Tuesday, March 28, 2017

My Lighthouse





In our Outer Banks excursion, we intended to see the Wright Brothers National Memorial and the Bodie Island lighthouse.  But with Wright Brothers "real" (indoors) exhibit center closed for renovation, only the outdoors bits remained.  And the Bodie Island light was yet closed as the season doesn't start until midApril, and we could only tour the grounds.  So we went south as far as Hatteras, even knowing it too would be grounds only, and spent some time there, including several hours in camping chairs on the beach.  There were fishermen and surfers, seashells and sand.  MIL even overcame her fear of the ocean and went in up to her ankles (and then a wave came in and said "how about knees?").  It was wonderful.


















Tangentially, I once was terping an increasingly nonsensical story about a lighthouse that was a sermon example. As the story progressed my facial expressions conveyed that I had no idea where the pastor was headed with this, but we were all along for the ride, and knowing him, there was a point in all this somewhere.

Then the president showed up in the story.

It all came clear.
OH! The WHITE House!

Monday, March 27, 2017

Toes in the Atlantic

Big Frog took 'em!
SUPER glad he did.
MIL overcame some serious reticence and went into the Atlantic up to her ankles... then the Atlantic said "Nice to meet you" clear up to her knees!

Oceans

MIL: Thank you for taking me to see the ocean.  It's the best birthday present anyone's ever gotten me.

me: Oh good; I'm glad you came!
(sotto voce)
Good, now we don't have to make a cake.

We absolutely will make a cake.  But I am feeling so heartwarmed!!


Point of interest: Rehoboth yesterday was 42F air temp.  Today in Kitty Hawk it is 69F at 9a  and water temp 49F.  OBX>Delmarva.

Onion rings, kinda

(Remember the Miss America contestant who once said she was confused; was chicken of the sea really chicken or tuna fish?)

After seeing the ocean for the first time in her life (Rehoboth might have been a little more inviting were it not 42F, foggy, & crazy windy), with a little prodding, Betty tried calamari today for the first time.

She asked what it was.

I said it was the onion rings of the sea.

She liked it and had some more.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Magic Hymnal

Cyberhymnal.org is a wonderful resource.  There are so many verses in so many old hymns that I've forgotten, and even more that I never even knew existed.  If you use your computer to access it instead of mobile, there are even midi files for you to learn the classic hymntunes.

But its most valuable bit is that it's always with me because my phone is always with me.  And so when Big Frog and I were listening to a hammer dulcimer hymns CD on a road trip, and I was chiming in on just the chorus, he called out, "Now for the mumbling part!" and I shamefacedly pulled out the Magic Hymnal.

(On the plus side, even though I couldn't come up with any of the verses of Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, out of my head, when I saw them, I did know all 4 verses.  Also 7 verses of Amazing Grace, although I would put them in a different order than cyberhymnal had.)