Miscellany...letters, basilisks, footsteps in the treetops, magnification

As Blogger is not complaining about the way I spelled "miscellany", I'll move ahead...

Since I blogged last, Young Adventurer has returned (alive and well) from camp, and Venom has been left there as a jr. counselor. Whereas we received one letter from YA, begging to come home, written on his first day, we have received one letter from Venom, three full pages long, telling us of all her adventures, as of the close of the day Monday. Sounds like she's having fun, aside from a bit of a sore throat.

Back home, we're having adventures, of sorts, of our own. Young Adventurer has made use of one of the items I inherited from Grandpa Joe. Yes, it has grandpa's name securely affixed to it, in case you were wondering. I don't have photos of Young Adventurer burning bugs, but I have heard the full report. Apparently scorpions explode. I prefer the making of patterns in the sink, as long as we don't accidentally start a fire in the house. The Great Glass of Reflectiveness has also been used to burn a hole in a practice golf ball--one of many knocked into our yard by a neighbor who possibly needs yet more work on his swing.


Adventurer Two and I have also been working on an apron. No photos of that just yet. I ran out of patience with the pattern at about 9pm and I'll take it up again tomorrow.

Also, using the Follow All Rabbit Trails Bible Study Method, I came upon an interesting verse. I maybe should have spent more time finding out what the point was, but I didn't. I just enjoyed the translation. It's always good to have an entertaining translation...

Do not rejoice, whole country of Philistia,

because the rod that beat you has broken,

since the serpent's stock can still produce a basilisk

and the offspring of that will be a flying dragon.

Isaiah 14:29

The flying dragon word seems to be the same as the seraph word in Isaiah 6, and the serpents in Numbers 21. Weirdness. I just like finding a basilisk in my Bible, not to mention a flying dragon. So dramatic.

There's also a verse in 2 Samuel 5--when you hear the footsteps in the tops of the trees, get moving because that means God is coming to rout your enemies.

Listening for the footsteps in the treetops...

A song for magical rainy days

Come climb the hill with me

Come and be still with me

Come watch the sun sink away

If you will with me

Come watch the garden grow

Down by the gravel road

Come warm your hands in the gold

Of the afterglow

Into the peace of these wild things,

Into the wild of this grace,

Into the grace of this blessing,

Speak in the peace of this place

Come walk the cedar stand

Over the broken dam

Sit on the bench at the bend in the trail again

Look how the children laugh

Out in the tumble grass

Bright as a fire and as fine as a photograph

Here at the magic hour

Time and eternity

Mingle a moment in chorus

Here at the magic hour

Bright is the mystery

Plain is the beauty before us

Could this beauty be for us?

What is this voice that sings

Holy and hovering

Over this hill in the still of the evening?

(Son of God, speak)

~Andrew Peterson, "The Magic Hour"

Mislabeled

I received  these last night in exchange for an empty egg carton (the modern equivalent of a dry milk cow). They were billed as pumpkin seedlings, but after close examination by a team of experts, they are now believed to be Magic Beans. What else would suddenly spring up by the hundreds under a citrus tree in the desert? I shall plant them this morning and eagerly await the Beanstalk. I need to find the goose that lays the golden eggs. She's been missing for a while now.