...Daffodils and Covered Bridges

This afternoon we made a trip over to Gibbs Gardens, as Mom had purchased us a season pass to the place.  The weather was pleasant and Mom was feeling much better today.  We may have missed out on the peak weekend for the flowers, but there were still a good bit of daffodils there, as you can see above.  This location is only about 40 minutes away, so it's not too bad, and the weather was really nice today for a peaceful stroll through the gardens.  We didn't go that far really - just through the daffodil fields and then over to another area where we sat for a spell, just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere there.  And yeah, I brought the camera along - here's the pictures:

On the way home I made a slight very small detour to a location that I just discovered on the map recently.  All this time, I had no idea there was a covered bridge over there in the area.  That said, we dropped by to see it!

It was actually somewhat of a sad story associated with this, all having to do with the Trail of Tears and a lot of greed and abuse.  The bridge itself was built many years after the events of a mill located here, so it isn't necessarily a symbol of anything.  But reading some of the signs here reminds you of the tragedies of the past here in this area.

I was at work for a the morning, and Maddie was at chapel today too - so it was a busy day.  In fact, when we got home, we had just enough time to get ready for taekwondo tonight.  Maddie was helping as an assistant instructor, and then of course she had her leadership class.  

The day's still going on - updates coming soon!

How to Fold a Palm Leaf Cross

Just in time for Palm Sunday

 

International Waffle Day

Mom made some awesome waffles with all the toppings too, and it was quite the thing to come home to after work today.  It's International Waffle Day, not to be confused with National Waffle Day, which is in August.  International Waffle Day is more interesting, probably, because of the connection to the Bible.  Yes, you read that right.  Apparently, there are people who think they knew when Mary was born, and because they know that, they celebrate it on March 25th.  In Sweden, it's called Vårfrudagen, our "Our Lady Day."

So what does this have to do with waffles?  Well, in the 1600's, waffles were pretty popular in Sweden, so much that they had a "Waffle Day," otherwise known as Våffeldagen.  If you speak Swedish, you may notice how the words Våffeldagen and Vårfrudagen sound somewhat alike.  This brought the Swedish people to a big - and quite brilliant - moment:  why not combine the two occasions?  Why not celebrate the birth of Mary with waffles?  Yes, each year on March 25th, the Swedes remember Mary and honor her memory ...with waffles.  I can't even express how much I love this kind of stuff.

Tonight we celebrated waffles.  I didn't know about the Mary bit at the time.  But we had our waffles and they were Mickey Mouse shaped, and they were wonderful!

It was a good day overall.  Maddie had her college experience, and I was working with Camille and Ansley on May's messages for KidPak.  We had a big meeting planning for Palm Sunday and Easter, and when I got home, Mom got me something cool:  the latest book from Perry Stone, a first edition signed!  She also did this today:

She decorated the tree in our room with Easter decorations, and it looks really nice.  She did a great job with this one!  The house is looking really nice for Easter.  I just have to keep at it, working outside on leaf blowing and getting mulch and all that.  

Check out Mom's bonsai tree!  It has a bloom on it, blossoming just in time for Easter season.  This is just one of those wonderful little things that brings a quiet joy to Mom, a little reminder.

Tonight after I was walking on the treadmill and adding some more milage in Dublin, we watched "Spider-man 3."  As a reminder, this was the last movie I watched before meeting Maddie for the first time.  That was the movie playing in the hotel room just before we got on the bus to go see Maddie.  We watched that one, and then we read from "Night Watch," which featured a small part from the character DEATH, who had an epic line that got Maddie cracking up.  We're nearing the end of this story, but we still have a few adventures with Commander Vimes to go.

We said our prayers after this, and then it was time for a good night's rest.  It's been a good day.