The last couple of days have been interesting in terms of the local wildlife. Day before yesterday I heard Susannah yelling in the living room and rushed to see what had happened. She had opened the door to go out, and for some reason a humming bird had flown in and headed for the window to go back out again. Unfortunately for the hummer the window was closed and before Susannah could do anything Amber, the cat, was up on the window sill, the bird was batted to the floor and the prcess of digestion started. I arrived in time to see the tail vanish. Amber was evicted since we figured the feathers were going to quickly come back up.
I hate to lose a hummer, although the truth is we have more than enough to feed two cats. Right now the population is high enough to go through about a half gallon of sugar water a day, and the consumption is increasing as the word gets out that high quality food is available at Mike and Susannah's place. Fascinating, two feeders, 8 spots to feed from total, and both birds are fighting for the same spot! While fascinating to watch, and really beautiful, they have no manners or social graces at all.
Right now we have green birds with black heads and red throats, but any time now the rufus birds will arrive in great numbers. They look like burnished pennies, bright copper with a red throat that seems to glow like a burning coal. Nope, manners are just as bad as their cousins, they are just prettier.
Then yesterday, as I struggled to wake up over my first cup of coffee while staring blearily at the computer screen in the study there was a a scream of "Michal, there's a snake in the door!" Now I admit, I wasn't quite fully awake, and I was trying to picture how a snake could be in the door. Perhaps embedded in the wood? Anyway I rushed to the living room, and from under the front door about a foot and a half of bull snake (also known as a gopher snake) tail twisted and turned. Opening the door, hoping not to hurt it, drug it inside where it tried to make an escape. No luck! We have laminated flooring, and apparently the stuff is just too slick for a snake to make progress, so mostly it just wiggled from side to side having no success in making progress.
I guess I should have grabbed my camera and gotten some pictures since it was pretty young, only about 2.5 feet long, and its skin was bright and shinny. I suspect if we really looked around we could find the skin that it had probably just shed. Oh well, forgot about that as I put on a pair of gloved and finally managed to pick it up despite the fact that it was moving as fast as it could, but not going anywhere. I don't mind handling non-poisonous snakes but do take the precaution of wearing gloves just in case they get too frightened and try biting when first picked up. Generally they settle down in just a minute or two and after that are safe to handle.
No problem with this one, it had a one track mind and that was to go someplace else. So we carried it out into the woods where I hope it can escape both cats and dogs. And as we walked along it found it could move in my gloved hands and so headed out, from one hand to another as fast as it could go, probably about as fast as I was walking had it been on the ground. When we reached the woods near my work shop I let it go onto the ground and it kept on going as fast as it could into the trees and grass, hopefully to grow a bit and keep the mouse population down a bit. Most likely it will also have an effect on the grasshoppers, the lizards, and best of all, on other snakes. Rattle snakes have not been seen around our property, but they are most certainly in our area, so the production of bull snakes is highly encouraged.
As I watched out the window this morning while exercising, the dog and the phoebes were competing to see who could catch and eat the most bugs. At least I guess that was what they were eating. Chaco just gobbles them up, the phoebe would catch one, go bang it on a rock and then either eat it or take it up to the nest. Haven't poked my head up to see if it was feeding its mate or newly hatched chicks. Since I generally see only one at a time out, I suspect that they are still next sitting. They present quite a drama as they swoop and then hoover, standing still in the air, then dropping to grab a bug. Or sometimes swooping down to catch one out of the air. Between them and the humming birds I sometimes wonder if it is safe to walk out onto the pourch. I can picture one of them stuck in me like a arrow in a tree.
I wonder what I next adventure with the local wildlife will be.
Hugs,
Mike L
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Yes, We Had No Rain Today
For several days now the weather forecast has been for thundershowers, but the reality has been rather disappointing. The mornings have been beautiful, with wonderful blue skies that slowly grows a few fluffy clouds that shine with summer whiteness. They grow and late afternoon they begin to glower with the threat of rain that is all bluff.
Slowly they drift to the east with nary a drop of water falling to earth. Ah, but that doesn't mean it didn't rain. The clouds get heavy with water and finally begin to leak and you can see the dark drift of rain falling from them, but it never reaches the earth. The air is as dry as the ground, and greedily absorbs the moister evaporating it before it can reach the thirsty earth. Perhaps tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning more clouds will pass and will be more generous.
Yeah, those little wisps coming down from the clouds in the middle and right of the picture are the virga. Perhaps as they move east the rain will intensify sufficiently for a few drops to fall, what we call a 4 inch rain, one drop every four inches.
I won't complain too much, we have had several heavy showers, and things are turning green and some of the wild flowers are beginning to crop up. And we still have a couple of more days of forecast showers, so perhaps we shall be lucky and God will bless us with a good deluge or two.
Mike L
Slowly they drift to the east with nary a drop of water falling to earth. Ah, but that doesn't mean it didn't rain. The clouds get heavy with water and finally begin to leak and you can see the dark drift of rain falling from them, but it never reaches the earth. The air is as dry as the ground, and greedily absorbs the moister evaporating it before it can reach the thirsty earth. Perhaps tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning more clouds will pass and will be more generous.
Yeah, those little wisps coming down from the clouds in the middle and right of the picture are the virga. Perhaps as they move east the rain will intensify sufficiently for a few drops to fall, what we call a 4 inch rain, one drop every four inches.
I won't complain too much, we have had several heavy showers, and things are turning green and some of the wild flowers are beginning to crop up. And we still have a couple of more days of forecast showers, so perhaps we shall be lucky and God will bless us with a good deluge or two.
Mike L
A Bit of Wimsey
Susannah decided to lighten up my life an early Father's Day gift and so now I have a group of Kokopellis climbing up my wall.
There is some mystery about just who or what Kokopelli is, and I think that while we were volunteering at an archeological park in Arizona we heard most of them. In general he is considered to be a fertility symbol, and some think that the basis may have been traveling traders that announced their arrival by playing the flute thereby hoping to avoid being greeted as an enemy with a flight of arrows. Of course, all the traveling salesmen jokes would apply to this inturpretation. In any case, he is generally thought of as kind of a tricktster playing jokes and is associated with livelyness and fun.
On the other hand Oliver, who considers himself editor in chief and prefers to hang around Susannah's desk since it is normally neater than mine, much prefers a quieter surrounding. He refused to comment vocally on my new decoration by never the less managed to express his opinion.
Oh well, I long ago learned to let sleeping dogs lie, and since Oliver has joined our family I am also learning to leave sleeping cats lie. Turns out they are much better armed then dogs and more difficult to disengage from when they grab you with their claws.
Oh yes, I am taking sleeping lessons from Oliver, but don't believe that I shall ever achieve the mastery that he has managed to acquire.
Mike L
There is some mystery about just who or what Kokopelli is, and I think that while we were volunteering at an archeological park in Arizona we heard most of them. In general he is considered to be a fertility symbol, and some think that the basis may have been traveling traders that announced their arrival by playing the flute thereby hoping to avoid being greeted as an enemy with a flight of arrows. Of course, all the traveling salesmen jokes would apply to this inturpretation. In any case, he is generally thought of as kind of a tricktster playing jokes and is associated with livelyness and fun.
On the other hand Oliver, who considers himself editor in chief and prefers to hang around Susannah's desk since it is normally neater than mine, much prefers a quieter surrounding. He refused to comment vocally on my new decoration by never the less managed to express his opinion.
Oh well, I long ago learned to let sleeping dogs lie, and since Oliver has joined our family I am also learning to leave sleeping cats lie. Turns out they are much better armed then dogs and more difficult to disengage from when they grab you with their claws.
Oh yes, I am taking sleeping lessons from Oliver, but don't believe that I shall ever achieve the mastery that he has managed to acquire.
Mike L
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Of Cats and Dogs
While I am posting pictures, thought I would post a few of the "family" although you will have to wait for a good picture of Susannah. The first picture is of Amber, the cat that adopted us down in Texas by crawling out from under an RV and literally wrapping herself around my ankle. I caught this picture of her "the morning after the night before" that she decided not to come in and spent the night out.
I think it is pretty obvious that she really enjoyed herself.
Our other cat is Oliver, and we saw him up for adoption at PetSmart. Amber does not like to sit on laps, and her purr is so quiet that most of the time I can't hear it even when holding her. So when they said that Oliver loved to sit in laps and purrs loud we paid the fee and took him. He does like to roll in the dirt.
They were half right, he purrs loud, but only sits on your lap when HE wants to.
The brown lump is not really eating my slipper, he is just resting his head on it. That is Chaco, and I met him when Susannah and I were shopping and they had an adoption fair outside the store. This was just after my radiation treatment so she told me to go look at the dogs while she went in and shopped. When she came out Chaco was sitting with his head in my lap, and I could read Susannah's lips as she said "OH! S**T!" He has turned out to be a wonderful dog, and after about 9 months even Susannah has found she likes him. But I probably will never get a picture of Chaco sleeping with his head on HER foot :).
Oh, the big lump sitting in the chair is me relaxing in front of the wood stove on a cold night with my admirers around me.
I think it is pretty obvious that she really enjoyed herself.
Our other cat is Oliver, and we saw him up for adoption at PetSmart. Amber does not like to sit on laps, and her purr is so quiet that most of the time I can't hear it even when holding her. So when they said that Oliver loved to sit in laps and purrs loud we paid the fee and took him. He does like to roll in the dirt.
They were half right, he purrs loud, but only sits on your lap when HE wants to.
The brown lump is not really eating my slipper, he is just resting his head on it. That is Chaco, and I met him when Susannah and I were shopping and they had an adoption fair outside the store. This was just after my radiation treatment so she told me to go look at the dogs while she went in and shopped. When she came out Chaco was sitting with his head in my lap, and I could read Susannah's lips as she said "OH! S**T!" He has turned out to be a wonderful dog, and after about 9 months even Susannah has found she likes him. But I probably will never get a picture of Chaco sleeping with his head on HER foot :).
Oh, the big lump sitting in the chair is me relaxing in front of the wood stove on a cold night with my admirers around me.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Mini-Vacations
I often complain that one of the bad things about being retired is that Susannah and I seldom manage to get a vacation. Some people might think that everyday is a vacation once retired, but believe me, it just isn't so. This spring we decided that we would break the habit and take a four day vacation and go north of the border, New Mexico/Colorado, that is and spend some time at Pogosa Springs and spend some time soaking in the hot springs there, enjoying some excellent food, and giving me a chance to try out my new camera. I could complain that we picked the wrong days to go given the rainy weather, but last time we went we had sleet, freezing rain, and snow. So this trip might be considered an improvement, although the snow was rather beautiful and it fun to sit in a hot spring and have the snow falling around you.
When we left Tuesday morning it was a beautiful day with blue skies and just a few clouds drifting across the heavens. It was also warm enough to cut the air conditioner on from time to time. The first part of the trip was through the high planes and then into more desert like surroundings, and at one point we cross a massive volcanic dike where magma surged up through a crack in the surface of the earth many centuries ago. As the ground has weathered away it has left what looks like, to me at least, a dragon laying across the desert, or perhaps an "earth" serpent swimming through the sands and rocks of the area.
So I stopped the car and produced the above picture. Not shown is the fact that on the right side of the rode the dike continues off to the horizon. You can click on any of these images to get a much higher resolution image.
After a restful stop for lunch in Espanola we continued north climbing in elevation and moved into the red rock area near Ghost Ranch. Someday I am going to have to take a day to go up there and just take pictures. As it was the sky was starting to spit rain drops, and while not really a rain it was apparently enough water flow to prompt the request for a pit stop, and being the good husband that I am we turned off for a short trip to the visitor center at Lake Abiquiu. Not one to pass up a chance we did manage to get this picture.
Ah, the black marks give away the secret that these are really composite pictures made up of several individual prints and then stitched together to make one big picture.
At any rate we arrived about 4:00 pm, settled in, soaked, then had dinner and soaked and then collapsed into bed. The next morning we walked across the foot bridge over the San Juan river and I decided to see how well I could manage to picture the area where they have the hot tubs. This was the result, and I can see that I need to be more careful to fill in the gaps.
The resolution in the original is just about good enough to tell which of the women are wearing bikinis, so I am a bit disappointed in how they are coming out in this posting.
For one final picture, we drove up to the top of Wolf Creek Pass where it crosses the Continental Divide. And here I made a big photographic mistake. I decided to wait until we came back before taking some pictures of the mountains, and by the time we returned the clouds had set in and rain obscured them from view. Oh well, I did take this one on the way down, and it gives you some idea of the park like effect in that area. And here it is!
Friday morning again dawned with lots of clouds and rain, so I did not even try to get back up there for more pictures. Maybe sometime in the future.
We took it slow this trip, and it paid in terms of being more relaxed and an incredible 33 mpg average over the trip. Anyone who tells you that their mileage is as good at 65 as it is at 55 is either lying or hasn't tried it. Our dog was glad to see us again, he hasn't hardly left my side since we have gotten home. The cats, however, are still somewhat pissed, but at least amber is not swatting at us every time we go by.
Ok, the field is open for criticism and advice on how to take, process, and post pictures here in blogdom. Feel free
Mike L
When we left Tuesday morning it was a beautiful day with blue skies and just a few clouds drifting across the heavens. It was also warm enough to cut the air conditioner on from time to time. The first part of the trip was through the high planes and then into more desert like surroundings, and at one point we cross a massive volcanic dike where magma surged up through a crack in the surface of the earth many centuries ago. As the ground has weathered away it has left what looks like, to me at least, a dragon laying across the desert, or perhaps an "earth" serpent swimming through the sands and rocks of the area.
So I stopped the car and produced the above picture. Not shown is the fact that on the right side of the rode the dike continues off to the horizon. You can click on any of these images to get a much higher resolution image.
After a restful stop for lunch in Espanola we continued north climbing in elevation and moved into the red rock area near Ghost Ranch. Someday I am going to have to take a day to go up there and just take pictures. As it was the sky was starting to spit rain drops, and while not really a rain it was apparently enough water flow to prompt the request for a pit stop, and being the good husband that I am we turned off for a short trip to the visitor center at Lake Abiquiu. Not one to pass up a chance we did manage to get this picture.
Ah, the black marks give away the secret that these are really composite pictures made up of several individual prints and then stitched together to make one big picture.
At any rate we arrived about 4:00 pm, settled in, soaked, then had dinner and soaked and then collapsed into bed. The next morning we walked across the foot bridge over the San Juan river and I decided to see how well I could manage to picture the area where they have the hot tubs. This was the result, and I can see that I need to be more careful to fill in the gaps.
The resolution in the original is just about good enough to tell which of the women are wearing bikinis, so I am a bit disappointed in how they are coming out in this posting.
For one final picture, we drove up to the top of Wolf Creek Pass where it crosses the Continental Divide. And here I made a big photographic mistake. I decided to wait until we came back before taking some pictures of the mountains, and by the time we returned the clouds had set in and rain obscured them from view. Oh well, I did take this one on the way down, and it gives you some idea of the park like effect in that area. And here it is!
Friday morning again dawned with lots of clouds and rain, so I did not even try to get back up there for more pictures. Maybe sometime in the future.
We took it slow this trip, and it paid in terms of being more relaxed and an incredible 33 mpg average over the trip. Anyone who tells you that their mileage is as good at 65 as it is at 55 is either lying or hasn't tried it. Our dog was glad to see us again, he hasn't hardly left my side since we have gotten home. The cats, however, are still somewhat pissed, but at least amber is not swatting at us every time we go by.
Ok, the field is open for criticism and advice on how to take, process, and post pictures here in blogdom. Feel free
Mike L
Monday, May 11, 2009
Talking Trees
The oak trees on the south side of our house are having a discussion. I can watch them out the side window as I write this, and I am pretty sure they are discussing whether the weather man is wrong about rain this afternoon. As the breeze blows through their tops, they lean over and whisper to one another about the clouds that are drifting over us from the Manzano Mountains to the West. Our tree-rex lives in that particular patch of oaks. He is a branch that sticks up above the others and looks like a T-Rex with its mouth open. This will be the third year that he has been with us and today he seems quite vocal. Right now he is a bit spotty, but I think he will take on more substance as the leaves continue to come out. Guess he likes it here, and I enjoy watching him.
This morning dawned with a blanket of clouds covering us and going right up to the mountains. There a bit of sunlight managed to sneak through to light a strip of green just below the tops that were hidden in the soft white. The day tossed the blanket off and the sky has been mostly clear, just a few white flecks punctuating the blue to give it character. But now as the sun sets the clouds are forming again, and I can see rain falling from them in places. But alas, it will not reach the ground. The air here is dry, and I can watch the rain vanish into the air as it drops toward the thirsty earth. Our here they call it virga or Katchina hair. We often watch it sweep over us, with maybe a drop or two reaching us. We often get six inch rains, that is one drop every six inches.
Our phoebes, the birds nesting in the corner of the porch, have stopped their frantic activity. I think that they have finished upgrading the nest for the spring, and are probably now sitting on eggs, or laying them. Susannah has been moving the yard around and has moved the garden cart which was a favorite spot for them to stop at before entering the nest. It was funny to watch one of them land on a tire when the cart was overturned and have the wheel ever so slowly turn until they had to hop a bit to stay on top. I wonder how many families they will raise this year. Last year we think they raised two, three the year before. We pretty much leave them alone since we wouldn't want to be disturber all the time either.
The moon has been full, and that means both of our cats would love to spend the night outdoors. We try not to let them, owls and coyotes take their toll and we would kind of like to keep the cats around for a while. But night before last Amber refused to come in, running across the yard at full speed, then hiding in a bush only to dash back to pounce on a grasshopper, or maybe just a stick. She always comes around when we call her, I think to let us know her intention, then vanishes if she has decided to stay out for the night. I was up early yesterday and here she came, walking across the yard, tail high in greeting, ready for me to open the door and let her in. Breakfast first, then she retired to our bed for the day, one paw across her eyes to keep the light out. Don't know what she did over night, but she sure looked like "the morning after the night before." Been kind of quiet since then.
The sun is behind the mountains now, and peacefulness seems to be sweeping over the high plains. There are still patches of blue sky to the east, but mostly slate colored. Over head the virga looks white and twisty, and when I stuck my head out the door there is a warm breeze blowing from the mountains, but the trees remain still. Our tom cat, Oliver, is sleeping in his bed on the desk next to me and all is well. It has been a good day. I did some work in the wood shop, then did my exercise, and now having had dinner I am ready to rest for the evening. Perhaps a soak in the hot tub on the porch, looking at the starts are the lights of airplanes, and then to bed, preparing for another day tomorrow.
Hugs to all,
Mike L
This morning dawned with a blanket of clouds covering us and going right up to the mountains. There a bit of sunlight managed to sneak through to light a strip of green just below the tops that were hidden in the soft white. The day tossed the blanket off and the sky has been mostly clear, just a few white flecks punctuating the blue to give it character. But now as the sun sets the clouds are forming again, and I can see rain falling from them in places. But alas, it will not reach the ground. The air here is dry, and I can watch the rain vanish into the air as it drops toward the thirsty earth. Our here they call it virga or Katchina hair. We often watch it sweep over us, with maybe a drop or two reaching us. We often get six inch rains, that is one drop every six inches.
Our phoebes, the birds nesting in the corner of the porch, have stopped their frantic activity. I think that they have finished upgrading the nest for the spring, and are probably now sitting on eggs, or laying them. Susannah has been moving the yard around and has moved the garden cart which was a favorite spot for them to stop at before entering the nest. It was funny to watch one of them land on a tire when the cart was overturned and have the wheel ever so slowly turn until they had to hop a bit to stay on top. I wonder how many families they will raise this year. Last year we think they raised two, three the year before. We pretty much leave them alone since we wouldn't want to be disturber all the time either.
The moon has been full, and that means both of our cats would love to spend the night outdoors. We try not to let them, owls and coyotes take their toll and we would kind of like to keep the cats around for a while. But night before last Amber refused to come in, running across the yard at full speed, then hiding in a bush only to dash back to pounce on a grasshopper, or maybe just a stick. She always comes around when we call her, I think to let us know her intention, then vanishes if she has decided to stay out for the night. I was up early yesterday and here she came, walking across the yard, tail high in greeting, ready for me to open the door and let her in. Breakfast first, then she retired to our bed for the day, one paw across her eyes to keep the light out. Don't know what she did over night, but she sure looked like "the morning after the night before." Been kind of quiet since then.
The sun is behind the mountains now, and peacefulness seems to be sweeping over the high plains. There are still patches of blue sky to the east, but mostly slate colored. Over head the virga looks white and twisty, and when I stuck my head out the door there is a warm breeze blowing from the mountains, but the trees remain still. Our tom cat, Oliver, is sleeping in his bed on the desk next to me and all is well. It has been a good day. I did some work in the wood shop, then did my exercise, and now having had dinner I am ready to rest for the evening. Perhaps a soak in the hot tub on the porch, looking at the starts are the lights of airplanes, and then to bed, preparing for another day tomorrow.
Hugs to all,
Mike L
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Byzantine Mass
Susannah and I did something a bit different this Sunday. Instead of attending mass at our normal parish we drove into Albuquerque and attended a Byzantine mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church. Many of us in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church are unaware of the rich diversity in the Catholic Church that exists in the Eastern Rite churches. For those that are not aware of these Churches, be assured that Latin rite members are welcome there as they are welcome in our churches. We are free to go to receive communion, go to confession, and attending mass fulfills our Sunday obligation. So no, we did not miss mass this Sunday :)
Since neither Susannah or I have attended a Byzantine rite mass in decades, we pretty much watched what others were doing and followed. You know, when in Rome do as ..., or in this case when in Constantinople do as the ...
The first thing we noticed on entering the church was the alter. Set up on a platform with a screen separating it from the rest of the Church it faced in the ad orientum direction, that is the priest would have his back to us. The screen had three doors, one in the middle about wide enough for two people to stand in, and one on either side. The screen was hung with beautiful icons, as were the walls of the church.
The second thing noticed was no kneelers. In the Byzantine rite you are either standing or sitting, you do not kneel. Kneeling has a different meaning in the east. On that note, you do not genuflect when entering the pew, but rather perform a deep bow toward the alter and cross yourself.
I am really not going to describe the mass, the liturgy is far more elaborate than that of the Latin rite. I think we had about the bare minimum number of people on the alter, 4 pre-teen alter boys, two young adult alter boys, two deacons, and the priest. There was also a candle bearer that showed up while the Gospel was read and at other important parts of the mass. There was also a cantor that chanted the Epistle and an excellent choir. All this in a church that probably would not have held 150 people!
I believe there were four processions, and I lost count of how many times the deacons incensed the alter, the church, and the congregation. Do not go to one of these masses if you are allergic to incense. The Gospel was not read, it was chanted, and chanted clearly enough that I didn't need my hearing aids.
Some things that stick in my mind. At several points the deacons would leave the priest's side, come out the side doors, move to the center and facing the congregation one would chant "WISDOM" and the other would then chant "BE ATTENTIVE". Their voices were deep, and I certainly took notice. From time to time they would change and the first would chant "BE ATTENTIVE" and the other would follow with "WISDOM".
Prayers were chanted, the responses were chanted by the congregation. Most of the prayers were recognizable, and the order of the mass was not a lot different than in the Latin rite, but different enough and longer so that I knew I was someplace different than normal. I found it very soul satisfying.
Receiving the Communion was quite different. The hosts are cubes of bread that are added to the chalice. Each person goes forward with hands crossed over their breasts, opens their mouth and the host soaked in wine is placed in their mouth with a golden spoon. I should also mention that in the Eastern rites children receive first communion with baptism, and while I knew this, it was still a surprise to see infants carried by their mother receive communion just like the adults.
I also want to mention that the sermon, while long did not seem so, and was one of the best I have heard in years and was given by the deacon. As mass ended I was shocked to realize that it had lasted for a few minutes short of 2 hours.
As an after note, I was talking to the priest after mass and he asked how I liked the sermon. I told him that I thought it was excellent, and asked if it was always of that quality. His replay was "well, I normal preach, so you will have to ask someone else." Oh well, we shall be going back from time to time when our need for solemnity gets the better of us, so I guess I will find out :).
I was going to say that if you get the chance to attend an Eastern rite mass, don't pass it up. I won't say that, I will say instead make the effort to find one and attend it. There are many Eastern Rite churches in union with Rome, each a bit different, but all having rich liturgies that are beautiful. I should mention that the Orthodox Churches have the same liturgies, but are not in union with Rome, so are not appropriate for Catholics to attend.
Come, explore the richness and diversity of the Catholic Church.
Since neither Susannah or I have attended a Byzantine rite mass in decades, we pretty much watched what others were doing and followed. You know, when in Rome do as ..., or in this case when in Constantinople do as the ...
The first thing we noticed on entering the church was the alter. Set up on a platform with a screen separating it from the rest of the Church it faced in the ad orientum direction, that is the priest would have his back to us. The screen had three doors, one in the middle about wide enough for two people to stand in, and one on either side. The screen was hung with beautiful icons, as were the walls of the church.
The second thing noticed was no kneelers. In the Byzantine rite you are either standing or sitting, you do not kneel. Kneeling has a different meaning in the east. On that note, you do not genuflect when entering the pew, but rather perform a deep bow toward the alter and cross yourself.
I am really not going to describe the mass, the liturgy is far more elaborate than that of the Latin rite. I think we had about the bare minimum number of people on the alter, 4 pre-teen alter boys, two young adult alter boys, two deacons, and the priest. There was also a candle bearer that showed up while the Gospel was read and at other important parts of the mass. There was also a cantor that chanted the Epistle and an excellent choir. All this in a church that probably would not have held 150 people!
I believe there were four processions, and I lost count of how many times the deacons incensed the alter, the church, and the congregation. Do not go to one of these masses if you are allergic to incense. The Gospel was not read, it was chanted, and chanted clearly enough that I didn't need my hearing aids.
Some things that stick in my mind. At several points the deacons would leave the priest's side, come out the side doors, move to the center and facing the congregation one would chant "WISDOM" and the other would then chant "BE ATTENTIVE". Their voices were deep, and I certainly took notice. From time to time they would change and the first would chant "BE ATTENTIVE" and the other would follow with "WISDOM".
Prayers were chanted, the responses were chanted by the congregation. Most of the prayers were recognizable, and the order of the mass was not a lot different than in the Latin rite, but different enough and longer so that I knew I was someplace different than normal. I found it very soul satisfying.
Receiving the Communion was quite different. The hosts are cubes of bread that are added to the chalice. Each person goes forward with hands crossed over their breasts, opens their mouth and the host soaked in wine is placed in their mouth with a golden spoon. I should also mention that in the Eastern rites children receive first communion with baptism, and while I knew this, it was still a surprise to see infants carried by their mother receive communion just like the adults.
I also want to mention that the sermon, while long did not seem so, and was one of the best I have heard in years and was given by the deacon. As mass ended I was shocked to realize that it had lasted for a few minutes short of 2 hours.
As an after note, I was talking to the priest after mass and he asked how I liked the sermon. I told him that I thought it was excellent, and asked if it was always of that quality. His replay was "well, I normal preach, so you will have to ask someone else." Oh well, we shall be going back from time to time when our need for solemnity gets the better of us, so I guess I will find out :).
I was going to say that if you get the chance to attend an Eastern rite mass, don't pass it up. I won't say that, I will say instead make the effort to find one and attend it. There are many Eastern Rite churches in union with Rome, each a bit different, but all having rich liturgies that are beautiful. I should mention that the Orthodox Churches have the same liturgies, but are not in union with Rome, so are not appropriate for Catholics to attend.
Come, explore the richness and diversity of the Catholic Church.
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