I just climbed down from my father- in-law’s garage roof. I was thinking about painting the front of his house after rinsing it off yesterday. This is a job set up for me by my wife’s brother-in-law who loves every aspect of contracting except painting. He thought it would be a good job for me. I thought better of it after the sun came out. My cell phone’s weather ap said the temperature had a 109 degree “real feel.”
These forays to Florida are always educational. The Palm Beach Post, with its target audience of a million and a half people, is like the Star Tribune. I always like catching up on Florida politics. Trump lives just a few doors down from us only on an estate he gives some reporters a pass to. I saw my first “Trump in 2016” bumper sticker today on a golden Prius. Naturally, while here, we watch Fox News.
last night we watched the 1982 movie Ghandi. It was on PBS for its three hours and ended at midnight. I was reluctant to stay up so late but I thought it would be redeeming. We saw in in 1983 in of all places, Hawaii. It put me in mind of Israel where we will be visiting in January to study the lessons of peace. Ghandi was much better edited than our Grandson’s Zombie movie despite the day I spent working on it. Then again, my Grandson’s movie had more laughs.
On Friday we took Dad up to the Kennedy Space Center. Claudia and I were there with our daughter when she was three months old. That was 33 years ago. It’s become quite a tourist draw and it’s got Disney quality exhibits. With kids in school and a day ahead of the weekend we had the place to ourselves. We took our 88 year old host on a trip into space on a shuttle flight. The lady who took our tickets assured us a 102-year old lady had made the same trip, so – not to worry.
I was touched by the hall that commemorated the lost astronauts from the Challenger and Columbia missions. Each astronaut was honored with personal mementos. I watched the Challenger tragedy at Morgan Park with Alanna Oswald. Schools across the nation were tuned in because it had teacher Christa McAuliffe riding along. It’s one of the half dozen news days where I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing at the time.
At Dad’s church today I passed up communion because the pastor, a very nice fellow, emphasized that only those who were certain of Jesus’s authority should take it. As a Presbyterian agnostic I didn’t feel inclined to violate his request. He gave a very thoughtful sermon on Mathew 7:1-5 about the logs in our eyes and the splinters in the eyes of those we want to correct. That’s no problem for me. I wear corrective lenses. Plus, I’m an astronaut.
