The Nina and the Pinta (but no Santa Maria)

You never know what's going to happen next in Punta Gorda. On December 20th, the Nina and the Pinta sailed into Charlotte Harbor and docked at Fisherman's Village. My folks were here for a couple of days post-Christmas and Dad and I took advantage of the opportunity to go on board these hand-built replicas of Christopher Columbus' ships. Viewing the ships was mildly interesting. What made the outing enjoyable was talking to some of the volunteer crew members about the ships and their experiences onboard.

Both ships were built by hand by master shipbuilders in Brazil who still use design and construction techniques dating back to the 15th century. It took 20 men 32 months to build the replica 65 foot Nina and 36 months to build the larger Pinta. My favorite part of the Nina was the 550 pound tiller (they didn't have wheels for steering vessels back in the 1490s) that, surprisingly, takes only a few pounds of pressure to move. Even so, I can't imagine that it's very relaxing for the captains of these ships when they journey from point A to point B. I enjoyed hearing about the small cannon aboard the Nina that has the capacity to shoot three pound cannon balls as far as a mile. In the days of Columbus, the cannons were used for signalling the ship's location to the other boats in the fleet--a precursor to the game of Marco Polo. Today the ships shoot their cannons when they come into port but instead of cannon balls they spew hot dog buns!

The most interesting part of the outing for me, though, was when my dad made a throw away comment about "when he worked on the river." What???? This was something that I'd never heard before. Turns out that when he was in his early 20's, he spent some time working for the Federal Barge Line on the towboat Mark Twain that ferried barges carrying coal and fertilizer back and forth on the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Alton, Illinois. Dad was one of several deck hands on the steamboat, on watch for six hours at a time as the boat made her way through the 26 locks from its starting point to its destination. It wasn't a stretch for him to end up working on the river since his Uncle Blackie was a licensed riverboat captain at a time when captains couldn't rely on their GPS to warn them of sand bars and other obstacles along the way. It just goes to show that you never know what you're going to learn when you head out the door! I'm taking this as a reminder to keep myself open to new experiences as I head into 2012. Happy New Year!

Florida Rep Presents It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

Everyone has seen Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart about a million times. Although the 1946 film was considered a box office flop at the time of its release, It's a Wonderful Life received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Despite the inspirational story, I've often felt a bit morose after seeing the movie--perhaps the sacrifices George Bailey makes seem a bit too many--so I wasn't particularly interested in seeing Florida Rep's radio play version of the story. My curiosity was piqued, however, when I read an article in Florida Weekly about Mark Chambers as the Foley artist, so Dorrit and I decided to check it out.

When we walked into the theater, we were transported to 1946. A cigarette girl walked around the lobby and a photographer decked out in a Columbo-style trench coat and hat with a press badge lurked in hopes of getting a picture of one of the radio stars.Young girls screamed and swooned when the radio star passed by them. Once we were seated, we became part of the WFRT audience for the radio show (something I hadn't considered) and we were entertained during the count down to going on the air.

The announcer thanked us for braving the storm this Christmas Eve to come to the show and introduced the actors, including the adorable little girl playing the youngest daughter who carried a wooden box to stand on so that she could reach the microphone when she spoke.We were asked to silence any electronic devices that we might have brought with us from the future. Then it was show time!!! The show itself was faithful to the movie, and we all know the story. It was incredibly fun to watch the actors perform for both the audience members seated in their easy chairs at home and the audience members in the studio. Ryan Crider, who played George Bailey as a child, had all the earnestness of a young Jimmy Stewart, and Brad LaPlanche, who played Clarence the Angel, was a real character. Speaking of characters, Mark Chambers, the crotchety Foley artist, was a show in and of himself.

It was a blast to watch him create the sounds to set the scene for the audience at home. There was a bucket of ice water for when George rescued his brother from the frozen lake, high heels attached to poles for women walking in and out of the room, and a wide assortment of other paraphernalia used in unexpected ways. The commercial breaks were particularly entertaining. My two favorites were the Chiquita Bananas jingle with the girl singers dressed up like Carmen Miranda with banana bunches on their heads and Clarence the Angel taking on the role of an extremely constipated man extolling the virtues of his favorite laxative. (This was, after all, a show on WFRT!) I found myself rooting for George to realize that he had changed the world for the better and that his life was worth living in a way I never do when I watch the movies. I felt really connected to the characters and the story--which is ironic since the radio play is so much more transparent than a movie. As the "Applause" sign went off for the final time--we had seen the last show--the cast and crew congratulated each other and a few tears were shed. The audience left the radio studio with wide smiles and happy moods, realizing, perhaps, that we all do have wonderful lives.

IYC's Holiday Kayak Outing

Like many people, I have memories of my parents bundling us up into the family car and driving around the neighborhood to look at Christmas decorations. I never really got the point of this, but I now have a better appreciation for traditions and getting pleasure out of the simpler things in life (not that the way some people decorate can be called simple!!!) In Punta Gorda, this tradition lives on, but with a twist. Because of the PGI canal system and the resulting boat traffic, people decorate not only the fronts of their homes, but the backs as well. So you have options in your mode of transportation to view the holiday lights--you can go the traditional route and hop into your car or you can head out via boat or, if you're a member of the IYC kayak club, you can enjoy the lights from your kayak.

The IYC kayakers have done this outing for several years, and the veteran participants have it down to an art. The goal is not to just view the decorations but to become one with the decorations and a sight to be seen by those on land. So part of the adventure is to light up our kayaks and dress up in festive, yet tasteful, ways. My kayak had its own personal Christmas tree and five strings of LED lights and was downright subtle in comparison to the decorations that some people put together.

Thirty-seven kayaks carrying 54 people headed out at dusk last Thursday evening. The weather was perfect for our outing and we didn't even have to wear jackets over our holiday attire. I have to say that viewing the decorations from water level was pretty special. There were yards with angels heralding on high and docks with Santa washing out his clothes and lights everywhere you looked.

The organizers of the trip arranged not only for a perfect evening but also for libations along the way--wassail at one home and hot chocolate with a touch of peppermint schnapps at another. (Thanks to our friends who provided the refreshments. We thought we were quite orderly but I heard one person who'd handed out drinks from her dock comment that she couldn't really appreciate the decorations on the kayaks because all she saw was hands reaching up to her for drinks! I can't shake the image of baby birds with their beaks open waiting for their mothers to feed them!)

While it's wonderful to continue family traditions for celebrating the holidays, it's nice to supplement them with new traditions that are all your own. Who knows? Maybe the lighted kayak ride will become part of my annual celebration. Whatever your traditions might be, enjoy them this holiday season.

On the Air with Jeff Collins

Readers of this blog might think that I live a life of total leisure since my posts talk about biking and going to the theater and cooking classes and the like. While I do find time to have a lot of fun, I actually work about 20 hours a week in the field of adult literacy at the Adult Learning Center in Port Charlotte. This morning I had the pleasure of taping a show for Southwest Florida Focus with host Jeff Collins and Mike Reilly, Head of Community Relations for Adult Education (and leader of the BoogieMen, Charlotte County's favorite band) that will air at 8:00 on Sunday morning on 1580 a.m. and the other local Clear Channel Radio stations.

Having never done a radio show before, I was a bit nervous going into the taping. Collins is a real pro, though, and immediately put me at ease as we settled into our chairs and did a sound check on our mics. Once we got started, it was easy and fun for Mike and me to talk about the programs that we offer at the Center. We shared that the functional illiteracy rate in Charlotte County is approximately 18%. (You might be surprised to know that this is consistent with the national average, meaning that almost one out of every five adults in our country does not have adequate literacy skills.) We talked about the negative impact the recently imposed tuition requirement has had on adult ed programs across the state, resulting in a 40% decline in enrollment. We talked about how we match volunteer tutors with students to supplement their studies at the Center and how our volunteers get as much out of the experience as our students do. And, of course, we talked about our students, how dedicated they are, and how inspiring it is to see them work to achieve their educational goals.

The 30 minute taping flew by, and at times I forgot that there was a big mic in front of me as I tried to remember if I had covered everything on my list. Did I mention the Chocolate Festival that we are hosting in February to raise money for our tuition hardship assistance fund? Did we mention that we have an online program for adult learners who can't get to the Center during our hours of operation? (Yes, on both counts!) I am sure that I made a few missteps along the way (and that they'll stick out to me like a sore thumb when I listen to the show on Sunday) but overall it was a fun experience. And, of course, I'm grateful that we had the opportunity to get the word out about the work that we are doing at the Center. Thanks to Jeff Collins and Clear Channel Radio for helping us raise awareness about adult illiteracy in our community.

The Uncalled For Christmas Tour

According to a Yiddish proverb, "What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul." There must be some truth to this saying because my cares dissolved away last night at a hilarious evening of "storytelling" by the Uncalled for Trio. I was invited to this fundraiser for the Visual Arts Center by some friends and had absolutely no idea what to expect. I tend to be wary of comedy routines; I can hardly think of a less enjoyable way to spend an evening than being trapped in a room listening to someone who is just not funny. Trust me, though, when I say that there was no need for this concern with The Uncalled for Trio, which is made up of Bill Lepp, Kim Weitkamp and Andy Offutt Irwin.

Lepp is the five time winner of the West Virginia Liar's Contest. (Not wanting to fall for a whopper, I checked it out and this contest actually is a Memorial Day tradition in Charleston, West Virginia, with Lepp being the proud possessor of five Golden Shovels.) Lepp's stories centered around his grandfather who, as an immigrant who came to America just before the Depression, never threw anything out. Of course he wanted to put his treasures to good use so one year he combined a snowmobile and a kayak into what Lepp called a motorized "Cockroach Santa" because of the antenna coming out of its head and entered it in the local Christmas parade. When the remote control was overridden by the ambient noise, "Santa" terrorized the Irish step dancing children in front of him in the parade, who to this day do not set cookies and milk out for Santa. I was literally doubled over with laughter as I listened to his tales.

Weitkamp calls herself "the Hallmark moment between the two crazies," and this was an apt characterization. Weitkamp's stories centered around people whose laps she'd sat in as a child, ranging from the owner of the local 5 and 10 store doing his annual gig as Santa to her father who would pull her onto his lap and sing a few off-key bars from "You are My Sunshine" as a way of bridging the gap between them. While Weitkamp's stories had a good dose of humor woven into them, they primarily told of the importance of relationships. Weitkamp ended her act by pulling out a guitar and singing a beautiful version of "You are My Sunshine."

Last up was Andy Irwin who describes himself as having a "silly putty" voice. As he channelled the voice and spirit of his 85 year old Aunt Marguerite, I almost forgot that he was the one telling the stories. Aunt Marguerite is quite the character and, having gotten bored of bridge clubs and garden clubs, recently graduated with three of her friends from medical school and opened the "Southern White Ladies Hospital." The hospital is a place for many people, including those who have done something so ridiculous that they don't want to go to the regular ER to be treated. Take, for instance, Ray, one of the hospital's recent patients. Ray is an asthma sufferer who pulled his inhaler out of his pocket and took a big suck only to get a throat lozenge--wrapper still on--lodged in his esophogus. Oops!!! Aunt Marguerite tells people who make an inappropriate comment that "that was uncalled for," and I have to assume that that's the genesis for the name of this tour.

I can't tell you when I've had a more enjoyable evening (and the Visual Arts Center raised some money from the event to boot.) Going overboard on these things as I often do, I'm now contemplating going to the National Storytelling Festival next October in Tennessee. Wouldn't it be a hoot??? May you have the gift of laughter this holiday season.

Biking on Boca Grande

Each month a group from IYC heads out for a bike ride to a fun destination followed by lunch. I have to admit that I love being able to explore other areas on a route that someone else has already scoped out (although eventually I will have to step up to the plate and do some organizing myself!) This month's destination was Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, a little slice of heaven with its beautiful beaches and blue waters.

Boca Grande is best known today for its big money tarpon fishing tournaments. Back in the late 19th century, though, phosphate was the name of the game, and its discovery in Charlotte Harbor led to the development of Gasparilla Island into a major deep water port and the construction of a railway system to transport supplies to the port and to move phosphate onto ocean going freighters. When the port went out of business in 1979, the need for the railroad no longer existed. Seeing an opportunity to enhance the town's amenities, the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association converted the old railway bed into a bike path that is now shared by bikes and golf carts.

Thirty plus bikers (too many to get a good picture of!) gathered about three miles outside of town in a hotel parking lot to get organized for the ride. The only mishap of the day occurred when we discovered that the hotel had closed down since Murray, our trip leader, spoke with them the prior week, leaving us without "facilities" to use before the ride. Sometimes you just have to tough it out, though, so we saddled up and headed onto the bike path. Everyone ignored the route that Murray had planned which would have taken us down some of Boca Grande's little side streets and headed straight for Gasparilla Island State Park.

In addition to its beautiful beaches, Gasparilla Island State Park is home to a lighthouse that was constructed in 1890 with $35,000 of Congressionally-allocated funds. The lighthouse now houses a neat little museum where, for a nominal charge, you can read about the history of Boca Grande and check out some very cool old photos of the area.

After enjoying some time on the beach, we headed off for lunch at the Pink Elephant. Cathy and Glen saved room for what looked to be a delicious key lime pie for dessert (and then showed some of the other bikers the way to the Loose Caboose for ice cream. They did not, however, double dip!) I'm not sure that the calories burnt on our 13 mile ride offset the calories from dessert, but who's counting on a beautiful December day in Southwest Florida???

CSO Presents "Tiz the Season" Holiday Magic Concert

What would the holidays be without a bit of Christmas music? Each year our own Charlotte Symphony Orchestra gets into the spirit and presents a holiday pops concert. It was quite a different experience from one of CSO's classical concerts (and not only because Santa made an appearance!)

CSO's pops concerts are performed at the Charlotte Harbor Event Center in order to accommodate more people than the Charlotte Performing Arts Center can hold. Audience members are seated at large round tables and can enjoy adult beverages during the show, setting the tone for more of a party than a serious concert. Big screens are set up on either side of the stage to compensate for the lack of tiered seating. (Even though I was at a table in the front, I loved the screens, which gave me the chance to see the Maestro's expression as he conducted. They also permitted me to easily identify what instruments were being played. This came in very handy when the harp was being plucked or the French horns took the lead.)

The music was, of course, quite festive. The first half was "just" the CSO, with a few twists. I particularly enjoyed A Canadian Brass Christmas and Swingin' Santa is Coming to Town (with Robert Rosenstock playing a mean jazz piano). In recognition of his contributions to the CSO and the community, local real estate auctioneer Phil Wilson was invited to the stage to conduct the orchestra in its rendition of Sleigh Ride. It was quite hilarious to see Wilson wiggling his way through the song after having told the orchestra, "I'll get you started, and you finish up!"

The extended audience sing-along was the only off key point of the evening (although it was quite popular with some of the folks at my table!) Cellist Charles Noble took over conducting while the Maestro walked around the audience and encouraged people to sing into the microphone. (Note to everyone: This might sound like a good idea on paper, but it's really quite painful!!!)

Steve March Torme, son of Mel Torme, joined the CSO for the second half of the show, singing some classic Christmas tunes and some of his own music. I loved It Happened in Sun Valley, a song from his dad's "vault" and one I'd never heard before. It was interesting to learn that The Christmas Song ("chestnuts roasting on an open fire....") was written by Mel Torme and Bob Wells on a sweltering July day in LA. Like his father, Torme is a real crooner, and his voice is well-suited to singing holiday favorites.

As the audience members streamed out of the Event Center I heard comments about how much fun the evening was and how the show put them in the holiday spirit. That constitutes a successful evening to me! Happy holidays!

Crystal and Tibetan Bowl Concert: A Sound Massage

I spent Thanksgiving some years back in Sedona, Arizona and, while it was incredibly beautiful and the hiking was great, it was a bit "crystal-ly" for my taste. So you might be surprised to hear that I was excited about spending an evening at the Yoga Sanctuary listening to Robert Austin play his "healing" bowls. But with my "changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes," I couldn't resist checking out his performance with its promise of an experience of "a deep state of relaxation, mental clarity and restored energy."

When I arrived at the Yoga Sanctuary, it felt like a cross between a yoga session and a slumber party. Most people were sitting or lying on yoga mats with bolsters, blankets, and pillows (some of which had been brought from home!)

Austin was set up at the front of the room with his bowls, a Buddha and some candles, and his mother Jennie was seated at a xylophone off to the side. Austin, a retired corporate chef who turned in his mixing bowls for healing bowls, began the evening with a short talk about the "language of the bowls." The concert would start with the crystal bowls, which emit a "high, angelic vibration" that is used to clear the negative energy in the room. He would then move on to the Tibetan bowls, which are the healers. He explained that Tibetan bowls can be placed on and around your body and be played to return your body to a state of harmony. The harmonic tones of the bowls are apparently stronger than any pain that the body can hold onto. Austin interjected humor into the description of what the evening held for us so I didn't feel too much like I had somehow stumbled into the twilight zone. He then dimmed the lights and encouraged us to get into comfortable positions so we could let the bowls perform their magic.

I'll admit to a healthy dose of skepticism, but I laid down on my mat and tried to open myself up for the experience. When Austin started playing, I can only describe the sounds as ethereal and shimmering. Austin primarily used cushioned mallets of different sizes to strike and stroke the bowls but he also used a bow (like what is used to play the violin) and his own voice. (I generally liked the chanting but when he "sang" in a low voice directly into a Tibetan bowl the sound was a bit creepy.)

He also incorporated little cymbals and what looked to be Native American rainsticks (the sound of which was incredibly relaxing.) Mom Jennie periodically played her xylophone.

For the first few minutes, I kept peeking to see how he was creating this music. I then gave up on this and tried to just relax. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when he told us that he was going to finish the concert with a "healing bowl ceremony." I felt physically unable to open my eyes so I can't report on what this involved.

Once most of the audience was back in an upright position, Austin asked for a guinea pig. Nobody put up their hand (probably because that would have required too much energy!) so he pointed to me and asked if I had any lingering discomfort in my body. I didn't want to admit that I hadn't been able to quiet the "monkey chatter" in my head, so I said that my shoulders were still tight. He came over with a large bowl and asked if he could put it on my head. (He commented that it would look pretty hilarious and that it was too bad nobody had an iPhone, at which point Bonnie whipped hers out to snap a couple of shots.)

The bowl was very heavy, and he stroked it with a mallet and gently hit it a few times. I could feel the vibrations run through my entire body. Once he removed the bowl, he asked me if I felt better and I literally could not put a sentence together. My shoulders still felt a bit tight, but my mind had been emptied of all its noise. He did a couple of other demonstrations of using the bowls to alleviate pain and, with that, the evening was over.

It's hard to describe how relaxed and peaceful I felt the rest of the evening. It was the feeling you get when you have a really, really good massage and you slither off the massage table in a noodle-like state. You can check out a short performance by Austin on YouTube by googling "Robert Austin Crystal Bowl Sound Healer." (It has now been bookmarked as one of my favorites!) All I can say is that I left feeling that I had been on a magical, mystery tour. Not a bad way to feel going into the hectic holiday season!