29. June 2009 by Kathy.

So yesterday Alan and I made the trek up to Siesta Key for the drum circle.  Drummers, dancers and spectators begin gathering about two hours before sunset. We stopped at Cosimo’s to pick up a pizza, then made our way over to the beach, setting up our chairs on that white sugar-like sand about 7 PM. Just a few drummers at first, then more, and still more.  They were joined by belly-dancers, dancers with bellies (!), hoola-hoopers, small children, and a few who were, shall we say, quite happy to be there (burp)!

The guy we called the drum major seemed to be in charge.  Now, he appeared to be a cross between Rod Steward, Richard Simmons and Malcolm McDowell from Clockwork Orange (note the bowler hat). He led the music with two feathers instead of a baton.

I’ll only show one of the belly dancers…she seemed to be the most professional:

The drummers themselves were young, old, female, male, fat, gay, biker…you name it. Quite a cross section of society.

Of course, the players and dancers became more and more frenzied as the evening progressed, culminating (for us) in a beautiful sunset. I say for us, because when we left at 9 PM, more drummers and dancers were making their way to the beach. I guess we should have stayed longer, and next time we’ll plan on doing so.

I had been wanting to visit this drum circle since we’ve been here, and I’m glad we went yesterday. Now we understand the “procedure” and know exactly where to sit and what to bring.

In other news, Colin and Adrienne have made reservations on US Air and Chez Lane for July 9; they will stay five nights. I’m so excited…we haven’t had company in so long. I hope the weather holds so we can spend all our days at one beach or another.

Cara started her new job with Nike; she is coaching one of the the swim team groups at Nike Headquarters. She and Joe are putting their own stamp on their new house.

We’ve had quite a bit of rain; so much so that we have a new temporary pond behind us. The birds seem to love it!

Alan and I just made it back from the gym before a monsoon hit. I’ll wait until it slows a bit before I make my way to the grocery store…love to all. Go well.

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9. June 2009 by Kathy.

Another beautiful day here in SW Florida.  There is actually 0% chance of rain today, which is rather strange for this time of year.  But everything is so green and pretty right now; I’ll not complain about rain.

Yesterday Alan and I went into Sarasota for some exploring.  We started at Harbor Freight, because I am looking for a (cheap) wheeled collapsable crate for carting my silk painting supplies to class and back, and to keep them contained here at home.  No luck on that front, but I did find some inexpensive containers for organizing my beading supplies. We had lunch at Mattison’s City Grill on Main Street, then went into the Selby Library, which is the main library in Sarasota County.   We stopped by the British Open Pub for an Erdinger and ended up sharing fish and chips.  We do enjoy that place; we’ve gotten to know the owner and bar keeps.

Congratulations Cara and Joe on your second wedding anniversary!

June 9, 2007:

And now:

June 9 was also my dad’s birthday…I miss you, dad.

In other news, we are still waiting to hear from the “guvm’t” about Alan’s contract. It is getting difficult to keep up our spirits.

In knitting news, I have finished the February Lady Sweater (thank you Cara and Joe!…the yarn was a Christmas present)…I’ll post a picture later.

I’ve been working on several silk painting projects…I’ll post pics of those also.

Go well!

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