Hubby and I noticed that very few people were walking on our local streets because the heat of the past week has been very difficult to bear. We bring everything that we can into the living room, which is air-conditioned. I have even gone through the Christmas cards from the past two years. I have more time now to enjoy them and love to reread the notes that the people enclosed in their cards. I keep all the photos that people send. Then five years later, I gather those photos and return them to the senders. They probably haven’t seen them since they originally sent them out.

Our outdoor cat Louie, who lives under our porch, is quite a good-sized cat. (Hubby feeds him very well.) Usually Louie is right up on the porch when he hears the door being unlocked. During the current hot spell, it takes about five clinks of the spoon against the cat-food can to get him to come onto the porch. We have to keep watching our pots of pansies. They dry out very quickly and look almost dead before they are rejuvenated by a good soaking. Our roses bloom but last only a short time because of the heat. I am not looking forward to our electric bill this month because the air conditioner has been on so often.

On Sunday, Aug. 9, the parishioners of St. Christopher’s celebrated the birthday of their administrator, Fr. George Carrigg, with the annual cookout. Hubby and I had already been to Mass on Sat. so we did not attend the bilingual Mass at noon on Sunday. We went directly to the huge yard behind the church and rectory. Our daughter Sue didn’t drive with us. Because our friend Helen Bradley was not feeling well enough to attend the cookout, she asked Sue to come by her home and pick up her pineapple-marshmallow-whipped cream dessert, which everyone looks forward to at the cookout. Sue went up to Helen’s home, picked up a large-sized Tupperware container filled with the heavenly dessert, and drove herself to the cookout. Our church custodian Craig and our friends from Mass, Dorothy and Mary, were among those already working to have the food ready for the crowd of people who would be pouring in when the noon Mass ended. We took seats at a table under one of the large trees. We watched as the disc jockey, Kenny O’Keefe, set up his equipment. Kenny had even brought his own homemade dance floor.

A few people came in after us and were given a small flashlight as a memento of the day. On the flashlight was printed “Jesus will light the way!” Our friends Joan Hill and Haven McGovern were early and sat with us. So did our pal Lennie Gilardi and his buddy Armando. Our friend Sharon and her husband Chuck sat at a nearby table.

When Mass broke, everyone, including Fr. George, came out from the church. All the seats were filled almost immediately. Very soon, Fr. George and his Pastoral Associate Louise Tardif welcomed everyone and announced it was time to eat. (Fr. George had changed into his Hawaiian shirt.) Even though the food line was initially very long, it moved quickly. We waited till the line was almost finished before we went up. I was so happy that my friend Dorothy was still serving her homemade lasagna. I think my piece was slightly larger than the normal portion because she knows how much I like her lasagna. I ate every bit of it and it was wonderful. I put salad ingredients on the rest of the plate to offset the calories.

Once the crowd had eaten and before the desserts were put out, the beautiful sheet cake for Fr. George’s birthday was brought out. Fr. George blew out the candles and began cutting the cake. I think there was enough cake so that each person had a small piece. We also had some of our friend Helen’s wonderful pineapple-marshmallow-whipped cream dessert. Then all the people went back to enjoying themselves with the afternoon’s activities. There was a tug of war with big and little kids. Some of the little kids had their faces painted beautifully. (Hubby took a couple of photos of these kids with their gorgeous faces.) Other kids took rides on the pony. Some more of the kids and some of the adults began dancing to the great music. I was swinging and swaying at my seat. There were even some games going on. The finale for the afternoon was the arrival of the ice cream truck, sponsored by City Councilor Maureen Feeney. It was a great afternoon. The weather was perfect, not too hot.

Proud grandma Betty Cook told me that her granddaughter Kelly Doherty will be entering her senior year at Bridgewater State College this fall. During the school year, she will also be teaching fourth grade two days per week at a school near the college. Kelly will certainly be having a busy fall in addition to already having a busy summer. She and her husband Sean welcomed her second girl, named Kaylee Shea Doherty, on June 20. Their older daughter is named Kelsea. Another of Betty’s granddaughter’s, Terese and her husband Chris Bostrom welcomed a boy, Benjamin, less than a week after Kaylee’s birth. Thus, Betty had two great grandchildren in less than one week, bringing the total of her great grandchildren to 10. She also has 16 grandchildren. She is so proud of all her family.

Here is a date for your calendar: The annual St. Brendan’s Cocktail Party will be held on Sat., Oct. 3. Mark your calendar. Speaking of St. Brendan’s, the “Got Books’” container is located to the side of St. Brendan School on Rita Road. It accepts used books, CDs. DVDs, VHS tapes, and audio books. Each time the container is filled, the school is compensated. The container has already been filled seven times. Why not clean out some of your long-unused books for a good cause? Hubby and I dropped off some books in the container last Sunday morning. It is such an easy thing to do.

The 19th annual Irish Festival will be held at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton on Sat. and Sun., Sept. 12 and 13, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The festival will offer live Irish music, Irish step dancing, food and beverages, a children’s area, an Irish Market Place and crafters, sports, the liturgy on Sunday morning, and much more to be announced. Tickets for general admission are $15, with Irish Cultural Centre’s members (for 2009) @$10. Children under 12 are free with an adult ticket purchase. Info: 781-821-8291.

I was sorry to read of the death of Walter Michael McDonough on Aug. 18, at age 78. He was the brother of my friend from the Cedar Grove Civic Association, Barbara Bailey. I send my sympathy to her and to all the rest of the McDonough Family.

I was also saddened to hear of the death of our friend Ann O’Donnell on Aug. 22. We met Ann through our longtime friends George and Helen Bradley. Ann was Helen’s sister-in-law and her brother Jack’s wife. Ann, Jack, Helen, and George were mainstays in St. Christopher’s Parish for decades. Fr. George, when he announced Ann’s death at Mass, praised her, Jack, Helen, and George for helping to hold the parish together during the turbulent 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. I can still picture Ann standing behind one of the turkeys that she had cooked for the parish’s Thanksgiving celebration. She was a wonderful cook. She and my aunt Ethel were the two best cake decorators I have ever seen. They decorated their cakes beautifully. Fr. George, as we were leaving church on Sat., mentioned that Ann had made the magnificent cake for his wonderful 50th anniversary of his ordination dinner. Ann and Jack even invited some of us from church for years to their home one Sunday afternoon during the summer for a great cookout. Ann, Jack, and George were such wonderful workers and did so much for St. Christopher’s. We parishioners join Fr. George in sending our sympathy to her children and to her sister-in-law Helen Bradley. Fr. George mentioned that her funeral would be at St. Ann’s in Neponset. Of course, her wake will be held at the family’s funeral parlor, the O’Donnell Funeral Home on Neponset Ave.

I loved this saying by Thomas Jefferson: “I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.”