First Week of Lent and Gilligans Island TV Show

First Week of Lent and Gilligans Island TV Show

Remember this old TV show. The main characters represent the seven deadly sins.

The Captain was wrath (anger)

Thurston Howell, the millionaire,. was greed.

Ginger was lust.

Mary Ann who envied Ginger was envy.

Gilligan was sloth (laziness).

The professor was Pride.

And supposedly Gilligans Island was hell where they landed after they got shipwrecked.

Mrs. Howell the millionaire's wife was gluttony.

Capistrano Mission In California

Capistrano Mission In California

On our spring vacation to San Diego in the seventies we made a point to go north to the famous Capistrano Mission. What a lovely and peaceful place. In the 1940's the singing group, the Ink Spots, and in the 1950's pop singer Pat Boone made recordings of the song When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano.

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Legend has it that the swallows always return on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph. However, for quite some time the swallows have not returned to the mission each spring. Where do they go today? To a country club that is also located in Orange County California. Well, there goes another legend.

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But if you go to Mission Capistrano which was named after the Capistrano Church in Italy, you will not be disappointed even if you don't see any swallows. It is one of the loveliest old Spanish missions in California.

Skywatch Friday = Mormon Temple in Kensington, Maryland

As you are driving the beltway that circles Washinton D.C. you come to a point in the road when you see this gigantic white six spired building ahead of you up on a very tall clift. It looks a lot like King Ludvig's castle in Germany. The first time our family encounted this sight I think the girls thought it was a castle.

We had to explain that is was the first Mormon temple built on the east coast and that it opened in December of 1968. This particular temple is larger than the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. One year when the girls were preteens we visited the temple during the Christmas season to see it up close. That particular year the mormons had a live nativity scene on the 52 acre grounds of this temple.

Here's a shot I got from the beltway. The spire to the right has a golden angel at the top. For mormons this is the Angel Maroni statue holding the gold plates. These two pics were taken on Sunday, January 24'th before we had our first blizzard in the metro area. If you want a better view click on each pic to bring it upclose to you.

Please go now and visit some other Skywatch Friday memes by clicking here:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Faith Lutheran Church

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

This is a beautiful old church in Arlington, Virginia: Faith Luthern Church. Our daughter Jeanine voluntarily keeps up the webpage for this church. Jack and I attended church here the other week in order to see this lovely church. These photos were taken as the congregation was leaving after the service. Take a look below.

The church design looks like one you would find in an alpine village in Germany. Notice the huge cross and the beautiful organ.
This is the front entrance to the church. Autumn leaves were decorating the steps.

Here's a sideview of the church and attached "old school" that is no longer used as a school. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all make it safely to the place you want to be for that turkey dinner and then safely back home to your favorite spot for a well deserved nap. LOL!

Saturday Afternoon in D.C.- Washington National Cathedral

View from tower of Washington National Cathedral in Northwest Washington D.C. You can walk all around the tower and see not only the skyline of downtown D.C. in all directions but you can see across to Fairfax County and Tyson Corners and Wolf Trap. In this photo the white building is St. Albans Cathedral and School were D.C. 's elite send their children.




Washington Cathedral with Rose Stained Glass Window.



Sandra admiring the plants still in bloom in the herb garden. We found irises as well as roses and azaleas in bloom. They all are the reblooming varieties. There is a separate herb garden gift shop at Washington Cathedral in addition to the very huge religious gift and book store on the lower level of the cathedral.




More boxwood and more herbs.

Now click here to take a virtual tour of the largest cathedral in either North or South America and the seventh largest cathedral in the entire world:
http://www.nationalcathedral.org/visit/

After a full and long day of sightseeing in D.C. we drove over to Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown to have a great German dinner at the Old Europa Restaurant. It took Sandra, Gene, Jack and I back to nights in Germany spent at The Dornbush Restaurant.

http://www.old-europe.com/pictures.html

St. Raymond of Penafort in Fairfax Station

This is a new Catholic Church in Fairfax Station in Fairfax County. It has a French saint's name: St. Raymond of Penafort. Jack and I liked the beautiful stain glass windows that this new church has. It looks like in time the church architects plan to add more stain glass windows to this church. This church is located on Pohick Rd, right off the Fairfax County Parkway.

The outside has an Italian look with the bell tower to the right.This is a side wall of the church. Notice down low are the Stations of the Cross. And this is the sanctuary and alter. As we walked towards the alter we could hear the large organ above and behind us begin a beautiful hymn. They were practicing for a wedding ceremony later in the day.
This is looking towards one of the side transepts of the church. This picture makes me think of my book club's book for next month: The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett which is the story of the building of a cathedral.
This is the beautiful rose window that you face as you leave the church. Click on the photo to see the details. Have a blessed Sunday. Pray for peace in the midst of these turbulent times.

And now that we have been to church this morning I can give the answer to the farm question I posed yesterday under my one blog post for Saturday. (The one where Jack and Jack are watching the cow get milked.) What is the difference between Sunday going to town overalls and every day overalls. Everyday farm overalls were dark blue to not show the dirt while Sunday going to town overalls were a snappy blue and white stripe.

Kentucky Roadtrip IV

When we went to Kentucky and stayed with Leon and Helen they wanted to know what we wanted to see and where we wanted to eat. Since Jack and I had covered lots of Kentucky's famous tourist sights in previous Kentucky excursions (Churchill Downs Racing Park, My Old Kentucky Home, Shakertown in Pleasant Hill, Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery, etc) and we get exposed to lots of southern cooking in Virginia we decided that we wanted to do something a little more exotic on this trip. Leon came up with the answer.

For food Leon then insisted that we go visit his favorite Palestinian restaurant and Palestinian grocery. This for Leon is a treat since he was born in Cairo, Egypt and exposed to Arab food at an early age. So we went to this Palestinian restaurant not far from Leon's home and had the most delicious meal. I think Leon ordered one of everything they were making for that day so we could try it. Look at these pictures of the food.

In the first photo at the top left corner you see a spicy eggplant dish called baba ghanoush. Next to that are these deep fried vegetable balls that are called falafel. Leon told us this is one of the national dishes of Egypt handed down by the Christian Copts who are said to be the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. The stuff in the next dish is cacik which is a delicious ground cucumber with yogurt and mint salad that is very refreshing. In the next bowl is hummus which is ground chickpeas in a spicy tahini sauce.

In the second photo is a platter of grilled meat kabobs: chicken, lamb, rolled ground beef and beef chunks sitting on top of a bed of saffron rice with grilled tomatoes along the edge. That was sooooooooooo good tasting! We finished our meal by having hot tea with mint served in a glass. Leon told us that is the way to do it in the Middle East. You wouldn't think of serving tea in an English bone china cup!

Now I must digress a moment here and mention two cultural things I noticed. First, Ramadan has already begun this fall for the Muslim faithful so the Palestinians in this restaurant were preparing and smelling all these delicious foods but couldn't eat a bite of any of it. Because during Ramadan you fast from sun up to sun down. I felt so sorry for them and thought to myself that doing that would be much harder then Roman Catholic fasting during lent. Second, the people in this tiny restaurant were such a mix of cultures and religions. At our table we had two Jews, a Roman Catholic and a Methodist. I noticed another table with Palestinian men and I noticed a woman in traditional Muslim dress and veil enter the restaurant. I also noticed several typical American "redneck" bikers come in and purchase food to go and then go tearing out of the parking lot on their motorcycles. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly experience any more of a cultural religious hodgepodge in walks the next man in a black clerical dress and Leon immediately stands up and greets the priest from St Micheal's Greek Orthodox Church! What this confirmed for me is that this is an example of how delicious food can bring people from very divergent religious and cultural backgrounds together in peace. And why can't everyone in the world gather together for food and drink and friendship in the name of peace.

Now with tummys full Leon drove us to five different Jewish synagogues in Louisville in the cause for hunger. Leon works for an organization that coordinates an interfaith Walk For Hunger and he had to deliver brochures on the upcoming Walk For Hunger to the various Jewish synagogues that were participating. And since Joann, a Roman Catholic, stated that she had never been in a Jewish synagogue but would love to visit one we took a drive to accomplish two things at once.
The synagogues we visited ranged from Reform to Orthodox. In the Orthodox Leon and Jack had to cover their heads with a yammuka. I liked the stain glass windows of this one synagogue.
Note the writing on the wall in this one synagogue. English writing is read from left to right. Hebrew and Arabic writing is read from right to left. Leon showed us the prayer books and pointed out that they open backwards to Western books.
In this photo you see the light that is always lit in the sanctuary. Leon and I had fun comparing our religious practices. For instance:

Leon: Here is the water in the pitcher that you pour over your hands in a certain fashion before entering the temple.

Joann: Roman Catholic Churches have holy water that you use to make the sign of the cross.

Leon: There is always a light burning in temple.

Joann: There is always a light burning in a Roman Catholic Church.

Leon: The men sit downstairs and the women sit upstairs in the temple. If the temple is just one level there is a wooden wall that separates the men from the women.

Joann: I can remember long ago at St Remy's Church in Russia, Ohio the unspoken rule was for the women to sit on the left side of the middle aisle and the men on the right side of the middle aisle while the children all sat in the front pews under the watchful eyes of the all seeing and ever vigilant nuns.

Easter Lilies at St. Marys in Alexandria

May 21 -- Helena and Butte

Today there will be four posts on the blog and we will be all caught up on the blog. We didn’t get much closer to home today, BUT we had a good day sightseeing. We drove from Missoula to Helena and our first stop in Helena was at the Honda dealer to have a headlamp changed,. We then went to the State Capitol and took a self guided tour. The inside is very ornate with bright red, green and earth tone colors. A statue of Maureen and Mike Mansfield took main stage. In addition, there was a statue of a woman who was the only Congressman to vote no to World War II. It cost her re-election, but she remained true to her nonviolent beliefs. She protested against the Vietnam War in Washington in the 70’s. I imagine she would be there now protesting the Iraq war if she were alive. We had a delightful lunch at Bert and Ernies Saloon in downtown Helena and then walked the downtown area. We ended our Helena tour at a beautiful Cathedral designed similar to the National Cathedral. It was really gorgeous. It is the Catholic Cathedral of St. Helene and is modeled after a church in Vienna, Austria.

We then drove to The Grant Khors Ranch which is a working ranch in Deer Lodge that is own by the National Park Service and it is a National Historical Site. Unfortunately, it was raining and we got a little wet, but we had a new experience.

Our goal was to drive to Butte for the night and we made it. We are now at 5,000+ feet and it is snowing!!!!! They are expecting 6 inches of snow. To get to our next destination, we have to go through a pass at 6000+ feet. So, we might get to spend another night in Butte and have lots of rest.

May 16 -- Sitka, Alaska

Today we learned a new term. “Tender.” Our ship docked in the Sitka Sound and they used our lifeboats (called Tenders) to transport us to shore. In the pictures, they are the orange and white boats. It was definitely a new experience, and it did not make getting back and forth from the ship very easy. That’s the only time we have been “tendered” to shore and we hope it is the last. The ship in the distance behind the “Welcome to Sitka” sign was our ship, so you can see how far away from shore we were. Sitka bills itself as the Russian American Capital. It was in Sitka where the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the USA took place. The Russian flag was lowered and the USA flag raised. In Sitka, we toured the city (it has 14 miles of paved roads, so that didn’t take long), visited a native cultural center where they were making native crafts, toured the Raptor Center, which is a rehabilitation center for wounded or injured birds of prey, went into St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Church, and saw a Russian Dance performance. The Raptors Center was very interesting. They had lots of bald eagles, since Alaska has about 50% of the bald eagle population. The eagle you see with the man is Sheetka. Unfortunately, she could not be released into the wild so she was recruited to help the volunteers at the center teach. (Note the poster behind them. They had T-Shirts with that photo and it said “I Am Smiling!”)

May 14 -- Juneau

Today was spent touring Juneau the Alaskan Capital and the largest city in southeast Alaska at 31,000. Of course, today the population soared when 3 cruise ships carrying about 2,000 passengers each pulled into port. Tomorrow we understand there will be 5 cruise ships in port. The tourist season has begun. Our first excursion was to the State Capitol, which might be the only non-domed capitol building. When one of the tour guides was asked why it did not have a dome, he responded that maybe they didn’t know how to build domes. A tourist’s retort was: “they’re just like building Igloos.” The Capitol is the brown brick building with a statue of a bear in the foreground. We then went to a Russian Orthodox Church, which is the white building with blue trim. There were no pews in the church--just a couple of benchs for the elderly. The Priest was there and we talked to him for about 30 minutes. We learned that their masses are between 90 minutes to 2 hours long and that everyone stands during the mass. We then went to the Governor’s Mansion, which is the building with the white columns. The current Governor is a Republican woman who must have kids or grandkids because there were trampolines and tree swings in the back yard. The next stop was the infamous Red Dog Saloon with its swinging Dutch doors. The floor was covered with sawdust. When we asked how often they changed the sawdust, the response was “Never. We just add more.” Lunch was reindeer sausage and tortilla soup. Jack had an Alaskan Amber beer with his and Joann had a “Duck Fart” with hers. A Duck Fart consists of Bailey’s Kahlua and Canadian Crown Royale whiskey. She liked it. Go figure! The Red Dog policy is: “If our food, drinks and service are not up to your standards, then please lower your standards.” In the afternoon we did a little shopping and then took a tour to Mendenhall Glacier, which is about 13 miles outside Juneau. It was sad to hear that the Glacier is melting at the rate of 100 feet a year and within 100 years, it will be gone if it continues at this rate. Our 68 year old Tinglit bus driver said he would have to find a new job then. In the picture of the Glacier you can see chunks of ice floating in the lake in front of the Glacier. When we returned from the trip, we decided to walk back to the ship versus taking a shuttle. It appeared to be just a short distance. About 3 miles later and winded, we arrived at the dock. We sail at 8:30 pm. We should sleep well tonight.

Dickie, the last picture is for you. These are the only Puffins we have seen so far although we have seen loads of bald eagles. There were 18 in on tree next to City Hall.

Mormon Tabernacle Organ Recital

What do you think of when someone mentions Salt Lake City? For us it is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Unfortunately, we didn't make it in time on Sunday to hear them, but we did get to hear an organ recital. This was a special treat, since the organ just recently underwent a restoration and this was the first recital after restoration. The first picture is the inside of the Tabernacle where the organ is located and the Choir sings. The second picture (which Joann does not like) was taken right after the recital. The color of the lighting behind the organ changed after each arrangement and the color you see is the last color used. The organist started the recital with a demonstration of the acoustics. The audience was required to sit in the back third of the Tabernacle. He talked without a microphone and was easily understood. He then ripped a newspaper into shreds and the rips were loud and clear. He then dropped pins one at a time on the lectern and again they were easily heard. Of course, there was little doubt we would be able to hear the gigantic organ. The third picture with the monument shows the outside of the Tabernacle. The last picture is more of the flowers on the grounds.