Offbeat Places!

One of my facebook friends posted about a cool statue a few miles down the road from my house that I had never seen before.

I decided to look up the exact address. The website I found info about it on also gave me suggested Nearby Offbeat Places.

So today my brother, Tim, and went on an adventure finding some of these Offbeat Places. :)

Three of the Offbeat Places were on the same little street (a street with car dealerships and auto mechanic shops).

Man Eating Dog Food represents a man at the end of his life reverting to his spirit animal (in this case a dog).

Across the street from the first statue is Man with Pigs. This statue honors the person's family that owns the car dealership in the background who used to be hog farmers nearby.

Just down the street a little bit was Scrap Metal Cowboy!

This was the statue my facebook friend posted about. This was about 2 miles down the road from those other statues.

It's called Pennies from Heaven. It's in a parking lot in between two office buildings.

Isn't it cool?!

Our last stop of the adventure was Foxstone Park. This was the park where former FBI agent, Robert Hanssen, left state secrets for the Soviet Union/Russia for over twenty years.

(This place showed up in my search of Offbeat Places to visit.) 

There was a nice wooded trail in the park that we walked on for awhile.

This is the bridge that Hanssen hid the state secrets under.

It was fun to have a little adventure today and everything was outside and free and not crowded. :)

A New Normal (For Now)

I don't know exactly how many days its been since quarantine began, it feels like it started years ago but at the same time just like yesterday. I think it's been a little over 8 weeks now (crazy!) and it kind of feels like a new normal is happening (at least for now until the situation calms down).

Just so that I can remember this down the road here are some things that are happening or not happening in a lot of areas of the USA as of today May 17, 2020. 

-We are highly encouraged to wear masks when going to a store or office or anywhere inside of a public building.
-Every checkout lane at a grocery store now has glass between the customer and the cashier.
-At some grocery stores they sanitize the conveyor belt etc in between each customer causing longer wait times for checking out
-Some stores have a limit of how many people can enter their store at a time and so there will be lines of people standing 6 feet apart outside of the store waiting to get in
-Some grocery stores have it so that the aisles are one way (although people don't always pay attention to that).
-We can't eat inside of restaurants. The restaurants that are still open have curbside pickup or delivery only.
-We can't see live shows in person.
-Video chatting or social distancing small gatherings outside are two of the new ways to get some face-to-face social time in.
-When passing someone while walking outside, we try to keep a 6 foot distance from them by walking out onto the street or onto the grass (if possible in the situation).
-We carry hand sanitizer with us wherever we go.
-We fill up our gas tanks less frequently now since we're driving a lot less.
-Schools are closed and teachers and parents are trying to figure out how to continue the school year from home using technology.
-A lot of people who have office jobs are working from home.
-Some musicians are giving live concerts from their homes via social media.
-Talk show hosts (like Jimmy Fallon) are filming their shows from their homes (being filmed by a family member) and have Zoom interviews with the people they would normally have on their show.
-Hair salons, department stores etc (stores deemed non-essential) are closed.
-Movie theaters and live theaters are closed.
-A lot of parks and some trails and beaches are closed.

This does not cover everything but it gives you an idea about what is happening in the world right now.

Is there anything else I should add to the list?

We live in a weird time my friends. We live in a weird time.

Music!

Sometimes music speaks to me in ways that spoken words can't. These songs have been helping my soul today. Life is hard and uncertain right now, but Heavenly Father is aware of us and understands what we are going through.

Do you have any songs that are helping you through this hard time?