It's a Mini-Twister!

Yet another prize for Madison came in the mail today, another gift from Camille.  Madison was instantly playing this game with her fingers the moment she got it.  I'll have to try it as well, as she was having a good bit of fun trying it out.

It's Twister, but so small that you do it with your hands.  There are even small socks that come with it!  It's surprisingly difficult after several spins.  To begin with, luck can be your friend, and you'll have your fingers in the easiest position.  And then it's RING FINGER RED.  And there's no way you're going to be able to do that...!

The last day of July came and went today, and the time is flying by again, which tells me we're getting used to all of this.  To begin with, the days crawled by in the pandemic, as we were all struggling to figure out how to go about each day.

Today Madison got a bath, and she played piano, and after that there was her leadership class.  Just over the county line, inside Hall County, there was a lot of rain.  We drove into that for the taekwondo leadership class this afternoon, and it rained the whole time.  There were only two students today in leadership class, which on one hand is not as fun as a class with lots of other students to interact with.  On the other hand, it does give each student more one on one time with the instructor, and that was nice.  Daddy met with several others from KidPak there, including Pastor Tucker and Pastor Joey.  Tucker is an instructor there, and Joey is a fellow dad of a student, although his little boy Oliver is much younger than Madison.  We were talking a while, as Madison was swing the kamas around.  I did manage to write at least one devotional entry for "Under the Sea."  I think I'm on the fourteenth one of those, but I'm sort of racing against time to get that done before the start of a new series.

Earlier, I was at the church again - such a big, empty building.  It's been deserted like this for months, and although during the week the numbers are pretty low inside the church, there's this longing inside to see it again so packed and so full of people who have come to worship and meet with God.  Some day we'll be back again.  We're starting a church fast tomorrow, and the goal is a shift in the atmosphere and the trajectory of all of this.  

Anyway, I was at the church to pick up some of our older devotionals, for older series.  I wanted to see how many we had in boxes, and sure enough there were plenty for us to give away at an upcoming church event in two weeks.  We're giving away school supplies and book bags, and we'll have KidPak characters there in the parking lot too.  It'll be the closest thing we've had to a live KidPak service in a while, with families in their cars driving thru to pick up things and say "hi" to the characters.

The rain continued as Madison and I went over to grocery shopping after the leadership class.  We went to Walmart, because that's the only place we can pick up a pizza she likes.  This had earlier spawned a conversation about real pizza and pastries this morning, one Mommy and I were sharing about all those bakeries and pizzerias up north.  Madison would probably prefer this bagged pizza she gets from Walmart.   At this point, Walmart is making every customer wear masks.  Now, if every customer would actually acknowledge these stickers:

I've come to the realization that these stickers are not there for instructive purposes, but in fact there for decorative ones, sort of like the "Back to School" posters that hang up.  People walk by them, read them, and just keep walking.  This is difficult for people like us, who tend to do things that are helpful and aren't complicated.  I mean, it's not like it's an invasion of our rights, and it is in fact someone else's property.  Store owners are just trying to set up a solution to all this, one that allows them to stay open, and of course keeps people shopping at their places.

Boromir is correct, from a certain point of view.  One doesn't disobey the little stickers.  No, instead, literally half the people that walk into  place with these stickers on the ground disregard them.  This has been my observation for the past few months of their existence.  It's like a game.  People like us respect the wishes of the store owners, if we're on their property, and it's not that big a deal.  And yet, these other rebels are trying to make a statement about how they won't be sheep or whatever.  Anyway, these stickers are just another reason why we can't wait for this pandemic to be over with.  

Tonight, Madison and I were talking about Miyazaki movies, and given that I'm writing all these "Under the Sea" devotional entries, we thought it would be fun to watch "Ponyo" again.  We hadn't remembered the movie so much from before, other than the fact that it is loosely based on "The Little Mermaid."  Anyway, we popped some popcorn, and we immersed ourself into Miyazaki's world once more, which is always such an unusual and wonderful place.  We liked the movie, although Madison's favorite is still "My  Neighbor Totoro," while my favorite is still "Spirited Away."  The theory that we have with Miyazaki movies is that the very first one you see is generally your favorite.  We have this collection of them, and surprisingly, there was one or two that we have not seen yet, so we may be doing that in the near future.  

Afterwards, we watched another episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," and then sat down for some reading before bed, including a devotional I wrote about superheroes (tonight's entry was about Hawkeye).  Then some more from the book "Allegiance."  And then prayers, and throwing plush animals at each other, tucking in, hide-and-seek, and all the other things we do each night.  

Black Eyed Susans

Our plants are doing fine out there, especially these Black Eyed Susans that are on either side of our sidewalk.  We have a lot of flowers and greenery out there, and Gnome Town is doing well, as are our tomatoes.  In just a few days, we'll have some monster red tomatoes ready to pick.  The vines are growing up those bamboo stakes, and those things are seven feet tall!  Everything is growing very well.  We water a few things, but there's also been some rain on and off lately, and that's been a blessing.

We had taekwondo again today, which is something I type a lot here.  It's four days a week now, so yeah.  While I was there, we had a KidPak meeting online, so there was a lot going on for that 45 minutes to an hour.  Madison was earning her third stripe on this red belt, so she's ready to go for her testing next week, when she'll earn her red belt decided.  And yes, the only belt color after that is black.  How the time flies!  I think her first visit was back in 2015, I believe, for a Trunk or Treat in October.  Five years later, here we are, moving forward swiftly towards that black belt.  She's really wanting to get that black belt too, and has it all estimated for Spring of 2021.  

She did some piano today as well.  Her classes with the instructor are about to start up again, but on a different night, this due to the extra taekwondo classes she takes each week.  But we'll drive over there as always and that'll be good to get going again.

I've been writing a lot lately, working on devotionals and so on.  We're doing "Under the Sea" next, so I have to get this devotional written for that series.  For a bit of extra inspiration, we watched "Finding Dory" tonight, and even played the Disney Infinity part of that game for a bit.  There was one level I finished back when we got this game, but I hadn't completely finished it, so there was a bit of swimming to do there.  Anyway, we hadn't seen the movie in a while, and there were some things we forgot about.  It's a visually beautiful movie, and of course it's a fun one too, with a sweet ending.

We said our prayers tonight, and read from "Allegiance" as well.  We're praying for everyone's health, including mine.  I've been struggling lately, but a shift is coming.  We're all going to get better soon.

Crochet Peas!

Here's a little project Madison was working on, and it sort of just came out this way really.  She was practicing with the crochet, and she made this little boat shape of sorts.  Mommy came up with the idea to crochet some darker colored balls for peas, and thus, the crochet peas in a pod was born!  

Here are the real vegetables though. We're getting a really good product out of the garden now, and getting it fairly frequently.  These tomatoes look great, and there's an idea planted right now to make some fried green tomatoes in the coming days, gluten free, of course.

I was writing a lot today, getting ready for our "Under the Sea" series.  I had to do a new devotional, as we didn't do one last time for this series.  But the writing is coming along really quickly, and ideas are pouring in.  We're going to order some more oysters with pearls in them, and we're also going to order some sand dollars, as these have some good illustrations to go with them.  

We were watching "Finding Nemo" again tonight, and it is such a wonderful movie.  We'll probably do "Finding Dory" tomorrow night.  Research, of course.  But on the other hand, they're just good movies, and lots of fun.  We made a brief drop-by of the office today to pick up a few things - as always, the church is empty, this huge place so accustomed to being filled with people.  It's so odd, and of course there's the snowy set up there on the KidPak stage, the same stage from so long ago, the one for "Northern Lights."  Technically, we can call this one the longest running series now...!  Actually, that's not quite true, as I doubt we'll pick up on the rest of it.  Which is a shame, because we had the last two scripts all done and ready to go.

We did our reading tonight, and said our prayers as well.  The new school year is creeping up on us, and details about how things will work are being revealed.  Certain schools are pushing back the opening of schools, opting for online education only.  Entire counties are closed off in person, while others are going in.  We're going in, although even that is optional.  Madison wants to be there in person.  She's ready. So are we.

Tonight ended with prayers and reading and the usual assortment of fun.  It was a nice day, quiet and a pleasant day together.  We've got some more eventful days coming up soon though.

Back Home

Back at home today, and back to the grind.  One bit of news is that I believe we're doing the series "Under the Sea" next for KidPak, following our "Wildfire" series that it is currently ongoing.  We had a few online discussions today, but that's about it, considering that our offices are once again closed.  Basically, we have a few people on staff with the virus, and that's all it takes to shut things down.

We went to taekwondo today, and I believe there were about five students total for the afternoon meeting.  Bart and Chris, the instructors, weren't there as they were in Utah doing a bit of exploring.  It was a remarkably strange coincidence, but they actually ran into another family we know while out in Utah, both of them there at the same place and the same time to do some rock climbing.

Madison's big achievement today was another version of The People's Elbow, one where she faces away from the breaking board, and throws her elbow backwards with enough power to break the board held just behind her.  None of the students today were really able to do this, as it requires the right balance of accuracy, force, and positioning as well.  It also requires movement of the entire body, rather than relying on the strength of arms alone.  The end result for Madison was a sore elbow afterwards, but I had did a video call with Mommy while Madison was getting the hang of it, and after a certain amount of attempts, there was a moment of triumph!  She busted that board in two with her elbow, successfully completing the task.  Mommy was happy to see that, as was I, and we both made the joke that tonight would be a Tylenol night for that elbow.

We watched some more episodes of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." tonight, moving through the Ghost Rider arc and into the Aida arc of season four, including the foreshadowing of a robot apocalypse and an obscure 80's horror movie.  Madison would sit and watch all twenty-two episodes of this season back-to-back if she could.  But it was late, and that was not to be.

I've been doing some writing for an "Oz" themed devotional, and Mommy found the original book again, the actual story the movie was based on.  I'll probably sit and read that once more, along with the other stories in the series.  But it is different, and if it were actually shown as a movie without cutting things out, it'd be a bit on the violent side!

Getting back, we heard that a guy named Dante passed away this week.  That of course is not enough information, and even if I shared the last name, it probably wouldn't mean much.  But to people in Atlanta a few decades ago, the restaurant "Dante's Down the Hatch" was a big deal.

The place had a large wooden ship inside, a little town there along the wharf, and even a live crocodile in the water around the boat.  The restaurant served fondue, and had some of the best atmosphere of any restaurant in Atlanta.  I went there several times - Mommy was there once.

Of course, with the virus around, most restaurants are shut down for inside visits.  But even so, they just don't have the originality and atmosphere of this legendary location.  It's gone now, and all that's left are the memories.  I'm surprised that I didn't take Mommy here to begin with.  We opted for the 57th Fighter Group for our first date, another restaurant that had incredible atmosphere.  A few days later, we went to Pappadeux's.  Those were the big two restaurant visits we went to our first week together.  Right in the midst of that first week was a trip to the movies to see "Godzilla" as well.

I remember the Old Spaghetti Factory down there as well, which was another great visit.  It was a restaurant chain, so we were able to visit it again later in Nashville.  I think the Nashville location is still open.  Another fabulous place we'd drive all the way down to was a pizzeria called "The Upper Crust."  I'll always remember hanging out with college friends down there, enjoying this huge, thick pizza that looked so small compared to others, but it was so full and thick that you nearly couldn't finish it.  But the one pizza place Mommy and I used to go to all the time was Capozzi's.  It wasn't too far from the place she worked as a nanny when we first met, and so we'd shoot over to Capozzi's to grab a New York style pizza, and although many other locations will call their pizza a "New York Style Pizza," we both know from experience that Capozzi's had the best "New York Style Pizza" you could get.  We both lived up north, and we both know a New York Style Pizza when we taste one.  And that was the best.  The atmosphere was perfect too, just like a pizzeria from up north, again something that we both know very well.  The people in the kitchen were shouting at each other in a friendly way, greeting customers loudly, and as you walked in that front door, you just had the feeling you were walking into some big family party.  The pepper and cheese jars were on the tables, as were the little stands to hold up your pizza when it arrived.  And when it arrived, oh, what a magical moment.  Real pizza.  Not this stuff you get from a delivery service.  No, this was real pizza.  Makes me hungry even now.

Eventually we'll get back to these restaurants, and I hope the entire country swarms in to save them.  This terrible plague has caused many of them already to shut down their doors forever.

This is a strange turnaround from reminiscing about restaurants, but then again, perhaps it's not.  We're about to enter a church fast, something we're hoping will grown into a larger movement, a time for all of us to do exactly as the Bible tells us, to draw closer to Him in a unified time of prayer and fasting.  2 Chronicles 7:14 is always quoted, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. "

But that's where we're at, a place of desperation.  Our fast begins later, and hopefully with the same unifying enthusiasm we have as a church at the beginning of each year.

So Long, Farewell

This morning we were out on the balcony again, and were happy to have timed things again in such a way that we saw a dolphin once more.  He was waving goodbye to us, or at least you we're allowed to think that.

We said our goodbyes to the beach, and we said our goodbyes to Nana and Ba-Ba for the time being, along with promises that this next absence from their presence will be much, much shorter.  We were away for too long, for all the reasons this world has had to offer these past five months or so.

Our way home was a first.  We had no stops in Henry County.  That in itself is impressive.  But we had no stops in traffic anywhere else either - it was a completely smooth journey north.  In fact, the rain only caught up with us once we got to 400 in Forsyth County.  On the way up, we could see these mighty vertical gray columns of rain filling up the horizon across the South Georgia Plains.  At one point, there were two of these ginormous columns, one on either side, the evidence of a huge, darkened deluge of water.  Our path literally took us right in-between the two, as we raced northward to clearer skies.

On the way home, we stopped in Cordele of course, getting gas and Chick-Fil-A at the drive-thru.  Without the dining area to stop and eat in, we've resorted to parking our car there by the Confederate Titan Missile, our new impromptu picnic area.

We stopped a few rest areas along the way, but otherwise, it was a straight and quick drive.  Madison was listening to music in the backseat, and crocheting as well, her new hobby.  Mommy and I were listening to concerts online with dulcimer music and some other folk music as well.  We also heard some Sasquatch stories which added a bit of fun to the drive.

We arrived home earlier, and everything is as it was when we left.  It was raining, and our tomato garden has grown something fierce!  It is tall and full of tomatoes, which is pretty awesome.  Madison got a shower tonight, and we did a bit of unpacking, and just a general resting after getting home from the long drive.  Our new book tonight is a Star Wars one that Madison was wanting to hear, one called "Allegiance."  It features Mara Jade, who Madison is anxious to hear about.  We'll get to those chapters soon enough...

Our prayers tonight were full of gratitude for safety during the long drive.  It was quick, but it was a good trip in many, many ways.  Before we sign off for the night, here are a few more pictures from Madison's phone, a few taken on the beach:

Heart in the Sky

Mommy and I were up early today to watch the sunrise, and it was very nice out there on the balcony.  The threat of rain was higher for today, so the clouds moving in formed mighty towering and shadowy forms looming on the horizon, the brilliant colors of sunrise illuminating them from behind.

The ocean waters were calm and peaceful, as the colors of sunrise began to appear across the darkened skies.  Pelicans and other birds floated across the ocean waves, looking for food, or possibly just enjoying the sunrise as we were.

Every single morning this happens, the sunrise on the horizon.  We've seen it countless times, but it is always new and there's always a beautiful view that's different from previous ones.  You can see the colors and beauty in a large wider view, or you can zoom in on certain areas and see such spectacular details of the sunrise.

This shot above is just amazing to me, the dark cloud in the foreground, and that emerging wisp of bright orange illuminated by the sunrise.  It reminds me of some supernova in space, but of course it's just an average sunrise here on an average morning.

We sat in silence, letting the sunrise to all the speaking in its quite voice of rolling waves or the faint singing of seagulls.  The wind was calm, and the atmosphere was as always there, serene.

Madison hadn't gotten up yet, and we were both simply up early to go and peek out the balcony.  As the sun wasn't really up yet, the temperatures were not so hot at all, and things were just perfect outside to sit and enjoy the explosions of colors all around us.

That's when we noticed this above, the shape of a heart n the sky.  What's amazing about this heart is that it is a large clearing in the clouds, an opening in the sky that made the familiar shape.

It's like a message to all of us:  I love you.  We shared this on social media, and someone even pointed out that there was an arrow through the heart.  In moments, the shifting clouds that made this image moved inland, and the heart was gone.  But for fleeting moment, and all for us, there it was, a heart in the sky.

Once the big show was over, we were back inside for a while.  Madison woke up not long afterwards, and we were soon watching our KidPak service together on the television there in the living room.  Ba-Ba and Nana were with us, watching our second service of the series "Wildfire," which is our second service of that series, already halfway over with.

So far, we've had for our online services a few series: "Unleashed," "The Quest," "Miracles," and "Faith Over Fear."  We've also had our Summer Xtreme as well.  It's been a long time since we've met in person, and it is disheartening.  Perhaps that's what the heart was for, to encourage us that we can keep going.  In fact, our Pastor in the main service had a wonderful message of encouragement, about being weakened, and about finding a strength inside.  We'll be starting a church fast soon enough.

We were walking along the shoreline today, one more time.  The tidal pools were deep and swirling, and we found a few shells this visit, although there haven't been too many on the sand this trip.  Not like there usually is.  Also, you'll see a surge of sargassum washed up on shore here.  It's gradually appeared over the week, and it's part of the seasonal cycle, something good for the wildlife here.

Madison almost slipped in this tidal pool, as it was a little deep.  She turned and smiled this way for the camera, as Mommy and I were walking along.  The beach was quiet again, just like it is this time of sunset each night.  It got a little crowded during the daylight hours, as it was the weekend and in July.  But not too crowded.  At sunrise and sunset, the beach belongs to us.

Madison spent some time talking with Mommy as we walked along.  It was a nice day, the final one down here for this quick trip.  We're going back tomorrow so Madison can get in her time for taekwondo class.  She's got to get that next rank advancement, otherwise we'd stay here a bit longer.

We found out the start of school was pushed back a week, so there's no rush here.  Actually, that might be the theme of the day - no rush.  We had a nice meal together, as we've had all week.  There was shrimp and pasta, and there was lobster bisque.  There was fish, and of course there were tacos too.  It was a great week for eating.

And it was a good week for baseball.  Our last game we watched tonight was a Braves blowout of the Mets.  Although our pitcher was a bit off, the Mets only managed to get one across the plate.  Meanwhile, we scored fourteen.  It was one of those games you didn't want to be on the losing end of, and fortunately this time, that wasn't us.

Tonight, Ba-Ba and Nana were watching some videos on Disney Plus that were all about the geological background of Europe, and it was actually pretty fascinating.  There was some spelunking, and some exploration of fault lines in Spain as well.  We sat and watched that together, closing out the day.

For the most part, we did a lot of reading today, and there was some writing too.  I was great just sitting there on the balcony, reading, or writing, or just sitting and watching the waves.

Tonight we finished the Bromeliad Trilogy with the last few chapters of "Wings."  The girls loved this series, and that being said, it might not be the last time we read from Terry Pratchett (yay!).  But for the time being, Masklin, Gurder and Angelo have reunited with Grimma, Doracas and the others nomes, and they are all off to a happily ever after.  It was a nice ending, and yes, it was one with frogs.

We prayed tonight as always, and we were asleep not long after that.  It was a nice day today.  We didn't go anywhere, but that's just fine.

Beach Rainbow

One of the things we decided to do today was go over to the Congo once more, Congo River to be precise.  Many people don't realize there's a fairly large waterfall here on the barrier island.  You can see Madison posing in front of that now.

Yes, the Congo is a place of waterfalls, mystery, and mini-golf too.  Also, a place for large totem poles that look like Dr. Livingston (I presume).

Madison and I went over to play golf this afternoon, and although it was warmer, there was also a steady breeze to help cool things down.  Madison played really well today!  We've done this course quite a few times, one reason being the "buy one get one free" card we keep earning for finding all the items on the scavenger hunt.  You'd think we'd have those locations memorized by now!

Madison brought her phone along and took these shots, and of course we both took shots with the golf clubs, and both came up right at what the par is for the course.  We did well, and had a good time as always.  

You can see from Madison's picture here, that we were back to the condo we went after this.  It was a good day today, a sunny day and a Saturday, which explained the surge of people on the beach.  It wasn't terribly crowded, but it certainly wasn't deserted like we've seen so often here.  The areas further down were more populated, with cars driving up and down the beach, kites flying, volleyballs, surfers, and so on.  We were in the shade on the balcony, so you could sit here and listen to the beach waves as you read, or surf ... the net. 

Earlier today, we went grocery shopping a bit more inland.  It was just an excuse for a nice drive.  Everyone was wearing masks, as we're in this pandemic now.  We got some ice cream, and some other things for the weekend, including tonight's spaghetti dinner, which was outstanding, of course.

Madison has been watching television with the grandparents, including the movie we saw tonight, "Dr. Strange."  We saw that one again, mainly because we're on season four of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."  But the grandparents hadn't seen it, and they wound up enjoying it.  We like this one too, of course.  There was another Braves game today, and this time we won.  There was a also a few episodes of "Storage Wars," which Mommy and Nana seem to be enjoying.  Daddy was reading a "Black Widow" adventure on the balcony, although you wouldn't knoww that entirely, given that the character of Black Widow is there in the prologue, and then shows up again on page 96, finally.  Hopefully, this book will feature more of that character, given that the title of the book has her name in it.  Reading on the balcony is nice though, listening to the wind and waves and so on.

At one point, I got up, and sure enough, I saw a rainbow in the sky.  

I got Mommy and Madison out there on the balcony, and we snapped a few pictures of a beach rainbow.  Those are pretty special rainbows.  I think you can only beat a beach rainbow with a Irish rainbow.  An Irish Beach rainbow?  That's the top of the rainbow food chain there.  Anyway, it was a beautiful sight.

So we went for a walk right afterwards, after spaghetti.  You can see Madison bringing her camera along to take a few pictures along the shore.

It's great to see her into photography, and certain types of pictures right now.  You can see her above here, taking a pictures.  And here's the picture she was taking below:

It was another nice walk, this time with just the three of us along the shore, once again strolling northwards.  We passed by the turtle nest, and of course met the "turtle lady" along the way.  We had a nice conversation, and finally got her name:  Martha.  She's been here since 2001, and checks on all the turtle nests, marking their progress and so forth.  

It was another nice day today.  The temperature in the mornings and evenings is just right, really.  There's been a breeze for the most part, and any humidity that might be there is blown away, a constant refreshing wind there to keep you nice and cool.

The sunsets have been beautiful this week too.  Many times we'd be walking, and then stop so Madison could take a photo, or we'd just stop to take in the panorama in front of us.  It's a super nice walk either way.  We're far away enough from the noise of Daytona Beach, but we could walk there if we wanted to.

We're fine where we are though.  Eventually, we get to a point, turn around, and start heading back.  Usually, the sun is gone by that point, and the lights are on all the condos.  We march up top, wash the sand off, and head back inside.

It was another good day.  After reading a bit from "Wings," we prayed tonight, and got to sleep fairly late, but we slept solidly and soundly through the night.

Perfect Kite Day

Today was the best kite day in the history of kite days.  It was like one of those rare astronomical phenomena that come along every thousand years or so, the perfect blend of everything you can throw in together, the end result being the best kite day ever.  There was this blend of wind, mixed perfectly by God Himself, the Great Barista of Breezes sitting up there in that Great Barometric Bar in the Heavens.  He took our order, and without much effort, concocted this magnificent Kite Grande, made up of a shot of steady western breezes just constant enough to keep your kite up and yet not so rough as to make kite flying a struggle.  Years ago when I was in China, a marveled at the Chinese people there flying their kites high in the sky, just sitting there and meditatively watching their kites soar airborne, slicing into the sky without any effort, and staying there as if the entire world was suddenly in zero gravity.  Until today, my efforts at that kite zen have fallen fairly short, with lots of frustrated dashes forward, limbs and kites flailing and with shortened celebrations as when I turn each time, the kite's marvelous upward trajectory begins to fade.  In a last ditch effort, I run more, pull more, and use every ounce of that untapped mind power I can to will that kite upwards.  But it is not to be.  Perhaps it is the kite.  Perhaps it is the wind, or the geography or some hidden secret that those who fly kites often are only familiar with.  Whatever those things are that make a kite fly upwards, I've not seen too many of those.  Madison has flown a kite early in life, and I watched on in wonder and pure joy as she was able to do something at such an early age that I simply could not do.  Perhaps it is a genetic thing.  Kites are from China, are they not?  Recently, we had a beach day, and after a bit of effort, we did in fact get our kites to go up - and stay up.  And these moments on the beach are unforgettable, looking upward at that great accomplishment fluttering through the skies high above.  But today was a day that makes those unfamiliar with kites think they can do all things.  Today was one of those days where you sang every word of Mr. Banks' song, "Let's Go Fly a Kite," and mean every single lyric.  Today was a thing of beauty!

We got a premonition about this marvelous day early on, looking out the balcony and seeing three and then four kites already flying high on the beach.  Indeed, it was like that scene from Mary Poppins, kites already populating the atmosphere, up where the air is clear.  Immediately, we got on our swim suits and went out for a try.  If those kites could stay up, then perhaps we could do the same with our kites.  Little did we know how easy it would be.  We never ran one step, never using our arms to thrust the kites upward, and never even strained our brain muscles to intensely wish that kite upward.  No, Madison and I merely let go of the kite, and upward it shot like a rocket, up to the highest height.  We sent it soaring, and soon enough, it too was joining the others at the tremendous altitude above, as Mommy and the grandparents looked on from the balcony.  Our kite was up higher than even they were, fluttering through the clouds.

It was so easy flying that kite that we even walked with it, the kite still tethered and soaring so far above us.  We walked into the ocean itself, and up to our knees into the water.  We were walking around looking for shells, splashing each other, and just having a marvelous day.  Afterwards, we even returned back to the outdoor swimming pool - but we did not draw in that kite just yet.  No, we tethered it to a lawn chair, and several of the seniors here also marveled at the beauty of a flying kite. There's just something about a kite, isn't there?  Perhaps it's the idea of this delicate thing flying so high up, gently holding there in place, looking down upon us like a colorful angel with a rainbow of strings serving for its tail.

I don't think Mommy got any pictures of it, and I don't think it matters really.  We saw it, and won't forget the majesty of this wonderful aerial performance so high above.  It will stay with me, because I have always really liked kites.  I have just never approached that moment of kite zen that I witnessed in China so many years ago.  But we did today.

Anyway, today we were swimming and walking along the shore.  We watched the Braves lose a close game in New York, the opening game of the season.  It was a pitcher's duel, and it featured some pretty amazing plays.  But ultimately, the Braves fell to one home run late in the game, and just couldn't produce and points, even with a runner on third at one point.

We spend a good deal of time reading on the balcony.  Ba-Ba is now reading the book about Sam Houston.  But I'm reading a different sort of history book now, one about Black Widow.  Yeah, it's a Marvel book.

Madison and I went to Cowlick's today, and we got ourselves three ice creams.  It was all "to go" because of the recent pandemic.  That's a bummer.  But the ice cream is still good.  We got it, and went back to the condo to enjoy that while watching the Braves play.

After dinner - and ice cream - we took a walk with Ba-Ba along the shoreline.  Our first objective was pretty much checking on that turtle clutch that's about to open up with baby turtles.

No progress yet, but we'll check again tomorrow.  The sun was setting, and it was again a perfect temperature and wind and hardly anyone out there - it made for a really nice walk along the shoreline with Ba-Ba.

As you can see here, we pretty much had the shoreline to ourselves.  It was a nice night, the pelicans were soaring overhead presumably looking for a late night snack, but otherwise, the beach was fairly empty.  Oh, except for this little guy we saw in a footprint.

But otherwise, the beach was largely ours as we walked along the water's edge.  And it was nice again, just this tranquil walk together, so completely at peace with the world around us, this despite the fact that things going on for us right now might suggest otherwise.

Madison was snapping photos along the way, and doing some writing in the sand of course.  She's written various names in the sand, or sometimes just a small greeting, like "Hi!"

But she was taking pictures of the scenery too, the towering clouds off the shoreline, illuminated by the setting sun.  It was a beautiful night tonight.  There was this one planet to the southeast, a bright star shining that sort of guided our way back to the condo afterwards.

And along the way, of course, Madison was doing her civic duty to help the sea turtles by filling in the big holes that were dug by pesky humans this afternoon.  Occasionally they'll leave these big lakes dug into the sand, often part of castles or otherwise, but nevertheless a big hindrance to sea turtles wanting to get to a good spot along the shoreline.

Here she is, filling up a hole.  Mommy and I were helping her out, of course.  She's using the light of the phone to make sure the hole is entirely flattened, and any wandering sea turtle can make it's way safely to a good spot.  The sea water, of course will help out too, should the tide come up this far.

We made our way back to the condo, and as you can see here, things were getting dark.  We got back just in time.  But it was a very nice little walk together.  We'll be sure to do it again tomorrow.

It was nice walk, again.  Here are a few more pictures, some taken by Madison and others taken by me along our little stroll.

We got back to the condo afterwards, settling down for a nice evening.  We watched the second Percy Jackson movie tonight, one that was pretty decent.  Actually, both of these movies were good, and we might try reading a few of the books soon.  And speaking of books, of course we read a few chapters from the book "Wings."  They're not far from us, the nomes.  They're down by Cape Canaveral, and yes, they're nearby the location of the shuttle launches.

It was a nice day, a pleasant day on the shoreline.  We got some rest after that, or at least the girls did.  I've had an itchy throat, and the lungs have been a little off lately.  Reluctantly, I may have to get that seen to when I get back home.  Needless to say, we were praying for healing tonight, for the whole family, and of course for our nation.