Don Knotts Landing

Madison ties her shoes like a pro now.  Very, very fast!  Soon we'll be teaching her all kinds of obscure knots, so she'll be  knot specialist!  Next week, we'll be teaching her the bottle sling knot, the sheepshank, the Yosemite bend, the cowboy bowline, the Windsor knot, the versatackle, the fireman's chair know, the two strand overhand knot, the jury mast knot, the Italian hitch, the surgeon's loop, the Marlinespike Hitch, the Oysterman's stopper knot, the square turk's head, and even the rigid double splayed loop in the bight.  Yep, she'll be familiar with all kinds of Knotts!

CUE RIMSHOT

Here might be a good place to refer to Knott's Berry Farms.  We've been to the one in California once, and there was a Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America we were at once as well.  Madison has been to neither at this point, but it's just a matter of time for all of that.  Daddy is anxious to take her west, rather than south.  Although south in Florida has a lot of advantages at an early age.  But there came a time where our grandparents wanted to take us west rather than to Disney each summer, and that's about when our eyes were really opened to the natural wonders of this earth.  So much to see in this country alone!

Today was largely a school day for Madison, who enjoyed it as always.  She began an art program after school today, which is a nice extracurricular activity for her to enjoy.  Daddy didn't get to see her much outside of dropping her off of school:  he gets home too late to see her.  It was a good night at church as always, but an early night's sleep is a good idea.

Other good ideas:  walking in the morning.  We've kept that up, and the weather has been so good outside.  All day long, the temperatures reach around eighty or slightly less.  The skies are sunny and the days are just perfect for a walk, or anything done outside.  It's been fantastic!

Elsewhere, not so much.  Embassies under attack by terrorist mobs, and a battle here in this country to decide the next president.  How easy when it is all said and done to look back on these days, after the election, and see everything that leads up to the pivotal moment.  And yet, when in the midst of it, it really is a war.  Not so much a war with artillery, but one with hostile words and images.  The best advice I can give is to study and make your decision, but don't tune into the word war.  It only adds stress.  Daddy has been listening to audio books in the car lately:  last week it was "Around the World in 80 Days," and this week it is "Valley of Fear," a decent Sherlock Holmes story I'm currently in the middle of.  These types of spoken words are much more conducive for a peaceful spirit, and a good night's rest.

The other option to escape it all, is to go to Mars.  

     What's up with this photo?  And what is the significance of this penny?  To answer the first question, this photograph was actually taken on the planet Mars.  NASA sent it there, placed on the Mars Rover Curiosity for one major purpose:  the penny is a way to calibrate the camera to make sure all the colors we're seeing here on this planet turn out correctly.

     This penny is from 1909 – you can see that clearly enough.  It is deemed a "lucky" penny, and rightfully so, having made the tremendous journey to Mars, and landing there safely.  But you can see something else on that penny, can't you?  "In God We Trust."  

     How many other phrases from earth have been written and sent to another planet?  Intended or not, we sent a message to Mars:  "In God We Trust."  How amazing that we sent this one message to Mars on a spacecraft!  Nobody is there to read it right now, but for all time, let it be known that the message "In God we trust" was sent to Mars first!

      This springs to mind the first words astronauts said when circling the moon (they read the creation story from Genesis), or the first meal served on the moon (they actually had communion).  Our foundation is in Him!  In God we trust.  

     Back in 1909, this was a national belief so strong, we had it engraved on all of our currency.  I hope it is still our national belief when astronauts themselves happen upon the Curiosity, going back to get that penny!