Ducks, The Hunger Games, & Mediterranean Food

baby ducks

Recently I resigned from a work-at-home position as a Blog Editor (editing articles, posting blogs on a WordPress site) and personal assistant, that I had been doing for 9 months, to focus more on Leah’s homeschooling. This is her last year of homeschooling; she will graduate later this summer. I want us to go on fun field trips and short road trips to make sweet good memories this last year.

So this past Friday, Ray, Leah and I had a whole day of fun together. 🙂

I want a duck!

First, we went to the Tractor Supply store to look at the baby ducks and chicks. Our daughter Heather had been there first with her kids and told me about them. I LOVE ducks and have always wanted one as a pet.

Ray teases me that I just want to be Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of the wonderful book Cross Creek, who had ducks on her farm.

Maybe that’s part of it (she was a successful writer, even winning the Pulitzer Prize for her book The Yearling, so emulating her is a good thing), but I also just like ducks. They are SO cute! I love to watch them swim, walk, and hear them quack.

Here are Ray and Leah looking at the baby chicks. Leah and I both thought that the ducks were cuter.

Leah and Ray looking at baby chicks

Ray looked at my smiling, animated face as I took pictures and asked, “Beth, do you want a duck?” They were only $4.99 and if I had said yes, he would have bought me one ~ even several. We live in a rental house and our landlord won’t allow us to have pets, so I had to say no.

“Where would we keep it anyway?” I asked. “We could keep it in the tub right now, but eventually it’s going to get big and outgrow the tub. It would need a pond or a lake to be happy.”

Yet it was tempting…one day I hope to have some ducks!

Next we went to Meadowmere Park in Grandview, MO, that has almost 53 acres and includes an “Enchanted Forest” theme play land for children.

The park was nothing specatcular, but it had a nice walking trail which leads to Longview Lake. The area was scenic and peaceful with tall oak trees, cherry blossom trees, and a winding river.

Ray and Leah walked ahead of me as I snapped pictures. I loved this picture of them walking together on the trail:

Leah and Ray on walking trail

And may the odds be ever in your favor! The Hunger Games

We then drove to Town Center Theatre in Leawood, Kansas, to watch The Hunger Games movie. The Hunger Games is a young adult novel written by Suzanne Collins, published in September 2008. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem, where the countries of North American once existed. (Resource: Wikipedia)

The Capitol, which is a highly advanced metropolis, holds absolute power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl, ages 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol, are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive. (Resource: Wikipedia)

Ray has read all three of the books in the Trilogy (the other books being Catching Fire and Mockingjay), but Leah and I had not. He couldn’t wait to see the movie. I surprised him by buying tickets online, and then when Heather was at our house telling him she was going to see it, he said, “Yeah, I really want to see it!”

Heather, who knew I’d bought the tickets, smiled at me and I looked at Ray, grinning, and said, ‘You are!” He then raised an eyebrow and asked, “I am? What do you mean?” Then I told him I’d purchased three tickets for him, me and Leah for Friday afternoon ~ which made him happy. 🙂

The movie is awesome, but does have some scenes of violence (children being killed), which should be considered for younger children or preteens or teens who are sensitive to violent scenes. Ray and Leah both asked me why I wanted to see this movie, since I don’t normally watch anything violent.

Why I loved The Hunger Games movie

The reason why I wanted to see it is because I believe it is symbollic of warriors ~ which we are as believers in Christ. (I wrote a book on women and spiritual warfare which you can buy here.) The main character Katniss, or Kat as she is nicknamed, is skilled with a bow and an arrow, from being forced to hunt for food in the forest for herself and her family to be able to eat.

In Medieval times, when bows and arrows were necessary for warfare, the training required by an archer to use bows and arrows was extremely time consuming. It was necessary for them to become expert marksmen. In Kat’s case, she would need and use these excellent skills to be able to survive. Kat also showed great courage, volunteering as tribute, to replace her younger sister Primrose, who was chosen for the annual Hunger Games.

I felt that Kat represented what God has called me to do – to have courage and to war on my knees in prayer, and to teach my children and grandchildren to do the same. I want prayer to be my legacy.

Oh, the food!

We all loved the movie. Afterward, we went to Mr. Gyros restaurant, where we ate delicious Mediterranean food: chicken kabobs, tzatkiki sauce, pita bread and hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, and baklava – a heavenly dessert.