The Dismantling of St. Gerard Church

I have not heard much flak about last Saturday’s Buffalo News article regarding the possibility of moving St. Gerard church to Norcross, Georgia, brick by brick (then again, I was out of town all weekend).  Tim Tielman, of course, is against the removal of this historic building.  To Tim, every building built during Buffalo’s glory days is historic.  His solution to the vacant Catholic churches, many in desperate need of repair:  “Work a bit harder [about how to reuse them]“.

I’ve done a 180 in my opinion of Tielman and his Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, whom I originally respected as someone looking out for Buffalo’s heritage.  Now I just think he’s an obstructionist.  And reactionary, someone living entirely in the past.  And full of screeds but no real solutions.  An attention addict.

The Catholic Church, I would hope, is about the people and not the places.  Telling the Church to think harder about how to save empty buildings in a locale that has lost half its population is tantamount to telling them to spend money and resources where they least benefit the community they have dedicated their lives to serve.  Dereliction results to half the buildings in an area that needs half its building space.  We only have so many Ani DiFrancos and an incredible number of vacant churches – and other historic but decrepit buildings – and hardly any money anywhere to save even a fraction.  Tielman needs to get real.

The Catholic diocese may have a unique (and rare!) opportunity to see one of its buildings take on a new life, and I for one would love to see a piece of historic Buffalo in the Atlanta area.  The London Bridge is still the London Bridge, even if it spans an artificial water channel in Arizona.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to travel throughout the country and find Buffalo heritage everywhere?

Food Poisoning

So I had all these thoughts inside my head to write about.  More on the economy and those crazy credit default swaps, Zogby Research, the upcoming presidential debate, Geoge Bush’s recent words to soothe America (or perhaps himself; notice how the phrase “The fundamentals are sound” isn’t being said anymore)?

All that has been put aside while I recover from what I think is a bad case of food poisoning, brought on by my wife, the chaplain.  Actually, it was probably brought on by some Maryland crabs she bought while in Baltimore.  They were delicious, for about an hour or so.  Since then I’ve been dividing my time between laying on the couch in a fetal position and running to the bathroom to vomit.  Ooh; too much information there.  I won’t mention that that’s not the only bodily orifice that’s seen more than enough action for a while.

I can’t eat, and the general weakness that goes along with that is probably more a revelation than the nausea.  It’s only been a day since I’ve been able to digest anything and already the fatigue and inability to stay focused has set in.

Pity the many poor whose lack of a next meal is a constant, whose life under these conditions is not rare, but commonplace.