We
went on a date last night. A real-live,
honest-to-goodness, Galveston-type date.
No, we didn’t go to the beach. Or
for a ride on the ferry. We went over to
Moody Gardens, ski jackets in hand, and went through the ice sculpture
exhibit. At least I think that’s what
they call it. It is a huge tent set up
in the parking lot and cooled to nine degrees inside (hence, the ski jackets). You
are even issued a parka before you go inside, if you want one. The family just behind us didn’t know whether
to accept the parka or not. They
commented, “We don’t know nine degrees.”
I was whispering from across the room, “Get the parka. Get the parka.” Guess they heard me. They got the parkas. Some people apparently refuse the
privilege. Bad mistake. We saw some children inside literally
shivering and obviously not enjoying the experience. That was a shame, too, because part of the
exhibit is a huge slide made of ice. I didn’t
make the attempt this year, though. Sore
knee. Couldn’t get Chris to attempt it
either. Sore hip. I think if we hadn’t had to climb stairs to
get to the slide start we would have been fine.
But as
far as the exhibit itself was concerned, I give it a huge thumbs-up. Way better than last year’s Spongebob
Squarepants theme. This one had huge
sculptures of different varieties of fish, and most were creatures found out in
the Gulf of Mexico. I guess I appreciated
the hometown feel. The backgrounds were
carved into what appeared to be coral reefs and undersea plants and
creatures. It was almost like walking
through a massively oversized reproduction of the real-life aquarium on the other
side of the parking lot. Very impressive. And as reached the exit, there was a sneak
peek of sorts, made from ice, of the tropical rainforest pyramid. I saw frogs and a chameleon and a few
parrots. How’s that for marketing on
their part?
After
the ice show we ditched our heavy jackets and made the long walk through the
Christmas lights display. Compared to
the one in Dickinson, this one was for sure the heavy hitter. Of course the Dickinson show is completely
run by volunteers, and it is free admission.
The Moody Gardens one is subsidized by corporate donations and is by no
means free. It is included in the family
pass we got with Nathan and April and Cailyn, though, so we figured, why
not? They have reconfigured everything
from the last time we went. Instead of
starting with the true Christmas story display, it is now set up as the grand
finale. They tell the entire story of the
birth of Jesus. Pretty well done. Refreshing amidst the glitz and glitter of
the rest of the Christmas mania. Our
only complaint was the twinge of sadness we felt at not having grandchildren
with us to take pictures of at the photo op sites. But we got over it. We did get our first selfie of the New Year,
though. Well, after Chris reminded me
that I had to push the button to switch it over to selfie mode. Hey, it’s been a while.
We
thought about ending the evening with a cup of hot chocolate back at the house,
but, honestly, after our walk through the lights, we were shedding our
sweatshirt and windbreaker. I settled
for a cup of iced white grape juice. I think
Chris just had some water. We spent the
rest of our ice-cold evening with our red-hot dates on the couch, watching TV.
Philippians
2:14-16 says, “Do everything without
complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of
God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like
stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life — in order that I may
boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”
Father,
thank you for my red-hot date. It is
always nice spending time with her. Amen.
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