QUARANTINE BLOG # 389

April 23, 2021

Amy was up this morning and watched the launch of Crew-2 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, sending 4 astronauts to the International Space Station.  She sent me a picture of the launch with the caption, “Never grows old!”

👉  Our wanderings yesterday took us first to Sketchers Outlet where the Lady of the Cabin bought two new pair of Sketchers bringing her total supply of said brand of shoes up to 379 pair.  Well, really only 16.  She wanted new walking shoes since the ones she’d been walking in were not walking shoes but she walked in them anyway, and after the purchase of two pair, she put one pair on and we went walking.

We drove up on the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy the scenery and do some wandering in the woods.  It was interesting as we drove higher up the mountain there were fewer and fewer trees whose leaves were out (I started to say whose leaves had come out, but I was afraid of getting in trouble with the LGBTQ+WXYZKDKAWRDW, or whatever).  

At the beginning it was pretty much as it is here at the cabin, mostly out, and different shades of green with some yellows and reds sprinkled in.  When we reached the summit it was still winter time.  In fact, there were places – in the shade – where the rocks were covered with icicles, at one point, it could have been an underground cavern (is there such a thing as an above ground cavern) with stalactites hanging down.

Along the way we stopped to do a half mile hike to Skinny Dip Falls which is described as a popular summer swimming hole.  Well, if anyone was skinny dipping today there would have been more icicles, but we did see some guys coming back up the trail carrying towels – who knows?  

The blurb we read about the hike described it as an easy hike with almost no rough places.  Who writes this stuff?  Liar, liar, pants on fire.  The two pictures below are taken at the same spot, looking up the trail and then turning around and looking down the trail.  We walked a little farther and it got rougher, so we turned around without skinny dipping.

We wrapped up the day visiting the Asheville Pinball Museum.  There were a few of the old games like the Bro and I used to play back in the before times, and a few video games like Pac-Man, and a lot of the modern flashy pinball games.  It was fun to look, but we didn’t play.

There was one poster I did not understand.  It has Rey, from Star Wars, the Nature Boy Ric Flair (wooooooo) and Wonder Woman.  Nice artwork, but no games to match it.

👉  QB has reported on some strange doings, but this one may be at the top of the list – and according to BBC News, it’s true.

An unidentified hospital employee in Italy has been accused of skipping work on full pay for 15 years.  The man is alleged to have stopped turning up to work at the Ciaccio hospital in the southern city of Catanzaro in 2005.  He is now being investigated for fraud, extortion and abuse of office.  He was reportedly paid $650,000 over the years he is thought not to have been working.

Six managers at the hospital are also being investigated in connection with the alleged absenteeism.  The police have also accused him of threatening his manager to stop her from filing a disciplinary report against him.  That manager later retired, police added, and his ongoing absence was never noticed by her successor or human resources.

You can’t make this stuff up.

👉  Now these next 3 panels are fabrications, but funny:

👉  Today’s close is from “Wisdom from the Psalms.”

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalms 46:10).

The city was roaring with noise. Car horns blasted, construction noise filled the air, radios blared, people shouted. As the day wore on, the noise steadily increased. After a while, you adjusted. It wasn’t until you were able to move into a quiet place that you realized how loud the noise had been. In the silence, everything seemed to change. Waves of calm and quiet rolled in. The silence was a little alarming and unsettling. In the silence, thoughts could creep out and be heard.

God comes to us in silence. We have lost the art of being still. Everything is rush, rush, rush, and few people take time to be still. Noise provides us with a place to hide, where we don’t have to face ourselves. Heavy schedules block honest reflection and renewal. Only through the still times in our lives can we hope for God to break through to help us make sense of our lives. Be still, and know that God is there.

Prayer: The day closes in on me, Lord, and I feel myself buried beneath a heavy layer of noise and activity. Break me free of the bondage of commotion. Bless me with quiet and peace. Amen.

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