Sunday, March 2, 2014

Anastasia

Tonight we finally got around to watching "Anastasia," inspired by the recent Olympic Games in Russia that we've been watching.  It's sort of been on our minds for a bit, and we had the movie on DVD somewhere in the house.  Our friends were remembering the movie growing up, and we were all thinking about how it would be cool to see it again.  This afternoon, Madison requested that we all sit down and watch it - for her it was the first time.  This we did, and it was still an enjoyable movie.  The bits with Rasputin were odd - it seems mandatory to have a supernatural villain in the thing, when all along the real story is about the princess discovering who she is, and of course her relationship with her two traveling companions.  That said, it was still a decent movie, one that Madison enjoyed.

Of course, within the movie are the beginnings of the Soviet Union, which we started talking about again only recently with the launch of the Sochi Games.  The imagery of sickle and hammer are strong - not quite the effect of the swastika, but still it looms in our memories.

Just this week, that looming memory has come crashing back.  The phrase "Cold War" is being used once more, the very thing we thought was over twenty years ago.  Just after the peace and promise of the Olympics - held in Russia of all places - there is a newer and more dangerous threat out there.  We worry about the terrorists, and violence in the Middle East.  But now by all appearances Russia is invading Ukraine, and everybody is wondering what's up with that?  Are we really going down this road again, and is the start of another Cold War?

Time will tell, but this is the feeling and season we're in.  Most people will be talking about the Academy Awards tonight, but the folks in Ukraine probably won't be.

This morning, we went to church as always.  We've finally arrived at our final service of the Excalibur series, and are ready to move on to something new.  But this was a great day, probably the best of the entire series honestly.

Madison pulled the sword from the stone this morning - she just really wanted to.  Disney Infinity has a sword in the stone, and of course there's one at the Magic Kingdom too.  So she knows the story, certainly after watching the movie too - "The Sword in the Stone."  The concept of having the right heart worked out well:  these men look like they could be the next king, but God looks at the heart.  It was a simple message, but a clear and good one.

We got home after church, and watched the movie next (after getting a bite to eat at home).  Later on, we did quite a bit of piano practice, leaving just a bit more left for tomorrow.  And soon, it was time for Nana and Ba-Ba to arrive!

They had a long, but uneventful trip.  The "uneventful" part is great, of course.  It was a happy occasion, and Madison nearly tackled Nana when she got in the door.  We had dinner together, and talked about all sorts of things.  Madison even got in a card game with Ba-Ba!

But it was time for bed for everyone.  Sundays have a lot of wear-and-tear on the body, for some reason.  You can understand that with the long drive from Florida.  But everyone was tired, so shortly after Madison's bedtime, we were all snoozing with a good night's rest!

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