April 24 – “It’s hot out there”

Add one more experience to our tally of “first experiences.”  Yesterday we joined Christina and her kiddos for the re-enactment of the Battle of San Jacinto at the San Jacinto monument.  I have been to the monument and the Battleship Texas before, but that was a long, long – OK, really long time ago.  And I never had been to the top of the monument, so that was my particular goal for the day. 

We had to park several miles away from the site and hop onto one of their old yellow school bus shuttles.  That actually wasn’t so bad.  The morning was still fairly cool and the windows were down.  Noa loved it.  But the coolness would not last.

First up was a birds of prey demonstration.  Very interesting to meet falcons and hawks and owls and even an American eagle.  Problem was, the aforementioned departure of the cool had begun in earnest.  It was, in fact … hot.  We made it through the demonstration and headed inside the monument.  We had to buy tickets for the ride up to the observation deck, but I managed to get us the senior rate.  Fifty cents off the cover price.  Hey, it all adds up.  The elevator ride was … an elevator ride.  Took 30 or so seconds to go up something like 50 stories.  The most interesting thing about it was the tiny little window.  It was there so you could watch the 800 plus stairs flash by on the way up and down.  Strange attraction.  The view was pretty incredible up on the deck.  Ships and swamps and trees and tiny little ant-people.  Hey, I told you we were high up. 

On our way to the re-enactment area we walked through the vendor booths.  Everything from real camel rides to a fake bucking bull ride.  Plenty of crafty stuff for Chris to look at, and lots of kid-oriented paraphernalia.  The highlight of that leg of the journey was when Noa and Josiah each held a snake.  The older two?  Uh, not so much.  Way to show up the older generation, guys.

We managed to snag a ride on the golf cart express get to the re-enactment site.  The breeze during the ride was a welcome respite from the heat.  Now the site was really interesting.  They had tents set up and characters in full period dress welcoming you into the Mexican and Texican camps.  We met one Mexican soldier who had a tiny little camera strapped to his hat.  He told us he was a teacher, and he planned to show his movie to his class.  Only thing was, he was scheduled to die in the re-enactment so he wasn’t sure how the whole camera idea would work.  We located him during the battle and I watched his demise.  Comically, a few seconds after his character bit the dust, I noticed his hat mysteriously turning itself toward the action.  Hope he got some good footage.  Micah suggested that he have a sub show the video and let the class think he was in a real battle. 

The re-enactment itself was certainly interesting.  Longest 18-minute battle I have ever seen.  The viewing area was out in a field with no shade of any kind.  And did I mention that it was hot?  I finally bought a little souvenir parasol for some shade.  It did help a lot.  There were explosions and guns shooting and canons firing.  Horses sped by.  A wagon pulled by two Texas longhorns.  A narrator told the story of the Battle of San Jacinto.  Problem was, he would tell a segment, then have to wait a long time for the actors to complete what he had just said.  I think the final time total was in the ball park of an hour or more.  And that was after they postponed the start time 30 minutes so more people could get there.  Trouble on the freeway was slowing down those yellow school buses.  The crowd did finally get into the performance.  A raucous cheer went up as the Texicans charged the Mexican camp.  Texas won … again.

The wait to get back on the bus to get back to the car was over an hour.  The heat was so bad by then that they had set up a free water station and were encouraging people to go inside if they got too hot.  Of course the line to get to the free water was too long to bother with.  They even brought over some of their entertainment: a flea circus operator, a guitar player, and a fiddler.  Nice try, but did I mention it was … hot?

We finally made it to the bus and headed home.  I was able to watch the Astros progress on my phone on the way.  Micah wanted a play-by-play account, so that kept us occupied until the good guys won.  All in all it was an educational experience that everyone should do at least once.  But when you go … take an umbrella.  See, it’s hot out there …

Mark 9:23 says, “'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Father, thank you for the dedication of those volunteers who put on that event.  As hot as it was for us, it must have been really bad for them.  Amen.