My favorite 'signal' of Spring is the daffodil. Now they've been in bloom since early February here in the Costa Blanca, which has been a strange sight for me since I'm used to them making their first appearances much closer to Easter, rather than Ash Wednesday. Winning Trivial Pursuit Fact: Daffodils are the national symbol of Wales.
Life Update #1:
I spent the weekend in London attending the UK Territory's Baby Song Training Conference. It's a program that is aimed at reaching out to families via parent-baby bonding classes. The Norweigan Salvation Army was conducting the seminar, and invited me to attend when they visited Denia last fall. So, an American Salvation Army officer serving in Spain Command attending a United Kingdom Territorial conference as a Norweigan delegate. Plus I got a whirlwind tour of London on the go!
London was great! See how happy I am in this picture in front of St. Paul's Cathedral:
Life Update #2:
The Fallas is in full swing here in the Comunitat de Valencia. (Valenciano Community = a large chunk of the south eastern portion of Spain....google it....) The Fallas commemorates St. Joseph's Day on March 19th, which is also Spain's Father's Day. The story goes that carpenters would clear out the shops each year at this time and burn their scraps in the street, so someone got the idea to create a figurine out of the scraps before creating the bonfire. And well, that tradition has become this:
These ENORMOUS works of art take a year to build. (The average height was 2 to 4 stories tall!) Clubs compete against each other to win prize for the best creation, and then on the night of March 19th the set them all on FIRE! (I'm secretly looking forward to seeing them in flames!)
So in that thought I leave you with the words from the song written by William Booth (the founder of The Salvation Army) that have been buzzing around my head while taking pictures of the fallas:
'Tis fire we want, for fire we plead,
Send the fire!
The fire will meet our every need,
Send the fire!
For strength to ever do the right,
For grace to conquer in the fight.
For power to walk the world in white,
Send the fire!
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6 comments:
Daffodil's are my favorite flower and I associate them with my birthday (in March). I love them! Thanks for sharing.
on f.i.r.e.? i thought we had strange traditions! daffodils...ahh. i see them in our yard but the poor little buds aren't showing their heads yet. don't blame them w/ all this rain!
What an interesting conference to go to. And I'm kind of jealous of the daffodils. But I'll keep hoping that we're on our way to flowers here in MN :)
What an interesting tradition! I like the idea of burning the scraps...as it has kind of a spiritual cleansing aspect to it. I'm not sure I could watch those works be destroyed, and yet, isn't there a spiritual message in that as well?! Would not such things be destroyed on the last day!?
I have mentioned my trip to visit my sister in London. I thought it was a really cool place to take in--and you look lovely!! Did you enjoy the transportation?
As for the daffodils, they are out in some yards. My narcissus is still holding back, a bit. I think we need a little more heat....
Thanks for the visit! I do feel like I've been on tour.
What a fascinating post. Here I have a blog titled Dancing with the Daffodils and didn't know your trivia fact. I'm glad I can travel through you. I LOVE to travel.
Hello:
I just stopped by and found what God wanted me to see on your blog. It was all about Him sending he 'fire'!
I also have a friend who is beginning a new ministry [soon] in Spain. Her name is Betsy and she is starting a ministry called "Cinderella House." It will be a place for women to find help and refuge if they are left alone or abandoned.
I'll check back again. Nice to meet you!
Looking UPward and Choosing JOY,
Stephanie
[Time to FLY]
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