MERMAIDS

On  Wednesday 11 of us traveled to Weeki Watchee State Park.

 This was a Meeting Easting Traveling Senior (METS) trip from church organized by Sharon.

Waiting for the Mermaid Show

 This beautiful peacock entertained us while we waited. He sure was showing off his feathers.

 Waiting for the curtain to go up. While we waited they showed movies from shows in the past.

The show was The Little  Mermaid.

Some of the group posing with a mermaid. 

We had gone back to see their other show but it was cancelled due to lightening in the area. 

 Pat as a lovely mermaid.

 Sharon, another beautiful mermaid.

and me.

Another fun photo stop.

 We also had an informative boat tour of the Weeki Wachee river.

 Even though our day ended rather abruptly in a storm, we had a fun time and would recommend going when you are in the area.

BRAVO

Saturday night my neighbor Pat and I went to Montverde Academy to see their production of Mamma Mia. It was an outstanding performance. Hard to believe they are only high school students. Another friend who saw it said it was better then some of the touring Broadway Shows she has seen of this play.

At the beginning of the show they did a clever song asking us not to sing along with the songs during the performance. Then at the end of the show they cut loose and had us all singing along. A fun time.

ANOTHER EVENING AT EPCOT

We went back to Epcot for the last performance of Disney on Broadway.

 She was the original Mary Poppins on Broadway.

He was Tarzan.

Michael James Scott and Syndee Winters also performed again tonight.

We arrived just as the first show was staring for the evening, so we stood in line to see the second show.

It was well worth the wait and we enjoyed all the songs from their plays. The last song was "Let it Go" from Frozen.

SERVE THE CITY

Saturday 8 of us volunteered to paint fence post at Dream Catcher Horse Ranch, but the weather was only in the low 60's with a chilly wind. The paint called for the temperature  to be at least 70.  So our work day was cancelled. It was good for me because Larry had gotten up at 2 that morning to fly to PA to surprise his son at his 50th birthday party. I was up at 6 and don't think I slept all night.  

Sally, Linda and Brenda petting Duke. Linda found a  home here for her Mother's cat. Linda has been trying to take care of this cat since her Mom had to go into assisted living. She was very thankful.

DAYS FOR GIRLS

February's Days for Girls meeting was on the 20th. My neighbor, Pat went with me. She did a lot of ironing.

I joined  Noelene and Betty doing sewing. Yes, I used a sewing machine, straight sewing for me. I haven't sown for years.

There are many steps and different jobs to do for this project.  Karen,(standing) does an amazing job of finding something for everyone to do.

Yvonne reading the directions for her new machine.

There is a lot of serging to be done. Sharon, Karla and Jan sure keep their machine working nonstop. Maybe Pat will join them next month.

BROADWAY

We went into Epcot to hear a concert on February 17. It is the first we have gone this year.

She was in the Lion King on Broadway.

Michael James Scott, who was the Genie in Aladin on Broadway. They also sang songs from Hercules, Aida and Beauty and the Beast. It was a beautiful evening.  

NEW LOOK

When they removed the Bird of Paradise they carefully did not disturb any of the pavers. But when we asked Orlando to pave in the hole he suggested taking all the pavers out, evening it  up, and putting in a different style to make it look really nice. I had decided not to replant anything but to use pots with flowers.

The new little patio. The pile of sand is to fill in the spaces, I swept it off to see what it looked like..

They power washed the back patio, which hasn't been done since we did it when we moved in. Looks  much better.

GOODBYE BIRD

We had this White Bird of Paradise planted 3 years ago. I wanted a Bird of Paradise but not this giant one.  It was getting bigger and bigger. 

We hired these men to take it out. First they used a chain saw and cut off the leaves and trunk. They were quite heavy. They dug and dug around the root ball.

They tied a rope to it and using their truck were able to pull it out. 

It left a big hole. With all the digging they did they broke the water sprinkler pipe, but they became plumbers and fix it.  Now I need to get something to plant in the space, but it wont be something that grows that big again. 

VALENTINE'S DAY

 We took the new RV out for our first overnight camping trip. We went to the Life Enrichment Center in Fruitland Park for our Florida Gathering of NOMADS on February 14th. Larry gave me beautiful red roses.

BUDDHISM

Our Sunday School class has been studying Adam Hamilton's book Christianity and World Religions.  There is a  Buddhist retreat center  up in Leesburg. Our class visited there on Sunday. It is still under construction. They have dorms for men and  women to come and stay to learn to meditate. There are plans to build a small temple and to bring in 100 more statues.

The monk who talked with was very friendly and said everyone is welcome to come and walk around the grounds, but if a retreat is going on you can not disturb the meditation by going in the building. You can meditate when sitting, standing, laying down or walking around. This retreat is a Vietnamese Retreat center. 95% of Vietnamese are Buddhist. This monk had had a job and family with 3 children. He had to voluntarily become a monk and he had to have permission from his family. He is separated from his family with very little contact. He told us there were two branches of Buddhism. One Northern which is in China and is much more culturally influenced. The other branch went to Indonesia and Vietnam which is where he is from.
  Karla did a very good job of asking him questions.

Buddha was a man that was born in 563 BC as Siddhartha Gautama. His father was a prince and his mother died in child birth. His father kept him protected from anything bad or ugly. He was married and had a son. When he did venture out he saw old age, sickness and dying. He was unable to handle or understand it.  He left home when he was 29 years old to find his place in the world and became a monk. Siddhartha attains enlightenment and becomes the Buddha in 528 BC at the age of 35. He spent the next 45 years of his life teaching others about his insight and experience.

There are many statues of Buddha on the grounds representing different times in his life. They do not worship Buddha but revere him and look to Buddha as a guide and example hoping to achieve the kind of enlightenment that he achieved.

Buddha teaching others about his insights and experience.

 The death of Buddha.

Adam Hamilton looks at each world religion and sees what we can learn from each and how we differ and  how can strengthen our own faith. Meditation practices and not being attached to the things of this world are what we can learn from Buddhism.  Buddha's answer to the suffering he saw was detachment from clinging. Christianity has a different answer, a personal relationship with God. Through Jesus we see a God who loves and cares for humanity. Through Jesus life and death it teaches us that we can find abundant life here and now and in the resurrection in the life to come. Jesus's answer to suffering is a promise that suffering will never have the final word. This is the powerful message of Easter.