Metal Earth Figures...Very Cool Stuff!

The box sat on a shelf in my bedroom for almost a year and a half. I don't know why I waited so long to open the box. A few weeks ago we did some spring cleaning and the box rose from having things placed upon it to having its own spot.

It was time.

I first saw these incredible metal figures at a hobby store. There were all type of things, cars, spaceships, buildings. They're amazing! I didn't think of them again until Christmas Day, 2018 when my son gave me a double set, a Star Wars R2D2 and Millennium Falcon package.

So, so cool!

I think the quarantine got me thinking of putting them together. I started with the one I thought would be easier--R2D2. I was wrong. Still, it's nice to begin with the tougher one--makes doing the second one easier and more fun. Then again, I might have just gotten better at putting them together.

When I finished each one, I showed them to the wife and kids. They, like me, thought they were awesome. It's interesting--when I look at them, I see the imperfections, the joints that didn't quite fit together perfectly, the places I could have done better. I wonder if they saw them. Probably not. I know when I first saw the examples at the hobby store, I didn't see imperfections or poor craftsmanship.

The pieces are so small--I had to use magnifying glasses to finish them. And when I was done, my fingernails were all scratched up. 

No, I shouldn't have waited almost eighteen months to put them together. Maybe if I get more, I'll get started on them much sooner.

Sports Are Back, Baby! And I Even LIKE Soccer...

I heard the news a few days ago--soccer would resume...

In Germany.

In Des Bundesliga.

Now, I am a soccer fan. At this time of year, I'll watch MLS games, especially when the local team plays. And early Saturday and Sunday mornings, there's always British Premier League games. There's also German Bundesliga games on and I usually don't watch those. I haven't followed the teams or the players in that league the way I have in America and Great Britain. But now, because pretty much everyone else is shut down, I'll watch German soccer.

Of course, there were no fans. After the soccer, I caught part of a NASCAR race in North Carolina--again, no fans. I thought, since I wasn't at either event, the experience should be the same for me. But, I was wrong. Yes, the games were played, the race was run, but it wasn't the same. The games need fans. 

Still, any game is a start. I know millions--if not, billions--of people are scared of the prospect of opening things up too soon. The race in North Carolina will most likely not impact me whatsoever. It may impact others, however. I believe those involved in these events know what they're doing and they're taking every precaution they can take to make it as safe as possible, just like workers in grocery stores and hospitals.

I'm one fan, just a single viewer living in Utah. Watching a game on TV played half a world away made the world a little more normal. And, that's a good thing.

Doing Kind Things...Even While Quarantined

Last month, a group of writers were supposed to gather at a house on the hill...

To write.

But, it was not meant to be. 

There's a lot of things that weren't meant to be, our annual retreat being one of them. When this is over, everyone will have a story--or stories--about things they did, or didn't do, adjustments they made, and experiences that will be "once in a lifetime" events. 

I guess for us, missing out on writing will be one of the things we'll talk about (then again, maybe we won't talk about it...). The retreat has been rescheduled for a later date--hopefully, we'll meet up then.

So, when the time came when we would have been all gathered under one roof, one of the participants had a great idea. He proposed we send flowers to our host as an act of kindness, and also as a reminder of what we were missing and how we all wanted tto be somewhere else.

I wish I looked for more opportunities to be kind.

Some people just seem to be wired that way. They'll hear of something that happened to an individual and their mind goes to, "how can I help out?" It's a wonderful trait to have. I'm working on it and maybe one day I'll be there.

Our host (also, thinking of others by providing incredible entertainment to the masses during the lockdown...) took to Facebook everyday and gave us all a mini-concert. One of the writers ordered flowers and a card to be delivered mid-concert on a day we would have been there writing our little brains out.

Yes, there are people everywhere doing kind things for others, even while quarantined. And all you have to do is look for them...or better yet, be the one doing the kind deed. That's the best.

The House At The End Of The Lane...

That A-frame house in the middle, it's a little cottage we built and moved into back in 2003. We wanted to build a log cabin, but it didn't work out, so we designed and helped build a cabin with everything but the logs.

It's also my piece of heaven on earth.

House and home have taken on new meanings this year. Structures, apartments, condos, trailers, even vehicles were always used for shelter, but now they're also churches, movie theaters, gyms, restaurants, and places where millions are working--and millions others, aren't. The places we used to return to are now places from which we seem to never leave.

Events change people. Now, when I see someone I haven't seen in a while, we ask how things are going. Another thing I find myself asking is if they're still working--such an odd thing to ask. Imagine, while conversing with a friend, asking if they're still employed, and if they say they are, that's one less thing they'll have to worry about, at least, for now.

In the house at the end of the lane is where I work and where I've worked for the past two years. I'm one of the lucky ones to still have a job. The house provides for my family. It comforts us, protects us, and allows us to remain together.

Back in 1970 my dad began building a house for his family. Unfortunately, he never saw it finished. Thirty-odd years later his son did the same thing only a few feet from where my father's house still stands. Dad's house served his family well. Ours is doing the same...the little house at the end of the lane.

Everyone Needs Some Good News...

By now, most have seen the YouTube videos from John Krasinski and his friends under the headline Some Good News. If you haven't, you really need to stop what you're doing and watch them, watch all four of them in a row. It will take about an hour, but it won't feel like it.

It's obvious, we--as inhabitants on a planet in crisis--need good news. We need it when it comes to the virus, we need it when it comes to jobs, to families, to our health, to everything. If you can see through the negativity, you'll find millions of people doing things for others...

And it's wonderful.

Because we all access to people, our reach can be global, or affecting only a few. Mr. Krasinski, due to his fame and talents, has tremendous reach. Sure, anyone can make and post a video on YouTube, but getting people to watch is another story. Thankfully, if you've followed popular culture for the past fifteen years, you know who John Krasinski is and because of that, if you know/like him, you'll watch Some Good News.

Impactful media makes you want to take action--good or bad. After watching the latest episode of Some Good News, a couple of things came to mind--I wanted to find more good news stories, I wanted to be someone who did good things for others, and I wished I had the kind of reach Mr. Krasinski has earned. But, the more I thought about that last point, the less it mattered. I can do what I can do--I can affect a few people (even one...) more than the masses. The important thing is doing something, anything for others.

Another point struck me, after watching these videos--that is Mr. Krasinski's motives. There's a quote from a little Hugh Grant film, The Rewrite, where a college student tells the inexperienced newly-hired college professor (Grant) that celebrities are like Greek Gods in our modern society. The student explains that celebrities are larger than life--they're literally Gods. I apologize if I'm getting the lines wrong; it's been a while since I saw the movie. Using this definition, what celebrities say or do has weight...massive weight. Because of this insane time we're in, we are inundated with the actions and words of celebrities, whether we want to see and hear them or not.

But what did Mr. Krasinski choose to do and say? He chose to be positive, to do good. I've never met Mr. Krasinski (though, it would be fun to do so...), his actions speak volumes as to the type of person he is. I'm sure he has opinions about the world situation, our leaders and what they're doing, and if he chose to voice his opinions, many would listen. But, he chose good. Good is universal, good is truth, and right now, good is desperately needed.

Thank you, Mr. Krasinski for what you're doing--for your choices--and I look forward to more.

Looks Like We're Not The Only Ones Itching For A Puzzle...

My wife came across a story in our local news media yesterday. The headline says it all:

Utah puzzle company experiences an explosion of sales

It's one of the many consequences of a world-wide event where people are urged (or forced...) to stay home and not go anywhere. In hindsight, we probably should have seen a run on puzzles with everyone stuck inside. Then again, who could have even imagined anything like this happening in the first place. 

There's a lot we didn't see coming.

Last week we did a little grocery shopping and spotted one of Eric Dowdle's artistic works all chopped up to interlocking pieces. We picked it up. This is not the first Dowdle puzzle we've bought. In fact, one year we chose Dowdle puzzles as Christmas gifts for my wife's siblings. There's so many puzzles to chose from, we were able to find puzzles of the cities where my in-laws live.

One of my favorite Dowdle Folk Art puzzles is a scene of the Holy War university football game between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. Great puzzle.

The local news article goes on to say how everyone is clamoring for more puzzles. You can access the story: HERE. We can definitely understand the draw. It's a great activity when you've run out of things you want to binge watch or read. And, the entire family can help out and enjoy the challenge. You can access the company website: HERE.

We bought the "Best of Utah" puzzle. The only downside for us is it was a 500-piece puzzle--it took us less than two hours to complete. We had hoped for at least a 1000-piece one. Looks like we'll need to do some digging in our storage boxes for the Christmas puzzles we have--that's the only other time we've had the time to do a puzzle, when we didn't want to go anywhere else. Now, even though the reason we're all home is different, the fact we're all home remains the same.

Blue Lemon Blues...

Ever since we've been told to stay away from basically everyone, we've tried to do our part in helping others. One way of doing this is ordering take-out. We've ordered more take-out in the past three weeks than normal.

Because we want to help.

But last night, things just seemed to go wrong...in so many ways.

Things began well enough. We're fortunate enough to have a Blue Lemon restaurant close by. They're offering a family special--a good deal on four meals. In addition to my wife and I ordering out for our weekly Date Night, three of our kids wanted in on the Blue Lemon goodness as well. 

We placed the order. 6:20pm pick up time.

All was well.

We showed up at the restaurant--take out only. We parked in one of the stalls and waited. My wife and I usually get take out for our Date Night meals, so waiting outside was nothing new. The half a dozen cars also waiting for their dinner, perhaps not--some seemed pretty steamed.

We stayed in our car listening to conference. We were there maybe 10 - 15 minutes before anyone even came out of the restaurant. They were obviously backed-up. A frazzled-looking employee came out with a large order. Several were out of their cars waiting. She said my wife's name and I took the package from her.

We placed six orders. I counted only five. We went back to our car and tried to figure out which order was missing. The employee came out again and people started in on her. "We're a 6:30 order." We've been waiting since..." We figured one of our children's meals was not there, but which one. I took a meal and went to take the keys out of the ignition. As I backed out of the car, the sandwich fell out of the package and landed on the pavement. 

Now we're down two meals.

I took the rest of the food home, then came back to pick up my wife who talked to the worker and let them know we were down a meal (she didn't say anything about ordering a new sandwich--the place was so busy...). I picked her up and we called the kids to see which one wanted the one sandwich we got. One kid said they'd take it--the other said a Wendy's burger would be okay. When we got home, the one who wanted the Blue Lemon meal ended up not wanting it--because when we called we described to them the wrong sandwich.

Eventually, we all ate. Since we were exhausted from a long day of yard work and other things, we were not in the best of moods to begin with. I can only imagine the other people waiting for their dinners were equally tired. Plus, throw in the pandemic element only adds to the situation. I should say that I do not blame Blue Lemon--it was one of those nights and I feel terrible for them--the night already sucked and it wasn't getting better.

When we called the kids to ask them who wanted the sandwich and who wanted Wendy's, my wife just started laughing. She almost couldn't communicate she laughed so hard. It was just one of those nights that did not go well. We still hope to help out local businesses in the future--maybe not on Saturday nights, though.

Netflix...The Little Things Make A Big Difference...At Least, To Me

Like billions of other people, I'm utilizing the incredible modern technology known as streaming over the weekend. And like billions of other people, we subscribe to Netflix, arguably, the most popular streaming service available.

I don't know who is in charge there at Netflix, or who is responsible for the little things, but one thing I noticed the other day is their hold function. I know that's a strange thing to acknowledge, or even notice, but the other day my wife and I were watching, The Stranger, a limited-series based on a Harlan Coben novel. It's the third Harlan Cobin series we've watched. We paused the episode to do something and after a moment, information came up on the paused screen.

I know the above picture's not the best quality, but to me, it looked like Netflix could have taken that paused imaged and used it as an advertisement for the show (which, is exactly what it is...). Of course, not all pauses yield good pictures, but the majority of the time I do this with Netflix, I get a shot worthy of an ad.

It's the little things.

I know Netflix doesn't want us to pause their entertainment--they want us to sit, watch the entire episode, not move, until the show is done, then watch the next nine episodes until the series is complete. Then, they want you to start another series w/o leaving your chair. But, next time you're enjoying/watching a Netflix show, check out the picture when you hit pause. Chances are, it's going to look good enough to represent the entire show.

I know, I know...it's a strange thing to acknowledge, or even notice...

But the show was titled, The Stranger.

And For The Briefest Of Moments...Things Felt "Normal"

You may not be able to tell from this picture, but there was a moment today when life felt almost normal.

Normal...

What an odd word. It wasn't odd before, but it feels odd now.

My wife and I needed to do some shopping. Thankfully, in no small part due to an army of truck drivers, warehouse workers, and grocery store employees, there was stuff for us to buy, food to sustain us for at least another week or two. That, in and of itself, is a miracle.

I wonder if I'll ever not consider a store full of food a miracle ever again.

No, the store was not packed. It was mid-morning, not the height of busy shopping, usually. And yes, some shelves were bare, but hearing horror stories of people's shopping experiences lately, I was glad to see the store had so much stuff. I took a picture from inside the store because at that moment, with us involved in such a normal--even mundane--activity, it felt like stuff we used to do when the world made sense.

I hope I experience more of this feeling of normalcy in the future. My heart hopes for it; my head says it'll probably never happen--returning to the "normal" we once had. In reality, a new day is never the same as the day preceding it. It's always different, just not so different.

I pray for our country and our world. Billions are scared, confused, frustrated, and just plain tired. I also pray for strength to see us through this dark time. God be with us.