1. In the last few days I was at the exact same location in Manhattan, Broadway between 47th & 48th Street, at two totally different times. Tuesday I was walking on that block at 2:00pm with my very good friend heading towards the TKTS booth. There were lots of people – visitors, business people, street vendors the usual hustle and bustle of the city. The billboard and marquee lights were glowing and flashing. Thursday I was walking alone on the block at 5:20am heading to volunteer at the Movement Day conference. There were very few people – the construction worker was covering up the holes in the street, a businessman or two, a young woman talking on her cellphone. The billboard and marquee lights were still glowing and flashing. They seemed brighter since it was still dark out. To be honest, I walked a little faster, was more aware of my surroundings, and held my purse tighter to my body. I was struck by how different the walk seemed and realized the difference a friend and sunlight makes. 🙂

2. The Bible Quizzing lesson this week was Noah. I decided to mark off the dimensions of the ark with my 6 students. We headed outside armed with a 30 foot tape measure and the dimensions – 75 ft wide, 45 feet tall and 450 feet long. We used feet not cubits. 🙂 First we measured the width and then we measured the length which with a 30 foot tape measure becomes a game of leap-frog. Mark a start spot, someone pulls tape to 30 feet, mark the spot and do over again and again – 15 times to be exact. And then the kid QTOD “Wow, the ark was really big. That must have been the start of cruise ships.”

3. Over the past weeks, the acorns from the white swamp oak trees at the National September 11 Memorial have been falling. Sometimes startling a visitor or myself. I have been thinking that an acorn is an amazing thing. To think a tiny acorn becomes a mighty oak tree. The difference in the trees on the Memorial in the last 2 years is a wonder to behold. It was very difficult to find a shady place to stand in the summer of 2012. I remember trying to fit 20 people in one tiny area of shade. Now it is difficult to find a place to stand to able see the surrounding buildings because the trees supply a beautiful canopy of shade. I once read or heard “which is more of a miracle if an acorn was planted and immediately an oak tree appeared? Or if an acorn is planted and after years there is a mighty oak tree?”