From my balcony to a computer near you for your viewing pleasure. The colors here were quite nice this year although we rarely got a chance to actually view them in all their glory due to the nasty weather. We have had more than our share of darkness and rain in our neck of the woods. For some people, enduring weeks of this type of weather can be emotionally daunting. Usually I am immune to mood issues when there is several consecutive days without sun. However this particular stretch has been weeks, not days, with maybe a one day exception.

These are the buildings for national t.v. broadcasting.

My neighbors gave me some different plants for displaying on my front balcony so it doesnt look so bare. I was never really sure what all was included the ensemble and then I was pleasantly surprised when these flowers bloomed. Krasne! (beautiful). Wasnt it Forrest Gump who said "life is like a box of flowers..."

On a recent trip to the Devin castle ruins I took these photos of a commemorative monument which was erected only last year. The Devin castle ruins is also the place where the Danube and Morava rivers come together. On the other side of these rivers is Austria, which was of course a free country during the communist years. If you were Czechoslovakian during the communist years this was one of the best places to attempt to gain your freedom. If you could manage to get across these rivers you were home free.

As you can see by the simulated bullet holes, this monument reminds everyone of the violence that took place here for many years as people tried to escape this country. Many people were shot by the armed guards who were constantly on patrol here, some drowned in the river as they tried to cross and some were killed falling from the cliffs in make-shift hang gliders. The monument portrays a doorway through which you can see Austria or freedom. The iron bars which once barred the doorway have been forced open but the freedom came flooding in rather than people having to go out and leave their homeland. The practice of faith was one of many things which was aggressively discouraged if not totally persecuted and banned. I wonder if faith was more popular in this country during those times? Were more people seeking God as a means of being rescued from their dark circumstances? I have spoken to some nationals who say faith was definately more fervent then. But there was a heavy price to pay for practicing faith so if you wanted it you had to fight for it and cling to it like a life line stretching across a raging river.

Here are the names of some of the people who died in their plight for freedom. Why is it that we humans want so badly the things that are forbidden or taken away from us, freedom and faith being two great examples? But then when we finally have access or possession of our desire we breath a sigh of relief, assign a lesser value to it and even begin to ignore it or take it for granted. We then tend to shift our attention to a different desire, something else which is just out of our reach for one reason or another. Here in Slovakia I see a surging desire toward the material, what is often times defined in America as "the good life." These are the things which were mostly out of reach for Slovaks and things that many Americans have been taking for granted for many years. Things like houses full of nice furnishings, cars, lavish vacations, fine clothes, jewelry... How can we keep our eyes focused on the real prize found in faith and freedom? How can we stay hungry for the really important things?

When my American friend Matt was here a few weeks ago we enjoyed a saturday down in Budapest, Hungary. How I could have missed this Cathedral on a previous trip here I dont know. The magnificance of it is difficult to describe with words, so... enjoy the photos.

Now that's a ceiling!

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my Slovak friends Laci and Edit who were featured on the blog in the last segment. I had hoped there would be some traditional Slovak elements to the ceremony. Ultimately it was much like what you might experience in a typical American wedding. The most important part of any wedding ceremony is the spirit of the event and the authentic passion of the participants. This was a beautiful ceremony which was saturated with the love of the Father as well as the love of bride and groom.

The music at the wedding included violins, piano and guitars which is typical for Sk. Also there was a super choir which was made up of friends of the bride and groom.
The reception was a warm and festive celebration. Everything at the church and the reception had to be translated from Slovak into both English and Hungarian because Laci is from Hungary.

Here we have the bride and groom as well as Tom and Debbie Johnson and finally the Pospisil family whom who have met on the blog before. Everyone at the wedding had a chance to get a photo with the bride and groom. Very nice.