“Oh, who can sleep on a summer night,
When the moon rides high in the sky
And a soft blue light bathes all night?
Oh, not I, not I!”
“Night Enchantment”
By Eleanor Muth

Hubby and I did not get outside to see the full moon last week. It was too warm to venture outdoors even when the sun went down. We saw the electric bulletin boards on Morrissey Blvd. that warned us that the road may flood on the days of the full moon. Hubby did a lot of watering the plants, the roses, and the tomatoes.

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Last Friday, the weather seemed to spit rain all day. We had to drive out to Canton to attend the wake of Bob Oberg, daughter Sue’s friend. Sue was driving to Colorado with her cousin Terri and was not able to attend the wake. It was just sprinkling when we went into the funeral home. Hubby said, “Watch it be pouring when we come out.” We stayed for almost an hour speaking with Bob’s wife Louise and their two daughters, Heather Brown, the mother of identical twin grandsons William and Finnegan, and their daughter, Laurel Cawley. Laurel was the Teacher of the Year in Canton a few years ago. (She teaches autistic children.) We also chatted with Sue’s Cape Cod friend Joanne and her sister Paula, both retired Boston teachers. Paula had driven up from Connecticut for the wake. Hubby had taught with Paula so they had lots to chat about. Joanne and I talked about “Isis,” her cat, who was alone in her own home for a few days, with lots of food and water, while her mistress was in Canton for the wake and funeral. “She is much happier at home than at a pet motel,” Joanne said to me. I agreed. When we finally left the funeral home, Hubby was right. The rain was coming down much more heavily and it continued to pour all the way back to Dorchester. A little later, Hubby went out to get something from our car. “Come out,” he said, “and see the beautiful sky.” Then he exclaimed, almost immediately, “See the gorgeous rainbow!” There was the most beautiful rainbow hovering over the Comfort Inn on Morrissey Blvd. Thankfully, it lasted quite a long time for us to enjoy.

I must mention how pretty the Dockray and Thomas Funeral Home in Canton is. As soon as we walked in the door, Hubby said, “I know this funeral home.” We both recognized the long, lovely hall as soon as we entered the building. It was in this funeral home that Hubby’s long-time school buddy, Al Cronin, was waked back in 2006, at age 72. It brought back a flood of memories. They taught together for about 16 years.

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On Thurs., July 18, Hubby, daughter Sue, pal Eileen Burke, and I were in the car and driving toward Canton for the monthly luncheon of the Irish Pastoral Centre at the Irish Cultural Centre. It was quite warm that morning. When we arrived at the Cultural Centre’s grounds, we could not go to the handicapped parking area. The sign on the gate said that the area was closed because of the children’s camp then being held on the grounds. We discovered later in the morning that a young man was stationed at the gate to allow cars with people with handicapped-placards to park in the usual area. We went back to the main parking lot and were able to get a parking spot close to the entrance bridge. The bridge is not an easy walk for handicapped people, especially when it is hot.

As we entered the main building, we could feel that it was slightly cool. We sat at our usual table. We thought that there would be lots of people because Father McCarthy had told us that this would be a Healing Mass. We had our regular tablemates: Barbara, Ronnie, Lucy, Ann, Kathleen, daughter Sue, pal Eileen, and Hubby. Because of the heat, there was a large pitcher of water, with ice cubes, waiting for us at each table. We were so thankful for the ice water. Volunteers came around during the meal and refilled the pitchers for us.

Father McCarthy gave no sermon at the luncheon and began blessing each of us with holy oil. Almost everyone in the room came up to him for the healing blessing. Thank goodness there were a few empty tables where people did not show up because of the high heat so Father John did not have to work as hard as he usually does at a healing Mass. We thank him for blessing all of us.

Eileen O’Connor, the senior coordinator for the Irish Pastoral Centre, came to the microphone and said that Mike Shields still had a few openings for the IPC’s trip to Foxwoods on Thurs., Aug. 1. She also told us that the annual IPC banquet would be held at Florian Hall on Sat., Nov. 16. The special guest will be Mary McAleese, the former president of Ireland. (We thought back a few years when we were able to meet President McAleese in person, thanks to the Irish Pastoral Centre.) When it was time for the drawings, each one of us hoped to win, of course. We were just as happy when our tablemate Lucy won one of the prize bags. After that, we ate a delicious turkey dinner (with mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, carrots, and a roll and butter, plus assorted cookies and baked goods for dessert). Then Mossie Coughlan played music for us to enjoy. Some hardy souls even got up to dance in the warm hall. It was an enjoyable afternoon.

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In one of the supermarket tabloids the past few weeks, there was a list of the 25 best-written TV shows. I won’t bore you with all of them but I must agree with many of them. The top show was “The Sopranos.” This one kept Hubby and me riveted to the TV on Sunday evenings throughout the entire run of the show. I couldn’t get over how little mobsters thought of a human life. The second best was “Seinfeld,” I saw a few of these episodes, one with the “Soup Nazi” and the other when Jason Alexander’s fiancée died when she licked the cheap glue on their wedding invitations. Number 5 was “M*A*S*H, which we still watch in reruns on the ME TV Channel. Number 10, which I thought should be higher, was “West Wing.” Number 15 was an oldie but goody, “Hill Street Blues.”

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Over the weekend, I received a call from our church friend Joan. She had to tell me about a scam that she received in a phone call. A man with an accent similar to the man in the Nina’s Lighting ads on WBZ had called and said he was from Medicare. (He called Joan by her full name, which is not in the phone book.) “You will be receiving a new Medicare card very soon but I must first check some facts with you.” Joan was so smart. She said she didn’t believe him and hung up her phone immediately. She called Medicare to report the scam. The person at Medicare said that no new cards are being issued at this time. If I remember correctly, no one calls from a government agency, like Medicare and Social Security, and ask questions over the phone. Everything is done by mail. So beware. Don’t be duped by this type of call. These people are just looking to get your personal info for some type of scam.

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How is this for an excellent thought: “To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.”