July 30 – “Sights of the City”

We were blessed to experience two pretty exciting sights of the city yesterday.  We have been taking care of Nathan and April’s two dogs while they are on a mini-vacation.  Yesterday while on our way to let Scooter and Abby out again, we saw the first of the two sights to write home about.  Now at first glance it seemed rather commonplace.  Just a girl walking her dog in the neighborhood.  Very sweet, but not so outstanding in the grand scheme of sights of the city things.  And then we drew closer.  Now the dog was a simple creature, and it was, well, in the process of enjoying simple creature comforts.  So my attention then shifted to the girl.  That’s when I did a double-take.  She was apparently wearing something on her shoulder.  Either that or she was grotesquely misshapen.  I struggled to focus my early morning eyes.  Finally I pieced it together.  She had a full-sized (I guess) parrot sitting on her shoulder.  Now that’s something you just don’t see every day.  But wait.  That wasn’t all.  As I glanced down at her feet to check on the dog once again, I realized that she wasn’t walking at all.  Oh, no.  She was riding on a hoverboard.  That wins some kind of award, don’t you think?  Walking your dog with your parrot on your shoulder while balancing on a hoverboard. A winner in my book.

So, Scooter and Abby happy and fed and granted some time in the backyard, we headed on to church.  I was just settling in to go over my teaching one last time, when we saw a garbage truck parked right in the center of Seawall Boulevard.  OK.  We live on an island, so that in itself was not so unusual.  There are large trash receptacles all along the seawall that he was apparently having a difficult time accessing.  I get that.  I spent some time as a beach trash man myself.  It’s a pretty thankless job.  But then I noticed it.  One of the burly trash guys was dragging a full to the brim plastic trash bag.  “Not so unusual,” you might say.  “Isn’t that his job?” you might query.  Well, here’s the thing.  That trash guy was hauling that full bag-o-trash … away from the truck.  Yep.  He was headed right back toward the trash can.  I’m pretty sure there must have been an explanation, or at least a fun story.  But without the closed captioning I’m at a loss.  So the errant trash guy takes his place among this Sunday edition of Galveston Sights of the City.

1 Peter 1:24-25 says, “For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.’ 

And this is the word that was preached to you.”

Father, thank you for your people who do silly, fun things.  Help me to be one of them every chance I get.  Amen.