A W Wednesday In Florida


Well, it wasn't wet today after all, nor was it windy, so this has to be a "wonderful Wednesday"! But it was mostly overcast and cool so a good day to be indoors, like at museums. Having been heading south-west for the last few days, today was a north-east day as I visited the lovely Orlando suburb of Winter Park. They are gearing up for this weekend's annual "Sidewalk Art Festival" which rivals Cobourg's Waterfront Festival, except that they don't have a beach.


I made three stops in Winter Park, the first at the very small Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens which celebrates the work of Albin Polasek, a Czech-American sculptor who died in 1965. My favourite piece is this one. The harp strings are falling water.



And here's one other, just for equality's sake.

Inside the museum was a fascinating display of original science fiction magazine and book cover illustrations from the mid-20th century together, in many cases, with copies of the books themselves. No photographs were allowed so no pictures of the pictures. Thought I might see something by Geof Isherwood, but he wasn't born until 1960.

Next it was off to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum of Rollins College. It boasts an interesting mix of items and doesn't appear to specialize at all. Here are two fine bronzes from their sculpture hall. (Remember to click the pictures to enlarge.)

One of the current shows is a collection of American (US) and Russian home "propaganda" posters. This one caught my eye.

By far the most fascinating of the three museums for me was the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. It has an impressive collection of Tiffany art which culminates in the stunning Tiffany Chapel. No pictures allowed so here's a shot, from the booklet I bought, showing the cross above the nave. I'm sure someone will tell me if that's a no-no.

I can even more truly repeat here what I wrote after seeing the Frank Lloyd Wright Chapel in Lakeland: I'm not sure how it is for worship. I might be spending too much time marvelling at this place of worship and its creator rather than the Creator. And I guess I'm onto something here for the booklet quotes Tiffany scholar Robert Koch as saying that Tiffany viewed his chapel as "a temple of art, not a place of worship."

Just use Google Pictures "Tiffany Chapel" to see the whole thing. I was in a bit of a rush today or I would have stayed longer, and if I ever get the chance again I'll be back!

I was in a rush because on my last day I finally had an opportunity to visit The Jesus Film Project for a tour. It provided the second highlight of my holidays in one afternoon. There were only three other Canadians and myself on this particular tour so we got a lot of personal attention. The Project is an outreach of Campus Crusade for Christ and if you don't know much about it do click on the link above.

Our guide was so gracious and humourous I just have to introduce you to her, except that I forget her name. Here she is introducing us to the Jesus Film.

The movie is available in over 1,000 languages, not just with subtitles, but professionally dubbed. And I had a chance to try my voice at dubbing! Here I am outside my very own African hut reviewing my lines.

I was to be Peter, at one of his better moments. (I presume that everyone who gets a chance at this gets to be Peter, too.) Anyway, as you'll hear below, Peter now has an English/Nova Scotian accent.

O yes, I do know that the rooster isn't supposed to show up until later in the story but it got a little overanxious!

Last post from Florida until next time. Thanks for visiting with me, and say with me, "If You say so, I'll let down the nets."

A Terrific Tuesday In Florida

Looking at the weather forecast I can already guess what the title is going to be for tomorrow's post!

But today began with a telephone call at 5:45 advising me it was time to prepare for my 6am meeting in preparation for my first ever hot balloon ride. After meeting our crew and receiving instructions we were driven to a large field in the middle of orange groves where setup began. The passengers are expected to help so I was somewhat limited in picture taking at this point.

My main task was to hang onto the balloon in the early stages of using a powerful fan to fill the balloon with air. Then the air had to be heated to bring the balloon upright.

Airborne! From now on the pictures are of a companion balloon.

Landing!

Fortunately our landing was a little less adventurous than this one, though the younger fellow did end up with his brother on top of him and I got a scraped shin :(

And this is the official photo of our captain and crew just before takeoff.

As you can see there is not much room in the gondola and that makes the takeoff and landing pretty tricky as you try to climb in and out of a rather unstable basket. We dragged and bounced across the sandy soil for about a hundred yards before coming to rest more or less upright.

It would have been fine with me if the ride had been twice as long but the length is somewhat restricted by the rise in the winds as the day progresses. That, I gather, is why they leave so early in the morning. I now have a much better appreciation of ballooning and Jules Verne and all that!

All in all a great adventure, for me probably a once-in-a-lifetime (it's quite expensive).

After a free breakfast, presentation of "Official First Flight Certificates" and opportunities to buy t-shirts and pictures, which I declined, it seemed like the day should be about half over, but it was only 9:30.

So I came "home" and wandered around the resort taking a few pictures, ending with a self portrait.

There were quite a few people swimming and sunning but the sky is somewhat overcast and the air temperature is only about 68F so I chose to head for the tub and have the longest hot bath I've had in years.

A Marvellous Monday In Florida


Another beautiful day as you can see from the photos, though a little cooler and windier than yesterday. Wherever you go in Florida there are gems to be discovered. The other day I read that Florida Southern College in Lakeland has the largest complex of Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings anywhere. So today I dropped in for a visit at the FSU campus.


Even to my unsophisticated eye the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel is a marvellous piece of work, quite startling on the outside and wonderfully light on the inside. The brochure says that "the Chapel is considered to be a true specimen of Wright's work, with all the basic elements of his architecture integrated within."

Aside from the airiness of the interior I think that what impressed me most is the wonderful network of angles. I always loved mathematics with its symmetry and somehow for me this is math come alive.

I'm not sure how it is for worship. I might be spending too much time marvelling at this place of worship and it's creator rather than the Creator!

The building is starkly unadorned, and needs no adornment.

Small pieces of coloured glass set in the concrete wall are Wright's only nod to adornment here. And yet in the tiny Danforth Chapel which is just steps away, stained glass is front and centre.

I didn't really get to look at any more of the Wright complex, but this was enough.

Then it was off to the Joker Marchant Stadium, Spring Training home of the Detroit Tigers.

This is a pretty good picture of Travis Snider considering where I took it from. (Click to enlarge)

I had decided to arrive early to assure getting a really good seat but when I did get there it was almost already a sell-out as far as seats were concerned so I ended up on the left field slope. Here I am, not very pleased with the score going into the top of the ninth.

P.S. The Jays did not score again.

A Sunny Sunday In Florida

I arrived a little late at Kissimmee's St. John's Episcopal Church. I've attended there before with positive recollections. prayers were underway at 10:38 so latecomers had to wait to be let in! The congregation appears to be about 80% black and there is a steel drum orchestra, the music is lively, the entire service is on overhead, the "Peace" takes about 10 minutes and the whole thing lasted two hours, which was fine. The sermon was rather long but we probably didn't get all 25 pages he said he had written!

They were quite welcoming but didn't really involve me in conversation at the coffee hour. I left my contact information in the guest book and will see if anything happens. I wonder whether they might be interested in supporting the Belize Diocesan Youth Band or even St. Joseph's?

In the afternoon I took the one-hour drive to Lake Wales for a return visit to the Polk Tower Gardens. Jane and I were there some ten years ago and it was worth the return visit even though the carillon was through for the day. I stayed about 1 1/2 hours and took quite a few pictures.

The long entrance way is lined with seemingly endless orange groves, each tree heavily laden with an amazing crop looking more than ready to be harvested.

There are not many formal gardens....

....but all sorts of room to wander under wonderful old trees....

....and, of course, the carillon tower just to admire.

Tomorrow I should be heading that way again, this time for the ballgame in Lakeland, Jays vs. Detroit.

Reporting From Spring Training 2010

After a frightful Friday the sun shone beautifully for today's game between the Blue Jays and the Atlanta Braves at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, spring training home of the Braves. It's about a 10 minute drive from where I stay but this was my first visit since we started coming down to Florida about 15 years ago.

The place is pretty impressive for a spring training site. It's not just for baseball - all sorts of events take place there. Today there were cheerleaders competing somewhere in the complex.

The stands were almost full today but I doubt that they ever have a sellout because there are grass banks down the left field line and beyond left field.

While the fans turned out there were a lot of Blue Jays missing including Overbay, Hill, Gonzalez and Bautista, basically the whole infield. Missing from the outfield were Wells and Lind, but Travis Snider was there and got a hit and scored a run.

Ricky Romero pitched four shutout innings though he seemed to tire a bit at the end. Behind him and the other Toronto pitchers the Jays turned three McCoy-Emaus-Dopirak double plays! Final score Jays 3 Braves 0.

Finally, anyone looking for a new car? How about this one on display at ESPN WWoS?