On the day of the Boston bombing, I'd left home with two home schooled little girls to visit the Newport aquarium just below Cincinnati, in Kentucky.

It's a 3 hr. drive, one way. Even avoiding rush hour traffic, it was still busy, hectic, and much too crowded. Made me grateful to not live there and have to deal with it every day.

We got to the Aquarium. Online it looked like a parking lot outside a building with some nice places to look around, near it. Right on the river with nice seating, steps to go down and look around and a ways from the hustle, bustle, and city traffic.

The reality was different. It was busy and the parking was both in and out. Levels of indoor parking with an outdoor area of shopping places.

Inside the HUGE building that had the aquarium, were all types of stores, eateries, and elevators. Way too many choices. Each elevator had a box outside of it with a call button for assistance. Yay. I got directions how to get to the aquarium that I thought we were at.

After we found it, we had a wonderful day. They were enthralled with all the different animal life and how varied it is from country to country.

I saw a creature that I'd never known existed. A garden eel. When we first saw it, my stomach lurched. They were the most disgusting, vile looking things. They looked like a worm and appeared form nowhere out of the sand. I knew where the idea for the movie "Tremors" came from. I wanted to turn away and pretend I hadn't seen them, but the girls were thrilled and I couldn't leave them and didn't want to show my revulsion.

My glances at the eels made me feel less repulsed. Noticed that when my hand moved, their bodies swayed the way my hand moved. It turned out that the vile creatures actually had kind of cute little faces and looked friendly.

There were a couple that only seemed to pop up to bop a neighbor on the head, scan the area and see if there was anyone else close enough to torment. Others came up and stayed. Some came up, took a look, and went back under. Kind of like people, I thought. LOL.

When we finally left the aquarium after a very long day the girls were exhausted. We found our way to the parking garage.

The problem was, I couldn't remember if we parked on level P or J. Each level must have had acres of places to park. The girls were too tired to walk much more. They couldn't be left alone while I scouted for the car. So, we found a place to sit so they could tell me what they liked best.

Sadly, I couldn't give them the attention they deserved because I was planning how to find my car without alarming the girls. They're at that "worry" stage, as in, "are we lost", "are we safe", etc.

As I sat, half listening, playing with my keys, I felt the buttons on my key ring. HA! My car alarm. Didn't want to set it off in the parking area, but when the door is locked or unlocked, the car beeps once and flashes it's lights.

We we on J. Aiming my keys around and pushing buttons did nothing. The girls looked worried and asked what I was doing. I told them I was blessing all the cars and hoping the drivers had a safe ride home. They didn't believe me, but laughed.

So, on to P. Out the elevator, waving the keys like casting a spell over the area, and the reassuring beep of my car answered. Looking around, it's lights were blinking cheerily inviting us home. HAHAHA.

We got in the car and the first thing that came on the radio was about the bombing. I turned it off and put a children's audio book on but my mind was wondering what was going on.

Though the girls fell asleep on the way home, I didn't want to take a chance of having them wake and hear what about the bombing. Some things are better left to parents as to how to handle it.

It wasn't til they were happily dropped off that I was able to hear what happened.

It was a good day, with a bummer ending. But, I had a choice. Remember the day, the happy little girls, all the beauty that nature has to offer, or dwell on insanity. Still pondering all the things learned that day. Many lessons in everyday experiences.

If anyone has read this far, they deserve a medal. Thanks for reading and having compassion for a contemplative mood. May each of you have a wonderful rest of the day and evening.

SO, I hope you have a wonderful break with your girls and hope the concerts are as much fun as it sounds. Go and have fun and the rest of us will control the world and keep an eye on things while you're there. 8)