One of the strangest towns you'll ever see

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The cost of Thanksgiving dinner

There's a lot of discussion about inflation and the cost of Thanksgiving dinner. Farm Bureau tracks this and my figures are from that website. The 2020 dinner for 10 was $46.90, a decrease from 2019 which was $48.91.

The 2021 dinner for 10 is $53.31, up 14% over 2020, which was the Covid year, and a decrease from 2019. However, the 2017 cost was $49.12, or 23.1% cheaper that 1986 ($63.87 in 2017 dollars).

I'm math challenged, so will some genius tell me if the 2021 dinner is cheaper than 1986? No matter how you slice it, it's still a good deal.

Turkey, the Kurds and President Trump

I haven’t done much research on this and may change my mind.  I did pull up articles from December 2018 when Trump announced we were going to pull out, and remember all the campaign promises he made, similar to those Obama made but he only expanded the war.  It is a fact that Turkey has been an ally for years, and is part of NATO. THE KURDS ARE NOT A NATION STATE.

Previous presidents have also pussy footed around Turkey and refused to do anything about its killing of the Armenian Christians 100 years ago (there’s a huge lobby in the U.S.) the first of the 20^th century holocausts. Not even Trump has touched that. I’ve never seen such hypocrisy on the part of Democrats or such lily livered, spineless behavior on the part of Republicans as this so-called withdrawal. It’s truly disgusting. 50 Americans are going to be home for Thanksgiving who might not have been there otherwise, and the wars in the Middle East, now 1000 years old, will go on and on and on.

What are you doing with the turkey leftovers?

There was a box of Kraft Stove Top stuffing mix for Turkey in the pantry and a package of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving in the freezer. So I looked at the recipes on the box and decided to go with Turkey & Stuffing Skillet, only I'm going to bake it.

1 pkg of stuffing mix
1 1/2 cups hot water
3 cups chopped turkey
1 jar turkey gravy
1 pkg frozen mixed vegetables (I used green beans, onions, green peppers, and mushrooms)

Add hot water to stuffing mix; set aside.
Cook turkey, gravy and vegetables
Top with the stuffing mix.

Put in the oven at 350 around 5 p.m. for 30 minutes, and sit down to watch Glenn Beck. Serve with fresh strawberries and blueberries for dessert.

Just having fun--miscellaneous photos

Being an architect, my husband takes mainly photographs of buildings--over 700 this trip. A few slip-ups--here are some of people and animals.

With Dottie on Mars Hill

Resisting in one of the approved shopping sites

Gene, also an architect, inspecting the softness and quality of Turkish rugs, while the rest of bus 5 boldly looks on

Clothing contrasts in Turkey, the traditional woman

and the modern teen-agers
Our neighbors and fellow members of UALC on the Sea of Galilee

Mentors and friends for over 30 years

At the Church of All Nations

At the foot of a pyramind, early for the peace demonstration

Always, always listen to your tour guide. Don't even make eye contact. This guy stole 50 euro from us.

Joyce and I window shopping in Cairo before the stores opened. The painted sign probably says SALE!

Cairo Kitties waiting for lunch. I think there were 7 or 8 in that bin.

Some in our group used the hotel pool; some just used it for drinks.

Museums in Greece and Turkey

We visited a museum in Corinth, Greece on Friday and one in Turkey on Monday. The antiquities and ruins in both countries are so rich and so layered, a quick tour can't do them justice. The museum in Corinth "contains collections of prehistoric finds, various items ranging from the Geometric to the Hellenistic period, Roman and Byzantine finds, excavation finds from the Asklepieion of Corinth, and a collection of sculptures and inscriptions." I have to admit, after awhile, I can't tell a Roman statue from a Greek statue from an Egyptian statue. And as much as I admire the artistic talent in the mosaics, I wonder about the unnamed thousands who must have toiled over them, regardless of the culture. In Corinth I mainly remember it started to rain and I went in the museum to get warm.




They didn't want us to use flash in the Corinth museum, so these were our two best.



Our pastor, Paul Ulring, in the Turkish Archeological Museum admiring a mosaic.

These cats were not strays.



You need to keep your head when traveling.

On to Antioch and Tarsus, birthplace of Paul

On Monday March 9th we docked at Mersin, Turkey, around 7 a.m., boarded our buses with box lunches, and then reboarded the ship at Iskenderun, Turkey. For this visit, see Acts 11:19-26, Acts 13-18, and Acts 22:3.


Here I am at St. Paul's house in Tarsus, which is under glass. Tarsus was the most important commercial port in Cilicia, and according to an internet site a few decades before Christ, the Romans granted it the status of a free city with certain privileges. How clever of God to chose a Jew and a Roman citizen to spread the faith. We gathered in a public square near by for another performance by our Greek actor playing Paul.


Here's my husband at St. Paul's Well, in a courtyard believed to be the site of his house (these are approximate, but how far could we be?) And now we've walked where millions of Christians have come over the years.


Tradition says that these caves were the homes of early Christians. Our guide (a Muslim) told us The Cave Church of St. Peter is the very first Christian church, and this is where Christians were first called by this name (Acts 11:26). It is located just outside Antioch (modern Antakya) Turkey, the base of many of Paul's missionary journeys and probably where the Gospel of Matthew was written.




Worship services are still held here on certain holy days.

Continuing through Turkey, Aspendos Theatre and Perga

On Sunday March 8 we docked at Antalya, a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey and the capital of the province. It's a blend of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman cultures and architecture. This area corresponds to the Biblical lands of ancient Pamphylia to the east and Lycia to the west. Here we boarded our buses and drove to the Aspendos Theatre, where we enjoyed an actor performing as Paul, and the beautiful ruins of Perga.

The Book of Acts in the New Testament really comes alive after a visit to Turkey.

13Then Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia. But John left them and went back to Jerusalem. 14They left Perga and arrived in Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders asked them, “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you may speak.”

16Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! 17The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with a public display of power he led them out of there. 18After he had put up with them for 40 years in the wilderness, 19he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then God gave their land to the Israelites as an inheritance 20for about 450 years.

“After that, he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21When they demanded a king, God gave them Kish’s son Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. 22Then God removed Saul and made David their king, about whom he testified, ‘I have found that David, the son of Jesse, is a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ 23It was from this man's descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus. 24Before Jesus’ appearance, John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people in Israel. 25When John was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Messiah. No, but he is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’

26“My brothers, descendants of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us[l] that the message of this salvation has been sent. 27For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus[m] was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28Although they found no reason to sentence him to death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead, 31and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people. 32We are telling you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’ 34God raised him from the dead, never to experience decay, as he said, ‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’ 35In another Psalm he says, ‘You will not let your Holy One experience decay.’ 36For David, after he had served God's purpose in his own generation, died and was buried with his ancestors, and so he experienced decay. 37However, the man whom God raised did not experience decay.

Aspendos on the river Eurymedon could be reached by ship and is famous for its theater with magnificent accoustics.

The actor who played Paul performed monologues based on his writings at various places along our tour.
Perga was apparently on the sea in ancient times, but is now inland. It had been under control of the Persians, then Alexander, then later Rome. Artemis was an important goddess (Pergaia) there appearing on coins. Paul journeyed to Perga from Cyprus continuing on to Antioch, returning later. During the reign of Constantine, Perga became an important center of Christianity.



Although I don't have a photo of her, that's our Muslim guide, Tuba, with the white umbrella. She was outstanding--excellent English and great sensitivity for our faith and always holding to the Biblical text for her script.

Perga has been under excavation by Turkish archaelogists since 1946--at least I think that's where this was taken. Hmm--almost as long as me.

The ruins of Ephesus, Turkey

Once a thriving seaport of about 250,000, the ruins are several miles from the Aegean Sea because of silt build up.


At Ephesus' spectacular ruins we got caught in some rain--badly needed in that area, so we weren't really sorry. Fortunately, I had tucked in a package of cheap rain panchos and eventually put my arms inside also. Notice the dog in the background. We saw stray dogs everywhere--quiet, calm, and mostly asleep, but undisturbed. Someone asked our guide, "Do you have a stray dog problem?" "No, we don't have a problem," she responded. "There are 175,000 stray dogs, but now a group takes care of them, neuters them, and feeds them." We noticed pretty much the same attitude about cats. Although they seemed to be feral animals, they weren't wild or frightening. Someone was looking after them.



As you can see there is a lot to be done in restoration--much is still buried--it's like a giant puzzle. Shops, homes, public buildings, beautiful frescos and mosaics, statues, etc. all jumbled.

This, with a few rain drops on the lens, is the Library of Celsus, built in 115-25 AD, and is believed to be the standard architectural form for Roman libraries, holding about 15,000 scrolls. I love to visit libraries, but in the rain on crooked marble steps, it was a tad treacherous.

Paul wrote a letter to the convert Ephesians, and his preaching was a threat for economic reasons--particularly among the silver smiths who made images for the Greek goddess, Artemis. Our guide told us he probably walked 20,000 miles in his 38 years of missionary work. No wonder he sometimes sounded a bit cranky. Tradition suggests that the apostle John and Mary, Jesus' mother, settled at Ephesus.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, but only the foundation and one column of the 106 remain. We had a one column photo, but I can't tell if it's the right one. According to the website, How things work, Artemis was the Eastern interpretation of the Greek goddess Diana (called Phoebe among the Romans). In Greek mythology, Diana is known as the goddess of the hunt and of fertility. She is typically portrayed as a very athletic figure. The Artemis of the Temple of Ephesus looked nothing like the goddess of the hunt. Her likeness was based on the Anatolian Earth goddess Cybele. The temple, built around 800 BC, was burned in 356 BC and rebuilt.

Theaters were built to hold about 10% of the population, our guide told us--or this one about 25,000. Designed for theatrical performances, it later held gladiatorial contests.

Traveling and Touring in Turkey

On Saturday we docked at Kusadasi, Turkey, and boarded our buses with Tuba, our lovely Turkish guide to see the ruins of Ephesus, the Agora, the Library of Celsus and the Great theatre. We didn't know much about Turkey, but everyone on the tour was pleasantly surprised. Many Europeans have purchased vacation homes in Kusadasi. Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kernal Ataturk and became a secular state in 1928. There have been bumps in the road, but civilian rule was restored to Turkey in 1983. We were there right before elections, and with a multi-party system (eleven?) there were signs and faces everywhere. Biblical peoples for this area were the ancient Hittites, Phyrygians, Assyrians, Greeks, Persians, Romans and Arabs. In the 11th century, the Turks from Central Asia set themselves in place as rulers. 99% of the population is Muslim (mostly Sunni) with a population of over 62 million; 0.1% are Christians.

The newer architecture in Turkey is quite colorful, unlike that in Israel or Cairo. Sometimes the different units in the same buildings were painted (or parged) in different colors.

Kusadasi is a holiday resort with lots of large hotels and beaches.

Here's and old and new contrast--the camel ride next to our buses. I'm not sure where this guy is stabled. The Turkish and Israeli hawkers, hustlers and sellers (10 post cards one dolla; bok one dolla) were mild compared to Cairo's--a story I'll tell you later.

All of our tours seemed to have obligatory "approved" shopping stops, and someone gets a percentage of sales, I'm sure. This one was at a rug dealer in Kusadasi who had a very interesting demonstration on how oriental rugs are made. We passed up the $1500 rugs and $4,000 diamond rings in Jerusalem and waited for Egypt to buy $15 cotton t-shirts with names embroidered in hieroglyphics.