Magical Moment 201, "The Sailor's Tale"

He had been watching the darkening sky for an hour now. The wind picked up, giving him haunting chills up and down his arms. He knew the storm would strike at any moment. He gazed out into the chilly water, now brewing uneasily, and prepared himself for a fight. He straightened his back and drew in a deep breath, resolving to combat the elements and save his ship at all cost. That’s when a gust of wind came out of nowhere and like a fist, knocked him off his feet. It had begun.

His ship violently rocked from side to side, making it impossible to keep the wheel steady though he gripped with all his might. He had lost his crew in the last storm and now only he remained. Powerful waves crashed upon the deck and swept him across the wooden floor. Just as he braced himself to crash into the wall, an enormous wave tipped the ship just so, threatening to dump him over the side into the vast, unforgiving ocean. At the last second before he was separated from his ship forever, he managed to grip the ledge of the wall with his fingertips. When the wave had passed, turning his ship upright again, he found himself hanging over the side, struggling desperately to pull himself back over. At last, his adrenaline-fueled strength momentarily saved him and he dropped to the interior side of the ship’s wall.

He fought his way back to the wheel and wiped the water from his drenched face, squinting and straining to focus on the horizon. Just as he began to get back on course, he saw it. The sea monster. He reached for his water-powered laser gun, the only weapon not lost in the storm, and began to fill it with the sea water that now pooled around his ankles. The monster was rising out of the sea, towering over his insignificant ship. Hurry up, hurry up! He urgently told himself as he watched the water level of the gun slowly rise. The monster leaned back, gaining momentum to strike and then with full force, lunged straight towards him. At the exact moment, the laser gun was finally fueled with enough water and he raised the weapon, aiming at the grotesque monster right between the eyes. He tightened his trigger finger and let out a determined, victorious cry.

“Hey!” His mom said, shocked and holding her arms out questioningly as the neon blue water gun shot her right in the face.

“Sorry mom.” He said guiltily when he realized what he’d done.

“I told you to come inside. It’s gonna start pouring any second.” she handed him a towel. “Now pick up your toys and put them on the deck, then come inside and eat dinner.”

He pulled up his sopping wet swim trunks as he stepped over the flimsy side of his ocean blue wading pool, cuddled deep into the warm soft towel, and followed his mother inside for homemade pizza.

Magical Moment 625, "Thailand - the Elephants"

Needless to say, my favorite part of our Thailand vacation, was our week long volunteering at Elephant Nature Park ! The logging industry was banned in Thailand in 1989, leaving thousands of elephants unemployed. These elephants are now used for tourism. You may have heard of elephant shows featuring the animals playing soccer or painting pictures with their trunks. They are no doubt amazing to watch, but the sad truth is that these elephants have gone through a series of torture and abuse to "break their spirit" by their trainers. This short clip is very hard to watch, but it will give you an idea of what the elephants in captivity in the country of Thailand go through. The only elephants in Thailand who do not endure this, are the very few baby elephants who are first generation born in "safe captivity" at places like Elephant Nature Park. Every other elephant at this park has been brutally abused. Some have been blinded by their owners, le

Magical Moment 620, "Lilac Garden"

Eddie and I visited the Lilac Gardens at Ringwood Manor in New Jersey, a pristine and beautiful state park with 8 species of lilacs and several varieties within. We went on a rainy afternoon, which turned out perfect because the rain stopped for us when we got there, and began again as soon as we left. It also decorated the plants with gorgeous rain drops, adding to their beauty. And now for a quick game of "Where's Elizabeth?" And "Where's Eddie?" ~~Have a great weekend! ~~

Magical Moment 280, "The Eleventh Hour"

The Veterans Day Parade, NYC On July 29, 2001 , five exceptional men were honored by the President of the United States for their remarkable military service. They were involved in a top secret mission that required unfathomable intelligence and as a result, literally won a battle which was instrumental in winning the war. Not the war that was happening in 2001, not even the Gulf War. It was World War II, and they were the Navajo Code Talkers who were largely responsible for winning the bloody battle of Okinawa. The only problem with the ceremony was that just 5 remained of the original 29. Our country was too late in thanking the other 24, and nearly too late in thanking those 5 men. On March 10, 2010, three hundred women won the Congressional Gold medal for their outstanding war service. Unfortunately, 800 received the award posthumously. These were the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II, who devoted themselves to flying military aircraft like the B-26 and B-

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