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Published: February 5th 2006
Bill, the giant
He really did not become a giant upon becoming 66 ... it is a small doorway next to the Old Town Clock. Today, February 5, 2006 is Bill’s 66th birthday. This is the second birthday in a row that he has celebrated in the Czech Republic. Last year we had a wild experience when we rode the bus downtown and got the two (2) birthday cakes we had ordered for the morning coffee time on campus. We had picked the cakes from a picture and had NO idea they would be absolutely enormous. It was all I could do to pick up one of them and then we had to carry them across the streets to the bus stop and then get on the bus with them. Since they were so large, we had to turn them partly on the side in order to get them on the bus. It was a really hilarious trip back with these two gigantic cakes. They lasted for several days of morning breaks! Only later did we learn we could have caught a Tram right in front of the bakery that would have greatly eased the trip to campus. Live and learn. We learned so well that we decided NOT to buy any cake at all this year. Last Wednesday the entire community had another enormous cake,
The cold Nancy
Yes, she has on five layers, two neck scaves, a hat and a ski head band and a pair of gloves but the cold crept through .... brrrrr chocolate, with which to celebrate all the February birthdays.
So, today was an easy day. No need to carry cakes! We ate breakfast and then started a wash (no one else seems to wash on Sunday morning). We attended church services and the Agape meal that is held each first Sunday of each month. Everyone cooks good food and brings it together for all to share. We brought chili, potatoes baked with cheese and a fruit salad with yogurt. Everyone brought so many good things and we had a good time learning to know some new people and talking more with people we have met since we came two weeks ago. It was really a good time for both of us. Breakfast had also been much the same when Bill sat and talked to Bill S. a new acquaintance from Scotland who is a new friend. I sat and talked with three of the new CAT students and one good friend from among last year’s CAT students. It was such a good time of talk and learning to know young women I pray will become an important part of my life. The longer we are here the more we
The Agape Meal
Some of the Sarka Valley Community Church members in the food line. learn to love and cherish the other members of this seminary community and church.
We decided to spend our afternoon downtown together. We wanted to buy a birthday gift for a little girl we consider to be our granddaughter. She will be 6 years old soon and loves puzzles. We know a good puzzle shop in the center of Prague, just a few steps from the Old Town Square. We were disappointed to discover it is one of the few shops in that part of town that is closed on Sunday. So, we will need to go back another day and find just the right puzzle for her. Yesterday while it was snowing, the temperature was quite moderate and we had several hours of walking around without being very cold. Today the weather had changed and it was clear and COLD. We wore almost exactly the same amount of clothing as yesterday but were not nearly so warm. If my friend Stephanie M. hadn’t given me her long, wool, Loden coat that she bought in Germany when she and Paul were living there, I probably would be a frozen Popsicle right now. That coat is so good at turning the cold! But despite the coat and the scarves and the sweaters today was a day when it was impossible to ignore the fact that Prague is FAR north. In fact we popped in and out of shops all afternoon long in order to warm up a little.
Bill writes - actually with my five layers on my upper body I was not too cold. Five layers you say … yes five layers, a t-shirt, a knit long sleeve shirt, a leather vest and two polar tech jackets. To top that all off I had a knit hat over my head and ears and a long knit scarf wrapped around my neck, and occasionally over my mouth. My face was cold, but there was not much I could do about that. By the time we arrived back at the seminary my fingers were quite cold also.
David S and his wife Grace told us at breakfast this morning that the concert in the Bethlehem Chapel last night was marvelous. The acoustics seem to be quite amazing. We hunted for the chapel and got a brochure telling of the next Mozart concert there which will be this coming Saturday night. I think we will attend. Concerts in the wintertime here are not crowded and we will be able to pickup tickets at the last minute. This is good since bad weather might make us decide to wait for yet one of the next two Saturdays when the last of these concerts will be held. Since this is the 250th anniversary of Mozart, concerts of all his music are being performed in the various cities of Europe.
Bill has been using the old camera case that belonged to my Aunt Mildred to carry his digital camera. It is starting to show signs of its age so he made a birthday gift to himself of a new camera bag. He can use it on his belt or around his neck. It even has a ‘raincoat’ in a small zipper area so he can make it rainproof if necessary. The young woman from whom he bought it was delighted to see he was also a ‘left writer’ as she put it. Apparently these left-handed folk look out for each other all the time.
Since we were almost frozen by the time he bought the bag, we decided to have a birthday treat of a hot cup of chocolate in a small coffee shop on the square. The hot cups warmed our hands and the drink was good too. We then caught the tram to our bus stop and came back. This was a good birthday.
A wonderful, meaningful worship service; two meals at which we had good food and a long period of time to deepen or begin friendships; a walk in the streets of a city we love; a gift to remember the day; time together to walk and talk about our good, long lives together; a warm room to which to return for a evening of reading and writing; a phone call to my mother who seems to be getting well again, life doesn’t get much better than this.
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linda goehring
non-member comment
happy birthday bill
bill and nancy sounds like you are having a great time. miss both of you at church. happy birthday bill and many many more. your friend linda g