Moscow Journal -- 5-15-07

Moscow Journal – 5-15-07

Blonde Cocker Spaniels and Bird Wings

Last evening I was blessed to be able to take a walk over to the River. The Seminary is nestled in the midst of an apartment complex where the apartment building to the west of us lines Khamovnichesky Val Ulitsa (Street). The apartment building to the south of us faces Komsomolskiy Prospect. Both the building to the north and to the east of the Seminary building lie along an alleyway. In the middle is our building and a small park with playground equipment, trees and benches. The Seminary building used to be a kindergarten, so it is enclosed with a fairly tall fence, and there are some slides and other structures to play on, but they are of a smaller scale than the playground equipment in the park in between the apartment buildings. It’s similar to the way it was near the apartment I stayed in when I was in Kazakhstan – in the area in the center of each apartment complex is a kind of park with playground equipment and benches. There are a lot more trees here in Moscow than there were in Astana, however – the difference owed to climate and terrain is very evident.

In order to reach the Moscow River, I left the building after stopping to chat with the doorkeeper, and headed out the gate of the Seminary grounds. There are two crabapple trees with buds getting ready to blossom outside of the south side of the building. One has red blossoms and the other has white ones. Since it has stayed cool, the buds have slowly gotten bigger over the last week, but were not blooming yet yesterday. I am looking forward to seeing if they will be in bloom yet today.

I walked through the playground park in the middle of the apartment complex and headed east on Komsomolsky Prospect. In order to reach the river, you can walk about a block east to the light at the corner of the Prospect and Frunzenskaya Ulitsa, then cross the Prospect heading south for about two blocks.

Last evening the sidewalks were busy with pedestrians coming home from work or heading back home from shopping. Several were buying fruits and vegetables at the little stands similar to those I used to buy produce from in Astana. Along Komsomolsky Prospect in that block before Frunzenskaya Ulitsa there are some furniture and interior design stores, a book store that also sells books on tape and videos, a bank, and a repair store for electronic equipment including DVD players and video cameras. On the corner where the traffic light is, there is a little grocery store where I bought the cheese, olive oil, tomato paste and soda pop for our pizza party last Saturday.

It was around 8 PM when I headed out for my walk, so the light was beginning to wane, but there were not any sunset colors reflected in the clouds yet. I always like to walk that time of day, especially on the beach, of course, but really anywhere.

Along Komsomolskiy Prospect are many billboards and some advertisement signs suspended above the roadway. One of the most interesting billboards is a public service announcement. There is a drawing of a blue car that looks like it is an accordion in the middle. The billboard states, “CARS ARE NOT TOYS”. This is an important admonition, I guess, in this country where previously very few people had cars and now more and more folks (though seldom women) are out there driving.

As I came close to the intersection of the road along the river, I saw a triangular traffic sign with a red line around the edge of it and a drawing of a car bumping over the edge of what seemed like a big curb. On the other side of the curve are some wavy lines, and I realized the sign was there to warn drivers that right in front of them was the berm along the river bank, and that going straight ahead might cause them to end up in the drink. The Ishin River in Astana has the same kind of concrete containment berms, but downtown there are only walkways along the river, so I never saw the kind of warning sign I saw last night here in Moscow.

The other day I looked out the window of the office I use, and saw an elderly woman walking a blond cocker spaniel. For some reason blond cockers are one of my favorite breeds. I often see people walking all sorts of dogs in the park across Khamovnichesky Val Ulitsa, too, but last evening I saw more blond cockers than any other kind of dog. It reminded me of taking walks in the neighborhood in DC near Wesley Seminary when I lived there during the early 90s. Often you would see liver and white Springer spaniels like the senior President and Mrs. Bush’s dog, Millie, who was well known when they lived in the White House. Maybe they were some of Millie’s offspring, since many people who were working with that administration lived in our neighborhood, I don’t know for sure.

In the four years I lived on the Wesley Theological Seminary (WTS) campus, and during the year before that when I worked full-time there, I loved it very much. So my time here at the Methodist Seminary in Moscow brings back fond memories of my time at WTS, and lends itself to noticing the similarities and the contrasts. Of course to start with, one main thing they have in common is that both seminaries are in capital cities, both in lovely parts of town, and both dedicated to the glory of God and the Kingdom of Heaven.

Prior to the time when it was moved to DC, WTS was called Westminster Seminary. It was relocated to a corner of the American University campus in the late fifties, and re-named after John and Charles Wesley and their family. The bell tower has bells named after the famous sons, their father, Samuel, and their mother, Susanna. I always loved hearing the bells ring out the Westminster chimes every quarter hour and listening to the bell concert every noontime.

My campus apartment windows faced an athletic field and the tennis courts of American University, looking out in the opposite direction from the bell tower. However, when the windows were open the sound of the bells echoed back to me from across the field, though. It was lovely. Sometimes if I went downtown and was walking back from the Metro toward campus, I caught the sound of the bells, too.

You can also hear the Foundry church bell concert at noon downtown in DC. And we heard the evening church bells when walking along the river here, near the church of Christ Spacitel’ a week ago Saturday, too. That was wonderful, because ever since I learned some old Russian folk songs in high school, I have loved the one called “Evening Call,” about hearing the church bells ringing.

The boys or men start slowly singing in imitation of church bells -- bass notes – “bom, bom, bom, bom”, for a while. Then the girls’ or women’s voice(s) begin singing the words about the evening bells calling them to remember times past. It’s very beautiful, and I have always loved to sing it.

Last evening when I walked along the river I saw young people flash past me on inline skates, young couples kissing, and mothers with kids on tricycles. Gorkiy Park is across the river, and although there was only sunshine on my side of the river in between the shadows of the buildings where streets opened the way for the light to come through, the eastern shore was glowing. On that side of the river it is possible to walk or sit on benches right at the water’s edge, and sitting on almost every bench I could see there was at least one person. I could also see a sidewalk with people strolling along it every so often.

Moscow is a beautiful city and there is a kind of graciousness evident when you walk around and get a chance to observe how people enjoy the sights and amenities available. I hope you get a chance to come visit some day.

When I got back home I was able to chat online with Krista and Tom again, which was a blessing. After heading to my room around 10 PM, I laid on my bed looking up through my window at the birds flying overhead. By then I was fascinated to see that when the swifts, pigeons and sea gulls flew past at certain angles, the rosy and golden lights of the sunset flashed through the edges of their wing feathers. It was quite a show! I guess I was watching at just the right time, and wondered how I had never noticed anything like that before, though I suppose it is because I have never looked up at the sky at sunset, but only watched the horizon. I praise God for the wonder and beauty all around us.

Whenever you read this, I hope you are having a blessed day, and that you are able to take some time to notice the wonders of God’s creation around you.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours.

Blessings in the Love of Jesus – Kathy