the grand finale...

 First of all, May the 4th be with you.  You Star Wars fans will understand what I mean.  The Philharmonic performed their last program in the Masterworks series for this season this evening, and it was spectacular.  Coincidentally my spouse said that the first movement of the first piece reminded him of Star Wars. I didn't hear it that way, but that's what makes music fun.  The two pieces this evening were Walton's Symphony No. 1 in B-flat minor and Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 18.  Both pieces were exciting and interesting because they really involved all of the orchestra - bass drum, cymbals, trumpets, trombones, violins, basses, oboe and so much more.  It was a delight.  What I especially loved about the Rachmaninoff piece was the way the piano music was integrated so completely into the whole piece.  The guest pianist, Fabio Bidini, was excellent but he wasn't the typical stand alone guest performer.  He played through the entire Concerto and was every bit as much of the music as all the other instruments.  I don't think I'm describing this very well, but it was just so beautifully done.  I guess you had to be there.  I hope you were. 

Game on...

 I told a friend today that my husband and I really like playing games.  We're very nice to each other most of the time, but, when it comes to games, we get quite competitive.  Maybe it's our chance to work out our aggressions.  Almost every evening after supper we play a game while watching TV.  Among our favorites are Gin Rummy, Scrabble and Dominoes.  Happily we're pretty evenly matched.  Interestingly, both of us come from game playing families.  When we are with my west coast brother, Mexican Train is the big favorite.  On our recent Florida trip, two of my husband's cousins introduced us to a game that was new to us.  It's called Five Crowns, and I highly recommend it, although, fair warning, it is addictive.  It's a rummy type game where you try to build sets or runs of three.  It starts with three cards dealt to each player and builds to the final hand of 13 cards per person.  Jokers are wild but there is also another wild card and it changes with each hand.  For example, if the hand dealt is six cards per person, jokers and sixes are wild.  The trick is remembering which cards are wild when.  I recommend this game as a really good lesson in dealing with frustration.  

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is Brothers and Sisters Day, aka Sibling Appreciation Day.  I think that's lovely.  I really do appreciate my sibling, and my sibling-in-law also.  But siblings don't always appreciate each other, at least until they grow up.  My first husband seemed so surprised when our two kids reached the age when they squabbled from time to time.  He would tell them "You are brother and sister, you must love each other and always be each other's best friends."  Can you tell he was an only child? Happily, they did grow up to be good friends, so good in fact, that they used to embarrass us in restaurants by laughing and carrying on but not doing anything wrong, just enjoying their own private humor.  Happily, my grandchildren have also grown to appreciate their siblings, although I remember my oldest granddaughter telling me once that she wished her parents would build a little house for her in the back yard where she could live by herself.  That was during the time when she and her younger sister were still sharing a room.  Happily at 20 and 22 they now seem to get along quite well.  Of course they are at different colleges.  Now that I think about it, when it comes to sibling appreciation there may be something to the old adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I really do appreciate my west coast brother.  

my Florida

 I mentioned in an earlier blog that, while I liked the villages, I really didn't think I would want to live there.  I realized, as we got deeper into our trip that I wanted to be in a part of Florida where I could see water.  I got my wish when we took a couple of days off from visiting family and friends and drove down the Florida Keys.  I had never been there before.  We stayed in Marathon Key for two nights, and spent the day between in Key West.  I loved going over the Seven Mile bridge and seeing water on both sides of us for much of the drive.  It was everything I think Florida should be.  Later in the trip we visited my husband's cousin who lives in a condo on the water on the Gulf side of Florida.  I really liked that too.  Again it's the view of water that excites me.  

Here are our cheeseburgers in paradise, eaten at Margaritaville.  They really were delicious.  I don't usually take pictures of food but i made a exception here.

We also made it to the southernmost tip of the Keys, 90 miles from Cuba.  We did decide, after all that driving, that when we come back to Key West we will fly down.  All in all though, our Florida trip was a great adventure.  

Florida critters...

 As part of our adventuring around Florida, we drove on "Alligator Alley" and came upon a National Preserve in the Everglades.  I had never been in the Everglades before so we stopped at the information center.  A nice young ranger there was talking to a gentleman in front of us about a loop drive through the back country which also sounded interesting to us.  So we got a little more information, followed directions and found the entrance to the loop.  We were told it would be a two hour drive and it was. The first several miles were  a dusty dirt road and so bumpy that you really couldn't go faster than 10 mph.  This was fine for seeing animals. 

We saw these big boys sunning along the road.  I took this picture from the car.

This relatively little fellow was in the road.  I did feel brave enough to get out of the car for this shot.  

On another day, after the loop adventure, we stopped at a rest area where this sign was posted "WARNING BEWARE OF VENOMOUS SNAKES."  We decided to risk the quick walk to the restrooms.  Having safely made it there, I was standing in a stall, latching the door when I felt something wet and cold on my leg a little above my ankle.  My immediate thought was SNAKE!! but before I went into full panic mode, I looked down and saw a curious puppy who had snuck under the wall with the adjoining stall.  

And that concludes my Florida animal adventures.

I'm back....

 My Wonder Spouse and I returned yesterday from our ten day driving trip to and around Florida. The purpose was to visit friends and family on both sides of our newly merged families, and also to see some parts of Florida I've never seen before.  I'll be hitting the highlights in the next few blogs, in no particular order.  Our general travel plan was to stop and visit with people, take them to lunch or dinner, then spend our nights in convenient hotels.  My WS, being the super organized sort, had the whole trip laid out on a spread sheet, all of the hotels reserved and when possible prepaid.  The other thing that made my WS so wonderful was that he did all the driving.  Believe me, driving I75 in Florida is risky business at best.  If you long for thrills, I recommend it.  He quickly realized that the posted 70 mph speed limit was merely a suggestion that seemed to reflect the minimum realistic speed.  The other fun thing about driving in Florida is that when you exit the interstate you don't end up on a quiet little side street, just another super fast four to eight lane highway.  We have already decided that our next trip to FL will involve flying.  But enough about roads.  Out first stop in FL was to visit friends of mine who live in The Villages (population 150,000).  They have lived there for 14 years and love it. It has many lovely features including 50 golf courses and country clubs, many restaurants and nightly music in the squares, lots of groups and activities. It also has cute little golf carts running all over the place.  My friend admitted though that it's faster to get places in their car.  It was a nice place to visit, but not my cup of tea. More about the places I really loved will follow in the next few blogs.

read a book

 My west coast brother informs me that today is "National Librarian Day." As you might assume, I have many fond memories of librarians.  There was Naomi Tremp, librarian in our small town, who had been there since my father was a child.  The librarian in our high school who let me spend study hall hours in the library shelving books, and discovering wonderful books, including my favorite ever "A Town Like Alice."  There was also the bookmobile driver and many more.  Tomorrow I'm leaving on a 10 day driving trip to visit friends and family to, from and in Florida.  I will not be blogging, so your assignment while I'm gone is to visit your local library and find a great book to read.  Enjoy!