St. Elias Festival

 Today, August 28, 2021, a friend and I went to the St. Elias Mediterranean Festival. We both had passed by the small church many times and wondered about it. 

This would be a chance to enter the church and get a tour by the priest. I knew it was an Orthodox church because of the name: St.  Elias Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church. We entered the church and as in other Orthodox churches, Icons are on the altar. Today I learned that only the priest can enter the altar and the doors to the altar are dedicated to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary. I noticed a picture of the Last Supper above the doors and it was not an Icon. The priest, Rev. Fr. George Shawareb gave us a brief history lesson on the the church. At one time the Orthodox religion was one but then the Eastern group split from Rome and the Pope making two separate groups. I was surprised at how many Orthodox churches there are all over the world. He told us that in the Orthodox religion priests can be married.  

Communion differs from the Catholic Consecration because they use a loaf of yeast bread cut in 4ths. Pieces of bread are shared by the priest and the congregation. They also believe it is Christ in the bread and only the priest can touch the holy bread. I thought how my father would have liked the priest to be the only one to distribute communion. He never accepted that Deacons and Lay people should give the host to the people! You do have to be a member of the church to receive communion. He mentioned that there are people in his parish that are Russian, Greek, Egyptian, Polish or Ethiopian among others. I looked up the Orthodox religion and there were around fifteen countries who practice the religion. He showed us an Icon of St. Rafael, Bishop of Brooklyn, and it had a small round glass with a relic inside. He was the first Orthodox Christian Bishop consecrated on American soil. Nuns dress in black and stay in monasteries praying for peace.

Icons are not paintings but years of praying and thinking go into the preparation to do an Icon. Reminded me of Santeros in the Hispanic tradition where they feel that God inspires them to do the art. We were allowed to take pictures and to walk around the church. I was impressed by the huge glass chandeliers and he said that those were donations from parishioners. 

Outside music was blaring, food was being sold, a few booths selling Henna, what looked like Bongs, and beaded pieces of work. I purchased Falafel, a traditional Middle Eastern dish and my friend had a lamb shank and she said it was excellent! We ate and watched the people and one lady, who is a founder of the small church, told us that before they purchased the building from a Baptist church, they would meet in gyms, basements, and in homes for their services.

A little girl dressed in traditional outfit and was named Maza (not sure on spelling) which means diamond. My friend found out that in ancient times, the coins were real gold coins.

Tall glass bongs with long narrow hoses could be seen by different people enjoying their smoke. I noticed that people shared the sucking of the bong. Large clouds of smoke would form around the face. I wondered if it was safer than smoking regular cigarettes. Or was it even safe because of Covid.

We thought we were going to see dancing from the middle East but instead we watched a watermelon eating contest. The watermelons were cut and placed on four tables and it was fun watching about eighteen young people eating the juicy watermelon without using their hands. I was surprised when a young girl won! She beat out many of the men and won an Icon of St. Elias. Seeing the red watermelon made me hungry for watermelon!

It was enjoyable seeing families with their children at the Mediterranean Festival and watching the children hving fun on the inflatable bouncers! It was a pleasant afternoon and I was happy to learn more about the Orthodox church and eat the Mediterranean food. One thing I noticed was how friendly everyone was and to see many priests supporting St. Elias. I saw about seven priests or I thought they were priests because they were in black and some had the white priest collar. They greeted each other with an embrace and they smiled as if they were old friends!

 

One priest poured holy water on our hands and there seemed to be a lot of rapport among the priests. It made me feel good to see such a display of love!

"My longing is The Father,

My shelter is The Son,

My protection is the Holy Spirit,

Holy Trinity, glory to you."

St. Joanikije Devicki

What's That I Hear?

Crunching sand beneath my feet, the clicking of my turning signal on my car, crickets chirping, the computer keys as I type, and paper rustling near my ear are sounds I can now hear with my new hearing aids. Brushing my teeth sounded as if I was sandpapering my teeth and blowing my nose the Kleenex sounded like I was crumpling up gift tissue paper. I had been told I was missing a lot but now I know how much I had missed. Naturally, I never missed what I couldn't hear but now I am entering a new world of noise!

On August 23, 2021, I sat in the Costco Hearing Aid Center and listened to instructions on the what, how and why of  hearing aids. From putting them into my ears, how they function, cleaning instructions, to everything I needed to know. I spent about an hour listening and practicing and when I left I had my new hearing aids on and a small box containing cleaning materials, charger, and more instructions to remind me on what I needed to do. I also was given a small black mask clip so I would not have to add the mask ties to my ears but instead the ties are tied at my neck. I was told that pulling masks off had caused many accidents because the hearing aid would get pulled off along with the mask.

Last night, after figuring how to place my hearing aids into the charger I connected the charger. Today will be my first solo try at putting my hearing aids into my ears. I am hoping I remember everything and that I do it correctly. 

Half an hour later of struggling I think I have those tiny buds in my ear and the teeny wire where it is supposed to be. Nothing seemed to go as easy as they made it sound. I do believe they are in correctly because I can hear the computer keys as I type and usually I don't hear a thing while I type! Today will be the first time at church where I usually can't hear the readings.  This will be a test to see how the hearing aids work.

Hard to believe that as mass began I could hear the priest loud and clear. Wow, now that was an improvement! Twenty four people went out to lunch and I had no problems understanding what was being said and I was not bothered by background noise. I do believe I am going to enjoy wearing my new hearing aids!

                                                         

Of course the real test will be when I visit my family in California and if I can hear and understand them my hearing aids will be an excellent success! 

"I hadn't really noticed I had a hearing problem.

 I just thought most people had given up 

on speaking clearly."

Hal Linden

Visiting My Friend

 

Today, after mass, I went to visit my friend who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She was not in the room where I had visited her before and I found out she was on the 2nd floor in Room 402. She now has a roommate but no one was in the room. I asked an aide where my friend could be and she said, "She's sitting in the hall with other people." I must have gone right passed her and did not see her. She looks good with her salt and pepper hair and she was wearing a green top, green and black checkered bottoms. and yellow hospital slippers. 

I got up close to her and took off my mask, and she stared at me. There was no response as I told her who I was and asked her how she was doing. I sat on a small couch with two other people and tried talking to her. She is in a world of her own. She did tell me she played ball and made the motions like playing volleyball so I said, "You played volleyball?" She nodded. She seemed fixated with my hair and kept pointing at it and saying something but I never understood what she was saying. I told her it was a wig and she had never seen me with such short hair. There was no response as she talked about something else.

She looks around a lot at all the other patients and would say something and my guess was that she was telling me about them but it was very difficult to understand what she is saying. There were three women working on a puzzle at a table nearby, one woman kept talking in what sounded like Russian but no body answered her, a heavy set man in a mobilized wheel chair kept going back and forth, and I noticed a lot of kidding around by the nurses or aides. There seemed to be more workers than patients and I counted about seven workers. One man, with his head hanging down to his chest was fast asleep and he slept all the time I was there. The lady on the couch next to me told me her brother has Alzheimer's and that he has been in the facility for two years. He used to play football and she thinks that might have caused his dementia. He is seventy-one years old. This horrible disease strikes people of all ages. At one point he told an aide that the woman was his daughter. The mind just stops being normal.

The letters with pictures that I send her are taped on the wall in her new room. I wonder if she looks at them and remembers.

I was there for over an hour and the visit was a guessing game.  She would say something and I would try to guess what she was saying. If I got it right, she sometimes nodded but other times she continued with another conversation. When I said good-bye there was no reaction. I hugged her and got no response. She never said bye and even when I waved she did not wave back. I wondered if she thought I was one of the workers!

My friend is physically there but her mind is somewhere else. She is the same person I knew but
different because we can't reminisce like we used to. I pray that in her own world she is content and happy.

                                                

                                                              "Although your loved one

may not remember you or

might do things that frustrate you, 

this is the time when he or she

needs you the most."

Angie Nunez Merryman

 

My Search for Fig Goat Cheese

 First step was to get on the Internet and inquire where fig goat cheese could be purchased. Trader Joe's, Target, Amazon, King Sooper's, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Walmart and Costco were checked. Second step was to click each store and check their menu to see if they carried the item. When I found a few possibilities, I headed out to find the fig goat cheese. Clerks had never heard of fig goat cheese and no one seemed to carry it. Walmart did not have it but King Sooper's had goat cheese but no fig goat cheese. I purchased a small roll of the cheese. Sprouts had fig jams so that would be my next stop.  Along the way I was told that fig goat cheese is a seasonal thing and to try around Christmas time. I did not feel like driving to Trader Joe's in Boulder so my decision will be to mix the fig spread from Sprouts with the plain goat cheese and that will have to do! Once I have all the ingredients for my salad I will prepare the delicious sounding salad!  Ingredients for my salad will be the yellow watermelon, sliced cucumber, walnuts, mint leaves, and goat fig cheese.

The goat cheese reminded me of how my grandmother made cottage cheese. I remember her placing a bottle of milk on the window sill and letting it get sour and what ever formed at the top of the bottle would be cottage cheese. The fig spread tasted like any jam or jelly with tiny seeds.  I think the salad will be sweet, the cheese will be salty and the mint will give it a refreshing taste. It should be good!

"Life is great,

cheese makes it better!"

Avery Aames

Yellow Watermelon

 Even though this was not my first time buying a yellow watermelon as previous blogs will show (2016 Watermelon Woes and 2018 Vegetable or Fruit) this year 2021 when I purchased a yellow watermelon plus other items I was shocked when my bill came to $41.98. I figured that paying $9.82 for the watermelon was pretty ridiculous when other grocery stores had them for around $3.00 to $5.00! The test of whether it was worth it would come when I tasted it.

This morning I cut into the yellow watermelon and saw that it was a pale yellow even though the outside looked exactly like a red watermelon. I cut a slice and standing over the sink, I bit into the juicy watermelon. It was sweet and felt sugary on my tongue. It tasted a bit different than a red one but it was still delicious! It was so good it made be think that this cannot be good for me because it must be loaded with sugar!

I  went to the Internet to find out about this wonderful tasting melon! High in Vitamin A and C, can support immune system and skin health, contains Beta Carotene which is an antioxidant that may protect against cancer and eye disease, low calorie count with a high percentage of water to keep you hydrated.

As I read different reports on both red and yellow watermelon I could not see any negative reports on eating watermelon. So I ate a few slices of the delicious yellow melon!

My next thought was that the yellow watermelon would make an excellent salad so back to the Internet I went to find a recipe for a salad with my expensive watermelon!

Yellow watermelon balls

cucumber thinly sliced

finely chopped mint leaves

fig goat cheese

walnuts

It sounded like a neat salad that would be easy to make. Now I need to go shopping for a cucumber, mint, and fig goat cheese and hopefully I won't pay an outrageous price for those items! I am beginning to wonder if I am becoming a high maintenance woman or maybe I had better do my shopping at more economical stores!

"Watermelons are the

smile of summer!"

Unknown

Sunday Afternoon

 It felt as if parishioners at Spirit of Christ were coming out of hibernation. For over a year our active parish had been forced to cancel all of its social activities. Sunday, August 15, 2021, an ice-cream social was planned and it was wonderful seeing everyone enjoying being together in a large group! The Knights of Columbus had popcorn, snow cones and ice cream for everyone.

Myles Ogea, the music director, and his talented family entertained the crowd with popular songs. People brought their chairs and found areas in the shade to enjoy the afternoon!

Our priests seemed extra happy as they wandered through the crowd and greeted people they had not seen (upclose) and without masks for a long time. I was happy to meet Fr. Chris' Mother and thought how proud she must be with her handsome son, the priest!

God is good. Even though there were rumblings in the clouds it never rained, the sun was warm, people were friendly, snacks were delicious, music was happy and all in all it was a perfect Sunday afternoon!

''You can't buy happiness,

but you can buy

ice cream and that is 

much the same thing.''

Unknown

From Italy to Denver

 A Nun who lives in Italy visits family in Denver quite often. I met her a few times at a rosary for a traveling statue of Our Blessed Mother. The statue visits different homes, people gather to pray the rosary, sing songs to Mary and snack on Italian goodies. It seems to be an Italian tradition. Another year I saw her at a church bazaar with her family. Once I attended a luncheon at another friend's home and she was there. The last time I saw her she told me that when she returned to Denver she would love to travel to El Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Her blood sisters had gone with a group and had told her about the holy place. 

I was shocked when I heard that she had passed away in Italy on July 29, 2021. Since most of her family is in Denver, they flew her body home and on August 13, 2021, a funeral mass took place at Mt. Carmel Church in North Denver. Outside the church there was a string quartet playing peaceful music and inside a harpist also greeted us with melodies. Sister Rosetta Lombardi was surrounded by huge bouquets of flowers and in the many funerals I have attended, I have never seen so many huge sprays of flowers. The top of the casket was covered with flowers. Along the back of the church and at the altar were pictures of the nun framed by flowers.  

It had been years since I had been at Mt. Carmel and had forgotten the beautiful altar centered by our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Mass began after the rosary and nieces and nephews did the readings. The priest commented on how Sister Rose had a GPS in her heart that directed her how to live her life! The eulogies, by the young people, gave testimony on how wonderful, kind, and fun loving their aunt had been. One niece spoke about her aunt in Italian and since I don't understand Italian, my mind wandered. I counted over 300 light blubs illuminating the church. I noticed a statue of a saint exposing his leg and wondered about his identity. *

After the casket was removed, my friend and I did not join the procession to the mortuary but found our own way to Crown Hill Cemetery where we waited for the hearse to arrive. The tower at the cemetery, which I have passed hundreds of times but had never been in it, was cool, dark and quiet.

 

I learned that the mother of the Lombardi family had purchased a room for all the children and their families so they would all be together in death. The room is huge, has chandeliers, marble walls, red carpeting and truly amazing! We all gathered for the priest to give a final blessing to Sr. Rosetta.

We were all given pink, magenta and lavender balloons and went to the balcony of the mausoleum to send them flying into the sky. We could whisper our thoughts to the nun as we released our balloons.

Somehow, this was one funeral that I did not feel a deep sadness. It was as if all the love of the family would be in their hearts and minds forever keeping Sister alive.

 

My friend and the Lombardi family came from the same town in Italy and their friendship continues in Colorado. Through my friend I met some of the family and I am glad I was able to join them on this day as they put their sister, aunt, cousin and friend to rest.

Born in Camposbasso, Italy 

 November 24, 1945

Entered into eternal rest in Rome, Italy

 July 29, 2021

Funeral and Entombment 

August 13, 2021

 "For if you think of me,

I will not have died. 

I have only gone with Jesus."

From pamphlet at Funeral,

may have been written by Sister Rosetta

*St. Rocco is venerated for protection of the plague and all contagious diseases. Symbols are a pilgrim with staff, a dog, and showing the sore on his leg. Seems like a good Saint to pray to for some relief of Covid 19 and its variants!

Suicide or Murder

 Not too long ago I watched a Netflix movie on the life of Vincent Van Gogh. I have always liked some of his paintings and I thought seeing the movie would end the puzzle of his death. It didn't because he either committed suicide or young boys playing cowboys may have shot him. He was 37 years old and died on July 29,1890. He lived a sad life and was mentally ill and in an asylum in 1889. I found it interesting that while in the asylum he painted twenty-one works of art while looking through a window. He is now famous for over 2,000 works of art  painted in his last ten years.

 

When I saw that there was an exhibit of his work coming to Denver in a show with huge pictures of his art, I decided to visit the Stanley Market Place where the show was taking place. Reservations were needed and today, August 11, 2021 I entered the huge warehouse to see his work. The paintings were separated into five time periods beginning in 1880 to1890.

I was fortunate to find a place to sit for the 45 minute showing on the giant screens. Animation of a train, chugging along,  moved from one end of the room through all the panels to somewhere behind me. I was impressed at how well the train traveled through various painting along with sound effects. Blossoms falling and birds flying were also impressive!

At the entrance of the show was a picture of when Van Gogh was nineteen years old and he looked so different than his self-portraits.

 

 The background music was perfect as frame after frame flashed on all the walls and sitting on the bench my neck got a workout as I turned to try to see all the screens! Sometimes each panel was of the same picture but other times there were different pictures on each panel giving me a feeling that maybe I was missing something behind me!

I recognized some of his work and was surprised that I had never seen or paid much attention to others.

A person standing in front of one picture gives the perspective of the size of the paintings. What a wonderful and creative way to bring Van Gogh to many observers. The end of the forty-five minute show ended with one, loud gunshot, and I thought that was pretty impressive! Leaving the exhibit I had to go through a room with mirrors and sunflowers. The show could have ended on a sad note after Van Gogh's short life and sadness in his life, but instead, on seeing all the sunflowers multiplied gave me a happy and joyous feeling. A talented soul that in his short, troubled life painted over two thousand works of art!

"I dream my painting

and I paint my dream.

Vincent Van Gogh