Noah's Ark

Almost every day there's more news about the world's largest cruise liner, Oasis of the Seas.  Built in Finland, it crossed the ocean and just docked at its home base just up the way in South Florida, Port Everglades.  Not too long ago, a ship the length of a football field would have drawn much attention; Oasis contains a theatre the size of a football field!  There's a basketball court, two rock climbing walls, an ice skating rink, several pools including one with an amphitheater and two with wave generators, scuba lessons, spas, a number of restaurants, clubs, bars and shops, a huge casino, video games, a "Central Park" with rides, including a carousel and other amusements, in fact just an unimaginable variety of amenities.  That includes a modern, fully equipped medical center.  Staterooms vary from normal bedroom size to a two-story penthouse with both indoor and outdoor dining areas and a grand piano.  In fact, if one had the money and the inclination, one could live on board, never go ashore, and not miss anything.  All it lacks is a matched breeding pair of every species of animal.  See more.

Actually, Noah's Ark has been found in Schagen , Netherlands.  That's a long way from Mount Arafat!  Fuller Brush Divisional Director Joanne Rice called my attention to Johan Huibers' replica of the ark.  It's built according to the specifications in the Bible, and is actually sea-worthy.  Here's some photos.

We had our own Noah's Ark in our neighborhood.  For several years I could see it from my kitchen window, across the narrow alley and two yards down.

We had some neighbors that were active Evangelical Christians.  They had weekly meetings in their home, during which they beat tambourines and sang (loudly) various hymns in Spanish.  Things got really interesting when some Cubans of the Santeria belief moved in next door.  On all the Santeria holidays, they would celebrate with the rollicking drums and songs, roast goat, etc.  Sometimes (rarely, fortunately) the holiday fell on a regular Christian meeting day, and they tried to drown each other out.

One day we were told that God had commanded the older gentleman who owned the house to build an ark.  So he put together a huge cradle and started building it.  He kept buying lumber little by little and putting it together.  It was well over 50 feet long and nearly as high as adjacent rooftops.  He worked on it for several years in his back yard, finishing with a coat of fiberglass.

One day for whatever reason the time came to take it out to water.  There hadn't been a flood, nor even a hurricane; this was before Hurricane Andrew in 1993.  But I guess he wanted to be ready. 

The back yard was over 200 feet from the nearest street.  They brought in a huge trailer and tow truck, and labored for several hours.  Even if they had managed to load it on the trailer, there was no room to make the turn into the alley, and the boat was too wide to pass down the alley.  There was no way to get it out that way.  Neighbors were sort of resigned to permanently having an ark in the middle of the block.  We all underestimated his persistence and his faith.

One day I looked out my kitchen window and saw an enormous crane, the kind that works on multi-story  buildings, sticking up on the next street.  Our modern-day Noah had contracted to lift the entire boat over houses and apartments, over power lines, and put it on a huge trailer out on the street.  They had to move some traffic lights as if moving a house, in order to transport it to the the Miami River a mile away. 

I would have thought that when he was commanded to build his ark,  he would have been warned to better plan the extraction!