Jonah

When Nadia was three-years-old, she was obsessed with the story of Jonah. We had multiple picture books that told the story, and I read them to her at her request umpteen times a week. She also had a fear of whales when she was that age. I remember once she asked me if there might be a whale in the bathtub. When I took Nadia and Ian to SeaWorld in August 2011 on the day the Wendy and Drayton took their kids to Magic Kingdom, I was really hoping that seeing Shamu would help Nadia realize that a whale could never fit in a bathtub and also that she would see whales in a more favorable light. When I found out that Sight and Sound was showing Jonah in 2012, we decided to celebrate Nadia's fourth birthday in Lancaster. I was in the hospital, but Paul came and picked me up and I was allowed to watch the show provided I went into the theatre in a wheelchair. This past spring Sight and Sound released a recording of one of their performances of Jonah (from 2017). I saw that it was being aired, but I didn't suggest that we watch it a few months ago because I figured seeing it in person is much better than watching it on our TV. However when I saw more recently that they were airing it again this weekend on the TBN app, I decided we should watch it today. Yes, most of us had seen it before, but Oliver hadn't ever seen it, Nadia had just turned 4, and Ian was only 2 1/2. I'm glad we watched it today. Yes, it's not nearly as powerful as watching it in person, but buying five tickets to Sight and Sound costs quite a bit of money, and this was free. They are airing a live performance of Esther in early September. That broadcast won't be free. Since we have tickets to see Esther in December I'm not tempted to pay to watch it on TV, but if you aren't able to see the show in person, $25 for your family to see the show is quite a bargain. I hope we are actually able to see Esther in person in December. Time will tell. My favorite show of all the ones I've seen at Sight and Sound over the years so far was Jesus, which we saw in 2018.

In general our area has not been hit hard during this pandemic. Lately our county plus another neighboring county have not been doing well in the number of new cases per 100,000 people analysis. This is because more than 100 cases of COVID were reported in a federal prison in Union County. In our county the spike has primarily been due to more than 125 cases at a nursing home in Milton (the same town where we go to church).

I'm one who strives to follow the rules, but I have to say in various instances over the last 5 months the rules haven't made any sense to me. For example, we still aren't allowed to walk into the library and access anything on any of the bookshelves. Thankfully, we can pick up materials that we have previously requested at the front desk. During the entire pandemic there has never been any restrictions on what customers could or couldn't touch at the grocery store, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. The stores that weren't allowed to be open in the red phase (such as department stores) reopened in June again with no restrictions on what customers touched. So what is so dangerous about library books compared to items sold at stores? The library we usually go to has three libraries that are connected. They transfer the books between the three libraries three days a week. I knew that the books that patrons returned were quarantined for three days, but I learned a few days ago that if a library employee transfers book from one library to another the books are again quarantined for another three days. If two different librarians touch a book in the same building they don't quarantine them again. I don't understand the logic. Similarly it seems that doorways are particularly "dangerous" when it comes to COVID. We wear our masks for less than a minute as we enter church and do the same when we exit, but we don't need to wear them during the worship service. It was the same at the swimming pool. We had to wear a mask when passing through the entrance, but that was it. It seems to me either we should wear the masks the whole time or we don't need to wear them at all. I can't see how the danger is any greater during the 30 seconds we pass through the doorway, but since that is what we are asked to do, that is what we do. Speaking of entrances, usually there are four entrances into our local Walmart. I understand why the one by the Auto Center is closed because the Auto Center hasn't been open since the middle of March, but I don't get the logic of closing two of the three main entrances. Doing so means that many more people are crowded together because there is only one entrance. Having all three entrances open would make social distancing more likely to happen. I have seen some stores have put arrows on the floor indicating which direction traffic is supposed to flow in an aisle. In my observation people don't seem to be paying any attention to those arrows. Most people are wearing masks inside stores, and most people are trying to stay 6 feet apart from each other in a checkout line, but the one way arrows don't seem to have done a lick of good.

Because of the rise in cases in the federal prison, the two school districts in that county were asked to delay the start of their school year until September 8. Again, I cannot see a correlation between inmates testing positive and what is done in K-12 schools. It doesn't make sense to me. We are supposed to resume classes at our church on September 6. I am praying that this surge of new cases in the nursing home will not mean that has to be postponed. I have a feeling they are going to require kids and teens to wear masks during those classes since that is what they are requiring in the local schools. They are hosting a bonfire on August 29, and I believe that is when we will find out those details. We're not fans of wearing masks, but we definitely prefer wearing a mask to class than not having the class offered at all, which is how it will have been for almost 6 months if they do reopen in two weeks. Next Sunday they are having a picnic outside after church prior to an outdoor baptismal service. 44 people have signed up thus far to be baptized next Sunday! 

Nadia has an audition this evening for a theatre production that the audition, rehearsals, and performance will exclusively be done through Zoom. We shall see how that goes. I know she'd prefer to participate in person, but drama via Zoom is better than no drama at all. The woman who directed Cinderstein is the one organizing it. This one act play is called "Bad Audition by Bad Actors."