Pretoria Catholic

Earlier this month, I helped my mother-in-law cut down two 18-year-old conifer trees from her garden. My weapon of choice was a machete and the determination of a brave warrior in a fierce battle. After multiple and significant strikes to the old tree trunk, the tree became top-heavy and unable to hold itself upright. It came tumbling down like a scene out of David and Goliath.  Cutting down a tree can be lots of fun and make any man feel like a little boy again, but the idea of bringing down a tree that has stood tall and healthy can be quite sad to witness. As the outer bark is stripped away and the blade lacerates the inner bark, the lifeline through which food is passed to the rest of the tree shows signs of distress, and before you know it, the tree is dead.  Tree stump before my final blow, 9 January 2021 I thought that the imagery around tree felling is an ideal way of understanding what it means to commit a mortal sin. As I prepared to bring the trees down, there were ...

Two weeks ago, I took my Jack Russel Spike to the vet for a dental extraction. He lives up to his name as he is quite snappy and so visits to the vet involve a muzzle. The vet had to sedate Spike to examine his mouth. After a shot with the injection, I held Spike in the waiting room for him to doze off.  Suddenly, he started foaming at the mouth, hyperventilating, and drooping in my arms. I placed Spike on the floor, with his legs sprawled entirely out and his tongue hung from the side of his mouth. Thinking something did not seem right, my Dad called a nurse who was walking past. She immediately rushed to Spike, picked him up, and carried him into the operating room. I could see the Doctor requesting an oxygen device through the window as the staff looked to see what was wrong with him.  I could not help but start tearing up and feeling overwhelmed with emotion. I had to walk outside and try to compose myself. I guess it was the emotion of losing my best friend in that same v...