It’s Sunday.
It’s… my fun day… my.. I don’t have to run day… (see where I’m going with this?).
I’m sitting at the dog park along the Brandywine River with my old mutt. She’s on a leash because she already rolled down a hill once and gave me a good scare by carelessly walking along a steep edge. I’m a little paranoid what with her bad hips and all.
The day started off lazy and beautiful. I woke up to my kid jumping into my bed saying “Good morning, mommy! We’re going to church today?” Which is always nice. So I have this super cute springtime skirt that didn’t quite fit me last year and I’m happy to say it fit me quite nice today.
See? 😀
We were late to church, but I blame my still not quite right throat. It forced me to hit snooze, it did. 😉
One of our young choir members is going to go to seminary to become a priest. I find that quite fascinating. I mean, I had a feeling he was going down that path, but I wonder… With the Orthodox faith being so.. Orthodox.. And so different from what most of my friends and the people around us know (or prefer), what would it feel like to have that calling? It’s hard enough these days just to be a Christian. Aww I just saw baby ducklings!
Okay, ADD aside…
It must be difficult to stay on that path… But then again, if that’s the path He wants for you, it’s probably not that difficult…. But also, it seems like the closer to God you want to get the harder the enemy pursues you…. So I can’t imagine. Anyway, I’m happy for him and I think it’s great. The world needs more awesome priests 🙂
I didn’t even plan on blogging about that. Heh.
So after church, and after Ethan’s Greek dance lessons, I dropped him off with his dad and brought the dog to the park, where we’ve been for a few hours now. It smells absolutely amazing where we’re sitting. I wish I could take all of the flowers home.
I don’t know what kind of flower this is but it smells absolutely amazing.
Mmmm Honeysuckles 🙂
It’s not natural for me to be sitting at a park in the middle of a city and hear a tiger moaning. Yes, a tiger. Moaning.
You see, this small area, which is not the best “dog park”, is right across the river from the Brandywine Zoo. I don’t like the zoo. We’ve grown up believing they’re natural. At least, I had. We used to go so often.. But it’s so unnatural. It’s about as natural as sticking a human from a different country in a house with glass walls (even with nice furnishing and a plaque that tells you about their natural habitat!) and making people pay to walk by and gawk at them all day.
Some try to sugar coat it and call them “animal ambassadors” and all that…
You know who I think are great animal ambassadors? Birds. I have been visited by many different kinds while sitting here. And they’re free. And they can go wherever they want (weather permitting).
Canadian geese are everywhere! I love them.
I’m not sure what’s more impressive. The fact that the duck wasn’t afraid of my dog or the dog wasn’t interested in the duck.
I don’t even like the fact that my turtle lives in a tank. The story of how I came to be the adopted caretaker of this turtle is long enough for another blog post, so I won’t post it (maybe another time). Long story short: I share my home with a large red ear slider who is in desperate need of a larger tank and a larger filter because she just. Keeps. Growing.
Ethan and Hermione (the turtle).
I wish I could release her, but I’ve been advised by the park that.. I can’t. 😦
So.. I wonder what the tiger’s moaning for. I did some mobile google research and apparently they moan for all sorts of reasons. She’s been going on for at least 20 minutes or so.. I wonder who she’s talking to? I wonder what she’d be doing if she wasn’t in her makeshift habitat…
I know what my turtle would be doing. She’d be swimming and chasing fish. She likes to chase fish.
I came here to spend some time outside of my apartment, which is where I was for the entire Saturday, which is extremely unnatural for myself. Also, to let the dog get out, too. She is something special, she is. I love how she’s 12 years old and still frolics like a puppy and looks at every little detail with absolute interest… And I love how she really, REALLY wants to catch a squirrel, but I’m not sure what she’d do if she actually caught it. She used to live with 13 of my hand raised rats (I used to work at a pet store when I was 17 and I’d take home the ones I couldn’t bare to sell..) and she used to let them crawl on her and give them kisses. I wonder if it’s been so long since she’s been around rodents that she’d actually kill one now.
When the doggie with the muzzle arrives all the other doggies leave :-\
If I didn’t have places like this (minus the zoo and the road behind me)… I’d go crazy.
I bet the tiger would feel the same way about her *natural* habitat…
And here you go, 30 seconds (or so) of peace.
Evangelina 
That skirt is hella cute. Awesome that you can wear it now.
I can’t believe that you are Orthodox, because you seem so un-orthodox. Is this ever a problem? Do you feel accepted, or like you belong?
I like the zoo, but I understand where you are coming from. It is unnatural to have these animals in enclosed spaces. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I feel like they should be allowed to live in their natural world and not be gawked at. But at the same time, I do think the good zoos do some good. They help preserve certain species that are increasingly become extinct in the wild, tigers being one of them, while educating people about their plight (like the loss of rainforest). They also provide an educational experience for kids. I’m sure there are biologists who can trace their interests in wildlife back to visiting the zoo as children. So I’m conflicted. At least they aren’t made to do tricks like at the circus, or Seaworld. THAT I have a problem with.
Is your dog aggressive? If I was at a park and I saw a dog with a muzzle on, I’d be nervous. She is adorable, though.
My dog is fear aggressive. If she’s uncomfortable or frightened she will snarl and snap, though she’s never attacked anyone. That’s why I put the muzzle on her, so people are careful. Better safe than sorry, though I honestly feel that any dog at a dog park should wear a muzzle, because some other peoples dogs are psycho, yet their caretakers insist they’re not. 😀
I used to feel that way about zoos too, but I think conservations and animal sanctuaries do a much better job than actual zoos.
And no. I used to feel that way when I was a teenager, but when I left the church I realized I felt that way EVERYWHERE. And I actually feel more uncomfortable in non-denominational churches, oddly enough. I think it’s just not what I grew up with so I don’t get into it as much. My mom is Orthodox and my dad was Roman Catholic. It’s funny that you think I seem unorthodox, because I’m actually very orthodox haha. I try to be, anyway. I love my religion… and sometimes I get crap about it, but *shrug* I do love it. I’m very much into tradition. Just like with kung fu. I like “the old school.”
Thanks for reading!
“I realized I felt that way EVERYWHERE”. You and me both. I guess I didn’t realized you were so orthodox and liked “the old school”, as you put it. I’m different in that way. I guess I’m more progressive in my beliefs. But don’t let people give you crap about your beliefs. I try to be respectful of people’s beliefs, even if I don’t agree.
I think there are a lot of assumptions about what Orthodoxy is all about that are not entirely correct. I’m still learning about my own faith every day, so I can’t claim to know everything, but often times I’m faced with people that assume we’re just Catholic or just like Catholics. I don’t pretend to know everything about Catholicism either, but Orthodoxy is definitely different.
The simplest way to put it is this:
Orthodox (as defined by dictionary.com) – 5. conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early church.
That’s Orthodoxy in a nutshell. To put it plainly: We try to stick to the way Jesus taught the disciples.
We don’t always hit the nail on the head, but hey, we’re trying.
Catholicism split off from the early church over 1k years ago (see “The Great Schism”) and things have been morphing and changing ever since… I believe the biggest issue that separated the two sides was the authority of the Pope, but I’m no historian so.. Anyway. That’s my little may-or-may-not-be-accurate history lesson for ya.
Bottom line: Orthodox Christians are people, too! ;D