A Lanai Breakfast; Muffuletta and Lake Pontchartrain Beer; An ARE Dinner; Spring Flutes! A Vette Music Problem?

We were able to enjoy several meals with Gary and Rhonda Schwartz on our lanai, including this breakfast of Ty’s Famous Strawberry and Cream Cheese Raisin French Toast. (Corvette Chick had eaten earlier due to an early commitment). 

Our good friends Sharon and Joyce recently returned from a visit to family in Covington, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. They very kindly brought back tasty reminders of the Big Easy: a six-pack of Covington Brewery’s Lake Pontchartrain Pilsner (which went down nicely with pizza tonight).... 

And also a jar of Boscoli Italian Olive Salad, which is the key ingredient in making Italian muffuletta sandwiches, a Sicilian delight that was invented by Salvatore Lupo, owner of Central Grocery in the French Quarter, back in the 1930’s.  (This shot of Central Grocery shows it as it remains today, a small, family-owned business in “The Quarter” that has kept its’ original flavor... and many wonderful aromas!) Thank you, Sharon and Joyce, for your thoughtfulness!

We were fortunate to attend a dinner Sunday evening with members of The Villages’ Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) group, who were hosting Kevin Todeschi, ARE’s Executive Director and CEO, who Suzanne introduced for his day-long workshop on Edgar Cayce on Sunday at the Savannah Center. 

It was a friendly, interesting group, and a great meal at Nancy Lopez Country Club. Special thanks to Frances Rolph from the ARE who has been one of Suzanne's most enthusiastic supporters, and who invited us to this dinner.

Monday evening provided an opportunity to hear some fabulous music, courtesy of The Villages Flute Choir, of which My Lovely Bride is a member; she plays the bass flute, which has nothing to do with the largemouth fish... here she is about to take her seat at the beginning of the performance. 

It was a sellout crowd (actually the concert was free) at Laurel Manor Rec Center, and Christine Smith, the Flute Choir Director, had put together a selection of popular, classical, jazz and traditional music that kept the audience spellbound and impressed by the flautists' musical skills. It was a very entertaining evening.

Suzanne got together with several of her friends and of course her mom Ruthie after the show. Thanks to everyone who came to the concert, and for your support during the year! 

Finally, a note about Corvette Chick's good friend Elizabeth, seen in the photo above at far right. Elizabeth also has a Corvette. When Elizabeth heard that I had just received the drive belt to repair our home CD changer, she asked, "Ty, could you also fix my Corvette's CD player?" I asked what was wrong with it, and she said that when she put in a CD, the in-dash player simply spit the CD back out at her. I replied, "Well, Elizabeth, I know what the problem is without even looking at your Vette's CD player. It's very simple. You're putting in a Sinatra CD and your sports car would prefer Kelly Clarkson or Lady Antebellum..." 

Is There a Doctor in the House? Two Mediums; Hog Heaven; Tour a la Cart; PB&J?

We were blessed this week to be able to host two very special visitors to The Villages: Dr. Gary Schwartz, PhD, and his lovely wife Rhonda. Gary is professor of psychology, medicine, neurology, psychiatry, and surgery at the University of Arizona, and is also Director of its Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health. He is also the author of several books that have been instrumental in My Lovely Bride’s understanding of life after death. Rhonda is not only his life partner, but is also a gifted medium in her own right. Later in this blog I will briefly describe the serious reason for his visit, but I wanted to introduce them to you and describe the cultural orientation to which we submitted them upon their arrival.

This being their first visit to America’s Friendliest Hometown, we wanted them to get a real flavor of what The Villages had to offer. Since we don’t own a golf cart ourselves, we rented a four-seater for the day. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day. Unfortunately, we had rented “The Slowest Golf Cart on the Planet”. Cart after cart passed us on our four hour tour. We didn’t pass a single cart except one whose batteries had failed. (This was very embarrassing, since Gary and Rhonda drive Corvettes!) Eventually we arrived at Sumter Landing. Since Gary has a Harley, we had to stop in for him to get a souvenir of his visit. Here are Gary and Rhonda in front of the shop... does he look like your typical Hog rider? (Okay, so he has a beard, but we didn't see any tattoos, and he wasn't wearing one of those wallets on a big chain...)

We finally arrived in Spanish Springs, far behind schedule because of our turtle-like cart, where they posed in front of a faster mode of transportation. Gary is sporting his new Harley chapeau and leather vest (hard to see under his jacket), while Rhonda looks a lot more sophisticated than the biker babes we see riding on County Road 44. 

On Friday evening, Suzanne and Gary gave the first of two joint presentations on "Sacred Partnerships" at Unity of The Villages. Both nights were sold out well in advance, and were attended by just over 300 enthusiastic guests. The lines formed early, and we saw many friends and acquaintances as well as many new faces that had heard of this special event. 

Suzanne discussed how she learned about Dr. Schwartz, and how they met and started a collaboration, while Dr. Schwartz gave a detailed and fascinating presentation on the scientific experiments he has conducted over the years on mediumship and the afterlife, which offer scientific evidence supporting the proposition that there is more to this life than what can perceive with our five senses. You can find much more information on Dr Gary Schwartz at www.drgaryschwartz.com. 

Gary and Rhonda are "into" horses, so after they visited one location in Oxford to view some miniature horses, we took them to Brownwood to see some full-size versions. (This wasn't a very colorful horse, and its rider was a typical laconic cowboy...) 

On Saturday evening Gary and Suzanne had their second presentation, again a full house. Gary is a fabulous speaker, and had the audience spellbound while describing his experiments and particularly his mentor Susy Smith's guidance from the other side. 

After two exhausting days of indoctrination to The Villages lifestyle, and two highly successful evenings of presentations on the afterlife, we decided to reward Gary and Rhonda with a gourmet dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a milk chaser. (Rhonda wisely opted for dessert instead.) Suzanne slipped some "Villages Koolaid" in their drinks, and we're hoping that Gary and Rhonda become frequent visitors to, and ultimately new residents of, The Villages!

Rudy and Gretchen, who normally bark at visitors, were the subjects of a Behavior Modification Experiment. Gary and Rhonda have been handing them their little doggie treats all week, and the puppies have been noticeably quieter... here they are enjoying a small portion of peanut butter on spoons after our PB&J's.   

Nickel & Dimed; Canadian Lament; My New Girlfriend

I am one of those guys who hate to carry change in their pockets. I also won’t carry a purse. So after buying a cup of coffee or a donut somewhere, usually for $2.03, at the end of the day I’ve accumulated a bunch of coins... and they have built up over the years in a couple of plastic bags and in a plastic tray on top of my dresser. I think it has been about ten years since banks accepted a pile of coins, counted them for you in a machine, and handed you back some “paper money” that you could actually spend. Today I got fed up with the piles of copper and nickel (and a token amount of real silver) and started rolling the coins into paper sleeves. 

When I was finished, I had most of the little buggers all neatly packaged for their trip to their new homes. The bags and tray I had unloaded also included several safety pins from race numbers, a golf tee, a golf ball marker, two stainless steel nuts, one machine screw, a driving range token from far, far away, several Canadian and European Union coins, a handful of pocket lint, a crimpable electrical connector, two rubber bands, a button, and a key (to a lock no longer remembered). I glanced up at the clock, which read “3:54”. After all that work, I had but six minutes to get to the bank. I walked in the door with my 10 lb box of wrapped coinage at 3:59:50... “10 seconds to spare, YES!” I left with $104.50, lots of crisp new bills, and yes... two quarters to start the process all over again. Sigh...

While w-a-l-k-ing the puppies in t-o-w-n, we met a 74 year old Canadian gentleman. He was a charming fellow, and after admiring Rudy and Gretchen, he told us how much he loved living here in The Villages during the winter months, which are a bit colder than his native Ontario. He also likes the medical care here... especially after undergoing an interesting problem back home. Seems that while in Canada, he contracted an eye infection, and after several months of ineffective treatment, he was getting no better. He insisted on a referral to an eye specialist, but had to wait six months for his appointment, during which time his cornea effectively died. He finally had to come to the USA, where he paid $13,000.00 out of his own pocket for a prosthesis that he could not even get in Canada. Moral of the story: Since this is not a political blog, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.... but one great line does come to mind, “Ah, the glories of ‘free’ socialized medicine.”

Here is a question for the guys: When was the last time a female friend of your wife's "set you up" with another female friend, a frisky blonde even? Well, it happened to me yesterday. My Lovely Bride knows about our meetings, and has even consented to my time away from home, even though I come back tired, sweaty, smiling, and with a few stray blonde hairs on my shirt. (You are asking, “What, is she nuts?”) Well, before the guys get envious or the ladies become outraged, give me a few lines to explain.

Our good friend Catherine asked if I would take a friend’s dog out for some exercise. Jingles is a 54 lb, very active, enthusiastic, one year-old female Golden Retriever in training to be a service dog for a wounded veteran. She would likely pull her mom off her feet and down the road if she decided to chase a bird or another dog. Catherine thought that either (a) I could better control Jingles while she got some much-needed exercise, or (b) I was expendable; or (c) maybe both? So far, after two days, she hasn’t yet pulled me off my feet. Actually, she is very well behaved for a year old Golden. 

I’ve had three of these wonderful dogs in the past, one of whom, Scarlett, used to run with me almost daily while I was training for marathons. It’s fun to be running with a big dog again, but I have assured Rudy and Gretchen that this is a short-term relationship, and I won’t be bringing any 50-75 lb retrievers back home. After all, Rudy is The King, and Gretchen Our Princess. 

Passing of a Presidential Pal; Dick Cheney’s Dog; Word for the Day; Mack the Yak

Today was a sad day for the canine world. President George W. Bush's beloved Scottish Terrier Barney passed away after 12 years of faithful duty. Coincidentally, while running yesterday, I stopped to talk to a guy on Stillwater Ave. who was walking his Yorkshire Terrier, Buddy. Vin Bucci is from Medford, Mass, and his dog has a pretty interesting history. It seems that Vice President Dick Cheney had gotten him as a puppy, but when he brought him back to his ranch in Wyoming, Buddy didn’t get along well with Cheney’s two Labradors. (It seems that the Labs have a “history”... one was banned from Camp David for attacking his boss's dog, Barney.)  

Anyway, VP Cheney asked his aide if she could take the little Yorkie. Being a Good Aide, she said, “Yessir, of course...”, and then dumped Buddy off on her best friend, Vin’s daughter in Boston. Then Vin’s wife saw little Buddy and fell in love. “Sorry, Vin; you’ve just been demoted. Make room for Buddy in the bed!” I have something in common with Cheney and his Labs; as I was petting Buddy, this tiny little Yorkie tried to eat my headphones and then snapped at me when I took them out of his mouth... the little dogs are always the most dangerous! Like our little Gretchen, Buddy should be known as "Ten Pounds of Fighting Fury!"

I was thinking about the name of our local town, Lady Lake, and wondered if had anything to do with our Word of the Day...  Lady of the Lake, n., a supernatural woman who plays various roles in Arthurian legend, sometimes considered to be the same person as Vivian, the lover of Merlin. (Turns out that the town was named for a nearby lake which is somewhat shaped like a woman.) This painting is a rendering of the myth of the seductive Vivian reading from a book of spells to the infatuated Merlin. (A pretty face will get you every time, Dude!)

The Lady of the Lake is also referred to as the Lady of Avalon, and is said to have been the person who bestowed the sword Excalibur on young Arthur after he broke his sword in battle and became King of England. Excalibur is said to translate as "cuts iron or steel", a worthy title for a regent's sword.

Moving from English weaponry to somewhat disparate golf and bovine topics, I was bemused by an ad on the front page of today’s local paper... it vaunted the fantastic benefits of a new natural-motion golf shoe, made of breathable Tibetan Yak leather, three times stronger than cowhide. An amazing feature is the 800 traction angles said to provide excellent grip in any conditions. Yaks (Bos grunniens) live in south-central Asia, in the Himalayas and as far north as Russia and Mongolia. They are considered a “vulnerable” species due to low reproduction rates. Because they were bred at high elevations, they also suffer from heat exhaustion at temperatures above 59F, primarily due to their thick layers of subcutaneous fat and almost total absence of sweat glands. Yaks and their manure also have virtually no odor, and their wool is naturally odor-resistant.  

Well, that’s wonderful, I thought... but what about poor Mack the Yak, who has to give up his precious hide to help some Old Coot Golfer in The Villages get a grip on that loose sand in the bunker on number 2 at Amelia? Come on folks, isn’t the hide of a Texas steer that’s heading for ribeye and hamburger good enough for our golfers? Why go to the Himalayas looking for Mack the Yak? Let's show some common sense here... but maybe we could import a few shiploads of that "no-odor" manure... it might be an improvement over what we get from the government these days. 

Dinner with Santa; Kayaking; Feathered Friends; Snow!

Did I mention that I had dinner with Santa the other night? I was at Bonefish Grill, enjoying some Bang Bang Shrimp and a tiny glass of Chardonnay, when I heard some bells, then felt a blast of Arctic air that chilled me to the bone. I turned to ask the young hostess to please close the door, and who to my wondering eye should appear, but Santa... negative the reindeer, but with his charming wife, Mrs. Santa. The Clauses "bellied" up to the bar, and we had a nice chat... I made the mistake of asking Santa where he was from, thinking, "Well maybe Cincinnati, Albany, or even Flatbush..." I was "put in my place" when Santa replied, straight-faced, "The North Pole." Ohhhh-Kayyyyyy....  Guess I'd better re-think my wish list... but to get back on his good side, I'd like to suggest that if you need Santa to visit next season for a party, you couldn't do better than asking for him at  santa@villagesanta.com . Ho Ho Ho!  

Tuesday was a gift from Mother Nature. I loaded my kayak on the car's roof rack and launched at Lake Sumter, only 3 miles from the house. This is my kayak (actually My Lovely Bride's, but it was easier to get to than my green one) alongside a dragon boat near the hotel at Lake Sumter.

 After only a few minutes paddling, there were no sounds except the wind, my paddle in the water, and the flow of water past the hull of my kayak. This is one of my favorite pastimes. It's amazing how quickly you can leave "civilization" and still only be a half mile from a restaurant or hotel, but it seems like you're a world away...

And then the birds started chattering. The noisiest were the American Coots (Fulica americana) that would quack to one another about my approach... "Hey, Daphne, here comes that bozo in the red kayak. Can't he see that we're trying to relax? That's why we're AWAY FROM PEOPLE!" Young coots have a bald spot on the top of their heads, which led to the expression, "as bald as a a coot." I guess there are more than a few Old Coots around The Villages. (Okay, a minor pun intended.) Coots are not actually ducks, per se; they are more closely related to cranes.

I had to add this picture of two young coots from the Internet... they are really cute... And look at those bald spots!

If I got too close, they would take off by running on the surface of the water upwind until they developed enough lift under their wings to get themselves airborne. 

There was one large group, called a raft, or cover, that I didn't even get within 100 feet of before they spooked and resettled in another area... 

And the Great Blue Heron who wouldn’t let me within 50 yards before he launched himself to reposition 200 yards away, and we repeated that cycle four or five times before he tired of the game and flew out of sight. 

I tried to catch a picture of a vee formation of forty or so Sandhill Cranes overhead, but they were directly in the sun, and sadly, the picture didn’t come out. And of course there were five alligators, only one of which I got a decent glance at before he thrashed wildly and swam under my kayak. The others were sunning in the grass “islands” and would disappear in a big splash before I got within 50 feet. Based on splash size, I estimated their sizes as small to medium... between four and seven feet. 11-15 footers are big, but these were probably only youngsters. My Good Friend Bob will probably ask why I didn’t get in the water with them and wrassle... that’s because I have more sense than some of the Swamp People he watches on TV. (I suspect that The Villages gator Patrol keeps an eye on the big guys and moves them before they have a snowbird or tourist for lunch... otherwise, that would affect home sales... It was a very special day, and after an hour and a half, my lower back was telling me it was time to head home... so I paddled back to the boat launch, past our faithful lighthouse, and called it a day. 

Okay, while we are having pretty decent weather here in sunny Florida, Corvette Chick is carless in Virginia and snowbound in the mountains southwest of Charlottesville. Here are a few cell phone shots of this morning’s snowfall. 

This evening, she relayed that they are on generator power, and one of the lodges has no power at all, and some of the attendees are camping out in the yoga room. Here is My Chilly Bride on the roof of her building... let’s see, is she calling for a rescue helicopter? Asking for an airdrop of ice cream, hot chocolate... or more likely, a glass of German Gluhwein? We won’t know until she returns... 

Stay warm, Dear!

USS POPE (DD-225); Hand-Delivered Ice Cream; An Eagle Where? Shopping! Steak or Tofu?

The photo of the canary yellow Chrysler Prowler (Parking Hall of Shame) the other day elicited this response from my good friend and shipmate Dale, in Indiana: “This one is so obvious, I believe the street crew was jealous of the American built Chrysler Prowler (before MB and Fiat), and they painted the parking line under the vehicle after it was parked. This also recently happened overseas, the painting crew painted a car into a handicap parking space that was not present when the vehicle was parked.” Dale is very enthusiastic about American-built cars, as he works in a GM plant. I had to laugh at this, his third such defense of American cars with bad parking jobs, and was thankful that he gave me only a moderately hard time about my Honda CRV when we visited him last summer. He related the story of his former father-in-law, who had spent several miserable years in a Japanese POW camp in New Guinea after his ship, USS Pope (DD-225) was sunk. One can certainly understand how those guys felt about their captors... 

After hearing about Corvette Chick’s unsuccessful plea for helicopter-delivered ice cream from USS McInerney (FFG-8) while we were sailing across the Atlantic aboard our sailboat Liberty, our neighbor Reve Norman called yesterday and said to come outside and pick up a package for Suzanne. It was a half-gal of Black Jack Cherry Frozen Yogurt! She said that since the Navy couldn't deliver it, she would. (I’m wondering if I should save any for CC’s return on Friday, or eat it all before she finds out about it... hmmmm..... an easy decision!) 

Okay, for you non-Village People, here is a bird question for you: what is this bird and where is he? Yep, it’s a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), and he’s not in Alaska... that bird is right here in The Villages. As many of you know, Florida has the second largest population of bald eagles in the US, outside of Alaska. Pretty cool!  

It’s not often that I go shopping. Like most guys, to me it’s a pretty boring ordeal. But I needed new shoes, and after dropping My Lovely Bride off at MCO, I decided to see if the small Navy Exchange near the airport had my favorite running shoes, New Balance 990’s (made in the USA!). Eureka! They did carry them, and there was one pair in my size left. It’s hard to describe the wonderful feeling of slipping on a new running shoe... it’s almost as good as ..... well, okay, maybe not THAT good... but you get my drift. 

While My Happy Medium is on retreat, I am left to my own devices as far as cooking. So while she is probably eating healthy tofu and yogurt, I fixed myself a steak on the barbie with sides of grilled zucchini, onions, and peppers, along with a very drinkable wine. Who says guys can’t take care of themselves? And where is that Black Jack Cherry frozen yogurt?

A Real Easter Egg Story; Parking Hall of Shame; Treeing Squirrels; Person of the Week; Gourmet French Toast

When My Lovely Bride was a mere 14 year old, her parents, Ruthie and Bill, worried how they were going to be able to afford to send her sister Janice on a school chorus trip to Europe. She said, “Mom, you’ve made candy as long as we can remember and everybody tells you to sell it. If we all worked together, I’ll bet we could make enough to let Janice take the trip!” Two days later Ruthie drove to Lititz, PA, for a 50-lb box of their best coating chocolate and to a box factory for candy boxes. Over a three month period, with her girls and a few volunteer helpers, Ruthie hand made over 36,000 five-cent chocolate eggs, barely being able to keep up with the many orders that kept flowing in. Not only were they able to send Janice to Europe for her chorus trip, but they were also able to buy a piano and a new double door refrigerator-freezer. They realized that this would be a great way to pay for Suzanne’s college tuition. Over five seasons, Ruthie made over 87,000 pieces of candy, and not only did the girls take orders at school, but Bill took orders from fellow train engineers, even over the train radio. Ruthie's hard work paid for Suzanne's entire tuition, room, board, and books for four years of college, an amazing story. This past week, Ruthie decided to make a small batch for friends, and here she shows off her handiwork. 

Our Parking Hall of Shame Team was out in Spanish Springs the other day, and came across this canary yellow car whose driver was “parking space challenged”.  

Then, while walking the puppies, Rudy and Gretchen treed six squirrels, a record number for our dachshunds. Luckily, none were caught during their hunting. However, the squirrels often stayed about six feet off the ground, looking right down at our puppies with amusement, and perhaps even taunting them, a squirrel version of "nah-nah-nah-nah-nah"...

Our Person of the Week is Hedy Lamarr, actress and mathematician. (What do you mean, “mathematician?” I thought she was just a gorgeous WWII pin-up girl!)  Reve Norman, one of our faithful readers, sent in a great story about Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Austria in 1913, died in Castelberry, Florida, in 2000, age 86. Once described as “the most beautiful woman in Europe”, she starred in one of the first full-nude motion pictures, “Ecstasy”, and was married at age 19 to a rich Austrian arms merchant who entertained Hitler and Mussolini in their castle. Her husband also took her with him to meetings with military scientists. She escaped from virtual imprisonment in her home to the US just before World War II and became Hedy Lamarr, a famous movie actress. The rest of the story is less well known. In 1942 she and music composer George Anthiel filed a patent for a secret communication system using a piano roll to skip between 88 different frequencies to make radio-guided weapons more difficult for an enemy to jam. Her patent is the basis for modern spread-spectrum communications technology used in BlueTooth, Wi-Fi networking, and CDMA technology in some cell phones. Her story was featured in the premier episode of the Discovery Channel’s show “How We Invented the World”. A very impressive lady! 

Being a Panera customer has its benefits: occasional freebies, a quarter off coffee, and periodic emails with good ideas/surprises. Yesterday’s email contained a recipe for stuffed French toast. Being a big breakfast aficionado, I decided to test this recipe on a willing Guinea pig, Corvette Chick... although I may get a smack for calling her that. In any case, it turned out to be a delicious recipe, suitable for guests; and it goes well with bacon. CC was, as always, a bit shocked by the mound of confectioner’s sugar I put on my meal. She may use a couple of teaspoons worth; I start with ¼ cup and go from there. But then, I’m much sweeter than she. (And no snide comments or taking that the wrong way!)