Sunday Skee Ball

This morning started out with church, both services online, of course.  We had plans to be back, but the spike in cases last month in this Gainesville area caused us to rethink that strategy. We will be back though, and although it may need to be in phases, we'll return with an amazing strength.

Today Daddy finished up with the pressure washer, hopefully for good this season.  The back concrete area is done, as are the sides of the house back there.  Webs and mud all gone.  There were a few rainstorms today, and even some hail south of us.  It's a late spring weather pattern now, with pop-up showers and so forth all around.

We had a delicious meal today, still using our corn and other entries that just reminded us that it is Memorial Day weekend.  I have to bring up that corn again, because it is so good.  We're still eating Mickey Mouse ice cream bars too.

The back deck is laid out, somewhat.  We were all sitting outside today, just enjoying the sounds of nature, and the cooler temperatures under the canopy that is now all set up.  It's a nice thing, having a cup of tea outside on the back deck.  We'll have to make a habit of it!

Check out this Skee Ball set that Madison just got.  It's not that big.  It's a a tiny one, in fact.  Madison got this from Camille in the mail, as a prize for something she did in last week's online small group meeting.  Madison set up the Skee Ball set on the table, and we had a few rounds.  Daddy got as high as 140, but Madison was clearly doing better today.

We did some other games, like the new Tetris game online (we got as high as #23), and we did some Super Smash Bros as well.  But Madison was wanting to watch the story of "Ruth" tonight, and that was our viewing for the night.  We saw Sight & Sound's production of "Ruth," and it was basically a new story for Madison.

There are some flourishes and new characters, but the essence of the story is there, and it was enjoyable.  There are certainly not the special effects you'd find in something involving Moses, Jonah or Noah - those come later.  But the heart of the story is what is compelling, and it was a very nice telling.  We all enjoyed it, and I believe Sunday night might be the best time to watch these the next few weeks.  We'll be cycling through these productions, enjoying them all from week to week, plus a few other inspirational movies we've picked up recently, and some we just haven't gotten around to watching yet.  That's a good movie marathon right there!

Tonight we read some more, and we prayed of course, all this after a game of hide-and-seek.  It was late.  Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the start of the summer.  This is a three-day weekend that doesn't seem to be as big of a deal as far as "time off" goes.  But the value of the sacrifice of soldiers is important to remember, and it's good to see that this is one thing that is not forgotten.

One last thing before we go here.

"Hitler's Alligator passes away at 84"

This story is so random.  I saw this last week, so I finally looked it up: the two words “Hitler’s Alligator” just brings up so many thoughts in my head:

* Did Hitler have a pet alligator in his basement with a little made-up swamp?  

* Was he like one of those evil James Bond villains who fed his failing underlings to the alligator via a hidden trap door?

* How come I’ve never seen Hitler’s alligator in any World War II movies?

* Shouldn’t all evil totalitarian dictators have pet alligators?

So I looked it up.  The truth about this gator is a little more realistic:  the alligator didn’t belong to Hitler, and instead was at the Berlin Zoo, one that Hitler visited.  He is reported to have liked the alligator (which I’m not entirely sure did him any favors with his other alligator friends).

He was born in Mississippi, and while other alligators have ordinary alligator lives there, this one gator was destined for greatness, getting shipped off to the big city.  Unfortunately for him, as mentioned in the title, Hitler is involved, and the big city is Berlin.  On November 23, 1943, the zoo’s aquarium was bombed, and he escaped the zoo there.  Not long afterwards, he was found wandering the streets with a few of the other survivors.  This too brings up some great imagery, doesn’t it? 

Anyway, that’s when he was captured and taken with the Soviets, going from Nazi alligator to a Commie one.  This supports my “evil totalitarian dictators have pet alligators” theory.  

He died of old age last week, but various zoo patrons there in Moscow didn’t do him any favors along the way.  Apparently, in Moscow, it’s okay to throw glass bottles and even a boulder at alligators there.  Both of these incidents nearly killed the alligator.  Fortunately, veterinarians were on hand, struggling to keep him alive for a few months after the incidents.

The link below goes to the wikipedia entry, which is a more straight forward telling of the story.  His name was Saturn, and hopefully not given this name because he ate any of his children.  Still, he led an interesting and somewhat tragic life, although his final years were more peaceful.  

I can’t wait for the animated version of this story to come out.