Church of the Visitation II

The best part of this place is all the Bible verses. The Magnificat in 70 different languages.

Swahili???


Vietnamese???


Portugese


Hebrew


Arabic??

Church of the Visitation

Mary and Elizabeth

Mary's Spring

As the story goes, Mary stopped to drink at this spring on the way to see Elizabeth. While we were there a man diligently washed his face and arms in the water, and then took off his shoes and socks and washed his feet. Trying to wash away his sins? The water is considered holy.

Part of a mosque remains, with this nice tower.

Ethiopian Church

From our class tour that we took way back.




I find these pictures interesting, not meaning that I actually like them, but they're interesting. However, when they are found inside a church, there is immediately a problem, and I think it's called idolatry. I edited one photo, because it had something that looked like angels at the top, and sometimes those are meant to be representations of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which we know is forbidden.
I wonder who the little guy in blue is behind the big guy and what is that little creature between them. And who are the two guys on the wall in the background.


This could be Elijah getting fed by a raven. Who knows.



the "holy place" no caps because I disagree




Nice-looking drums.

Honeysuckle

This is our home. There are eleven other apartments in this building.
This honeysuckle bloomed well earlier this year. The lot in the foreground is completely bare now. It was full of interesting weeds for a while, but eventually filled up with thorns and burs, so I was glad when they mowed it down. I was surprised, though, that in all these months not one speck of anything has sprouted. There must be millions of weed seeds in that lot, but with no rain not even weeds can grow.

Beware of the Orange

Beware of the orange,
For in his bright peel
Is acid so strong
It will make your throat peel.
And how does that feel?
Not too good. Pretty bad.
Why ate I an orange?
Twasn't all that I had--
I had grapes and bananas,
Tomatoes and bread,
But for some strange reason
I had "orange" in my head.
I removed the orange part
(But not quite enough)
Trying to save
The nutritious white stuff,
Leaving some of the dents,
And that was my error,
For d-limonene
To me is a terror.

I have this weird way of peeling an orange. I use a knife. But if you don't get down to the smooth white part, you can get some pretty strong acid-y stuff. I have heard of orange peel being used as an acne remedy, a heartburn remedy, a de-greaser, and a stain remover. (But not necessarily straight from the orange.) My experience is that it burns! My throat started burning immediately, and within an hour I had all the symptoms of the flu. Maybe it was an allergic reaction. By evening it was affecting my breathing. But I had a good night's sleep and today I am much better.

This is the second week of Hebrew level 3. As in the last level, we have two days with a slow teacher and two days with a fast teacher. Or rather, one teacher speaks moderately fast and the other speaks extremely fast. There are two new countries represented, Finland and Czech Republic. There is one super-brain in the class who knows all the answers and gets them out before anyone else has a chance to think. A bit annoying. So far I have written a story and an essay. I like doing this, and look forward to getting papers back with red marks all over them. That's how you learn--make lots of mistakes!

"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again." Franklin P. Jones

October 12, 1979

One of the happiest days of my life -- Sharon was born.

Isaiah 35:1-2
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
"It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD and the excellency of our God."

I got her name from this verse, with the hope that there would be created in her that excellent work of the Holy Spirit, without which we are all ruined sinners.

יומ הולדת שמח שָרוֹנ





An evening primrose. Different varieties of these grow anywhere from a few inches to six feet tall. Some are pink. And some of them bloom all day.

Many evening primrose, like this one, have reflexed sepals and an X-shaped stigma.

An unidentified flower. I believe I also saw these in England.