From California.

The last time readers of this blog heard from me, I was at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago for Vo To 05. I had a great time talking to the kids there on Friday, though telling them same story and entertaining many of the same questions for eight periods was a bit tiring. Mike, Ben and myself had lunch in the school cafeteria, where to our surprise we were treated like visiting celebrities or, as fellow novice Jake Martin has sometimes characterized our group, like members of a boy band. Students we'd spoken to earlier in the day shouted our names at us and, yes, some wanted their pictures taken with us. (We obliged.) Thankfully, our reign of notoriety drew to a close with the end of the school day, and we went back to being regular people. I'd be remiss if I didn't conclude these remarks by noting that SICP is a great school, with bright students and beautiful facilities - one of the many gems of the Chicago Province.

As the title of this post implies, I'm writing from California. (The title is also a musical reference that most readers probably won't get; if you think you know what it's about, feel free to chime in and I'll let you know if you got it right.) Earlier today I arrived at Santa Clara, where I found a friendly and welcoming Jesuit community and a very pleasant place to live for the next couple months. Tomorrow, I start work at Catholic Charities. It bears mentioning that this is my first time west of the Rockies; putting things in perspective, at table this evening an older Jesuit told me that he did not venture east of the Rockies until he was in his mid-thirties. Jet lag aside, Short Experiment seems to be off to a good start, and I'm already loving California. Hopefully I'll be able to post regular updates - more regular, I hope, than the sporadic posts of the last few weeks. AMDG.