Category: Life

It is that wonderful time of the year… again


It is December…again. Just like it was just Monday… and it is now Saturday, again. Time is passing by so quickly I can barely catch my breath!

Bok Mansion's entrance

As of Thanksgiving day–Christmas officially arrived; never mind it was already here since before Halloween. I love the holiday season, even when they begin to sneak in Christmas carols on the radio when I am not paying attention. I happened to notice this when I began to hum along, suddenly it hit me–I am humming “It is a wonderful time of the year… la, la, la….

Dont’ get me wrong, I love the holiday season; the songs, the trees, the Menorah and the candles,  the Kwanzaa celebrations, lights everywhere, Macy’s windows, Rockefeller Center, etc… (hey, I lived in NYC for over 20 years, the “melting pot” as it is known, and we all celebrated together) but Christmas is my favorite.

Winchester Roller Skates, 1960s

Christmas is what I grew up with in Panama; my first recollection of a Christmas present was getting a pair of Winchester Roller Skates, and these were nothing like the rubber skates of today. I mean, these were steel and I felt like a powerhouse when I clamped them on my shoes. I was about five years old when I got the first pair of training Winchesters, fell many times and promptly learned how to skate. By the time I was a teenager I was a pro on those babies; my siblings and friends will have skate parties on the streets, (no rinks, for us daredevils) and we ran competitions to see who could make the most pirouettes without breaking a bone, and then we held on to each other in groups of ten or fifteen kids to form a train or “cola” (long line), and proceeded to jump over the many sets of steps found in “Paseo Las Bovedas”; that memory will be forever etched in my mind. So much fun and… there was always a broken bone and a trip to the emergency room, lol!

Pretend play is not the same as the real thing

Kids today don’t get such physical workouts, like we did. Everything happened outdoors, we played with hacky sacks, which we made ourselves (from old socks filled with lentils), and rode bicycles, roller skated on the streets, went swimming, played every kind of ball there was: baseball, basketball, soccer… you name it. We were fit, brassy and healthy! Today it is all about Nintendo, Xbox and the like, kids and adults can even pretend they are being active by playing games (indoor) on their Wii. What’s up with that?

I don't wanna...

Enough of that, I am afraid I am dating myself; but yes, I am a child of the age of Aquarius, and the Beatles, and The Temptations, and Aretha Franklin; but make no excuses for that–they were the best of times to grow up in. There’s no mountain high enough to keep me from getting to you…

Here are some pictures I took last week when we were in Orlando and ventured 45 minutes out-of-the-way of the usual sites, to visit Bok Tower Gardens. We enjoyed their Christmas decorations, quiet surroundings and gardens; it was a beautiful experience, and I highly recommend it!

Bok Tower, in the distance

I will post some more pictures during the month as I am now officially–in the Christmas and holiday spirit!

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From Ponce De Leon to Beach Complex Park


Pelicans at the PRWC park

Last Wednesday, I took the camera out and headed to unplanned places, some days are just like that. Living in Southwest Florida, 1 and a half-hours south of Tampa, 3 hours west of Orlando, and 3 hours north of Miami, gives me great latitude to explore all things Floridian, pretty much at will. However, on a beautiful, sunny, breezy day such as it was on this day, I did not have to travel very far at all, thirty minutes at most.

Mangroves in the park

I let my instincts guide me south to Punta Gorda, as I enjoyed the landscape while driving along US 41, Tamiami Trail as it is known. I quickly decided on a visit to Ponce De Leon Park. First stop, the Peace River Wildlife Center (PRWC), at the park’s entrance. I took my time strolling along; taking pictures of the rescued animals that inhabit the center; which according to its website, was “founded in 1978; dedicated to the rescue, care, protection and preservation of native small wildlife. Since its beginnings, the wildlife center has treated over one hundred thousand birds and small animals, offering a high level of skilled care by trained and permitted wildlife rehabilitation specialists with years of experience in treating native fauna disease and trauma”.

The center and the park for that matter are hidden gems in Charlotte Harbor. Its location almost makes one forget of its existence, but if you are in the mood to explore nature, see native birds and enjoy some quiet, you cannot go wrong by paying a visit; just make sure to bring enough bug repellent since a walk through the nature trail is sure to bring out some uninvited guests. It is totally worth the trip.

What a great way to end this day!

On the way back home I made a detour into the Port Charlotte Beach Complex, as it was soon time for the sunset and I wanted to snap a couple of shots. One of the benefits of living on the Gulf Coast—water is everywhere we go. Be it the ocean, rivers, lots of canal property, pools and more. So catching a sunset from anywhere is not difficult—for whatever reason we always seem to head toward the water.
Another benefit, you can have all of this for less than the price of a movie ticket. All I spent during this day trip was $0.80 cents for parking, the cost of adding two new batteries to my Canon, and less than a gallon of gas; you can not get it any better than that!
That was my unplanned day trip near home. I am sure there are gems such as this one hiding in your own backyards; the economy being what it is today, it pays to go out of the way to find places near home that can provide inexpensive entertainment, while providing family and guests with fun activities to do this holiday season.

Go ahead, explore!

Links:
http://bit.ly/vdJg00

http://bit.ly/tQQ188

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From here to there…a change of plans


View from Gilchrist Park, Punta Gorda

Travel:

Verb, -eled, -el·ing or (especially British) -elled, -el·ling

Noun, adjective verb (used without object)

  1. To go from one place to another, as by car, train, plane, or ship; take a trip, journey–to travel for pleasure.
  2. To move or go from one place or point to another
  3. To proceed or advance in any way
  4. To go from place to place as a representative of a business firm
  5. To associate or consort: He travels in a wealthy crowd

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about traveling. Not sure why, but suspect it has something to do with the impending holiday season. I cannot believe it; we are five weeks away from Christmas. The days are barreling through, toward the end of the year, at the speed of lightning, scary.

Anyway, I have been talking about traveling in “my mind” and that has set my brain in motion—I am now looking at every place I go to as a “travel” destination; convenient, actually. There is a good chance you will be reading more of these stories, as the year-ends; because I will be moving from one point to another very often.

Let the work begin!

Yesterday morning I got up early, thought I would head out of the house–with the intent of going to the park or the beach; take some pictures of birds, the water, boats—or whatever got my eye’s attention; then come back home to write a blog post or two. Well, that was the plan. Before I could get going, I heard some noise outside the door, peeked through the window to see what the racket was and suddenly—there it was, a change of plans. The County, in its infinite wisdom had decided to replace the aluminum culvert pipes around our neighborhood, with concrete ones, and today was our turn. That is fine, but could they have let me know ahead of time?

We need to move...

Not being one to miss an opportunity, I quickly got my Canon out; took some pictures, and went out to talk to the work crew, let them know I might be talking about them in my blog. The men were a good-natured bunch—all they said was “as long as what I had to say about them was good, it would be okay with them”. My response—“it would be all good—as long as I could get out of my driveway”. No problem there, they graciously moved all the heavy trucks and equipment, and I was on my way—to the spot I originally had in mind.

It is beautiful out here,,, the birds agree!

It was a beautiful day, at Gilchrist Park, sunny and bright. There were people out having lunch and reading books under the pavilion. Others were just sitting around enjoying the weather. I got into easy conversation with a woman who reminded me that there will be music on the park Thursday night. I made a mental note of that and went back home.

In addition, I now have added respect for the job those men do every day. It was nearly 90 degrees outside, while they plugged away at their duties. Tough job, but somebody has to do it, right? Glad it is not me.

Life is good!

On any given day, life throws surprises your way, especially in our neighborhood. One day you step outside to find turtles sunning in your backyard, and yet another day you see a bobcat chasing some other animal. Nevertheless, you take it all in stride; life is what you make it, so you learn to enjoy it!

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Traveling to far away places…


Article first published as Traveling to Far Away Places… on Technorati
Last week I had the distinct pleasure of traveling fifty thousand miles around the world; to places such as Namibia-Africa, Madrid-Spain, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, The Alps in Switzerland, and finally–the island of Barbados. As you can imagine, I am still jet lagged—but so happy to have taken this trip. Were you following along this adventure? I was traveling in my mind, again. This time tagging along with NBC’s Matt Lauer of the Today Show, as my guide.

 Me, being one of those people with a champagne taste and a decidedly beer budget, take my pleasures whenever I can get them. Traveling to far away places is something I dream of; a big part of my bucket list. So when NBC announced the popular “Where in the World is Matt Lauer” series was back this year, I waited with giddy anticipation to see just “Where in the World” Matt would show up. I was not disappointed, this year’s offerings were spectacular, fun-filled and very much a lesson in history and geography. The countries visited were breathtaking. The culture angles (my favorite) taught us all about the people, languages and dialects spoken, the music, customs and traditions, traditional dress and of course–the food, there must always be food.

I’ve followed this series over the years and always take something away from it; each place visited offers an opportunity to see how the rest of the world lives. Fascinating. For example the Swiss Alps, looked beautiful and inviting, but all I could think of was “it must be cold out there”. I lived through twenty years of winter weather in New York City, and even though I love this city, winter is not the time I would chose to visit.

I come from a warm, tropical weather country, Panama, but still prefer temperatures that fluctuate somewhere between 50 and 85 degrees. Not always attainable, but preferred nonetheless. Case in point? We currently live in SW Florida, enough said.

 With that in mind, my two favorite of the featured countries this year were Madrid and Barbados; with Kuala Lumpur following right behind; they have all now been added to my bucket list. I constantly barrage the hubby with travel ideas “torture” as he calls it, but my travel dreams include visits to Greece and Rome too. A few years ago I managed to land a 3-week trip that took me to London and Paris; it was part of a global perspective class I took at Eckerd College, where I completed an undergraduate degree. It was a glorious experience, one I will never forget, and the best part of it? It was a “real” credit class with lots of writing required to document the experience.

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris

 We spent two weeks in London, where we visited the essential sights: Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theater, Buckingham Palace, the National Portrait Museum, and many more. In Paris, where we only stayed five days, the most memorable sites include The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Musee’ D’ Orsay and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Of course; in both places we experienced fabulous and delicious cuisine as well as enjoyed daily tours that informed the mind. Charles Dickens‘ home comes to mind.

This trip took place five years ago but I will forever relish the memories. The mind is a powerful tool, it serves to keep snapshots of points and places in time. Taking lots of photos, helps too.

 If you missed “Where in the World is Matt Lauer” last week, here is a link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/45285715#45254966

17

Art is all around us in SW Florida


This mural greets visitors outside CHEC's parking lot
This weekend, it was difficult to decide what to do, and where to go for entertainment. The SW Florida sun coast was bubbling with all types of art events and festivals from Sarasota to Fort Myers, and places in between.

Since we live in one of those in-between places (Charlotte County, FL) I took the easy way out and opted to attend “Art Sensation ’11”, an annual celebration of local music, art and culture; an event  sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Council of Charlotte County, held at the Charlotte County Event and Conference Center (CHEC).

Naomi Pringle proudly displays a copy of her book, "Ginga Root Tea"

This year’s Art Sensation had an impressive list of participants who boasted many talents: jewelers, painters, historians, and many other artists and performers; but for obvious reasons, this writer gravitated and connected with the writers in the house. I had the opportunity to meet and talk to James Abraham, Roland Edwards, and Naomi Pringle, three of our community’s published authors; who generously shared their knowledge and insights about the publishing world.

Roland Edwards author of "Who do you say I am"

They related writing experiences, talked about upcoming projects and invited me to attend upcoming writing workshops, they made me feel welcome in their literary midst.

James Abraham, the Book-broker and writer

This is only the beginning of “snow bird” season” in SW Florida; so I suspect I will be getting busy checking out venues until the end of the year. I will be on the lookout for things to do and will keep you posted; especially, if they are free!

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