When Unexpected Guests Drop In

When Unexpected Guests Drop In
One of the ministries of our community here at the provincial house is hospitality. We receive guests from all over the Salesian world, coming to the New York area on business or pleasure; and family members, friends, alumni, members of the Salesian Family, friends of friends, et al.

Sometimes unexpected guests drop in--like Fr. Benedict Groeschel late one nite when there'd been very heavy rain and he couldn't get to his own home at nearby Trinity Retreat House because the street was flooded.

And then there are the flying squirrels (photo). Five of them have dropped in on us without any prior announcement (who even knew they were in the neighborhood?).

On Aug. 26 I found what turned out to be such a critter in a 5-gallon catch-bucket that I keep under a broken drainpipe in Salesiana Publishers' book storeroom. I took it to the New Rochelle Humane Society, who were entranced and, with the help of the Wildlife Help Hotline, soon found it a home--as I learned this morning when I found 4 more, siblings of the 1st presumably, in the same bucket and called the NRHS for advice. They directed me to the WHH, which in turn connected me with the adoptive mother of sib no. 1, to whom I delivered them late this a.m.

They're cute, but no one here wants to raise them. Even after we had a mouse problem a couple of months ago, I can't convince the guys to get another cat to replace Tinkerbelle,

who dropped in unannounced and hungry one morning, and stayed for 12 or 15 years (no one remembers exactly when she showed up) after Bro. Andy and I fed her, and attempts to find her owner failed--she was wearing a NRHS license. She passed on to the Happy Mousing Grounds on Feb. 7, 2009.