The highlight for us was the 3,000 sq. foot miniature circus exhibit consisting of canvas tents, people, animals, and equipment.....all handcarved over a 50 year period by Howard Tibbals on a scale of l in. to l ft. The details included actual knotted ropes holding the tents to stakes, performers putting on makeup, or being shaved, food on the plates in the dining tent, and animals being fed fruits, grains, and hay and so much more! It was amazing to see!
If you have never been to a circus, talk to an older person who has! They will tell you the excitement of having the circus come to their town or nearby and about the joy of spending an evening being entertained by the antics of clowns! You will probably sense their excitement when they tell about the trapeze artist or the tight wire walker.
We spent a few days on Siesta Key and Nokomus Beaches! The reading, lunching, shelling, bird and people watching were relaxing and entertaining! The people watching was most interesting. When approaching each beach, we would marvel at the many sun-worshippers with their chairs turned toward the radiating sun to inflict further damage to their skin.
At Oscar Scherer State Park, we took a hike to see the rare Scrub Jay bird that was quite approachable and whose numbers were on the rise.... thanks to volunteers who served a pancake breakfast for campers to raise funds. At a park vegetable stand, we purchased tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, and oranges. Janet got several comments biking back to Silver with the carrot tops hanging out of the back of her bike carrier!
Another hike took us to within 600 ft. of an active Bald Eagle's nest. The access was limited by the Rangers. The nest was huge, can withstand high winds, and reportedly housed 4-5 eaglets that are very protected as it is our National Bird. Grandpa Eaton loved the American Eagle, of course! We all should!
People of note the past few weeks include: Rachael and Shelby, 80 year old people from Alabama who had RVd for 20 years for many months at a time, including several trips to Alaska. Shelby, a WWII Navy Electrician and retired school superintendant-coach was very helpful one day rigging a device to help us retrieve our internet box that had fallen between the walls of Silver. Silver had some electronic indigestion for a few days.
Another couple asked to look at the interior of Silver and were immigrants from Istanbul and Budapest! Very interesting folks!
The last couple were in their 70s and had been married 7 years, having each lost a spouse to cancer and Lou Gehrigs disease.....remarkable people who had carried on after much heartache.
Our Thoughts:
EXERCISE!
Exercise your physical being!
Exercise your mental being!
Exercise your spiritual being!
Dr. Phil is always encouraging people to use verbs because they show action! Also in the movie "War Horse", the Irish lady actress says to her son, "Action builds character!" On a bicycle ride, we came to a sign saying, The End of The Trail! When you look back at your life journey, a good thing to do once in awhile, do you see action on the pages of your life? Better check before your trail ends!!
Since I live with my own personal trainer and with him 24 hours a day now, I am more than ever working on pushing myself physically.....biking, hiking, using stretch bands for weight resistance. We can all do more than what we think we can!! Just think about it! By Janet
Somewhere in the vast universe lies one of millions of galaxies in which our solar system sits. Of the billions of stars in that galaxy, our sun hangs with its planets, one being the earth. By some strange power, this earth has a moon which causes the tides that bring forth the shells of former shellfish to the shore to form gorgeous sand beaches. On this particular beach today stands about 50 shore birds basking in the sun, grooming themselves, while waiting patiently for the moon to carry their next bountious supply of food to them. A glorious system and powerful sight! By Ty
Funnies: It has been a riot listening to Ty argue with the GPS system in Silver. He is always yelling at it while driving down the road trying to prove he is right. The score stands five to four in his favor thus far.
