Tammy Lowe's Blog, page 4

Story Time...

Gather round for story time!

The three of us are alone, marching single file through a jungle path on some tiny, mysterious island off of Malakula. The only mode of transportation is by boat or foot. It’s so small, it’s pretty much impossible to get lost.

We eagerly explore deeper and deeper into the jungle, walking through the trunks of ancient banyan trees. If a cyclone were to hit the island, that’s where we’d take shelter.

Suddenly, leaves rustle and a twig snaps.

I glance around, unable to shake the feeling we’re being watched.

I hear another noise behind me.

My heart pounds as I glance over my shoulder.

A man dressed in woven palm fronds notches an arrow- pointed at me- and slowly draws back his bow.

I scream.

My husband and son turn to see what’s the matter.

Suddenly, more men step into view, having been perfectly camouflaged until now.

We’re completely surrounded—a variety of primitive weapons pointed at us.

The colour drains from my face. “Maybe we should have stayed on the beach,” I whisper to my husband.

Communication between the men seems serious. I realize when we met with Chief on the other island, we had to get permission before being allowed in to visit their tribe. Maybe we’ve stumbled too close to their village.

Outnumbered, with nowhere to run, we follow as they lead us through the jungle. I keep reminding myself there’s been no cannibalism since 1968 around here.

Hopefully that statistic doesn’t change.

They bring us to their village. It’s quite different from Chief’s.

Beneath a rustic shelter is a huge fire pit surrounded with rocks. I don’t remember who, but someone walked around with us, trying to communicate.

To cook, they shove food into hollow bamboo and put it on the hot coals. When finished, they dump the contents onto a large leaf, using it as a bowl. Pits dug into the ground, covered with palm leaves, store their fresh fruit. In fact, bananas can be stored this way for at least four years.

“Not monkey banana. Vegetable banana,” I’m told.

After a tour of the village, several of the men showed off—by walking on hot coals. Eventually we were shown the path back to the beach. It was an amazing experience...and not the first time we thought we were being kidnapped while on vacation.

There was that time in Luxor...oh, but that’s another story.

Interesting Fact of the Day...

Today, I'm going to take you to a spot you'll most likely recognize from the news: The DMZ and the Joint Security Area (JSA).

DMZ stands for Demilitarized Zone- a 4 km wide, 250 km long demilitarized stretch of land between North and South Korea. Beyond that is one of the most heavily militarized borders in the entire world.

The DMZ serves as a meeting place between two nations at war.

Escorted by a US Army Military Police officer, we went to the JSA.

You'll recognize the infamous blue buildings.

If you zoom closer in the picture below, the cement line running through the center of the buildings is the actual border.

Cross that line and you're in North Korea.

The two armies stare at each other all day, every day. The tension here is so heavy you can literally feel it in the air.

Now...

If you look on the balcony of the stone building, you'll see a bunch of North Korean soldiers.

The KPA: Korean People's Army.

They came out and started watching us.

Apparently, this wasn't normal.

It seemed a bit unnerving to our military escort...which of course made me even more nervous.

We were instructed not to so much as point at the North Koreans--lest it be used for propaganda.

****

All South Korean men, over the age of 18, must serve two years in the Republic of Korea military (ROK). Being here at the DMZ, they loved to see us. It's a change of pace for these guys, most of whom are barely twenty years old.

The ROK soldiers at the JSA are the best of the best-- the highest trained, black belts in martial arts etc. They stand in a taekwondo stance, keep a stoic face, and wear sunglasses to appear intimidating to the KPA soldiers.

Now, go back to the first photo and look at their pants.

What you can't tell from the picture is that there are bells sewn into the hem. When they walk it creates more noise.

Another intimidation factor.

The blue UN buildings are used by both the North and the South. When not in use, the doors are unlocked.

If the North Koreans bring someone in on a tour, they lock the door to the south, and vice versa.

Prior to us entering the blue building, the ROK soldiers locked the door to keep any North Korean soldiers from coming in. They also remain on guard inside --for our protection.

Inside, our military escort tells us a story.

I like stories!

One time, after a tour had left, a ROK guard went to unlock the door to the North, like they always do before leaving.

But...

The moment he unlocked it, several KPA soldiers pushed through. They grabbed the poor guy, trying to drag him outside and into North Korea.

An attempted abduction.

They'd been listening from the other side to the bells on his pants, waiting to ambush him.

The other ROK soldiers grabbed onto him for dear life, keeping him from being pulled through the door.

Now, whenever a tour has left, it's a team effort to unlock the door to North Korea.

As one soldier unlocks it, the other holds a martial arts stance, grasping his partner’s belt to keep him from being dragged, almost literally, into hell.

Interesting Fact of the Day...

Snapshots Of The Past, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Everyone’s heard of Charles the Great— Charlemagne.

But, Charlie had a son, Emperor Louis the Pious.

According to legend, in the year 815, Louis was hunting deer in an ancient, very dense, German forest.

While stalking his prey, he became separated from the rest of his party. Lost and alone in the woods, he sounded his horn.

Nobody heard him.

Trying to find his way out of the forest, he wandered all day, swam across a river, finally collapsing in a heap near a wild rose bush. He placed a relic of the Virgin Mary he carried with him amongst the branches, praying for rescue until he fell asleep.

When he awoke, the rose bush was covered in snow, the relic in ice.

To quote Maurice from Beauty and the Beast,

“Snow? In June?”

It was summer. The rose bush was in full bloom, the underbrush green, and sunshine filtered through the canopy of leaves overhead.

Yet the rose bush and relic were covered in snow and ice.

Clearly, this was a sign from God.

*cue choir music*

When Emperor Louis was eventually found by his fellow hunters, he vowed to build a cathedral in that very spot.

So, a diocese was established here and construction began on the Hildesheim Cathedral—right next to the sacred rose bush.

Throughout the centuries, the dog rose grew, eventually covering the side of the church.

But then WWII began.

Hildesheim, Germany was attacked by allied bombers and the legendary thousand year old rose was destroyed.

Or so it seemed.

You see...miraculously, the roots survived and it re-bloomed amongst the ruins.

Today, it is approx. 69 feet high, 30 feet wide, and is considered to be the oldest living rose bush in the world.

And there you go. Your interesting, fact of the day: The legendary thousand-year-old Rose of Hildesheim.

Interesting Fact of the Day...

Gather round if you’d like. I’ll tell you a little tale.

Nestled deep in the alps, next to a shining lake, a picturesque town has existed since prehistoric times. Its name—Hallstatt.

Because of the salt mines found in this region of Austria, Hallstatt‘s history dates all the way back to the Bronze Age.

If you take a funicular up one of the alps, you can suit up and enter the world’s oldest salt mine. Take a train deeper inside the mountain, slide down an enormous wooden slide, and then set sail across a subterranean lake that’s still as glass.

Back in the village...

In the center of town, overlooking the Hallstatter See, sits the church and the prettiest little graveyard you’ve ever seen.

Yes, I said graveyard.

“My goodness, I think anyone could rest in peace here,” I said to my husband.

Off to the side is a tiny chapel dating back to the twelfth century—St. Michael’s.

When you enter, there are over 700 skulls on display inside.

You see, there is not enough room for all the townsfolk to be buried in the church graveyard.

So, for centuries, this is how they’ve solved the problem:

After twenty years, they dig the bodies up. The bones are all that remain so those are washed and stacked neatly beneath the tables.

Then, the families lovingly paint and decorate the skulls before adding them to the bone house.

The last skull added was from a woman who died in the 1980’s.

If you look closely at the picture I posted, the first row, third skull in...the gold tooth still remains. Below the shelf of skulls, you can see all the stacked femur bones.

To this day, you can still have your bones added to the “beinhaus”, but it has to be requested in your will.

And there you have it. Your interesting fact of the day. The Hallstatt Bone House.

Story Time...

John William Waterhouse - Echo and Narcissus (Public Domain)

Grab a cup of tea and come along for story time, if you'd like! Once again, we’ll head back to the days of old, when the gods still walked the earth.

Echo was a woodland nymph. Because she was talkative and lots of fun, Diana, the goddess of hunting, enjoyed her company while in the forest— more than anyone else’s.

The mighty god, Jupiter, also liked to hang out in the forest with the woodland nymphs—if you catch my drift. One day his wife, Juno, came into the forest looking for him.

“Echo! Go distract her!” Jupiter ordered, trying to buy time so all the pretty little nymphs could run away and hide.

So, Echo ran into Juno’s path, planning to stall her with small talk.

“WHERE IS MY HUS—?”

“Juno! How totally awesome to see you here in the forest,” Echo interrupted. “Ooooh, I really like your shoes, are they new?”

Juno was always a total *you know what* to everyone. “OUT OF MY WAY.”

Echo continued, trying to stall the fuming goddess. “Is that a new hairdo?”

However, Juno was no dummy and knew the nymph was covering for her cheating husband.

“Echo,” she hissed. “I curse you.”

The nymph gasped.

“From this day forward, you will have no conversations—with anyone.”

“But—”

“Oh, you’ll still get the last word in, but the last word is all you will be able to say.”

*Cue violin*

Sometime later, an incredibly gorgeous hunter came through the forest, chasing a stag. Echo watched from afar and immediately fell in love with him. As she tiptoed after him through the forest, the leaves rustled.

“Who’s there?” the beautiful man called out.

“There…” Echo replied.

“Won’t you show yourself?” the young man teased.

“Yourself…” Her posture slumped, for it was all she could say.

The man stood taller and raised his chin. “We must meet.”

Overjoyed at the invitation, Echo ran toward him. “Meet…” she called out before throwing herself into the hunter’s sculpted arms.

His lip curled in disgust and he pushed her away. “Unhand me, you wench. I’d rather die than have you enjoy my incredible body,” he said before walking away.

“Body…” she muttered, watching as he left to rejoin his hunting party who were calling out, searching from him.

“Narcissus? Narcissus where’d you go?”

“I’m coming,” the guy called back to his friends.

However, the sweet nymph was besotted with the gorgeous man and his rebuff wounded her to the core. She retreated deeper into the forest, withering away to nothing. Eventually, all that was left of Echo…was her voice.

Meanwhile, hunky Narcissus stumbled upon a small, refreshing lake. The cool water was still and when he bent down to drink, the most beautiful spirit stared back at him, from within the water.

A merman perhaps?

A water nymph?

Narcissus admired the creature’s beautiful eyes, the chiseled cheekbones, the way the golden hair curled over the forehead. He leaned closer to kiss and embrace the person in the water.

However, the ripples caused the person to flee.

“Come back to me,” Narcissus begged. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Narcissus remained at the edge of the pool, day after day, month after month, staring at the person in the water he could only look at, but never touch. Eventually, he withered away to nothing as Echo watched. Her love was entirely in vain.

At the water’s edge, where he eventually died, flowers as beautiful as Narcissus began to grow, now bearing his name.

(As the story continues, we switch from Roman to Greek legends. So, for reference Jupiter=Zeus. They’re one and the same.)

Several years later, there was a young and beautiful girl named Persephone. She loved hanging out in the forest with her friends. Her mother, Demeter, was one of Zeus’ (Jupiter's) baby mamas.

Hades, god of the underworld, sees Persephone and falls in love.

“Yo, Zeus,” Hades says. “Can I marry your daughter?”

“Sure, but just so you know…her mother will NEVER approve.”

“That’s fine. I can deal with Demeter.”

So, one day, as Persephone is walking through the forest with her friends, picking narcissus flowers— daffodils— the ground suddenly opens up. There’s Hades. After he grabs the girl, the ground closes back up again.

The kidnapping of Proserpina (1621–1622), by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Galleria Borghese, Rome

Her abduction was so fast nobody even witnessed it.

Except for Helios, the god of the sun.

But…Helios decides it’s best to stay out of it.

Meanwhile, Demeter is going absolutely crazy searching for her daughter. She’s beside herself with grief because…call it mother’s intuition, she knows Hades had something to do with Persephone’s disappearance. She’s absolutely livid with her ex, Zeus, for not preventing it.

Finally, Helios breaks down and tells Demeter what he witnessed. “Maybe it’s not that bad,” he says to her. “Persephone’s the queen of the underworld now. I’m sure Hades is being nice to her.”

By now, Demeter is so freakin’ angry at the gods. She’s a lesser god herself so she abandons all her duties, basically giving them the middle finger. She’s the goddess of fertility and harvest so the people of earth begin to suffer as well.

Crops are dying.

People are dying.

Her anger threatens to wipe out all the humans on earth.

So, Zeus finally steps in. “Demeter…darling…take heart…for I will bring Persephone back if she is being held against her will.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Demeter cries.

However, Hades is aware of the deal and decides to trick Persephone.

Turns out, pomegranates are the food of the underworld. If the seeds are consumed, the person comes to love the underworld.

So, he tricks Persephone into eating some seeds.

The time comes for everyone to meet—Zeus, Hades, Demeter, and Persephone.

“I love it there and want to stay,” the young girl claims.

Demeter flies into a rage, knowing her daughter has been tricked. “I swear to you, Zeus, I will make the entire earth infertile! I’ll destroy everything if I don’t get her back!”

Finally, an agreement is reached.

Persephone is allowed to leave Hades for half the year and return to her mother.

The other half is spent in the underworld.

The Return of Persephone (Leighton 1891)

And this is why we having the changing seasons. When it’s summer, Persephone is with Demeter and the lands are fertile and beautiful. The rest of the time her mother weeps, too heartbroken to tend to her duties.

So, there’s your interesting facts of the day: echoes, daffodils, and the seasons.

Story Time...

We are somewhere in rural China in the Sichuan province. It’s the three of us, our guide, ”Julie”, and our driver. We are hours from Chengdu, which is the gateway to Tibet, heading up some crazy, winding, mountain roads.

All of a sudden our minivan screeches to a halt as we come around a corner. In the middle of the road is a menagerie of animals.

Our driver honks, but the animals don‘t budge. Two lazy camels are literally blocking the road. A little girl of about 12, wearing a fern leaf garland in her hair, is standing there with all these animals. So, we spill out of the vehicle, laughing at the situation. Somehow, my son, Quinton, ends up feeding the goats and deer.

Finally our humped roadblock moves, we climb back into the minivan, and continue our adventure. We eventually end up near Bifengxia. Here, our driver says he can’t continue, we have to take a “bus”. He will wait here for us though.

So, we get out with Julie and wait for the bus.

While waiting, we become celebs. Julie explains that most of the locals here have never seen westerners in real life. But, they are lovely and everyone wants their pictures taken with us.

Eventually, a “bus” arrives. It’s just like in the movies—chugging along, spewing black smoke out the back. We ride this jam packed dilapidated bus, praying we don’t go cascading over the side of the mountain.

After getting off the bus, we get onto a funicular to continue upward. We are packed in like sardines and I grab an overhead metal pole for support, like you would on a subway.

Suddenly, I am well aware that almost every eye is on me. The women start whispering, some trying to subtly point at me, others just staring at my arm held up over my head, grasping the pole. I’m amused, but confused, wondering what on earth is so intriguing to them. I keep looking at my arm, my shoulder, my hand. Is something stuck to me? I‘m unable to solve the mystery. Is it not ladylike to hold the pole? I don’t want to fall though.

When we got off the funicular, the first thing I ask Julie is, “Why on earth was everyone whispering about me?”

She got really shy and then said, ”it’s because your armpits are shaved.“

"Oh!"

I could not stop giggling.

I'm glad I asked because I'd have never guessed that as the reason.

Story Time...

In the 8th century B.C., an old, blind Greek man named Homer wrote a poem. It was --both literally and figuratively-- an epic one.

Meant to be performed orally, it is still well-known today, almost three thousand years later.

So, if you'd like, grab your cup of coffee or tea and settle in for story time.

There was a guy named Odysseus, King of Ithaca, who fought in the Battle of Troy. Odysseus is freaking legendary--not because of his muscles, but because of how cunning he is. He's the one who came up with the whole "Trojan Horse" idea.

Anyhow, after the Trojan War, which he didn't even want to fight in, Odysseus hops in his boat to sail back home. He's got a wife, Penelope, and a son waiting for him. It should take about two weeks across the Mediterranean Sea.

However...

Odysseus and his crew come ashore on an island, looking for food. They hike inland, finding a huge cave filled with enormous amounts of milk and cheese.

The men stuff their faces, eating as much as they can. "That was good food. Now...let's get out of here."

"No," Odysseus tells them. "I have a better idea. Let's wait and see who lives here. Maybe he'll be really hospitable and give us gifts."

"Say what?" They all look at him like he's mad.

"Yeah. You know...maybe whoever lives here is the hostess with the mostess and will shower us with hospitality."

So, they all hang out in the cave, eating and drinking, waiting around all day for whoever lives here to return and give them presents.

The host eventually returns with his flock of sheep.

Turns out, he's not only a giant, he's a cyclops named Polyphemus, who happens to be Poseidon's son. (The god of the sea)

He comes inside with his sheep and pushes a huge boulder over the entrance-- too large for humans to move.

They're now trapped.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Polyphemus demands when he sees them.

"Hey, how you doing? We're on our way home from Troy. Since we're your guests...do you have any gifts for us?" Odysseus asks.

"WHERE ARE YOUR SHIPS?"

"Oh...they were destroyed, smashed against the rocks," he says, lying.

Polyphemus then grabs two of the men, one in each hand, bashes them against the rocks...and eats them for dinner..

He then goes to sleep.

"Crap..."

This didn't go according to plan, so Odysseus needs to come up with a new one.

"We have to kill him," the men whisper.

"No. We'll be trapped in this cave if we do that."

Polyphemus gets up the next morning and takes his sheep outside with him, making sure to roll the enormous boulder over the entrance on his way out.

While he's gone, Odysseus sharpens a huge piece of wood into a spike, putting it into the fire to harden it. When it's ready, he hides it.

At the end of the day, Polyphemus returns to his lair once again, eats several more men, and is about to settle in for the night, when Odysseus offers him some wine.

This wine he happens to have is so powerful, you are meant to mix it with twenty parts water.

Polyphemus is happy to drink the wine, lapping up several goblets of it.

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" the cyclops asks Odysseus.

"My friends all call me Nobody."

"BECAUSE YOU GAVE ME WINE, NOBODY-- I HAVE GIFT FOR YOU. I WILL KILL YOU LAST."

Then, when Polyphemus passes out drunk, Odysseus grabs the spear, stabbing the sharp tip into the cyclops' eye.

"Hoisting high that olive stake with its stabbing point,

straight into the monster's eye they rammed it hard--

I drove my weight on it from above and bored it home...

round and round in the giant's eye

till blood came boiling up around that smoking shaft

and the hot blast singed his brow and eyelids round the core

and the broiling eyeball burst..."

By now, Polyphemus is screaming so loudly that all the other cyclopes come running to his rescue.

"WHO IS BOTHERING YOU?" they ask from the other side of the huge boulder.

"NOBODY! NOBODY IS KILLING ME!"

So....they all leave.

But, Odysseus and his men are still trapped in the cave with the now blind cyclops.

In the morning, when Polyphemus moves the boulder to let his sheep out, he feels each one with his hands to make sure none of Nobody's men are escaping. However, Odysseus and the others grab onto the underbelly of each one and ride out to freedom.

Once outside, they hightail it back to the shore, hop on their ship, and start to sail away.

Odysseus though....he just has to get the last word in.

He yells out, taunting Polyphemus.

The cyclops runs after them, throwing huge boulders into the sea.

The waves return the ship to the shore.

"Stop!" his men plead.

"No more, Ody!"

"Can we just get out of here, please?" they beg while trying to sail away again.

Odysseus couldn't resist though.

"If anyone ever asks who got the better of you, tell them it was Odysseus of Ithica," he shouts out.

In a rage, Polyphemus throws another huge boulder at the ship, but this time it drove them further out to sea.

They thought they were safe, but forgot one thing:

Polyphemus was Poseidon's son.

With the god of the sea now an enemy, what should have been a two week voyage...took ten years.

And there you have it. Your interesting fact of the day: Book Nine of the Odyssey.

Interesting Fact of the Day...

My husband and I wished on our wishbone and look what happened!

Luckily, I know the basic ins and outs of wish-making.

So, here's your interesting fact of the day...

Our tradition of wishing on wishbones goes all the way back to the ancient Etruscans. They'd write their alphabet in a circle in the dirt and put grain at each letter. Then, they'd put a chicken in the middle. As the chicken pecked and ate the feed, someone would keep track of the order of the letters the bird ate from.

It was basically a Ouija Board.

Then, after killing the chicken for food, they'd keep the wishbone (the furcula) as a talisman because it is the bone that gives them flight. I suppose they thought it carried their wishes off to the heavens. The Etruscans would carry the bone with them as a lucky charm. They'd rub it and hold it and make wishes on it.

The Romans eventually came along and saw what the Etruscans were doing and wanted in on the luck so they started saving the wishbones from chickens and carrying them around as talisman too. But...there must have been a poultry shortage because there weren't enough furcula bones to go around. Eventually the Romans started pulling them apart (like we do now) and saying whoever got the bigger piece got the wish.

So, I've concluded that both my husband and I get our wishes since it's the bone itself that brings the luck, not the person who gets the bigger piece.

Makes sense in my mind anyhow!

Interesting Fact of the Day...

Here's your interesting fact of the day: Jolly old St. Nick.

Standing in front of a shrine to St. Nicholas with our historian in Istanbul. We're in what's considered the Vatican of the Orthodox Church - The "Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople".

St. Nicholas was from Turkey.

His wealthy parents died when he was young and he had to live in a monastery. He'd give his money to others in need, especially children, but in sneaky ways.

For example, there were three girls who couldn't get married because they had no dowries. St. Nicholas heard and, one night, tossed some money through an open window.

The eldest daughter was soon able to find a husband.

He did it again for the second daughter, by tossing a sock filled with money through the open window.

When it was time for the third daughter to find a husband, St. Nicholas tried to do the same thing, but the windows were all shut so he climbed to the roof and dropped the money down the chimney.

And that's how the legend began.

Interesting Fact of the Day...

Roses are timeless. I love their history as much as their blooms. So....that inspired your useless, but interesting, fact of the day:

I know Hercules gets all the attention, but in Roman mythology, Cupid was a super hot, awesome, fun-loving god. Seriously, he was the furthest thing from a flying baby Cherub. Anyhow, legend says he gave Harpocrates, the god of silence, a rose in exchange for keeping his mom’s indiscretions a secret. Cupid’s mom was of course, Venus, the goddess of love.

Because of this legend, many Ancient Romans painted roses on their dining room ceilings. It was a reminder that what is said at the table, “under the rose”, was to remain confidential. Kind of the ancient version of, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

The term “sub rosa“ is still used to this day. It means “secrecy, confidentiality, privately,” and is a literal translation of “under the rose“ in Latin.