Friday, December 3, 2021
Matt and I went to the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson yesterday. Local grocery stores sell discounted day passes to the park (good on Thursdays only). We paid 50 dollars each. Record-breaking temperatures of 75 and cheap entrance fees made for a big crowd. We had a great time.
Just inside the entrance was the city square with an enormous Christmas tree and a stage with live performers singing carols.
We toured Silver Dollar City’s Marvel Cavern. I don’t know why this seemed like a good idea since we’d been walking around the park all day. While we waited for our tour to begin they warned us about 500 stairs down, 150 stairs up, darkness, small spaces. The usual speech. Our guide was fabulous. We learned lots of history and she told better jokes than most. When we exited the cave, it was dark and carols could be heard from the tree lighting ceremony happening in the nearby square. It was spiritual to have been enjoying God’s creation deep within the earth and reach the surface to hear his praises.
We also purchased a holiday meal package that included a meal, a snack, and a souvenir refillable cup for 35 dollars. The cup is good for two-dollar refills all next year. We both chose the pork tenderloin sandwich from Hatfield’s Tater Patch as our meal. We didn’t realize the pork was breaded and like a fried pork chop on a bun. Matt got a funnel cake for his snack. I got a bag of kettle popcorn.
The Christmas lights at Silver Dollar City are spectacular. In December you can upgrade your daily ticket to next year’s season pass for an additional sixty dollars. We upgraded to this. So our admission for one day and unlimited visits next year cost $110 each.
We bought those passes when the day was still young. Today we tried to recover and my thighs burned like fire every time I moved. I told Matt I can do an amusement park or a cavern in one day, but not both. Never again.
The media announced that the Omicron variant of the Corona Virus has been in the US since before Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Record high temperatures produced countless tornadoes across the Midwest Friday night. Whole towns were demolished and hundreds are still missing in Kentucky. The devastation was horrific. The loss of your home, autos, church, and workplace in one night is unfathomable, but it was repeatedly the case for many families. Entire communities were flattened to piles of rubble. We were under a tornado warning, but there was no damage along the ridge.
The Corona Virus is blamed for 800,000 US deaths. The Omicron Variant is spreading rapidly with predictions of possible doubling infections daily. It is unknown if vaccines are effective against Omicron, and it is believed you can be infected with both the Delta and Omicron variants simultaneously creating yet another strand. The last two Sundays several churchgoers were coughing and sniffing. I’ve considered staying home again.
The bare trees and recent rain made the pond visible from the dining room. We saw three deer yesterday morning. Today Queso the Chihuahua chased a little gray squirrel from underneath my birdfeeder in the front yard. Birds are plentiful—mostly woodpeckers, Cardinals, sparrows, finches, and blue jays. The early birds seem to be a flock of seven crows that are here every morning. Matt doesn’t like the crows because they scattered his freshly laid mulch.
I bought a desk. It’s scheduled to be delivered Monday. I’m hopeful that my writing productivity will soar. Meanwhile, Matt’s writing has slowed. Now he’s creating a podcast.
Friday, December 24, 2021
Ray’s home for Christmas and visiting friends from Texas left on Wednesday. Stephanie and Hayden are spending Christmas alone in their new home. She’s only off work tomorrow and they are still getting settled. I mailed them a package on Tuesday and was shocked that it was delivered yesterday. Two-day delivery the week of Christmas! The USPS has it together this season!
We took our visiting friends to Branson’s Wild World on Tuesday. It’s a small zoo—mostly indoor—with an optional indoor glow-in-the-dark putt-putt golf course. Adult admission to the animals was twenty dollars, and golf was an additional three dollars. We didn’t play golf. They also offered a pass good inside the lemur exhibit for ten dollars and a bag of lemur chow was five. A man was in the enclosure and two others waited. We didn’t go in. Our visit took a little over an hour and most of the workers were friendly and knowledgeable. It was warm and muggy inside the building in spite of the cool temperature outside. Keep that in mind if you’re planning a summer visit.
The weather was beautiful today with a high of 74, and we ate all our meals on the screened-in porch. We made tamales the Kent Rollins way. If you don’t know who Kent Rollins is—woo wee—you need to check him out. In the warm kitchen, we remembered last December when we all were recovering from the Corona Virus and spent Christmas Eve butchering chickens. No more Christmas Eve projects in the future if I have my way.
Friday, December 31, 2021
Ray is sick but tested negative for Covid.
Matt and I visited the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The museum admission and parking are free. Art is displayed inside the beautiful structure and out along the paths through the park-like surroundings. Everything is handicap accessible.
The museum hosts The North Forest Lights each winter. We planned our visit around the weather in order to see this. Don’t go expecting a Winter Wonderland as I did. Instead, picture space ships landing. North Forest Lights consists of five separate light exhibits on the treed grounds. Some included fog machines, and the best one consisted of lasers and mist in a small canyon viewed from a wooden bridge. Adult tickets are $22. Ray and Matt thought that was a little steep, but I didn’t considering the museum was free. And I feel art outdoors is refreshing to the soul. Besides at my current age and weight, how far do I really care to walk! I would visit the museum again and walk around the trails, but I’ll skip the lights. Been there, done that.