mb palaver

ReligionPalaver: Pope Watching

Did you ever see that commercial where some people are on a whale watching expedition and one woman leans down to get another piece of gum, because her nonlong-lasting gum has lost its flavor, and misses the whale?  I felt a bit like that today in Rock Creek Park, though I was distracted instead by a conversation with a nice police officer who'd been sent to check on some suspicious people who'd taken up a position on a quiet strip of the parkway where Waterside Drive shoots off to head up Massachusetts Ave. (i.e., some young woman, a guy walking his dog, and me).  On the plus side, I've never had such a peaceful stroll through the park, which was closed to non-Popemobile traffic.  All I could hear was the gurgling of the creek and the chirping of birds (and the occasional helicopter and police siren). It was truly a religious experience.  I will try to take some of that serenity with me during tomorrow's rush hour, as the Pope will be traveling across town to say Mass at Nationals Park.  According to The Washington Post, the Pope will enter the park at 9:30, and gates will open to the faithful at 5:15 a.m.(!).  Presumably that means the worst traffic and Metro crowds will be quite early.  See information on road closures here.

DCPalaver: It's Chic To Be Greek (don't blame me -- that's their slogan)

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church is hosting its 47th annual Greek Festival this weekend, September 21 to 23.  Sample homemade Greek food during the day, and dance to live, traditional Greek music in the evening.  That'll be a great way to work off all that baklava.

Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church
4115 16th Street, NW (16th and Upshur)
Washington, DC  20011
(202) 829-2910

Friday & Saturday:  Noon to 9:30 pm
Sunday:  Noon to 8:00 pm

Friday:  11:30 am to 9:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday:  Noon to 9:00 pm

(These times are from the church's website.  Yesterday's Washington Post food section listed different times, though their website event listing is consistent with the church's website.)

Edited 9/21 to change times -- The Washington Post tells me they called the church and the paper was right, the church website was wrong. Go figure.

Admission and parking are free.
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Here's another tidbit from yesterday's food section:  Michel Richard, chef of Citronelle and Central, will demonstrate from and sign his book Happy in the Kitchen next Monday, September 24, at 7:30 pm, at the Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase.  The event is free, but Citronelle's website says "Please sign up in advance by calling 301-656-2797."

RandomPalaver: Happy St. Swithin's Day!

Years ago, George Carlin railed against people "who haven't had a generous thought since St. Swithin's Day." (I hope I didn't get that wrong. George, or someone claiming to be George, has a website where he rails against people who wrongly attribute things to him on the Internet.)

Who is this St. Swithin (or Swithun)?  Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

Saint Swithun (or Swithin) (died 2 July 862) was an early English Bishop of Winchester, now best known for the popular British weather lore proverb that if it rains on Saint Swithun's day, 15 July, it will rain for 40 days and 40 nights.

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain na mair

Swithun was buried out of doors, rather than in his cathedral, apparently at his own request, so that the "sweet rain of heaven" could fall on his grave. In 971 it was decided to move his body to a new indoor shrine, and it is said that the ceremony was delayed by 40 days of torrential rain, a sign of Swithun's displeasure at the move.

A Buckinghamshire variation has

If on St Swithun's day it really pours
You're better off to stay indoors.

Not surprisingly, Swithun is regarded as one of the saints to whom one should pray in the event of drought.

Photo courtesy of Nina Aldin Thune.

ArtPalaver: Sackler Exhibit on Early Biblical Texts Closes January 7

This Sunday one of the most popular exhibits ever shown at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC closes.  "In the Beginning:  Bibles Before the Year 1000" has drawn record crowds since it opened in October.  In fact, I haven't been because when I stopped by mid-afternoon on a weekday there was an hour wait.  An hour wait at the Sackler!

Pasted below is an excerpt of the museum's description of the exhibit.  As for the lines, a woman at the information desk said the time to get there is right when it opens (at 10), because, she said, people don't like to get an early start in the morning.  She could read me like a book.

The exhibition will present over 70 of the earliest biblical artifacts in existence, including pages and fragments written in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian and Coptic—many on display for the first time in the United States. The Sackler Gallery will be the only venue for the exhibition.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

• Leaves from three of the six oldest surviving Hebrew codices.
• The oldest known manuscripts of the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy.
• One of the earliest known manuscripts of the Gospels written in Latin.
• The oldest dated parchment biblical codex in the world.
• A page from the earliest Bible with full-page illustration.

The Sackler gallery, which (along with the Freer Gallery of Art next door) specializes in Asian art, is part of the Smithsonian Institution and is located on the National Mall, at 1050 Independence Ave., behind the castle.  Tomorrow promises to be a beautiful day for a trip to the Mall (with a predicted high of 69 degrees -- on January 6!?)