

I do plan to report on the trip home but will not have internet access on the train, so the conclusion should come after the fact.

Roy

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Day 62, Saturday, April 26, At Sea, MS Amsterdam

The Crystal Symphony is in Nagasaki, Japan. The Crystal Serenity is in Monaco.

Normally, when On Deck for a Cause is held I would walk just 3 miles in the morning and 3 more at the event. Today’s event overlapped the Protestant devotions, so I walked my full 5 miles in the morning and an additional 3 laps after devotions. I did my final laundry today, finishing the walk and the laundry just after 7.

The walk (or what I saw of it) was pretty dead and sparsely attended, likely because there had been several others since the World Cruise started. I saw only a handful of walkers on deck and there were refreshments in the Atrium afterwards. I saw very few takers although I was only there a few minutes. A new lecturer (apparently a one and done), Dr. Keith Nurse, spoke on “Caribbean Carnivals”, with an emphasis on Trinidad. When I left the lecture the “Cause” refreshment table was being taken down.

Tom Goltz had a program at 2PM on the Spanish American War. Most of the rest of the day was devoted to packing, and one other action that may not be quite right. I normally spend Christmas with my family in Central Florida, and the Ryndam has a New Years cruise out of Tampa that fits with that and also gets me back home before my volunteer responsibilities resume in January. When my booking came back, it was for Christmas week. I went back to the Future Cruise person and it will hopefully be straightened out.

At a closing cocktail party in the Queens Lounge there were a number of tributes and speeches including a recap of the ports by Barbara and a comedy sequence where most of the senior staff received pies in the face, except for the shore excursion manager who was accosted with about a dozen stickers. There was a “Chef’s Dinner”, but without the usual round of introductions, just a dignified meal. The evening entertainment was comedienne Rita Rudner. She was pretty good. The Piano Bar was a bit sad as it was an evening of farewell songs.

Today’s parting shot has another local ring. I see in the news digest Michael Phelps has gotten off to a good start in his quest to return to competition. Despite some youthful indiscretions, Phelps has been a tremendous asset to Maryland. Best wishes for another great Olympics, Michael.

Roy

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Day 61, Friday, April 25, Phillipsburg, St. Maarten

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Lisbon, Portugal.

As I rose and started my walk we were still some distance from St. Maarten but there were other islands within view. There were clouds around the horizon but enough breaks that the sun mad it’s presence known without actually coming directly out. We pulled into St. Maarten about 7:40, the only ship in town on a very big dock. This is my 3rd visit here after the Crystal Symphony in 2002 and the Celebrity Summit in 2012.

I had a morning tour booked called See and Sea. We drove around the harbor to the French side and had about 45 minutes of free time at the picturesque harbor of Marigot, before continuing North for the Sea portion of the tour. We stepped aboard a small semi-submersible boat and went about a half mile out into the clear water to a coral field. The sightseeing portion of the tour took us down to a compartment perhaps 6 feet below the surface with glass sides. A diver swam around the boat with food and swarms of colorful fish came swimming by, with an assortment of colorful coral just below us. After a few minutes we continued to an area with a grassy bottom where large sea turtles were hanging out. I saw several but between the swimming turtles and moving boat found them quite hard to photograph. Our boat tour was probably 15 minutes each way in transit and about 20-30 minutes in the lower compartment. Our return trip took us around the eastern side of the island and finally back to the ship around 11AM.

We had the Mariner awards ceremony a few days ago. All the milestone recipients were called up individually for photos with the Captain and Hotel Director except for those at the 100 day level (about 200 of us). I had understood that the medallion recipients (mine was copper) would be presented those photos but nobody took down our names as we lined up for the photos. When I returned from the tour my photo was lying on my bed. A nice little touch.

When I returned the internet was also not working. I had been contemplating a walk into Phillipsburg (about a mile each way), and that was taken as a sign that I should do so. I spent about an hour at the internet café and had lunch, returning to the Amsterdam for the last time about 2PM.

The final sailaway of the World Cruise was an elaborate affair with free drinks around a very crowded Lido pool with the Casa Blanca Steel Orchestra providing the music. We slipped away from the pier for our final 2 days at sea about 4:45.

All but one of us from table 311 were present for a pirate themed dinner. The evening entertainment was one of my favorites, Shirley Dominguez at the harp. While harp music is generally pretty bland Dominguez is anything but. I was hoping she would play Mama Mia which did not happen, but Zorba the Greek was fantastic.

As today’s parting shot, I see a couple of little news summaries but there’s a lot I don’t see. In particular, I often see baseball scores but rarely standings. It’s seemed like most days when I see the scores the Orioles are losing. I finally saw some standings today in the Canadian news summary. While the O’s are in fact in last place I was pleased to see they are now above 500. May the Orioles keep their heads above water and go on to a winning season.

Roy

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Day 60, Thursday, April 24, Rousseau, Dominica

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Gibralter.

It was another cloudy morning which ended up giving way to a sunny day. The sun “rose” on my morning walk, but only a through a pinhole sized opening in the clouds. As we approached Dominica, the mountains were silhouettes through a light mist or fog. This is my first visit to Dominica, and we pulled up to a dock which did not appear to be in much of a protected harbor.

I had a very basic tour today, a “train” tour of the city. As we were leaving the pier and getting into the town our guide explained that Dominica is 16 miles long, 9 wide, and 305 square miles with a population of 69,000. On our way out we passed monuments to independence and heroes of the world wars. We made a stop at the botanical garden where we saw huge bamboo groves, fishtail palms, and a few parrots, and were given drinks (fruit juice or rum punch). On our way out of the Botanical Gardens we got a look at nature’s destruction, passing a school bus absolutely crushed by a tree falling in a hurricane.

We crossed the Roseau river which our guide claimed was very clean and clear and had fresh water shellfish, and made a visit to the cathedral, apparently a temporary one as the primary one is undergoing restoration. All of this was within about a half mile of the ship and we returned around 10AM.

I took a couple of walks around the city. While it is small and compact it is not great for walking, with lots of parking on what should be sidewalks, and hazardous drainage channels everywhere. At one time I crossed a crosswalk which ended with a 2 foot drop to the sidewalk. It was very much a matter of watching where we walk. The main sights on the walk were the Anglican and Methodist churches and the Cathedral within about a block of each other. The main find was the Roseau library which had wifi. I found the sign quite confusing as it said free but listed prices.

I went back after lunch and found the wifi free and very high quality. After much confusion I think the prices on the sign were for using the library’s computers and the wifi actually was free. My final return to the ship was about 3PM.

Sailaway was set for 5PM but at that time the gangway was still in place. A short time later an ambulance pulled up and one passenger was taken away. A very sad ending to somebody’s cruise. Our lines all came in at 5:15 and we were just making our way out of the harbor as my 5:30 dinner time came.

There was an entertainment double bill this evening. The Amsterdam singers put on a show at 7. They have had only one regular show this cruise but have done a couple of sessions in bars. In these sessions (and most of tonight’s show) they had solos one by one, but tonight there were also several songs where they interacted as a group. Tonight’s show, and especially those numbers were superb. The other show was the Casablanca Steel Orchestra. Between shows I went briefly back to my room and got a peek at Friday’s “On Location”. The show then is one of my favorite entertainers and I decided that unless Casablanca was great I would catch up on other things. I stayed for about 2 plus numbers and they were ok but not really my cup of tea.

As today’s parting shot the reports are fairly sketchy but it looks like this year’s Boston Marathon was a huge success. Congratulations to Meb Keflezighi and to the organizers of the event. Boston, after last year you deserve a success and it looks like it was a great one.

Roy

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Day 59, Wednesday, April 23, Bridgetown, Barbados Castries, St. Lucia

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Lisbon, Portugal.

It was quite a cloudy morning as we approached St. Lucia but on my walk I was treated to a lovely profile of the Pitons, 2 prominent volcano cones on the South end of St. Lucia in the day’s first light. There was not a real sunrise, but the obscured sun produced some lovely colors by the Piton summit as it bounced between the clouds. Captain Mercer seems to favor docking with the bow pointed in the direction of departure. We did not do that today and simply pulled up to the dock facing the dead end of the harbor.

This was my third visit to St. Lucia, all within the last 18 months. I was here on the Celebrity Summit in December 2012, and on the Prinsendam this past December. I hadn’t realized it but St. Lucia experienced severe floods soon after my last visit (Christmas Eve) with about 170 inches (4 meters) of rain in one day. Several were killed and there was a lot of damage.

My tours here have all been South of Castries, and today I picked a basic 3-hour tour, Island Splendor Drive. We spent most of our time along roads I traveled last time, this time looking more intensely at areas I passed through last time on my way to the Pitons.

We passed through the town of Castries, with a huge 400-year-old tree gracing the town square. Soon after leaving town we stopped at St. Marks, an old colonial home, where the family still resides on the upper levels. We toured the ground floor rooms and were given a drink and snack on the porch. The home had a great view of the harbor and we could see that one of the starboard tenders was in the water, likely the reason for our docking position.

About 20 minutes later we stopped at Eudovic’s Art Studio, where several artisans explained their techniques and the woods they used for carving, and then spent a few minutes in the gallery. I don’t think anyone bought anything, likely a reflection on people considering the impending journey home.

The one stop that was a repeat from my previous visit was Marigot Bay, at a bluff overlooking a lovely cove and seaside village. On the way to the southern end of our journey we pulled to the side of the road at a banana plantation where we saw large bunches of bananas in blue bags in the final stages of ripening. Each bag had a color coded streamer at the bottom, with the streamers replaced with different colors on a regular basis to keep track of the curing time on the vine.

I passed quickly through Anse La Raye, a small fishing village last year and this was our southernmost stop. There were small colorful houses and a pier going a bit into the harbor. There were a few shops and snack bars along the quiet shoreside and streets. On the way back we had only a brief photo stop at an overlook where a lovely arch dropped to the water.

Returning to the ship about 11:30 there was time for a walk into town. There are 2 cruise terminals in Castries. The one most used (I’ve been there all 3 times) is a bit isolated but has a large complex of shops. The second is near the center of town but is rarely used. Our dock is about .4 miles from town but it’s twice that walking around the harbor. The town has some nice sights but unfortunately I forgot to bring along my camera.

I returned to the ship about 3. The port has quite good wifi, with a $5 charge for the day, and I spent about an hour on line. All aboard was 4:30, but everyone was ready a little early. By our sailaway time of 5PM we had swivelled perpendicular to the pier on our way out. At sailaway there was a steel drum seranade on the aft lido deck.

There were 5 of us present for dinner, and Marty Henne had a second show, “Songs you Know written by people you don’t”.

Today’s parting shot comes from the raconteur side of Marty Henne. He was talking about one liners, and unexpected sources of humor. Before Nixon’s visit to China, Henry Kissinger went there to make preparations. He and China’s premier hit it off, both history buffs, and they would try scenarios about “what if” something had been different. Asked “What if Kruschev had been shot instead of Kennedy, what would happened”. Kissinger’s reply: “Well I know one thing, Onassis would not have married Madame Kruschev”

Roy

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Day 58, Tuesday, April 22, At Sea, MS Amsterdam Bridgetown, Barbados

The Crystal Symphony is in Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from LeVerdon, France to Lisbon, Portugal.

It was the clearest morning we have seen for some time, and although the day was starting to brighten as I went up to the Lido for coffee about 5:20, the moon was quite prominent overhead. By the end of my 1 ½ miles (6 laps) walk we the south end of Barbados was looming on our port side. We picked up our pilot about 7 and lines went out 35 minutes later. The winter season is winding down and it appears we will be the only ship in port for all of our Caribbean calls.

Although my tour didn’t leave until 9:45 I headed ashore as soon as the ship was cleared, about 8:10. Barbados claims free wifi, my experience was a bit mixed. I took a bench soon after entering the terminal and found the service very slow (1/4 as fast as on the ship) and the signal dropped about once a minute. Giving up I enquired at the information desk about wifi in town and he suggested going to the outside benches where the tours left. I found the signal there reliable and pretty quick, but found the reliability seriously degraded in the afternoon with more people on it.

Barbados is unusual among Caribbean islands as the product of shifting continental plates rather than volcanic activity. The rocks are mostly sedimentary with a lot of limestone, and my tour was to Harrison Caves. Named for Thomas Harrison, who owned the land on which they sit in the 18th century, the caves were opened for tours in 1981 and modernized in 2007. They are accessed by a tram system through mostly artificial tunnels dug for easy access. The caves are near the center of the island and about a 40-minute ride from the port.

After viewing a video we boarded the trams for a 40-minute tour of the caves. We mostly stayed in the trams but had a couple of stops where we could get out and move closer for pictures. The caves were interesting but not a lot different from other similar caves. On the way back we got some views of the east side of the island and some of the areas where sugar, bananas, and flowers are grown along with livestock. Barbados has a special species of sheep with no wool, an adaption to the warm climate. We returned to the ship about 1.

The heart of Bridgetown is about a mile east of the port along a seaside walkway. I took a walk in and looked around a bit, viewing markets, a small waterway that appeared to be a river (our guide said there were no rivers), and an arch celebrating Barbados’ independence. I returned to the port about 3:30, spending some time online before returning to the Amsterdam.

All aboard was 5:30 but Captain Jonathan came on a little before that indicating we were ready to leave. He said we would pass the Pitons in St. Lucia around sunrise tomorrow morning. We actually pulled away from the pier about 5:50.

With sailaway later than our 5:30 dinner time I opted for the Canaletto Italian Restaurant. I enjoyed the food although I don’t think the new menu setup with a number of “plates” works well for solos. A bigger concern was there was a table of about 6 right behind me and they were quite loud. I think they would have drowned out the HALcats, and the other section with the 3-year-old girl would have been more peaceful. I was quite happy to leave Canaletto.

The evening entertainment was the finals of this segment’s “Dancing With the Stars” competition:

1: Heidi:Fox Trot:29+15
2: Ellen:Tango:30+10
3: Annie:ChaCha:29+5
4: Tiana:Fox Trot:27
5: Norm:ChaCha:25
6: Asheel:Tango:24

Unfortunately, I thought Gene was entirely too long winded and what should have been a 45-minute action packed celebration of the contestants became a 65-minute marathon I almost walked out on several times.

Today’s parting shot: Congratulations to Heidi, and to all the contestants.

Roy

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Day 57, Monday, April 21, At Sea, MS Amsterdam

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Dalian to Shanghai, China. The Crystal Serenity is in LeVerdon, France.

After rising a little before 5, my walk was delayed as I had my first success in nearly a week logging into Cruise Critic and spent about a half hour online. It was a clear morning but I did not quite make it for sunrise between the time zone change and my delayed start. I finished my walk about 7:30.

This was a bit of a departure from the normal rhythm of sea days with neither of the regular lecturers presenting. After morning devotions Gene interviewed Marty Henne on Good Morning Amsterdam and Barbara gave her talk on our final 2 ports, Dominica and St. Maarten at 10. There was a Mongolian cookout on the Lido Deck but today was the day for Mariners Brunch for the 3-star and under mariners. I shared a table with 2 other segmenters and 3 people on the full World Cruise who had limited HAL experience. I had the berry soup and beef tenderloin.

In the afternoon there was a souvenir market in the Atrium but the main event was the Passenger Talent Show in the Queens Lounge. There were 14 acts of various quality, and 3 official numbers by the Guest Choir, followed by Happy Birthday for cruise Director Gene.

The evening entertainment was the Action Comedy of Michael James. He did some juggling, but mostly tricks on a unicycle (including carrying a lady on his back), and on a freestanding ladder (juggling knives on the ladder). Debby Bacon held her final session of Singo tonight. I was eventually a winner on As Time Goes By.

This evenings parting shot is a slightly belated Happy Birthday wish for Cruise Director Gene Young. May you have many more.

Roy

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Day 56, Easter Sunday, April 20, At Sea, MS Amsterdam, Formal

The Crystal Symphony is in Dalian, China. The Crystal Serenity is in Bordeaux, France.

While we gained an hour overnight I put off changing my clock, setting my alarm off at 4. With the extra hour, my walk was approaching completion when the 6AM sunrise service began. Sunrise was 5:50, still covered in clouds, but today they are thin enough that a glow showed through.

I normally worship in an Interfaith Center (IFC), a concept adopted by the developers of Columbia in a period of great ecumenical activity. Originally my congregation shared a building with several other protestant denominations and with Catholic and Jewish congregations. Most of the other tenants have moved away and it is now just us and the Catholics, along with a Hispanic Catholic group. Most of the groups still band together for a sunrise service on our local lakefront. I felt very much at home today as Pastor Don and Father Bob joined forces and a service was set up around the Lido pool, so even the water was a familiar element (although the pool was sloshing a bit heavily). I can’t say the service was packed, but it was certainly more people than I normally see at that hour. We also had our individual services in the Queens Room.

It was no holiday for the crew as we had a packed schedule of activities. The senior officers joined together for a Q&A session at 10, followed by a presentation by Tom Goltz on “Spanish Galleons, Then and Now”. When I returned from all these activities there was a box of chocolate truffles on the bed. I hope this is fleet wide and not just a World Cruise extra as fellow Cruise Critic member and choco-holic RuthC is currently on the Oosterdam.

A special Easter Brunch Buffet was set up in the dining room. This elaborate affair took up the entire center section of the dining room, leaving huge stacks of chairs in the aft exterior stairwell. The brunch opened for photos at 11 and for dining at noon. It must have been extremely popular as I waited until after the Captain’s daily report, and there was still a line to get in at 12:45. I skipped the brunch and enjoyed the very uncrowded lido.

In the afternoon Jill Eyers spoke on “Stories in Stone” exploring the things we can learn by studying rocks. I did get up for afternoon tea in the Crows Nest, soon followed by a Mariner Appreciation Cocktail Party in the Queens Room.

We had a nearly full table for our final formal night of the cruise. People on the full world cruise are starting to pack, I’m not ready for that yet with over 7 days left before Fort Lauderdale, as much as the full length of many regular cruises.

There is often a pillow gift on the bed on formal nights. We did not have one, but still there was a nice surprise as we get an extra hour tonight. I thought the last hour would come after our upcoming ports, but now that Daylight Savings Time is in effect on the East Coast we may be getting back on Eastern time. The evening entertainment was a repeat performance by the Incognito Artists.

Today’s parting shot concerns the Serenity Prayer, used by Father Bob in closing his homily. “Grant me the courage to change what I can, the grace to accept what I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference”. I used to be a fan of that prayer, but have recently soured on it. Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems to me fine as far as it goes but has a major omission. Why is there no mention of “The gratitude to savor what should not change”.

Roy

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