June 11, Saturday Evening Post. Be sure to wear Red!

Written by Jack van Ommen on June 11th, 2011

That is if you are celebrating the feast of Pentecost. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

I plan to give it one more try, at a local Orthodox church. This year the Western Christians and the Eastern Orthodox are on the same calendar.  What I really need to do is try to have someone explain me the liturgy. So far it has been all Greek to me. The few, mostly older women, in attendance cross themselves every 10 seconds and people are walking in and out lighting candles and kissing the icons. The priest appears for a while by opening a door to the tabernacle and then he disappears again.   Monday is a holiday here, 2nd Pentecost Day. Or Whit Monday. Just like in most of the western European countries. Now if you are a Romanian, or for that matter any Eastern Orthodox Christian, emigrated or a tourist in the Western Christian civilization, chances are a lot better that you’ll be able to worship in a familiar setting.
There is no crisis here in vocations. It’s a respectable job and celibacy is not a requirement . This week I met Lilianne a friend of Camelia. Her youngest son is an Orthodox Priest in Jongkoeping, Sweden. She has another relative who ministers in Los Angeles.  As much as I wished this opportunity would be provided by my church of choice I prefer my priest to be celibate and it be a vocation rather than a job.

Yesterday, Friday, there was a bus load of 8th graders having an overnight here. Right now there is some family celebration. I like their choice of music. they are playing rock and roll, Blue Suede Shoes, but Spanish music has dominated. Julio Eglesias, etc. While I was taking my shower, the ladies apparently can not not read the men’s washroom signs. I held my breath, the shower curtains cover about ¾ of the shower stalls.

Yesterday early afternoon a storm came out of nowhere. It started with the usual very strong winds. Between 30 and 40 knots. It blew all the sanding dust into the Black Sea; and the ladder down.  I had to repel down to the ground, when the storm had blown out.

There are two dogs here. Nero, a 16 months old real handsome German Shepherd and Skippy an eight year old mutt. Skippy just lays around in a sunny spot. Nero is always chasing balls and empty plastic water bottles. Skippy is old, unattractive and unloved. Since I fed him some of my morning’s lunch preparation, a piece of sausage and bread, he has taken up residence on my porch. A couple nights I got so crossed with him. He participates in the chorus of barking dogs in the surrounding ½ mile radius. This is often prompted by the pygmy owl, and can be any time in the
night.  Nero, does not mess with these mutts.

I finished reading my first Kindle book, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”.  I like reading from my laptop, and the Kindle format. The book started out disappointing for all the high marks I had heard of it. It read like a 10th grader’s essay. But the plot was good. I am reading books now in a different light since I have been involved in my own writing project. The writer wrote it more as a reporter/journalist and less like a fictional story. Blomkwist, the main character, hops in and out of bed indiscriminately,  with a number of women he uses. This is what apparently makes for a best seller, not my choice. I still give very high marks to  my favorite, “Shantaram”.  I am just starting to read “The Balkan Trilogy” by Olivia Manning. It plays in Romania during the second world war. Camelia let my borrow it.

My left shoulder feels like it has been puled out of it’s socket.  I cannot lift my left hand above my chest. It must be due to the sanding under the boat where I had to keep the sander above my head. I had a very rough night trying to find a way to be comfortable and fall asleep.It rained off and on till mid afternoon. There were dry spots on the keel, for instance, that I could work on and I installed a new engine exhaust system.

"Nero"

 

 

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