While in Florida, we checked out a Sugar Sand Festival exhibit, “Sandimals,” while on Clearwater Beach.
These incredible sculptures were made from the beach’s white sand. It was held in a huge tent, shaded from the sun, and cool inside.
A for Aardvark.
Mr. Beaver.
An eagle.
We meandered through the one-way path observing this amazing and unique artwork. The sculptures were arranged according to the alphabet…like many children’s books: A for aardvark, B for bear, C for cat, etc…and the displays were all different animal types.
These two reminded me of Frog and Toad – beloved children’s book characters.
It was fascinating.
My favorite: the leopard…his spots were holes in the sand.
A wise old owl.
A fun creature: the platypus.
There was one artist working silently on a dog sculpture, putting on the last touches. It would be fun to watch the whole process…starting from the top down. I’m sure it takes a long time. It definitely takes talent.
One artist working on a dog sculpture.
The peacock was extraordinary.
R for rabbit and rhinoceros’.
It’s hard to remember these are all sculpted using fine sand.
S for sloth.
U for unicorn.
Y for Yeti.
It was really fun to walk through this display of sand animals…an unusual “walk on the beach” experience.
We were in Florida last week, on the gulf side, close to Clearwater Beach. It was beautiful. Sunny… every day, temperatures in the 80’s…every day.
Sunset over Clearwater Beach.
We spent time near the water, and submerged ourselves in the water once. It felt wonderful. We walked along beaches and enjoyed the fine, white, sugar sand, and seeing the awesome shades of turquoise water, beautiful blue skies, shore birds, sea shells, sail boats. We “soaked” it all in…sun, waves, sea air, warm temps.
We didn’t know the name of these interesting shorebirds.
Usually when I am on the water’s edge I look for sea shells…(or rocks if I’m on Lake Superior’s rocky shore). I can’t help myself. As I walked along looking for shells I thought about a poem I wrote several years ago. I looked it up after we returned home and am sharing it below.
Shells found along the sea in Florida.
Along the Sea (2010)
Here I go again...
Walking along the beach,
Tides go out, tides come in,
I’m open to what it’ll teach.
Water rolling over the toes,
Sun sparkling across the sea,
The gentle sound of waves,
All soothes the core of me.
I walk along and sing psalms
As the pulsing waves repeat,
I feel a sense of calm
As my eyes draw to my feet.
I reach down for a token
From the bounty of the sea.
And check to see if it’s broken,
If so, I toss it back quickly.
I can’t resist, so I pick up more
Searching for one without mars,
Noting what likeness to people they bore,
Broken, wounded, with scars.
So, I start being less selective
And find new beauty in these...
My mind gently corrected
As I choose shells along the sea.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
I was surprised by tears the other night, when I sold our vintage baby bassinet.
The bassinet was handed down to me from my mother, and I only assume, she and my dad bought it, or were gifted with it, when I (or my brother) was born.
The vintage bassinet.
I’m not even sure why I became a little emotional when I put it on the front porch, because we used it more as a decoration these last three decades than for our newborns to sleep in. At one time someone suggested I put a fern in it and let the fronds drape over the sides. That sounds pretty, but I didn’t do that. Mostly I filled it with all our stuffed animals.
There is an endearing story about the stuffed animals in the bassinet. We had a sweet kitty cat named Caramel Corn (that was her coloring). She was a cat that liked people, and the indoors. When we moved to our house in Northfield, she oriented herself to her new digs. One day, shortly after we moved in, I couldn’t find her. I looked everywhere and she was not to be found. I thought, although it was highly unusual, maybe she snuck outside. So I waited, and hoped she’d find her way home.
A few hours later I went upstairs and out the corner of my eye I saw some movement towards the bassinet. I went over to check it out and to my surprise, there was Caramel Corn snuggled with all the stuffed animals in the bassinet! She looked so cozy. I was relieved she was safe and in the house.
Our precious Caramel Corn.
The new buyer wanted the bassinet for that very night, but she couldn’t come at a time when we were home, so she asked if I would leave it on the porch for her to pick up. I placed the bassinet on the front porch (without the stuffed animals) and decided to trust her to leave the money under the mat (she did).
As I set the bassinet on the porch I thought of my own babies, and then about the baby that was to sleep in it that night. I figured, even if I didn’t get paid, it was a good feeling knowing a baby was going to be sleeping in the bassinet once again.
I have had a series of annual check-ups recently; dentist, mammogram, eye doctor, lab work and a wellness visit with my physician. All have gone well…I may need cataract surgery…but that’s to be expected at my age I guess.
As I’m driving to my appointments, I think about those folks in countries where they walk a long distance to get health care, and/or wait in long lines to see a health care professional, and/or do not even attempt to go because they cannot afford the services. I think about such things and am very grateful for affordable, accessible healthcare, right here within minutes of my home. I don’t want to take it for granted. What a blessing it is. I am grateful.
Time for spring cleaning
It is a lot of hard work,
But satisfying.
When it’s done, I’m glad.
But, there is always more to do.
For now, it’s enough.
As spring emerges~
It’s time for new adventures.
Wonder what they’ll be?
A clown with many faces.
As we were spring cleaning last week, I brought down a clown that sits on a high shelf, to dust it off. As I was dusting it, I was transported down memory lane.
This clown was from my mom’s collection. She had quite a fun collection. I wish I had taken a photo of all the different clowns she had at one time. Whenever I see a clown figurine, I think of her. She died in 2009.
I kept one of her clowns. It’s a wonderful clown, with masks that can be put on and off its face. Not only is the clown a nice remembrance of my mother, but also, it evokes fond memories from when we would go visit her when my boys were little. They would always ask grandma if they could change out the masks on that clown. She would say “yes”, and they boys would carefully put on a new mask.
After cleaning up the clown, we put it back up on the shelf, where it stands tall (ready to perform for us I think) until the next time.
We went to the world premiere production of Something Happened in Our Town at the Children’s Theatre, in Minneapolis. It was a play written for children to address racism and police shootings, particularly of black men. It was produced to help parents address these difficult subjects with their own children. It is based on a book by the same title, and it was well done.
The stage is set for the play.
The playwright, Cheryl L. West, states in the program, “In a time of reckoning in our country, this work is a call to action, to facilitate the much-needed discussion about inclusion, compassion, and what it really means to be peace makers in our homes, schools, and communities. Hopefully, this story will move us one step closer to healing our racial divide.”
The program.
The young actors did an awesome job. We stayed after the play for a Q&A session, and learned how mature and wise they were, and how much they learned by putting on this production. There were psychologists in attendance at rehearsals, so when there were some difficult scenes someone was there to help the performers process them. I was grateful our church acquired tickets and encouraged us to attend this event. It was worthwhile.
March 27th was the last performance of this play here in Minneapolis. It will be interesting to see what happens next…will other theaters pick up on this play and produce in other places in the country?
Apparently for two years before the 2020 pandemic, Bachman’s sponsored a spring flower show at the Galleria. I didn’t know about it at the time. Now, two years later, after the pandemic, Bachman’s is once again, sponsoring another flower show: AFloral Experience at Galleria ~Sugar Coated.
A Floral Experience at Galleria.
We happened upon it by accident. We were going out to dinner at the Good Earth in the Galleria, after an interesting play at the Children’s Theatre. We noticed there were a lot of flowers in the mall as we walked toward the restaurant.
Beautiful blooming daffodils adds to the honeycomb display.
Blooming cupcakes.
The hostess at Good Earth then informed us the Bachman’s spring flower show was opening the next day!
Ice cream cones: must be strawberry flavor.
After dinner we decided to walk around the indoor mall, and we saw a preview of the bright and beautiful show. It was all set up, and ready for the debut.
Colorful skittles…blooming lillies..
It was fun to see so much color. It was wonderful to see blooming flowers.
Cotton candy clouds create indoor showers.
Silver beads hanging from clouds represent April Showers.
The theme was “Sugar Coated” and it was colorful, delightful…and not crowded (as it probably would be the very next day when the show opened).
A giant gummy bear.
Hydrangea trees…
The show runs from March 27 through April 10, 2022.
Lollipops.
Colorful candy sticks.
Hyacinths about to bloom, set with deep blues and whites, create a stunning display. In a near-by display some of the hyacinths were blooming and smelled so fragrant.
It was a “sweet” surprise, and a great ending to our fun day in the cities.
I always thought it would be fun to be at safely tucked into a cabin on Lake Superior during a November gale. At a previous cabin we rented years ago, the owners had recorded, on VHS, a November storm that we could watch while staying at the cabin. It was always intriguing to see how incredibly high those waves came slamming into the cliffs at that resort.
Snow falling on our rented cabin on Lake Superior.
A touch of sunshine the first day.
We just came back from a couple days on the north shore, safely tucked into a cabin on Lake Superior during a March snowstorm. The waves came slamming into the rocky shore sending up sprays of water into the air.
The lake was full of white caps and the waves coming to shore were huge. Not like a November gale, but still a memorable snowstorm for us.
We managed to get in a hike that morning before the predicted storm. It was fun to walk along the lake, through trees, and we were delighted to find little gnomes along the trail. Three times we came upon these little trolls, cheering us on.
Once back in our cabin we settled in for the rest of the day, and the storm. It was cozy. The snow started falling and the wind was whipping and churning up the lake as we sat indoors, by a nice crackling fire and watched it unfold through the large patio doors overlooking the lake. The amount of snow that fell was not what was predicted, but the wind was wicked, and the lake turbulent.
The warm, crackling fire.
Last year when were we up at this same resort on the north shore in March, the temperatures were in the 50’s and 60’s. This year the temps were in the 30’s with wind chill temps even lower. But no matter what, Lake Superior is my happy place and it was great to be on the shore once again.
Snow falling on an old, picturesque, fishing hut along the shore of Lake Superior.
