tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9085092.post113552678384381751..comments2023-10-30T08:28:53.519-07:00Comments on The Bush Diaries: The Day...Peter Clothierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11525159413387378704noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9085092.post-1135621489435636652005-12-26T10:24:00.000-08:002005-12-26T10:24:00.000-08:00Peter, Motoring up the Blue Coast of Turkey on a '...Peter, Motoring up the Blue Coast of Turkey on a 'gullet' cruise, we stopped at Mira, a beautiful, rugged place remotely snuggled at the base of mountains beside waters traveled by Greeks and Romans and traders and fishermen since well before Christianity. We went ashore to visit Nicholas Church, the working place of the saint, a simple, unimpressive, unadorned, stone structure surrounded by fallen stones of a Roman ruin. The church stood and the ruins gave it a special atmosphere of things rooted deep in the history which last. It doesn't look like a church and I figured that is because it was an orphanage. Romantically, I imagined Nicholas walking the small corridors of the small structure, doing whatever needed doing to care for his many orphans. It had a sense of being large despite its size, as if some human spirit makes it seem grander than it is. I was especially impressed by the polished smoothness of the large grey stones which made up the floors. They were worn to an almost reflective sheen by feet, thousands of invisible footprints. The edges of the stones did not join tightly, and were worn off by feet until smoothly curved round. It surprised me to think how many feet could do this? How many feet over how many years could round off those stones so much? How many feet of orphans passed before mine? The smooth evidence made me think of the man.<BR/>And I thought, there really was a Nicholas, he was a man, and he did good things, especially for children.<BR/>And a real story, became a myth, and the myth became a merchandising opportunity in America. And few people get to imagine what Nicholas was in the tiny, rugged area known as Mira.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com