When daughter Katie (aka Kat), was eight she lucked into being the US representative when Turkey brought in kids from a number of nations at XMAS to explore the origins of Santa Claus.  I lucked into being her sidekick. Festive understates the enthusiasm of a bakers dozen of mostly Muslim Santa Claus stand-ins. They joyfully guided the kids about the Mediterranean city Antalya and throughout ancient ruins on the way to the church of St. Nicholas in Myra, about 142 km away, south and west along the coast. Hip-hopping Santa Clauses, conga line Santa Clauses, break dancing Santa Clauses. These Santas had great moves.

The celebration of St. Nicholas is actually on December 6th, the day of his death in 343.

Myra endured through cascading empires — Lycian, ancient Greek, Roman Greek, Byzantine Greek and Ottoman Greek, with many overlapping influences from Hittite to Persian to Egyptian. The Greeks departed in 1923, in the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The local ruins are impressive, though much of what would be great to still have about didn’t outlast Santa Claus’s distaste for pagan reminders, alas.

Christmas Service at the ancient church of St. Nicholas

Santas bring a softer edge to the marble heroes in the Antalya Archeological Museum

Santas summoning the children of the countries they’re assigned to show around Antalya

Ancient church of St. Nicholas

Footloose

So you think you can dance?

Turkish children entertaining their guests

Antalya Archeological Museum

Santas warming up

Myra Necropolis – Demre, Turkey

Another theater, this one for gladiators and wild animals, looking out from where
they waited in the wings for glory or their demise.

Ruins details

Santas gone wild, dancers celebrating after their performance with less traditional steps

Ancient Greek theater in Myra

Katie summons a dolphin

Ancient Greek Theater of Myra

Symbolizing theater masks in the Ancient Greek Theater of Myra

Plundered ancient rock cut tombs of the Lycian necropolis, Myra, Turkey

Antalya Archeological Museum, 75,000 square feet of wonder

Krampus incognito

Sunset on the Taurus Mountains bordering Antalya, named for the bull that symbolized ancient
Near Eastern storm gods, who flooded rivers like the Tigris and Euphrates to fertilize land.

What he lacked in historical preservation, St. Nicholas made up for with a charitable heart. Losing his parents to a plague that wiped out a large swath of the population, he acquired a great inheritance. He joined the church and used his fortune to serve the poor and sick, becoming the bishop for Myra. One famous legend is that he knew a man on hard times was so in debt he might have to sell his three daughters into prostitution. One night Nicholas threw a sock filled with gold coins through the older daughter’s window, allowing the man to pay his debt.

Under one emperor, Diocletian, who was notorious for persecuting and killing Christians, he spent time in prison. St. Nicholas became the patron saint of those unjustly imprisoned, as well as of Greece, Russia, sailors, merchants, and scholars.

St. Nicholas is also the patron saint of prostitutes and of travelers.

No word on traveling salesmen, but I bet they’re covered.

When we were at the church in Myra/Demre for the service honoring St. Nicholas, it was thought that his bones had long ago departed for Italy. But right beneath where we were turns out to be his intact tomb.

It’s been sixteen or so years since Katie searched for Santa in Turkey. After serving in Americorps, she’s in a masters program in social work at Catholic U. Perhaps St. Nicholas gave her a nudge.

In any case, that stretch of Turkey’s southern coast is a grand place to spend the Christmas season, or muse about.

Here’s a bit more information and some nifty legends

Jolly Merry, toward a more fortunate year!

The post A Late-Delivery XMAS Card from Santa in Turkey, Patron Saint of Travelers appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Hit By a Tacoma

Thanksgiving was yesterday but there are many things we can always be thankful for. A close friend was hit by a truck last weekend and miraculously survived with just a scratch.

Oliver was crossing the street Sunday night. Suddenly, with his peripheral vision, he noticed a huge object headed straight for him — a brand new Toyota Tacoma with the headlights turned off was about to run him down. With seconds to spare he twisted his body just enough to put both of his hands on the hood of the truck. The impact propelled him on top of the truck and then his body rolled over to the pavement.

The truck driver stepped on the brakes, jumped out and was pretty sure he had just killed someone. Oliver, was lying on the ground, was in shock, motionless and was doing a damage report in his head.

“Man, are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?” shouted the young driver.

A voice told Oliver, to get up because he was fine … but curiously, the voice also told Oliver to ask the driver this very strange question. His exact words: “Dude, did know you ran over one of God’s messengers?!? Jesus is trying to tell you something … I don’t know what the message is … but you probably do.”

The driver didn’t know how to react to this announcement. He said he didn’t go to church. It was then when Oliver noticed the glazed look of the driver and figured the guy was high on something. A police car drove by and Oliver could have reported this DUI but he decided not to. Oliver said everything was fine. Except for a few bruises on his right elbow, he was really okay. Wherever the driver was headed, it looked like he turned around and drove back home. Of course we will never know how this story ends but hopefully, this encounter will turn this young man’s life around. Often, when we are given a mission from above, we are on a need-to-know basis — we plant a seed and leave the nurturing to others.

When Oliver shared his story, it went without saying that he was glad to be alive but more than that was this inexplicable joy to have witnessed to this stranger. Oliver didn’t even know why he said what he said. Weird, huh? You may disagree with my classification of this as some sort of miracle but how do we really classify miracles? It’s the the old glass being either half empty or half full — the same event can bless or it can curse … or it can pass as uneventful. I believe life passes by with unappreciated blessings. Whose loss would it be then?

Have you ever found yourself on a spiritual mission that you don’t understand? I have. My advice? When you feel the spiritual nudge, and you’re confident it’s legit, just go with the flow. The doors to the right path will open automatically. The results will usually benefit you beyond your wildest dreams. Like Oliver, being available for duty is an honor we should seek after. But this is just me.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend people! TGIF!

Raoul

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4: 6-7
p.s.
The start the holiday cheer, I made a very short video for you (see below). It’s a musical arrangement I made for my little band — definitely amateurish but … eh… I don’t think our group will have time to practice it so I thought I’d share it now instead of waiting another year.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Clinton of Arizona

Original art by Raoul Pascual.

Video of the Week

This is a silly video I made for Christmas. It’s my impression of Elvis’ Blue Christmas.
It’s low tech and pretty amateurish but whatever.
I added some extra silly stuff too. I hope you have fun with it.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Laers of Bear Valley Springs, CA

Thanks to Josh of Manhattan, NYC

Thanks to Janet of Los Angeles, CA

Thanks to Gadolina of Whittier, CA

Thanks to Joanne of Hacienda Heights, CA

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre. CA

I found these

The Traveling Boy

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with these.

SUBSCRIBE

The post 2 Kinds of Flu appeared first on Traveling Archive.

That Old Book

Advanced Happy Thanksgiving! Hard to believe it’s already next Thursday.

My life flashed before me (in a good way) last night. I picked up my old dusty Bible that my wife gifted to me back in 1995 as a Father’s Day present. I had put it aside for several years because the book binding had given up on the pages and the wrinkled sheets kept on falling off. I’m one of those who abuse books — I underline, write notes and even draw pictures (lots of them because I’m a visual learner) on the margins and in between columns. Reading my desecrated notes, I was impressed at the insights from my “quiet time” and the many teachers that passed on their scriptural wisdom to me. What a joy! What a treasure! Many of my notes were written when my kids were still under 10 years old. I carried that Bible as well as the many milk bottles and toys we had to drag along whenever we went out. No wonder it got beat up.

MEMORIES

I remember the many games our son played as Captain Ball of the school team; the choirs that my eldest sang at the soprano section; the crazy costumes my youngest wore for her Color Days; our poop-eating shih tzu, Zoe, the “dog who wouldn’t die.” And of course my lovely wife who stood beside me through thick and thin. I still can’t believe she married me. She’s still beautiful and I often wonder why I deserve her.

Tears begin to flow as I remember the adventure of a lifetime. So many friends, so many career moves … it’s true what they say: that God doesn’t promise us a problem-free life but He promised that He would be there to help us through the storms. If not for my faith I’m sure my life would have been messed up big time!

No doubt you have your own list of adventures. Where do we even start, right? Whatever stage you’re going through, give thanks. Whether struggles or victories, let’s give thanks. And when we bump into each other in heaven I’d love to hear your story. And we can take our time because we will have eternity to do it. But for now, let’s give thanks to our Lord … our God!

TGIF people!

Raoul

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” – Psalm 100:4

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Clinton of Arizona

Parting Shots

Thanks to Bob of Placentia, CA

Thanks to Richard of New Manila, Philippines

Thanks to Mike of Whittier, CA
Not a joke … just an easy visual reminder.

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre. CA

Not a joke but a good reminder.

I found these

The Traveling Boy

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with these.

SUBSCRIBE

The post The Get Better Card appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Happy Thanksgiving

This won’t take long. I’m off to my Thanksgiving party with my sisters in Reseda. I haven’t seen 2 of them in ages.

I’m thankful for readers like you. Hey, maybe you can share this email to the rest of your family. Just a thought.

Hope you guys had a wonderful dinner.

TGIF people!

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Dean of Vancouver, B.C. for sharing this joke.

Creative Thanksgiving Dishes

Sent by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

Funny Video

First Thanksgiving

Sent by Peter Paul of S Pasadena, CA

Watch the video here

Parting Shot

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA who shared these:

The post Leaving Him appeared first on Traveling Archive.

True Value

They wanted a painting about chocolate so my original concept was to have a dark background with just Chesire-cat-like teeth in the middle but it was too simple so I put a little more of the face … then a little more of the hands, etc. and soon my visual prank evolved into a full-blown digital painting.  So it was a total surprise when I won first place for that painting at the La Habra Art Gallery last Saturday.

I’ve been learning a VALUE-able lesson. Two Mondays ago, I was asked to critique 3 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh in an article for Travelingboy.com [CLICK HERE]. That’s when I started thinking about the value of art.  Saturday,  I was surprised to win 1st place at the Art Gallery. Last Monday, a business friend asked me a special favor to do a caricature of his grand daughter … he paid me less than even the cost of the frame.

Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting while he was alive. His “worth” increased by the millions after death (now some think his value has been highly exaggerated). You see it wasn’t until someone influential said his paintings were any good that the crowd increased what they were willing to spend for his original brushstrokes.  [Which brings us to another phenomenon — printed photographic copies of his paintings don’t cost that much yet they deliver (practically) the same visual impact. Recently, while doing caricatures for a Halloween event, my original ink caricatures had less demand than my digital (multiply-able) renditions. Why is that?]

I’ve been praying for a friend who’s undergoing a depression. How does one measure one’s worth? By the hours he labors? By the many drops of blood, sweat and tears? How about a paycheck? Is a lawyer more valuable than a doctor? Is the president more inherently valuable than the citizen who elected him?

Is there no absolute true price for anything or anyone? Prices change according to economic times and according to the situation. It can be very depressing to believe that no one understands you or thinks you are important. However, one can always find comfort in our TRUE ABSOLUTE VALUE which is how God sees us. What God sees in us does not fluctuate. Look at the birds in the air. God values us more than the simple sparrows … more than any other animal or any painting or anything. Remember, even while we are/were such a mess … even at our worst, God sent us His son. If that doesn’t make you special, you’re listening to the wrong crowd.

A Van Gogh = Millions of dollars.
A chocolate painting = Cash reward and accolades.
A digital caricature = Less than the cost of a frame.
My worth under God’s eyes = Priceless.

TGIF people!

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena, CA for sharing this joke.

Don’s Puns

Funny Video

Giant Turkey

(Could have been shorter)
Sent by Tom of Pasadena, CA

Parting Shot

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C.  who shared these:

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