Thursday, November 22, 2018

November 22 – “We’re not in WalMart anymore, Toto”


Countdown to Tooty-horned Walkerdom … four days.

We were successful in our venture into the wilds of Texas yesterday.  We made our way to The Woodlands Mall.  Yes, the “The” has to be capitalized, because it’s part of the name of the city.  That has always seemed a bit odd to me.  Why not just “Woodlands”?  As it stands the city will always be lost in alphabetical lists amongst the vast array of other cities that start with the letter “T.”  But no one asked me. 

Once we located the proper entrance we made our way inside.  That’s when I began to suspect that we were a bit out of our element.  The man who got out of the car next to us was actually wearing a sports coat.  The ladies were dressed to the hilt in actual dresses.  I think we missed the memo that we were supposed to dress us just to get in the front door.  And later, after the party, I was walking around the Dick’s Sporting Goods Store.  Upstairs and down.  And that’s when I knew beyond a doubt that we were not in WalMart anymore, Toto.  How did I know?  As I passed through the sporting goods section I heard a crash.  Now in WalMart that would have been something simple, like a few kids tossing around a football, or a 300 pound linebacker-type guy riding around on a tricycle, or a teenager test driving a skateboard, or even three or four grown women trying on those creepy giant rabbit Halloween head things.  Any of those things would have been totally within the realm of “WalMart normal.”  But not here.  Want to hear the source of the sound?  A father and his son were, indeed, playing catch.  And there was, indeed, an errant ball that was missed and subsequently crashed into a display.  But they were using … lacrosse sticks.  Can you imagine?  Lacrosse?  What would happen if we turned loose a set of lacrosse sticks and a ball at WalMart?  Hey, who would even need a ball?  I can think of a whole aisle of trinkets that would be fun to see flying above shoppers’ heads on Black Friday …

Oh, but back to the party for a second.  We did get AnnaGrace christened as a two-year-old (a little early.  Her actual birthday is the 30th.  I looked it up).  And the party consisted of cookies and blowing out candles and the pies de resistance, riding on the carousel.  Yep.  That place has a full-blown carousel.  Now I have to say that I really wanted to ride the big ol’ chicken.  Big as I was, that chicken.  Bigger even.  But before I could reach it, some little kid beat me to it.  I had to settle for a boring old wild stallion.  But Luke rode next to me on another horsie, so I wasn’t scared.

Psalms 117:1-2 says, “Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.  For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord.”

Father, thank you for a safe trip.  Thanks for the birthday fun.  And thanks for AnnaGrace.  Sweet girl.  Amen.

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