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This is a picture taken by a friend of mine, Emily, on our final Environmental Ed. Module on the Island of Rum.
Rum is a nature reserve off the northwest coast of Scotland, and we were there all of last week. I left the fam in Greece, flew back and went to Rum at 5AM the following day! What a change!
Amazingly for the west coast, we had incredible weather. I must've brought it from Greece!
We were out in the field from 8AM to late night. . . freshwater, pond, seaside, bog, mountain, cultural history, tensions in environmental management. . . the list goes on and on.
There were a number of highlights: The picture here is from the day we climbed and traversed the 5 highest peaks on Rum. It was, shall we say, a good long day. At the end of it, tired and hot and dehydrated, some of the guys leapt into the sea. . . to emerge two seconds shaking off the icicles from parts that will remain unnamed.
There was a night up high on a mountain, sitting on a rock in the mist and dark, listening to the ghostly cries of Manx Shearwaters coming home to nest. There was another night, when three of us chose not to go to the folk music festival raging in a tent by the castle and instead forged off through hip-deep bog to find a deserted beach and a Celtic Christian standing stone from the 7th century. . . climbing up a cliff in the dark to enter the cave where the Celtic saint is reputed to have lived. . . . finding a pile of shells that have probably sat there since the 7th century when he had his meagre meal once a day. . . .
Thanks for praying for me.
I felt the prayers throughout the week. They strengthened me in my joy in the Lord, opened my heart to those around me who have not met Him yet. My hope is all these friends of mine meet HIM soon . . .
Again, thanks for the prayers.
I just returned from a week away in the highlands doing ecology and field work studies (more on that later) and this is my first chance to reflect on our time in Greece.
I wrote a poem while in Athens, after we had climbed the Acropolis (Hill with all the Temples) and then walked the long hill down to the Areopagus (public meeting place and market). This same route was walked by the Apostle Paul, as narrated by Luke in Acts17:16-34.
The Parthenon at the top of temple hill was dedicated to Pallas Athene, the goddess of wisdom, who, according to legend, contended with Poseidon the god of the sea for the rights for the city. Considering that Greeks look for wisdom, as Paul says, and that we continue to wrestle today with the themes raised by the first Greek Philosophers, it is an aptly named city. (To see how God views Wisdom, read the first few chapters of Proverbs.)
The reference in the poem to "Alexander and the dog-man" is to a story about Alexander the Great visiting Diogenes "the cynic" which literally means the "dog-man" in Greek because he refused to leave the filthy hole on the edge of the city. Alexander reportedly asked him, "What can I do for you?" to which Diogenes replied, "Get out of my light."
However, as my poem laments, wisdom serves God and not man, but we usually don't get it.
To Saint Paul, The Apostle
Today I walked
up the knobby
thronging hill
and saw the remnant of the gods
you cried over --
I looked for the altar
"to the unknown god"
and found it
not among the ruins of ancient Greece,
found it
resting heavy and thick
with uncut stones
jumbled up and resting
like a cairn around my
dead heart.
Upon this altar did I pray,
weeping and crying
for all of us whose
idols now are portable,
who rode them and carried them
up this hill
to ask the ancient question
like Alexander to the dog-man --
I cried for wisdom.
And She came.
Pallas to her holy hill
and held me shaking
gently held me,
told me,
"I still stand on the corner
of First and Main and cry out,
giving wisdom to all who ask."
I begged her to stay,
and she said
"I never left,"
and took my hand pointing
to the white city of 5 million souls,
she said,
"I walk among them, will you?"
Paul, oh Paul,
I wept to see her face,
in helmet stern and joyous
with the dawn of the
very first morning.
We held hands
and walked down to the Agora
to hear you preach.
This picture is of my mom and us at the tip top as high
as a person can go at the Eiffel Tower. We just left there this morning but it already seems so far away.
Highs
1. Crepes, Creme Brulee and Pastries
2. Notre Dame(even though we didn't find Quismodo--much to the girls' dismay!)
3.Have we mentioned the Crepes?
4. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower
5. Beautiful buildings
Lows
1. The cost
2. Rain and lots of cold wind
3. Not a kid friendly place
4. Le Louvre is closed on Tuesdays which was our only full day there which we intended on spending at the Louvre.
5. All the elevators were shut down at the train station hence the joy of packing the kids and all our luggage down four flights of stairs into the bowels of Paris.
When we got into London (our Layover) we were thrilled to see that the earlier flight into Edinburgh had been delayed and the nice guy at the ticket counter got us home 4 hours early and we didn't have to sit in London for those four hours! In the taxi ride home I asked the girls what their favorite part of the whole trip was. Lily said "Pudding Lane (in London where the great fire of London took place, she just liked the name) and playing on the beach in Poros". Zoe says "that we are back in Scotland...and the swimming pool in Poros." I wonder what they will really remember from all of these journeys. My grandparents took all of us (5 ) grandchildren to Disneyland by motorhome when I was just four and I think "what were they thinking?" But I have such fun memories. If you need any suggestions about any of these three cities, I would be happy to offer up our opinions. If you are ever to travel to Greece, Poros is a great island and Zefi at Saga Hotel will treat you like family. Dustin will be home on Saturday and get all our pictures uploaded onto fliker. Until then, off to get the kids in bed and myself ready for work tomorrow. 
We've been to London but we didn't see the Queen. She happened to be at the Windsor Castle when we popped in for tea.
Highs
1. Beautiful weather
2. Hyde Park
3. Great hotel room
4. Kennsington and Buckingham Palace
5. Visiting the Queen's Horses and stables
Lows
1. Missing the changing of the guard
2. Not riding the London Eye
3. Too short on time
4. The Trafalger Square Lions were all covered up for repairs.
Overall London was a great time! It was a bit easier since I knew my way around the city (Dustin and I spent our 10th anniversary there in January). The girls were a bit tired from traveling and the time difference and the stress from Greece but all in all it was really fun!
We have made it home from our two week travels with my (Janette) mom and the girls. There is so much from our trip that I will not be able to capture it all. I will try and give you the top 5 or so highs and lows of each place.
We started off our trip in Greece so I too will start there...
Highs
1. Warm weather
2. The Acropolis
3. Island time in Poros
4. Renting Quads and riding around Poros
5. People in Greece love kids!
Lows
1. Pollution
2. Picky kids who have a hard time eating Greek food
3. Not being able to flush any toilet paper down!
4. Leaving the island (see #5)
5. Being whisked away from the city because of riots in the square across from our hotel against Americans ("outlashing for starting the war") being forcecd to spend 10 hours at the airport waiting for our flight.
Even though we loved Greece and it's rich history, the ending made us fear for our lives and the girls (Dustin had already headed back to Scotland for school stuff). There were other Americans that had been attacked that day and we had to go through the riots to get to the train station. Thankfully we were all brave and got to London safely. If we were to go to Greece again, it would definately be to go to the islands and not the main land!
