Surprise Visit!

Dick is giving a shell lesson!

This has been a busy week of activity. Sam and Lisa Beachy and kids made an unplanned trip to Florida for a funeral. They called us to let us know they were in Sarasota, so we made plans to meet them at Siesta Key Beach on Thursday morning. It was a beautiful day. The sand is so fine and pure white. It is definitely one of the nicest beaches in the world. (We have come to know Sam and his family as he has done a lot of construction work to our house - the big one being gutting our bathroom and giving us a very modern bath with mud shower. I also work with him on the Apple Festival Committee)

After beaching it with the Beachy's (LOL) we all went to lunch at the Hob Nob - a fun outdoor restaurant in Sarasota - for burgers, fries and onion rings! There we ran into Janet and Denny Templeton (Nappanee natives) who were down to their home in Tri-Par (Sarasota). So we all gathered at one table and had good fellowship.

Just the week before Dick and I went to another restaurant in Sarasota with Harbor Isles friends, Jack & Huey Walsh and we ran into Rollie & Pat Heckaman, Janet and Claude Brown and Kate and George Malcom. They all live at Tri-Par which we call "Nappanee South". According to Janet and Denny, they estimate that around 30 couples from the Nappanee-Wakarusa area all winter at Tri-Par.

Friday morning I worked at the church setting up screens for today's service. Dick went to the beach. He picked me up around 12:30 and we headed for the golf course in Englewood were we played 18 holes with Buster and Sue. This was the second time in a week that we played. I like this course because it is a short course (a lot of par 3's) and Sue and I agreed it was better for us since we are such a bunch of hackers! This coming Saturday four of us "girls" are going to play and then go to lunch. Should be a fun time!

Last evening we went out to Nokomis Beach to listen to the drummers. See my Saturday, March 15, 2008 post on "The Drummers on the Beach". We had two couples who had never been there. It is an interesting time - we mark it up to a "cultural experience". It starts about an hour before sunset and the drum circle features drumming, dancing, playing, spectating, communicating, spontaneity, and ... belly dancing. Some people bring a drum, a cowbell, a shaker, a flute, a guitar, or anything that makes noise and join in. The drum circle is about 12 years old and draws a regular attendance of several hundred to several thousand people.

Today was church. I ran the screens - the first since last spring. I was a bit nervous. Now it is football viewing. Talked to Suzanne during half-time of the Colts game. I had called her earlier and she said "mom can I call you back at half time" She and her dad are football geeks! Tonight is Boat Club and then we are going to play some Bocce!

Life in a retirement community can be busy!