{descent}
nothing is quite so sweet
to this wanderlusting soul
as those words that interrupt
my in-flight movie:
"ladies & gentlemen...
shortly we will be making our descent..."
one single impression's prompt for this week ~ descent ~ takes a turn in the direction of travel for me as we gear up for a trip to Charleston SC, contemplate a december return to roma (for a very special friend's ordination), & begin to lay some groundwork for 2010 journeys...here (of course!)...but also here?...here?...or maybe here again?? i really do like the excitement of potential journeys, the comparing of places, all the hopefulness of new experiences! as i perused my romania photos from last summer, i got a lump in my throat about the possibility of going back...but that remains in God's hands right now!
after we left suceava, romania last summer, we stopped again in oradea & were blessed with a free day on our hands. we ambled around the city with melissa...
mesmerized by the beautiful old churches & the communist-era buildings...
i was so grateful that the old way had not been completely destroyed. my heart could not comprehend the events that my mind knew had transpired there in the last century. how i would have loved to join these two gentlemen on that park bench to hear the stories they could tell....
but there were sobering reminders that spoke without words, like this memorial to victims of nazi occupation...
an entire room just outside the moon curch (Biserica cu Luna) was filled with candles lit for loved ones lost...
a short distance from this church was the St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church...
where we had the sweet pleasure of meeting the sacristan who spoke fluent *english*! (the first time in nearly a week we heard our native tongue outside our little group)...
he told of history, both sad & joyful, of those who gave their lives so readily in order that this time may be what it is. & he showed us the great treasure held in his church...a first class relic of St. Nicholas (some of his bones).
our stroll through this beautiful city continued...
eventually leading us to this painted monastery...
a place so incredibly beautiful & so peaceful...
one was utterly removed from the world in the enclosure...
the place has settled into my dreams now that i am home...
as i organize & upload these photo reminders, i tell myself it is no wonder i am dreaming of 2010's travel possibilities!!
next stop on the journey of reminiscing is my very favorite~ budapest!
oradea, romania, june, 2009
a secret tidal creek that shoots off our bay...
to learn this secret one must watch in the early summer twilight, the way which the egrets fly at the end of their day...
to enter this secret cove that varies from year to year...
one must hush & let the tide have its way...
but the reward is great as the sun falls...
soon gentle wings caress the air & the trees are ornamented...
as the egrets of our marsh & bay yield to twilight's yearnings & find a roost for the night to stay...
as graceful night sweeps the sky, one's soul is refreshed here in the last bit of the light of day...
D. & i met on the last sigh of summer & spent the whole of that first autumn together, falling in love surrounded by swirling red & gold leaves & the scent of campfires, hiking through morning mists while the first light touched our childhood fields...
in our early years together, autumn always heralded a special feeling of the thrill of those first days together. even though we were creeping toward a pennsylvania winter, i still reveled in all of its glory...then we moved south...warmer autumns with equally beautiful light were fine by me...
then we moved to the coast...& autumn brought a new friend - hurricanes! i didn't realize until this very equinox, i have spent the last few autumns holding my breath, praying that we would be spared a major hurricane. no enjoyment. none. this year we have been blessedly spared an active tropical season & i have once again fallen in love with this glorious season...
last week we walked on the beach in the perfect twilight, fished under almost-full moons, gathered wildflowers, & sat by campfires. & i have learned a lesson~ no more missing the beauty in worry over something that may or may not happen. now certainly, if we were to have a hurricane land here in our bay, i am sure i will have a different focus, but in the meantime, i am once again reveling in autumn's awesome beauty! :-) & may this beautiful day find you enjoying its blessings...
