Thursday, November 14, 2019

“Give to the world the best that you have, and the best will come back to you.” ~ Edward Bok


Yes, a new blog post. I started out doing two posts a week when I began blogging over 8 years ago. As time went on, I cut it down to once a week, then once a month, to where we are now. I think that this is the second or third post that I've done this year!

Bruce and I have been in Florida for about a month (heading back home next week for the holidays). Up until the last couple of days, the weather has been beastly hot and humid. The car registered 97 degrees one day last week. This is apparently exceptional at this time of year, even for Florida, and really made it too hot to do things out of doors for an extended period of time. 

Last winter a friend recommended making a trip to Bok Tower.  Located in Lake Wales, Florida, this is about a two-hour drive north for us, so you really do have to plan a day for it. With the recent break in the weather, we decided to make the visit.

We accompanied a guided tour that ended at the tower itself, and we were able to listen to the carilion bells being played, while we could also watch the bell player on a TV screen, The property is covered with lovely gardens, some of which are just amazing. 

"Bok Tower Gardens (also known as Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower) is a contemplative garden, and bird sanctuary located north of Lake WalesFloridaUnited States. It consists of a 250-acre (100 ha) garden, the 205-foot (62 m) tall Singing Tower with its carillon bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower is built upon Iron Mountain, one of the highest points of peninsular Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (90 m) above sea level.[4] It is a National Historic Landmark that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, nationally significant for its association with Edward W. Bok and its designers." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bok_Tower_Gardens





The friendly, little squirrel actually got too friendly and we had to get away from it!
Outside of the gift shop










Pileated Woodpecker

It somehow seems appropriate that St. Francis has a gecko resting on his facešŸ¤—




 Bruce held up the tree so that the tour group could safely pass under it.

Amazon Waterlilies - utterly amazing. They are substantial enough that a child could float on one.










Bruce got close enough to this little guy to determine that he was probably dead. 



In addition to the wonderful grounds, the property also has a lovely cafe and a super gift shop. The shop is large and stocked with a wide variety of quality items including soaps and candles, honey, bulbs for planting, tableware, etc. 

It was a lovely day trip, and it was so nice to be outside for an extended period of time.


Tuesday, April 23, 2019

"Sometimes life drops blessings in your lap without your lifting a finger. Serendipity, they call it." ~ Charlton Heston




Life is a never ending series of surprises. Some good, some not so good, and others as completely unpredictable as they can be.

Last winter (2018) I received an email from the representative of a publishing company in Italy. They had stumbled across a series of photos that I had taken of a daVinci exhibit at the Elliot Museum in Stuart, Florida a number of years ago. I shared these photos in a blog post. The publishing company was requesting permission to use a couple of my photos in a book to teach French to struggling Italian middle-school students!


My two photos......
I had a short series of email exchanges with their representative, and gave my permission. Pretty exciting!

I received occasional updates on the project and learned, shortly before we headed back north from Florida last week, that the book was complete and they were ready to send me a copy. It arrived in today’s mail!

This is one of those serendipitous experiences. I never would have imagined that two of my photos would end up in a book, let alone one that focused on academically struggling middle-school students. A bit of a full circle for me!

So yes, I can claim that I am now a published photographer - who would have ever guessed!?

Sunday, January 27, 2019

“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



It’s not always blue sky and sunshine in Florida. We are getting some much needed rain, and I’m not minding it at all.

For whatever reason, I was awake well before dawn this morning, and decided to sort through all of my “saved” items on Facebook. We are talking 100’s of “saves” over the last few years.

It was really interesting, and telling, to see what I have saved to look at, or look at again. I can break it down into some general categories:

  • Reading/Watching
  • Nature
  • Cooking/Baking
  • Crafting/Creating
  • Aging/Health/Stress
  • Relationships/Friendship
  • Downsizing/Simplifying 
  • Music
  • Travel
  • Science/Medicine 
  • Global/Social Justice Issues

I deleted about 90% of them. Really, how many recipes for English Muffins, or articles on downsizing can one read? I’ve saved about 50 or so that I now plan to go back and revisit. It’s going to rain all day!


Monday, January 14, 2019

"When I walk with you I feel as if I had a flower in my buttonhole." ~ William Makepeace Thackeray

We have been back in Florida for two weeks now. It's amazing how easy it is to slip back into our routines. Knitting group for me, golf for Bruce, and of course - all of our Florida friends. I am reminded again of how fortunate we are.


Yesterday we made a trip to the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center. I know that I post pictures from here every year - but you are getting it again! There is always something new to see and hear.








I feel like this one needs a chalk outline!