Thursday, June 14, 2007
Bila Tserkva Park
Recently some friends from YWAM invited us to accompany them on a trip to Bila Tserkva (Ukrainian)—Belaya Tserkov (Russian). This city is 80 plus kilometers south of Kyiv. By the way, were you aware that a few months ago the United States changed the official spelling to Kyiv (Ukrainian) from Kiev(Russian)? I guess the Ukrainian vs. Russian language issue here is a discussion for later blog. It was a trip that we are very glad we did not miss. There is an absolutely beautiful park on the outskirts of the town. The following information is from the Welcome to Ukraine website: 
The park was laid out by Duchess Oleksandra in 1797 close to the river called Ros. The land for this landscape marvel was given to her as a gift by her husband, Count Ksaveriy Branytsky, a Polish aristocrat. Their estate was bringing in good profits. Besides, Oleksandra, a lady-in-waiting of Empress Catherine the Great, was the niece of Prince Gregory Potyomkin, the Empress’ favourite, and received generous gifts of money from the Imperial Family. In other words the Branytskys were wealthy enough to afford a park. In fact, they spent four million roubles in gold on turning a piece of land with meadows, a wood and a field into a masterpiece of landscape art. For that much money one could build in those times an immense palace worthy of an emperor.
http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20064/68 This website tells a lot about the park.
Yura, Tanya and their sons spent Friday night with us and then we were treated to a ride in their “new” VW van. We are very happy for them—this is their first vehicle. They definitely deserve it after 14 years of marriage (27 or more moves), a lifetime of using public transportation or the organization’s vehicles, and 14 years dedicated to working for God with YWAM.
The weather was quite warm even with overcast skies and humid. But the park—Wow! It was so very green. There were many ancient trees—I believe at least one is 350 years old. A Ukrainian wedding tradition: Photographs at all the landmark monuments and parks near where the ceremony takes place. We saw over 20 brides and their friends and families in the park while there. But it is such a large area that it was not the least bit crowded.O
ur picnic lunch by the Ros River was great fun. I enjoyed watching the many dragonflies playfully doing loops, dives, and flips in the reeds on the river’s bank. Frogs, many birds, ducks, geese, and other small creatures were active. 
A tree full of huge beetle type insects—some of them four inches long—caught our attention. I think one of the things that impressed me the most was the variety of trees in the park. Cedars, firs, pines, birches, spruce, larches, you name it—they were there. This diversity shows up in some of the pictures I am sharing here.
Ice cream, brides, dragonflies, good company, beautiful scenery, good friends—all in all, it was a very special Sabbath day and a little taste of the beauty heaven holds in store for us.
