21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 24, 2025

Readings: Exodus 32, 7-14; Psalm 51; 1 Timothy 1, 12-17; Luke 15, 1-32 (Great Gospel: Prodigal Son).

Exodus: this second book of the Old Testament is a fun read and describes the escape or exit of the Jews from Egypt led by Moses. 

How did they get there in the first place.  It goes back to the 3 big patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob.  Jacob had 12 sons, the youngest and favorite being Joseph.  His brothers, who hated him, sold him to some travelers who took him to Egypt where he became a favorite of the Pharaoh because he interpreted dreams. 

When he had grown up a famine hit Israel and Jacob sent his 11 sons to Pharaoh to beg help.  Guess who is Pharaoh’s chief of staff: Joseph. 

As time passes many Jewish people settle in Egypt and prosper. The Egyptians get jealous and enslave the Jews.  At one point Pharaoh kills all the first born male Jewish babies. Except one: Moses. 

Our selection takes place after the colorful account of Moses’ call and his leading the people out of Egypt and into the desert.  The people have been rebellious and Yahweh not too compassionate.  Yahweh & Moses are having a little dialog.

The Prodigal Son

Because this story is a work of art I would like to explain the story before we read it.  Someone very creative put this masterpiece together and has given us a marvelous insight into the nature of God, especially a God whose love is not conditional, a view that is almost totally different than the view we get in the rest of the bible, both Old & New Testament. 

The story has three main segments and a footnote: the son leaves his home and his father, the son lives in a distant land, the son returns home, and the response of the son who stayed home.  I will make three observations about each phase of the story.  So twelve observations.

First, when the younger son asks for his share of his father’s estate, the people would right away be stunned, because he was due no share.  The second son receives nothing normally.

Secondly, for asking for this share, the father could have had him killed for his insolence and absurd presumption of entitlement.

Thirdly, the people listening would have been doubly astounded when the father divided his property with the son. This was turning the father into a nut, a fool. 

With the property the son sets off for a distant place, the second part of the story. He squanders all the money, and ends up feeding pigs for a stranger.  First, significant is the fact that he goes to a distant country, that is, a foreign place.  But more importantly, and this is the first comment, he squanders the property. This is the patrimony.  By squandering the money, he is symbolically disrespecting his father.

Secondly, he shows disrespect to the Jewish religion by going to a stranger to get a job. In those days, a person in need would go to the temple, which was set up to help their own. Instead, he goes to a local, meaning a Gentile or non-Jew. 

Thirdly, he debases himself by feeding pigs, the animal rejected by Jews. He even longs to eat the pods the pigs were eating. He has become a total outcast.

At this point the son realizes that on his father’s farm even the hired help lived better.  So he puts together a little speech that includes three parts: confessing that he has sinned, that he deserves nothing, and could he be treated as one of the father’s workers.  Off he goes. And now the story gets even more bizarre.

Obviously the father is watching for him, because he sees him a long way off, runs (the father runs!) to the son, embraces him, and kisses him.  The boy begins his speech, but note, the father cuts it off after the first two parts.

Then the father bestows on the horrible son three significant and symbolic gifts, a robe, a ring, and sandals before calling for the fatted calf to be slaughtered.  First, the robe. This is a sign of dignity, totally the opposite of what the boy deserved. Secondly, the ring. A sign of wealth.  Thirdly, the sandals. Only members of the family wore sandals, not the slaves or hired workers.  It signified mobility. The family member could walk away.

To the listeners of this story the father would look like an idiot, crazy, out of his mind. The son was so, so bad he only deserved death. 

Then to complicate life for the father, the older son proceeds to pout and complain. First, this boy, too, now deserves to be killed because of his disobedience and anger. But, and this is the second observation, the father pleads. Fathers don’t plead. Thirdly, the father lets him know how much he loves him by saying all he has is equally the son’s.

The point of all this: God is like the father.

How do you resemble the father?

AUDIO http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-09-16.mp3

Readings:

Isaiah  55, 10-11,   My word shall not return to me void.

Psalm 65,   The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

Romans 8, 18-23,  We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains.

Matthew  13, 1-23,  A sower went out to sow.

 

Isaiah, The Great One, observations—

Who:  One of the Big 3 prophets, the greatest in my estimation.  Jeremiah and Ezekiel are the other two.  Actually, the book includes the work of 3 prophets.   Our selection is the last chapter written by Isaiah 2.

Time:  Isaiah 2 was living during the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555.  Isaiah 1 writes before the Captivity, maybe 150 years.  Isaiah 3 writes after the return to Jerusalem.

 

 

Subject today: better times will come.  I am expanding today’s passage, because it is so good.

Isaiah 2 has some of the most beautiful passages, many of which are seen as foretelling the coming of the Savior.  His readings are used all through the Advent & Christmas readings, as well as in Lent.  Handel uses Isaiah 2 in his marvelous work, The Messiah.

Both the Isaiah reading and Psalm 65 are beautiful.  

 

And My Seed Landed Where?

This morning I would like to talk about how Jesus is said to describe how the farmer’s seed is scattered on four different types of ground, the path, the rocks, the thorns, and the fertile.  Where did your seed fall?  Where did my seed fall?  I’m sure a lot of volunteers would be happy to let me know where my seed fell.

If you are a sinful gambler poker player you would look at this explanation and notice the bad odds, one out of four.  I would propose, however, that we all landed on fertile soil.  Let me offer some examples. 

I’ve shared this example once before, so you might remember it, but probably not. 

 

 

When I was a little kid about 5 years old, I was playing in the driveway of our house in University Park.  There were no fences and the drive went from the street, through the space between our house and the neighbor’s, and to the back up against the alley. 

The neighbor was Sam Berger, who owned a hat store in downtown Dallas.  He was Jewish and lived next to us all during the Holocaust.  I was oblivious to it all.  He & his wife had a big black lady who not only worked in the house, but lived in the back in an apartment attached to the garage, the servant quarters.  This black lady was not nice to me.

 

 

So this day as I am playing in the driveway, the lady steps out of the kitchen door & stands on the steps.  Without thinking, I say, “You are a big fat elephant.”

To the lady’s credit, she marches right across the drive and tells my mom.  My mom comes out of the house, drags me in, and spanks me.  Thinking back, I am impressed that my mom respected the lady.  The spanking, however, and her treatment of me confirmed my suspicions that my seed had fallen at least on the path or rocks, if not right on the thorns.   I definitely grew up with the belief that I was a bad kid. 

 

Despite the fact that you folks might agree with that assessment, I would propose that I was just a normal little boy doing silly things. 

This habit of doing silly, not bad things, can continue into adult years.  I know a guy who gets on his bike and rides off for an hour leaving the driver’s door of his car wide upon. 

I know a lady who last week let her Lincoln run out of gas in rush hour traffic.  Her husband, a bit nettled, brought gas, but then could not start the car.  It had to be towed.

 

 

I know a dear friend who drove into her garage with a canoe strapped to the top of her car. 

You do this stuff and you begin to believe the bad news, ‘I am a loser, I am bad, my seed obviously landed in the ditch.” 

And then there are the malicious acts.  You know where I come in on this.  Kids hurt and abused grow up to hurt and abuse.  They are not bad.  They are damaged. 

So, who landed on fertile soil?  All of us.  God don’t make bad seed.

So, what do you think about all this?

 

 

 

 

Readings:  Isaiah 40, 1-11; Psalm 85; 2 Peter 3, 8-14; Mark 1, 1-8.

 

Isaiah 2: Remember that Isaiah is one of the Big 3 Prophets, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  Because of its 66 chapters this work is the big one.  Remember, also, that at least 3 writers contributed to the book. 

The first 39 chapters are the main Isaiah and present a strong critic of the rampant corruption of the ruling class with their oppression of the ordinary people.  His counsel was that Israel & Judah (north & south) pursue a passive political & military policy versus Assyria, the threatening power of the time, ca. 700 BCE.  Moreover, the Hebrews should not form a military alliance with Egypt & Babylon.  Babylon was no threat at this time, but would be so ca. 590, when they would enslave the Hebrews.

Isaiah was not heeded and eventually the Assyrians defeated the northern state, Israel, and the people disappeared.  They intermarried and did not maintain their identity.  Today they are called the 10 lost tribes of Israel, the remaining two tribes surviving in Judah, the southern state, capital, Jerusalem.  Remember how I mentioned Ezekiel helped the Hebrews enslaved in Babylon ca. 580 maintain their identity with 1. sabbath, 2. kosher food, 3. male circumcision.

Side note: why 12 tribes?  Because of the 12 sons of Jacob, the third of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob.  Jacob was given the name Israel.  Israelites are the sons of Israel or Jacob.

For our purposes this second Sunday of Advent when we look forward to Christmas, we use the second Isaiah, which begins, guess where?  With our selection, chapter 40.  These chapters are called the Book of Comfort and you will see why.  Even though I as a backpacker would not like to see all the mountains & hills made low, we have a beautifully consoling reading.  Isaiah 2 is speaking to the Jewish people under siege.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim in the Blood Mobile

 

Good News in Strange Places

I did it again, folks.  Rode in car number 1, DART red line.  It was Wednesday ca. 12:00 when I caught the down town train at Forest Lane to have one of our occasional lunches with Dawn Schultz.  She got on at City place, but what happened before that was the event.

I was seated on the aisle, right side, third seat from the front, so I can watch the scenery ahead as well as beside me.  Somewhere like Walnut Hill Lane we stopped and the driver laid out the handicap bridge to let someone on.  In came an orange baseball cap covering a skinny old black man in an electric wheel chair.  He parked in the bay just in front of the seat on the left side, right in front of a white woman in her 30's. 

We  had not gone one stop when he started talking loudly enough to hear him all over the car.  He had his back to us but was asking people if they had a paper towel.  His nose was dripping because of the cold.  He was able to talk most directly to this white woman because he was near her and only needed to swivel around in his chair to face her.  She was  good.   Did not have a paper towel, but offered him a Kleenex.  Which he used to wipe his nose.

Then he proceeded to converse with her some more.  She responded graciously.  At one point, he says in his loud, gravely voice, "How old are you?"  I was really amused.  Smiling she said she was 33.  He said something I could not distinguish and she responded, "You are 30 years older than I am."

I was stunned.  He was 63.  5 years younger than I am.  Wow.  He must have lost count along the way, I am thinking.  He looks and sounds like 83.

This got me thinking on how our two lives have been so different from the beginning.  He was born into this world probably a poor black boy.  I was born into this world a rich white kid.  I've had every door opened to me, every opportunity.  I obviously have much greater health than he.  I've worked at it, no doubt, but I had so much help, starting with my parents and teachers who appreciated being well rounded.   When I returned from East Africa in '86 and began to have annual checkups, we Jesuits had total coverage and I had an internist that was the best.  He set me on a road to overall health in my older years that has been a priceless gift.  All this came to me as I listened to the little black man in the wheel chair on the red line.

The readings we have this morning all point at the coming of a priceless gift.  Isaiah and Mark talk about the coming.   In fact, Mark quotes Isaiah's very words saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord."  The Good News is coming.

So how does that effect me, us?  So what?  Two observations.

 Rose in the Blood Mobile 

First, the Good News that Isaiah foresaw and the Good New that Mark is trying to set up, it has come.  It is past tense.  We can take consolation from the knowledge that we are accepted.  Jesus has lived.

Mark is trying to convey this by creating for his readers  something special and he is working a plot.  He is writing in the 70's after Jesus' death in the 30's, Jesus a person whom he never knew.  He writes for Jews who became Jesus' followers and are being persecuted for it.  He is trying to show that Jesus it the one foretold by the prophets.  He begins with a three stage strategy, prepare, proclaim, test. 

In today's reading he is doing the first, that is, counseling the people to prepare for The Coming.  With Jesus'  baptism he proclaims The Good News.  The temptation in the desert is the test and the third part of the trilogy.

Second observation.  The Good News is not just past tense.  It is present tense.  I encounter it daily in big and small ways.  I encountered it on the red line.

Where or when do you encounter the Good News?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-12-07.mp3

1.  The Joy of helping with the Quads and meeting Casey and Robbie.  Truly gives hope for the future.

2.  I am Thankful for My Family, My Pets, the World, Jesus, and God.

3.  My Kid quit Smoking.

4.  I am Blessed to have known & loved Sarah Dixon Herbert during her short life.

Readings: Matthew 21, 1-11, Entry into Jerusalem; Isaiah 50, 4-7, Suffering Servant Song; Psalm 22; Philippians 2, 6-11; Matthew 26, 14-27, 66, Passion.

Because this liturgy is so long, there is no homily today.  Today we celebrate two things.  First we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with the people placing palm branches before him.  This takes place as we prepare for the Mass.  Next, we read the whole Passion.  This Sunday begins Holy Week and leads up to the Resurrection next Sunday.

Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday are normal days. 

Holy Thursday is the day we remember Jesus’ washing the feet of his apostles and the last supper.  We have a washing of the hands ceremony, this being more germaine to our contemporary lives. 

Friday we remember the death of Jesus.

Saturday is a day of waiting, no Masses taking place until the Easter Vigil, Saturday night.  Then & Easter Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection.

Both Thursday & Friday we will meet at 7:00 P.M. at Mary Kee’s home, 2625 Millington, Plano 75093.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day on Monday.

Readings:

Isaiah   53, 10-11,  The Lord was pleased to crush him.

Psalm 33,    Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you

Hebrews  4, 14-16, Let us approach the throne of grace.

Mark 10, 35-45,  Whoever wishes to be great will be your servant.  

 

                     Victoria says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

 

Isaiah:

A review:  

Authors: at least 3 because there are 3 distinct parts to Isaiah the book.    Today's author is number 2.

Time of Composition: near the end of the Babylonian Captivity, i.e., ca. 555 Before Christ.

 Subject Matter: part 1 up to chapter 39, warnings about impending doom because of the badness of the people.  The remaining two parts are called the Book of Consolation, letting the people know that a more peaceful &:prosperous time is coming.     

One exception: 4 Suffering Servant passages in writer number 2, plus today's passage.  

 

Emma and her buddy, too, say, "Good Morning, Folks."

 

Today’s Selection:   Isaiah number 2.  Pretty nasty treatment being dealt to someone.    4 observations—         

          A. This chapter in 2 Isaiah is not included as one of the 4 Suffering Servant Songs, even though it presents the same theme.           

          B. The he, the servant that is talked about is

                    –for the Hebrews, the Jewish nation/people;

                    –for Christians, Christ.         

          C.  False Belief number 1?  The Jews thought Yahweh demanded suffering or sacrifice of valuable items ( e.g., sacrificial lamb, scape goat ) as payment for badness or for favors.   

          D.  False Belief number 2?  The early Jews & Christians believed that an original great sin had been committed by our ancestors & that sin could only be paid for by a human-divine hero, Jesus.  He had to be sacrificed to this god.  Or as the first line of our official reading says, “The lord was pleased to crush him with infirmity.”  

Do you think God crushes people with infirmity?   Was there really an original sin?   Contemporary theology says no.

 

       And not to be left out, Buddy says, "Welcome, Everybody."

 

If I don’t want to be 1^st, do I have to be a slave?

I want to talk today about being first and being a servant or slave.   Or if I don’t want to be first, do I have to be a slave?  I am uncomfortable with the either or.  I have seen good people get obsessed with serving.  Can there be a healthy middle ground?  I would say, yes, and it is self acceptance of myself as I am.   A story. 

You all know that Rosemary & I love to ride our bikes around White Rock Lake.  We go south on the White Rock Creek Trail from Royal Lane.  The second bridge we go under is the bridge where David Stephens was killed Monday Mmorning, 7:45.   Then circle the lake clockwise with a break at the boat house at the south end, near the dam.  All together about 20 miles.

 

                                     Zoe, the Candle Lighter

Homeward bound from the boat house we use West Lawther Drive, a beautiful little lane running between the lake and gorgeous mansions. Lots of bikers use this road and walkers and runners use the path meandering along closer to the lake.

There can be mini, spur of the moment competitions on this road among northbound riders like we are.

One day I am cruising along Lawther, when I am passed by 4 young kids about 13 years old, 3 boys & a girl.  “Whoa,” I think, “How can these kids

 

                      Genevieve says, "It is nice to be baptized."

 

do this to me?”   “I am going to pace these kids.”  

 I discover that these kids are well coached by somebody.  They are drafting and they are changing leader every mile or so.  Plus, they are flying.  I don’t draft, but I stay behind enough.

We fly under the bridge that is Nwst. Hwy and race up the White Rock Creek Trail.  I keep up with them, but don’t like it.  They are going too fast, especially on curves, doubly especially on curves that involve shaded tunnels under bridges, a bit like Walnut Hill.

Finally, about half way up the trail to Royal Lane, I Iet them go.  I never see them again.

 

                           Is it Hug Your Gorilla Sunday today?

 

I decide two things:

1. I will not race with people on the White Rock Creek Path.  Too dangerous.  Both West and East Lawther Drives, okay.
2. Give up trying to be a great biker or first.  I am a B level biker.  I am a B level athlete and a B level intellectual.  In fact, one of the therapeutic values of biking is that, just after I think I am hot stuff because I have passed some young dude in all his fine bike clothes, along comes someone, like a girl, who passes me like I am waiting at the DART station.

 Anybody not want to be first once in a while?  Be best in something?  Absolutely normal.  Look at sports, academics, appearance.  So does that mean I have to be a slave or servant?  Very tricky statement psychologically. 

 

                          The Team, Georgie & Kevin.

 

2 Observations:

1.  It is normal and okay to want to be first. I hope so.   Certainly I know kids at 75 who have it.
2. When Mark says “servant” and “slave,” do you see Mark’s hyperbole, his exaggeration, and his use of infinite demand?   This is his literary tool to make a point. 
3. From my experience, the danger is…  A person who is religiously obsessed, poorly trained, spiritually & psychologically insecure, or scrupulous, this poor person can take the servant idea to an extreme.  The motto is, “Always better to give than to receive.”  No way.

 

                      The best music, Mary, Bethany, & Ray.

 

I have known & worked with people with this mentality.  We had them in the Jesuits.  The person cannot allow anyone to do anything for them.  Sometimes it is called scrupulosity.

For that matter, I have some of that stuff.  I don’t always like to be on the receiving end.  Giving and serving can be quite comforting.

 

                   Rosemary reading her Blessing of The Week.

 

Spiritual health avoids extremes.  It helps me to accept myself as I am.  It also challenges me to make a difference in our world.

On the one hand, how do you handle not being number one?  On the other, how do you help others healthily? 

 

 

 

                      

Readings:

Isaiah, 22, 19-23, On that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim

Psalm 138,  Lord, your love is eternal.  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart X 3 times.

Romans  11, 33-36,  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. 

Matthew 16, 13-20,   You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.

 

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Connie & John Doherty , & Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel:  Deacon Mike

Homily,  Stack 

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers, Mike (on vacation) & Richard (on vacation), Tom, Ben & Hue 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

 

 

 

Download Readings Week 21

 

Coming up in the readings is the psalm of the day, i.e., Psalm 138, one of my long time favorites.  There are two translations, the more modern and the more traditional.  Because I have spent so many hours meditating on the more traditional form, I offer both translations.  For me thanks is the key to my relationship with God, as well with others.  See what you think about the italicized parts.

1.  I will give thanks to you, Oh, Lord, with all my heart for you have heard the words of  my mouth; in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise.

2.  I will give thanks to your name, because of your kindness and your truth.

3  Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever.

 

 

Aviana watching over the stove and over us.

 

Reflections of a Tornado Refugee Family

Somewhere in the distant past when I was a Boy Scout at Christ the King I was trained to always leave my campsite better than I found it.  I probably drove my fellow campers crazy when I went camping with my Jesuit buddies and especially when I went with Bill & Mike, Ray & Rose, and a dozen or so others.  I would aim to be the last camper to leave the site, with the exception of Mike. 

Exactly a week from tomorrow I will be cleaning a campsite.   Rosemary & I will be departing the house we have lived in for 15 years and the house that my parents bought in ’75.   I will take one last look around, probably with Rosemary, to make sure this campsite is better than I found it.  Even though a bulldozer will demolish it.

 

 

Looking out our front window, 4 houses used to be there.

 

This is already proving to be emotionally quite difficult for me.  The problem is that there are numerous tender memories in that house, like the portrait of Aviana that Rosemary painted on the ceramic tiles behind the stove in the kitchen, painted one summer while I was out camping with the gang.  For her I had put in the tiles and the parquet flooring in that kitchen.  Every room in the house I have painted and decorated with decals.  I painted the outside more than once and even the sturdy tool shed.  This campsite has been a home. 

The neighborhood, too, has touched my heart.  This is where the 16 year old St. Marks boy who lives three doors down rang our bell one spring afternoon and told me ‘Thanks for being delightful neighbors.”  I am still touched.  We also have handled all the free refreshments for our neighborhood July 4 party.  Rosemary, the lady who walks the little white dog, is known everywhere.  She is also the Tulip Lane block captain.  She expects me to salute her.

 

 

 

There used to be a 50 year old beautiful Live Oak on this corner.  Gone, along with whole bunches of other trees.

 

The one reason I am happy to move on: the destruction of the trees, many of which I planted.  It used to be delightfully shady at our corner, Tulip Lane & Camellia.  Now, it is a desert, with all 8 of the houses around us destroyed.  It must also have been 20 degrees hotter those 100 degree days recently. 

The house itself has a number of cracks in the ceilings and walls, which is why we easily decided we had to move.   It has been a comfortable campsite.  Despite the presence of the bulldozer just across the street, I will leave this campsite as neat as I found it.

As Psalm 138 says, I will give thanks to you Oh Lord, with all my heart, eventually.

 

 

 

There are three lots on this corner.  

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Becky's dad discovered with the virus;  For Cindy recuperating at home;    For Esparzas, Frank & Mary,  For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular, locally, Cindy's staff at Presby, Dallas, and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, Woodlands,  For Joe Hogan with cancer;  For Loretta's aunt Alicia;    For Sydney;  & For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody & Ben & all of Shonda's dear family;   for Michelle;  for Bill Ekes' longtime buddy, Bobby Duncan, who just passed to the other side.

To stay in our house we had to replace the roofing.   A good move.  It has taken us 5 months to find and get into our new place, September 1.
 

For Jackie's mom;  For a friend, a neighbor, & a doctor, Karen, with brain cancer; For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free;    For Hue;  For John O'Donnell;    For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer.

 

 

The house of the professional hockey player, Tyler Sagan.  It is now gone.

 

Birthdays:     Marsha Farmer & Marilyn Ackerman

Anniversaries: 

Rose & Wally Banzhaf, 49th 

 

 

Brain Trust??

 

Community Finances, August 23, 2020

Expenses: $600.00

Outreach   $500.00    (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

The Best Music, Ben & Shonda.

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

 

May you learn to see your self

With the same delight,

Pride and expectation

With which God sees you in every moment.

 

To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue

 

 

As of September 1, Rosemary & I will have a new address,   7017 Helsem Way, Dallas 75230.   This enclave has TREES, unlike our poor, dear, tornado battered Preston Hollow neighborhood.