#myra turkey

[seecarrun]

Richie scoffed as soon as Ben walked into the room clad in his sweat-wicking top and compression running tights.

“Dude,” he chided as Ben sat across from him on the recliner and started tying his shoes. “It’s a holiday and you’re on vacation. You’re not supposed to exercise on holidays, and especially not during vacation.”

Ben smiled, adjusting his sock before pulling on his other shoe. “I always go on a run on Thanksgiving morning, Richie,” he explained. “Usually it’s a fun run linked to a community food bank—” Richie groaned, “—but it’s a great way to jump-start your metabolism so you don’t feel so miserable after eating. Plus I enjoy it. It’ll be nice to run without freezing for once.”

“Haystack,” Richie sighed, rubbing his temples. “The actual point of Thanksgiving is to eat your body weight in butter and carbs and pass out in front of the TV until you wake up hours later for pie. You are literally taking a shit all over this once-great American tradition. Running is—”

“Okay, I found my watch. Sorry Ben, you ready to go?”

Richie’s mouth snapped shut immediately as Eddie shuffled into the room, decked out in a tight tank-top and a pair of sinfully short running shorts, a dorky Camelbak backpack strapped to his back, and even dorkier FiveFinger running shoes on his feet.

He blinked up from his watch to raise a quizzical eyebrow at Richie who continued to gape at him stupidly, and turned slowly back to Ben.

“We’ll be back in about thirty minutes,” Ben called to the other Losers, beaming at Eddie behind his back as he continued to glance at Richie uneasily.

Only once the door had clicked shut and Ben and Eddie had headed out down the driveway, did Bev stride cooly into the room and poke Richie on the back of the head.

“Running is…?” she prompted Richie to finish his sentence, grinning.

Richie groaned and buried his face into the back of the couch.

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Myra Necropolis, TURKEY

[jeffurlan]

Cidade Velha de Myra, Antália

Turquia 🇹🇷

[traveler-from-ukraine]

Демре. Туреччина

Частина 2: Стародавнє місто Мира

На території містечка Демре знаходяться руїни античного міста Мира. Воно було одним з найбільших Лікійських міст. Також Мира одна з найперших держав на території Лікії.

Лікія — це стародавній регіон на узбережжі Середземного моря. Певний час існувала Лікійська держава. Пізніше перетворилась на Лікійський союз — союз незалежних міст-держав. Потім Лікія стала провінцією Римської імперії. А ще пізніше — Візантійської імперії.

В VII ст. н. е. місто Мира занепало через замулення ріки Мірос. Пізніше місто зруйнували набіги арабів. Однак з часів Лікійської цивілізації збереглись деякі споруди, які можна побачити і зараз. Це гробниці царів і вельмож, які видовбані в скелі.

І амфітеатр. По розмірам якого можна судити про кількість населення в місті Мира. Розрахований він був на 10-15 тисяч місць.

Театр, на мою думку, непогано зберігся.

Добре збереглась і сцена.

Однак можна побачити і сліди реставрації, яка, доречі, ще триває.

На вершині гори, під якою збереглися руїни Міри, зараз можна побачити руїни фортеці збудованої пізніше. Мені здається, вже турками чи арабами, що захопили цю територію. Детальнішої інформації, на жаль, не знайшов.

Поки я розглядав античне місто, на парковці за моїм автомобілем доглядав уважний охоронець.

Далі буде...

📍Руїни міста Мира

Підтримка ЗСУ:

https://savelife.in.ua/donate

[whereishermes]

The story of Santa Claus | St. Nicholas

The story of Santa Claus begins with a man named Nicholas, who was born in the village of Patara in Asia Minor during the third century. The area was Greek at the time, but now it is on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents raised Nicholas to be a devout Christian, but they died in an epidemic while he was still young. Following Jesus’ words to “sell what you own and give the money to…

[corporate-comedy]

The Fascinating Origin of Saint Nick: A Legend of Generosity

The figure of Saint Nicholas, commonly known as Santa Claus, is one of the most beloved and enduring symbols of the holiday season. But have you ever wondered about the origins of this jolly old man in a red suit who brings joy to children around the world? The story of Saint Nick is a fascinating blend of history, legend, and generosity that has evolved over centuries. Let’s embark on a journey…

[planetcleer]

eddie kaspbrak loves cooking shows. like, he loves them. the food network is his favorite channel, and he watches everything from diners drives ins & dives to good eats to the pioneer woman, not to mention all the different cooking & baking competitions (gbbo is, ofc, his favorite) that crop up every year. eddie kaspbrak loves cooking shows, but eddie kaspbrak doesn’t know how to cook. it’s hilarious! it’s hysterical, even! because sure, for that brief period in college between sonia & myra, he learned some basics, like toast and grilled cheese and scrambled eggs, but for all he watches he’s pretty clueless in the kitchen. ask him to roast potatoes or make a soup from scratch and watch him flounder. he’s never had to do anything like that himself before, you know. he’s never been allowed to.

and it sucks, it does, because food is a form of love. and he knows that because, while he doesn’t have many memories of his dad, almost all of the ones he does have revolve around food. frank kaspbrak loved cooking. he loved best cooking polish recipes from his youth, stuffed cabbage and haluski (eddie’s favorite) and pierogis and chalka bread (eddie’s second favorite) and borscht, and eddie loved to watch. frank would hold eddie on his hip and let him see it all, even let him help sometimes, and when eddie got a little too big to be held, frank would drag a chair in from the dining room to the stove and hoist him onto it so he could stand and watch every step. while he chopped vegetables or showed eddie how to bread pork or worked on dough, frank would tell stories about his childhood, and how he learned to cook from his mother and his grandmother, and how he would cook with eddie until the recipes were all stuck in his head like they were stuck in how own, because they had never been written down before, and it made eddie feel close to him, made him giggle to think about his big strong dad being small and standing on a chair and watching just like him.

frank kaspbrak loved cooking, and then he got sick. very sick. the last memory eddie has of his dad is curling up with him in his hospital bed and listening to him whisper-rasp promises, with what was left of his ravaged lungs, of fresh chalka and pączki and haluski and potato pancakes once he got better. the trouble was that he never did.

lots of things changed after he was gone. eddie learned quickly that his dad hadn’t lied—none of his family’s recipes had ever been written down. he also learned that hospital food was not love, and neither was takeout, but that even though it was different, his mother’s cooking was, and even more so, over time she taught him that not letting him too close to the hot stove or sharp knives was love, too. cooking for him and not with him was love, keeping track of his allergies was love, teaching him to fear food that wasn’t good for him was love, because taking care of him was love.

myra seemed to know those things inherently, and when he married her, she showed him that she loved him in the same ways. she looked after him, she cooked for him, she made sure he stayed away from too much sodium and sugar and butter, she protected him from everything including himself.

and all the while, eddie kaspbrak loved cooking shows. well, he loves cooking shows. in the hospital, after pennywise, he watches a lot, and he learns, but not how to baste a turkey or throw together a corn salad. no, he learns that actually, takeout can be love when your friends sneak it into your hospital room to cheer you up, and yeah, okay, maybe hospital food can be love, too, when you have someone who will make you laugh about it or split your jell-o with.

he divorces myra once he’s out. his friends support him, and richie is quick to offer his home for eddie to stay while he gets back on his feet. eddie is just as quick to accept. they’ve always been best friends, haven’t they? he moves in more than he crashes. it sort of feels like they’re kids again. and, you know, richie tozier loves cooking. for the first time in thirty five years, eddie feels compelled to watch, and so most nights he perches on the other side of the island while richie pretends to be on a cooking show, just for him. it’s a fucking riot! but it’s something else, too. it’s special, because they laugh, and they talk about anything and everything and nothing, and they share their meals together every night, and it makes eddie feel close to him.

eventually, richie starts to involve eddie, calling him his lovely assistant, or his little sous chef. he walks eddie through the best way to cut up potatoes, or how to do a dry rub, or how to make an egg wash. eventually, he has eddie start sautéing the onions, or dredge and bread the pork chops, or throw together a fucking roux all on his own, without having to be shown. eventually, he starts to ask what eddie wants him to do, just as much as the reverse, and renames their imaginary cooking show after them both.

one year to the day after eddie moves in, richie shows him recipes he found online for chalka bread and some cabbage and noodle dish, i think it’s called haluski or something? whatcha think, chef k? eddie knows that richie knows exactly what haluski is. richie’s already gone and bought all the ingredients for both, and so they make them for dinner that night. richie lets eddie take the lead, and later he reaches across the table to hold his hand when eddie starts crying after the first bite. it tastes just like his father’s recipe, you know. it tastes like love and comfort and home. they wash up together after dinner, eddie scrubbing and richie drying as he yaps on in one of his voices, and eddie has to stop right in the middle of it to grab richie’s face with his soapy hands and kiss him. the rest of the dishes are left forgotten until the morning.

so yeah, eddie kaspbrak loves cooking shows, and he loves cooking, and holy shit, he loves richie tozier, too.

[gritsandbrits]

In my rewrite of scooby doo witch's ghost

The whole 'the twon believes sarah is an evil witch only for it to be true' thing doesn't make sense so here, The town of Oakhaven believes Sarah was a respectable healer who helped stopped the "real" evil witch. My OC Brie's family were the ones outcasted because everyone thinks their ancestor Victoria Lumay was an evil witch. Ben Ravencroft offers to help them clear her name if they could help him find Sarah's old book for research on his next novel. My OC's family doesn't know where the book is buried so that's when he tricks hires the scooby gang. Accompanying them is Blue Falcon deedee and dynomutt because i actually really liked them in SCOOB and this is my fanfic.

One of the Lumays is cousin Myra, a rebellious teen angry over how she's been treated by the town. She ends up meeting the hex girls. Surprisingly they accept her, as they also know what its like to be outcasts but learned to embrace their weirdness. Another OC is Cousin Lucie. She's narcoleptic who sleeps in the most inappropriate times and places.

A third OC and a suspect Ben's brother Jeremiah. He's a hermit who doesn't care about this family legacy and is rarely seen outside except to tend to his roses. He and Ben are estranged because Jeremiah refuses to indulge in ben's suddent obsession with finding a book that may not even exist.

Like canon Sarah is revealed to be evil Victoria was one of the good witches who trapped her inside the spellbook, the other being Thorn's ancestor. Jeremiah is revealed to have natural magic but didn't want to attach his whole life to power, so he tried to dissociate himself from it. Ben never developed powers and felt tired of living under his brother's shadow. He planned to use the spellbook to give himself powers to outshine Jeremiah in something for once. He also planned on using the Lumay descendants as soldiers to enforce his plan for world domination. Ben and Jeremiah get into a magical duel but Ben cheats by attacking a bystander, forcing Jeremiah to take the blow. He gets captured, My oc tries to stop Ben but is overpowered and Ben unleashes Sarah. The two argue when Sarah reveals she wants to destroy the world instead.

suddenly she's stoped by anothet magic user turned out the family narcoleptic is a witch - not just any witch, she's the actual LEADER that all witches defer to. While Lucie takes on Sarah, Brie begins to feel down buy upset but a pep talk from her friends and family prompt her to try again. She frees Jeremiah and together they fight Ben and win. Meanwhile Myra uses her water powers to put out the flames and stop the creatures Sarah summoned. With Thorn and Velma's help they trap sarah back inside the book. Ben doesn't get sucked inside but is quickly arrested by Cousin Lucie, who says she will let the Council of Monsters decide his fate. As they leave, Jeremiah tells Ben he doesn't hold anything against him, wishing he learns to accept his own talents. Myra reunites with the Hex Girls who offer her spot as their bassist.

A couple days later after everything is back in order the Lumay family and Jeremiah meet for Thanksgiving dinner with the Hex Girls performing with their new member "Myst." The Lumays decide to keep the Giant Turkey as a pet. The town issues a formal apology and Replaces the Witch ceremony with their newest attraction the Giant Turkey.

[one-coming-is-enough]

I wanna hear about your beef with Mr. Claus, if you don't mind.

I've been sleeping on this ask for a minute, and it's time, honestly. I've had such a busy holiday season already, it's crazy! I mean, this year in addition to all the zombies, I'm trying to get through the training videos for taking over Hell, and they're meandering, awkward, and full of incoherent jargon. It's just a lot!

But the 6th was St. Nicholas's Day, and tonight it's Hanukkah, so I should definitely answer this one.

St. Nicholas is a decent guy, if a little stiff-necked. His thing is giving dowries to poor women so they don't have to go into sex work. And also bringing poor children back to life after they're sold for stew meat.

(Also, he was the one who proposed at the Council of Nicea that Easter be celebrated on the first full moon after the spring equinox, which tied it to the solar calendar instead of the lunar calendar. Granted, this was to reduce the Jewish influence on the religion, but it also made it easier for Me to celebrate Passover, and I really like Passover.)

So St. Nicholas Day ends up being a day where, instead of finding the nearest whore and offering to fund her marriage (sex work is work), you give money and presents to children. You can see the connection, yeah? Make sure kids have what they need growing up and they won't go hoing to make ends meet. Or have to be made into stew.

Meanwhile, we have this spirit over in the East called Ded Moroz, or Grandpa Frost. He's just, like, an old guy who freezes stuff. He'll take your kids if they wander out in the cold like you told the little bastards not to do.

And because of cultural drift, the duties of Ded Moroz get shifted over to Odin, another dude from the East. Originated somewhere between the steppes of Mongolia and Turkey, as far as anyone knows, finally made his way to Sweden and even the British Isles. Odin is now the Yulefather, the freezer of water and collector of the dead in the dying part of the year. Makes sense, because He's a wind god, since air is the element connected with Spirit at this time. (This is true for Hebrew and Latin, too! Pneuma and ru'ach.)

Well, the church doesn't like that Ded Moroz is a spooky guy who takes souls, decides he's a demon. But people like their Ded Moroz a lot. So now, instead of being a demon who takes souls, he's... Well, who do we have that's also from the East, Turkey specifically, and who is associated with giving or taking something, especially regarding children?

We have St. Nicholas! Who gives children presents instead of taking their souls, and coincidentally can calm the storm (of wind) that so often takes the souls of those lost outside in the cold. And his holiday is just under 20 days before Yule Xmas it's Christmas now. (Or, Yuletide. You know, whatever. Sheol is Hades now, who gives a shit.)

So it all gets kinda muddled up. Odin, St. Nick, Ded Moroz. Father Frost, Father Solstice, Father Christmas.

Well, I'm hanging out in the Holy Roman Empire, and I hear about this guy known as Sinterklaas. I think it's my old buddy and trusted employee Nicholas of Myra, who as far as I know has been buying, freeing, and funding the education and/or startups of slaves for as long as that's been possible. (He has six to eight African guys he ended up hiring on as assistants.) And I hear he's giving out not just coins and oranges, which prevent scurvy, but also toys and candy. And Nicholas of Myra is a good man, but he had zero sense of humor or fun and would never give a kid candy ("it rots your teeth, at least have an orange").

So I track down this Klaus, whom the kids also call Kris Kringle. I hear the kids have been doing all sorts of weird rituals to him, like the Spanish Yule log that shits candy, or the little pooping guy they hide in the Nativity scene (also Spanish, now that I think about it. What the fuck did the Inquisition do to people's brains over there?). And that he has a creepy BDSM goat called the Krampus for an assistant, who's in charge of dealing out the punishment to bad kids (that one's German and I thought it was just, like, the nation's id or something).

And he's smol. I mean, this guy is fucking Thumbelina sized. Roughly round, jolly as fuck, red fur trimmed in white, pointy toque beanie to match, and a miniature sleigh with eight tiny reindeer. Telltale pointed ears. Sparkling all over like they do.

Eight transmuted beings. Sleipnir (Dasher), Shiva and Baal Marquad (Dancer, Prancer), a kitsune (Vixen), a fallen star (Comet), Eros Himself (Cupid), and Thunder and Lightning -- Thor and Loki. Donner and Blitzen.

It's an entire Neil Gaiman novella of folks who've, I dunno, lost some kind of bet to him.

Okay. So he's one of The Neighbors. Gotta be careful.

I greet him like he's my old buddy Nicholas. I ask him how the soul collection is going and ask to see his inventory. He demurs, but I remind him that I'm his boss and they'll all come to Me eventually anyway. I just want to see if I think he ought to put any back. Oh, and can I just scan your company badge so I can establish that you made your check-in?

Well, I'm bluffing really hard, but he doesn't know that. He says he lost it. I tell him I'll wait with the souls until he gets back -- actually, whoa, looks like he's got a full load there. I'll take them in Myself.

That's when he laughs and says, "Well, Jesus, looks like You caught Me fair and square tonight. But how's about you and I make a deal? I'll spread Your Word and tell children to be good. And I will tell them to give to others all year round, because that's the spirit of Christmas. If they are good all year round, doing what their parents say, I will give them presents. If they are not good all year round -- which is to say, they don't do what their parents tell them to earn Christmas presents -- I will not give them presents. Fair?"

Note the wording carefully. Note where there's an and, and where there's not an and.

This works for a while. And then this song comes out.

Something seems wrong if kids are getting Santa presents according to the wealth of their parents, not their goodness over the year.

Then I find out that the primary metric by which Santa distributes presents is no longer behavior, but belief.

Not in Me.

In SANTA CLAUS.

I storm into his North Pole office yelling idolatry and he's got a fucking elven lawyer underlining shit. He didn't convert. He only promised to encourage charity. He didn't promise presents for charity, it's just for kids doing what their parents say they need to in order to get gifts, and right now that's belief in him.

I'm fucking steamed and he points out that I do exactly the same thing. Instead of doing good works or seeing the Divine in others regardless of social status or even fighting for equality here on Earth, Heaven has gotten twisted around to the point where believing in Me alone -- not what I stand for, which at this point can be nearly anything, but just the idea that I existed and did the Thing -- is considered sufficient acceptance criteria.

And I can't argue with that but I hate it. I hate that it's come to that. I hate what My section of Heaven looks like these days. I personally have been pleading for them to enact stringent, clearer, and above all objective metrics of entry, but I'm outnumbered in My own 5D connected consciousness in that opinion!!!

So. Fuck that guy. I'd literally rather you just worship Odin for Yule flat-out than fuck with Santa Claus, because at least He has solid advice for living and a comprehensive afterlife system.

I don't know what Santa Claus is doing with all that belief except get bigger, and it really scares Me.

[ltwilliammowett]

St. Nicholas Day

Today is St. Nicholas' Day, which is celebrated on 6 December. So far so good, but what is behind this day?

The history of Saint Nicholas goes back to the third, fourth century AD. As the son of a wealthy family, Nicholas was raised to be a devout Christian. When his parents fell victim to an epidemic, he distributed his wealth among the poor and became a priest. Later he became Archbishop of Myra - in what is now Turkey - and from there word of his good deeds spread throughout the Mediterranean countries.

Saint Nicholas saves a ship, c. 1425 (x)

St. Nicholas is considered the patron saint of seafarers because, during the Council of Nicaea, he is said to have appeared to a ship in distress and saved it. In Nicaea, today's Íznik in Turkey, the first Christian council in history took place in 325 AD. Nicholas took part in it as a bishop and was recognised there by the saved Sailors, who venerated him.

In the course of time and the belief in miracles, Nicholas became the patron saint of all sailors and merchants and especially of children. After his death - the date of death is 6 December 342 or 343 - the great veneration of St. Nicholas spread rapidly to southern Italy, the Mediterranean and then to the port cities of the Atlantic and North Sea coasts. As the patron saint of seafarers, he helps in a storm and is said to bring the ship safely through all perils if he is asked for help.

There was the custom of making St. Nicholas ships out of paper or other material, in which the saint is supposed to place his gifts, has been known since the 15th century. The background to this custom is probably the patronage of sailors. Even today, many merchant ships still bear an image of St. Nicholas. The little St. Nicholas ship was later replaced by a boot, shoe or stocking, to which the gift plate was later added. On the eve of St. Nicholas Day, children put shoes, boots or plates in front of the door or hang stockings in front of the fireplace so that the saint can fill them with nuts, mandarins, chocolate, gingerbread, etc. on his way through the night.

I hope that your boots were also filled and that when you read this you will give a smile to St Nicholas and think of all the sailors out there and wish them a safe journey.

[gepetordi1]

The Lycian rock-cut tombs of Myra, Minor Asia (nowadays Turkey). 375-360 BC.

[sabinerondissime]

The lycian rock-cut tombs of Myra,Turkey

[incorrectlyplacedeyeballs]

something that really annoys me about christmas movies featuring Santa Claus is that everyone in it is American. Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop born in the city of Myra (modern day Demre, Turkey). Mrs Claus is most likely Canadian. Elves originate from Norse and German mythology so are probably German or Scandinavian. They all live in the north pole so they would probably speak one of the languages spoken by Inuit tribes such as Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun or Inuinnaqtun.

[carissa3mae]

Happy Holidays to everyone that celebrates! 🎄 There are multiple holidays in this month of December and today's is Xmas! Believe it or not, "Xmas" is not a recent term, but rather, it was coined sometime in the 1500s, gaining roots from the Greek letter "X" which is representative of the Greek word "Χριστός," which can be translated to "Chrīstos," meaning "Christ."

Another fun fact is that Saint Nicholas was not German, but he was a 4th century Christian monk, more than likely of Greek descent, having lived in Patara near Myra, which is known as the modern-day Turkey. 🎅 It was said that he had helped three sisters escape prostitution by their father by bestowing them dowry. Saint Nicholas is now known as the patron saint of children, having helped many through their lives by the power of gift-giving. 🎁

In the early centuries of Christianity, acknowledgement of birthdays was frowned upon and considered a pagan tradition, so the birthdate of Jesus Christ is, in history, unknowable. Thanks to Pope Julius I, Christians celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25th, a date relatively close to the Winter Solstice, as I discussed several days ago. ❄️ It was only between 800 - 900 AD that Christmas started to become accepted within the Roman Catholic Church.

Whichever holiday you celebrate this season, I wish you joy and peace throughout the holiday season and every single day of your lives. Have a wonderful holiday! 😁

What is your favorite memory from this year?