Pets

What animals make the best/worst pets?

This all depends on what you are looking for in a pet. Most people say that dogs have owners whereas cats have servants.

That can be true to a point. A lot of the pet’s personality becomes what the owner wanted.

Dogs are great guardians, affectionate and happy to just stay with the owner to play games and receive affection in return. But dogs also require a lot of work. Potty training, feeding, grooming, and are more expensive in care than a cat.

Cats are much more self reliant. Put a kitten in a litter box and potty training is done. Some kitty kibble and soft food is usually enough food for one day. If your cat goes outdoors and gets hungry nature provides them a wonderful buffet of little rodents to feast on. Which in most cases is a good thing.

Of course that are a plethora of pets. From snakes to spiders and anything between. As for me, I love dogs but my favorite would be a cat.

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House of Prayer

Many names for church we hear

From Praise and Worship

To Holy Ordinance

 

Service and Liturgy

Sacrament, Celebration

Ritual, Rite, and formality

 

Names do not matter

In the scheme of things

But the God we worship is everything

 

This evening at home

Tested our resolve

When Grammy and great granddaughter

Were nowhere to be found

 

The sun had set as the woods grew dim

The temperatures dropping

And our nerves became thin

 

 

We called the police, to ask for help

Their response was amazing

Within minutes they drove in

 

The State Police and Sherriff’s Office

The Wardens Office with tracking dogs

Even heat seeking goggles and a drone were used

 

The neighbors we have are very few

But tonight, they came out trusted and true

Walking the roads with lights all a glow

 

Barking dogs, people yelling out names

Hilda and Clarity!

Made my reality shake

 

Remain calm, stay in

And do what they say

The hardest words for parents to take

 

People were praying and phones were ringing

While Wendy and I sat with our niece

She received a call; they have been found!

 

Tears of joy went fast through the crowd

The prayer chain texting, all safe and sound

They came into our yard, tired but fine

Just glad to be home with the home lights on

 

I was talking with a Sherriff

A very good friend

Who simply told me in the dark of the night

Rick, praise be to God, we do not lose these fights

 

The next hour was family

In our home in the woods

Laughing and crying

Singing praises to God

 

Our home is no church

But filled with love and care

And where two or more are gathered

Is God’s House of Prayer

 

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Kusadasi, Turkey

Our first stop in Turkey was the ancient port city of Miletus. Visiting Miletus today certainly gives no indication that it was ever a port city. Over the centuries, the Maeander River has been depositing heavy silt, and the “port city” of Miletus is now 5 – 6 miles from the Aegean Sea. It was difficult to imagine that Miletus was once on a peninsula with three major sea ports.

The focal point when driving in was the large and dominating Roman theater. Built in the 4^th century BC, it was the second largest theater in Turkey with a seating capacity of 15,000. Still remarkably preserved, the larger part of our group was able to explore it uninhibited. And it was fun to watch all of them come pouring out of the “vomitoriums” (I just love that word!). Since the theater itself is not wheelchair accessible, I remained in front of it and was able to roll back and forth looking at all of the architectural wonders.

I want to mention something here that highly amused me but has absolutely nothing to do with Miletus or the theater – dogs. Most countries that I have visited always seem to have an abundance of stray cats. Miletus however had an abundance of stray dogs. Like the cats, they are homeless, skinny and I wanted to bring all of them home with me (Nasty look from Wendy). The amusing thing about these dogs was their behavior. For the most part they just sort of roamed around following our group hoping for a handout. They acted very “doggy” with slow wagging tails and their tongues hanging out. But they had one habit that made me snicker. They would be walking around with us, when without any warning they would just tip over and take a nap. And when I say “tip,” I mean it. At first I thought they must all have some medical condition to cause such strange behavior. I asked our guide and he just shrugged his shoulders, saying they all do it. It mattered not if they were under a tree, on a rock or in the middle of the road. Then some sound or smell would make them jump back up again until their next nap attack would strike. They actually reminded me a bit of myself!  Lol

We left Miletus and headed for Ephesus. The ruins of this ancient city were remarkable and it was very easy to see what a splendid city it must have been. We were looking at about 10% of the original city that has been excavated and that took approximately 140 years to accomplish. The main emphasis now is more on conservation and restoration of what has been unearthed rather than on further excavations.

The streets here are paved with very large stones that are worn smooth, cracked and some pretty rough going for wheelchairs. But my guide and bus driver were eager to help so I was able to move slowly along the streets and see everything. Once again the key is to have patience and take it slow. Three things here that I want to point out that have been excavated: the Celsus Library, the theater of Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis.

The one that I enjoyed seeing the most was the Celsus Library. It looked exactly like the pictures in all of the history books but it was so amazing to actually sit in front of it and take it all in with its surroundings. Some of it had been restored, but much of the original was still intact. It gave off an aura that bespoke of splendor. Ephesus, which had an approximate population of 250,000 in the first century BC, was one of the largest and busiest commercial port cities of its day. The library certainly gave testimony to that fact. We also saw the theater of Ephesus which once again dominated the entire area. It was the largest Roman theater which seated approximately 25,000 people. It was still in remarkable condition and restoration projects were in progress to maintain it. The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was no longer much of a wonder. When the temple was built it had 127 columns that stood 60 ft high. Today, only one column has been partially resurrected to indicate where an ancient wonder once stood. I did include a model picture of what it would have looked like.

I end with a quote – “I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, ‘Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.’”

Antipater, Greek Anthology (IX.58)

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