New Year's Eve

Last night, Pat went to New Orleans to celebrate New Year's with some friends (and about a million crazy new friends there!) and he is staying until Monday

Today we woke up to rain. Lots and lots of rain! I thought we would have to call Noah and borrow his ark!

It cleared up just in time for Kim and Sommer to meet us to go to the beach for the afternoon. They wanted to do a labyrinth and look for shells there.


When we got to the beach, I drew a labyrinth in the sand while some folks from New Orleans stood and watched, and asked lots of questions. I had to do a second one, because I goofed up the first! When I got finished drawing the second one, I put a candle in the middle and Sommer, Kim and I walked it. On the way in to the center of the labyrinth, we contemplated the past year and our parts in the events that played out for each one of us, and we set our intention for the coming year as we made our way back out. Chris took some terrific pictures, and I will post them when I download them to the computer tomorrow. I even got to stick my feet in the Gulf of Mexico! It was cold, but it was warmer than the Atlantic often is on a good day! Hee-hee!

We shopped in a beach store on our drive back to the Brewer's house. Chris got a t-shirt, and I got a few necklaces for my tribal white costume-to-be for bellydancing with "Sway" (my new tribal fusion dance troupe). I had to buy 2 hula skirts to get the necklaces. . .maybe that's the next step in dance for me!!! No, just kidding!

After shopping, we decided to stay in for New Year's Eve. Sommer and I dropped Chris and Kim off at the house and went to the party store for hats, tiaras, noisemakers in 3 varieties, and we stopped for a bottle of cheap champagne. We talked to my mom at midnight (their time in Massachusetts) and Chris' parents at midnight in Pennsylvania. We tried to make other calls, but circuits were all busy! We had to wait around another hour to ring in the new year in Pensacola, but we made good use of the time making mandalas with Kim and Sommer and dressing Grandpa up in a party hat and dancing the hula with Aunt Kim! Even Tinkerbell got dressed up for the occasion!

A good time was had by all, but it was hard to say goodnight. We had to get up early, but we didn't want to say goodbye to Kim and Sommer. We spent a lot of time together this week, and got a lot closer. It was a good opportunity, but it made it hard to leave. Tears were shed by all the girls. . .and I bet Chris was a little misty too!

Saturday

Today, Chris and I slept in a little. Grandma and Aunt Chris took us to Barnhills for lunch. It was a great buffet restaurant. . .we stuffed ourselves silly with good Southern food! Then we were slugs the rest of the afternoon! Can you say "food coma"? We went to Aunt Chris' house with Grandma and Tinkerbell, and watched the doggies play. . .wow! What energy! Aunt Chris has a Boston Terrier named Sheba. Then we took Sommer out to dinner at McGuires Pub in Pensacola. There was a guy playing guitar and leading a singalong. It was fun! A guy from Boston got up and sang "All For Me Grog" with him. It was great! If you didn't play along with the singer, he sang a song and made you get up and kiss the moose hanging on the wall. We didn't stay long after dinner. . .we didn't want to kiss the moose!

Workshop Day

Today, Chris and I did our separate things. . .he went for a walk, watched movies, and spent time at the house with Grandma, Grandpa & Uncle Pat while I went to All One Spirit to teach the Labyrinth and Mandala workshop. I left the house at 9:15 am and didn't return again until 5:30 or so. The class was successful. . .the owner asked me back again. We all had dinner at the house and then went to see Dreamgirls with Pat, Sommer, and Lance. It was lots of fun!

Tiki Gods Among Us!

Today was a nice adventure! We set off for Fort Walton Beach and the Indian Temple Mound Museum in the morning. I've wanted to visit there since our last trip, and there was supposed to be a letterbox there. To find out what letterboxing is, visit http://www.letterboxing.info/ When we found the site for the box, it wasn't there, so we took a picture of where it was supposed to be and then we explored the Temple Mound. The mound is an ancient earthen structure (700 AD) where the pre-historic Mississippian peoples built a temple. At one time, it looked out over the Santa Rosa Sound, but now the downtown shopping area and community park of Fort Walton Beach are between it and the water. It was an honor to stand on ground so sacred so long ago to the indigenous people of the area.


After we were done exploring the mound, we visited a shop right next to it called One Feather. It showcases art and artifacts from over 30 Native American tribes. We talked to the owner for a while, and conversed about Florida State, smudging rituals and the state of humanity in general! Chris and I are looking forward to saving our pennies for the next trip down. . .there are some amazing things there! We did purchase a Navajo rattle before we left, however!

On our way back to the car, Chris spied a walkway through a camilla garden, which led to a community park. In the park they were celebrating the winter holidays with, of all things, an ice skating rink under a big tent! Outside in Florida! Go figure!


While we were at the park, we played with the seagulls, watched ducks on the beach, marvelled over the Christmas decorations on the palm trees and had fun in the sun! It was 69 degrees while we were out and about today.
On our way back to Grandma & Grandpa's, we found the roadside studio of a wood carver named Charlie Knight. He had a forest of Tiki gods, a flock or two of pelicans, and some amazing underwater scenes. We talked to the artist about conservation and doing what you love for a living. It made me want to get back to the studio RIGHT AWAY! And it made me want a Tiki god or two and maybe a pelican for the back yard by the pond (the one that's not in the ground yet, of course!)






Here is Chris next to one of Charlie's smaller underwater scenes. This one was $18,000 dollars. There was one outside that wasn't finished that was twice that wide, and taller than Chris. It was amazing, and it wasn't even completed!

You can find Charlie Knight online at www.palmtiki.com
Here he is at work at his studio along U.S. 98 in Gulf Breeze:

Quiet Day

Today was spent doing things around the house, collecting supplies for my class on Friday, and visiting with family. Todd (Chris' brother) drove from Pennsylvania to Pensacola on Christmas night. He got in to town yesterday, and came to visit today. He opened his presents and tooled around on Grandpa's motorized chair. Tomorrow, Chris and I are going to go on an adventure. . .we haven't planned it yet, so check back to see what happens!

The Day After. . .

Today we actually slept in a bit. Then we got ready and went downtown. It was kind of cold- it never reached 50 degrees today.

We found the labyrinth in the park where I will be doing the workshop. I walked the labyrinth, and while I did, Chris picked up all of the trash lying on the ground in the park and threw it away. I married such a terrific guy. . .always doing the right thing!



Then we went to find the bookstore where I will do the second half of the workshop. We found it, but it was closed. So we walked to a bead and gem store and bought a couple of things.

Afterwards, Chris drove me to a spot where I could be close to the water. I disturbed a napping heron to take it's picture, and I was privy to the lunchtime diving show of the local pelicans. It was amazing to see- the pelicans flew in big circles and then dove straight down to grab a fish. If they were successful, they would surface and stretch out their wings and shake all the water off as they swallowed their fish. It was an amazing thing to watch!



On the way home, we drove over the bridge towards Pensacola Beach, and as I looked out over the water, I saw what looked like a shark fin in the water. I have seen dolphins many times before and I didn't think that's what I saw so I blinked, and looked again. Sure enough, there it was! A sharp grey fin cutting through the choppy surface of the water. I was so excited! A little freaked out, but excited. I've never seen a shark in it's own habitat before. Uncle Pat thinks it was a dolphin, but I am sure that it was not. I have seen many dolphins in the Atlantic in Delaware, and this fin and shape was completely different. To make things even more interesting, I had been thinking about a dog I had just met before we left for this trip. His name is Marley, and he is blind. His human (my friend Angela) takes him on walks on a retractable leash. He never stays by her side, waiting to be led. Instead, he always runs to the end of the leash, and sometimes he bumps into things. But he is never afraid, and he embraces the experience with joy! What a lesson to hear! I was thinking about it in terms of my snorkeling experience last year when I panicked after opening my eyes and not being able to see through the murky water. I was afraid of not seeing something dangerous in the water, and being hurt by it. Going across the bridge, I thought about Marley, and not being afraid even though he can't see. And then I see a shark?! I thought the whole thing was rather synchronistic, and I am grateful for the experience.
Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully another adventure!

Christmas Day

The Christmas tree was surrounded with tons of presents. . .a sure sign of a prosperous year and lots of family and friends close by.

The first of the family that came to visit today was Aunt Chris, followed by Sommer & Chris, then Jeremy & Bobbi, and then Tara, Aunt Joanne, Tara's mom & step-dad, and then her dad, and Skip and a few others that I can't remember. (Sorry, everyone!) We opened gifts, and ate way too much again, and are now sitting watching "Walk the Line".

It was so nice early in the day. . .I was walking around outside in my bare feet! It was bright and sunny in the morning, but it did cool off later in the afternoon.

What a lovely day to spend with family!

Here's a picture of Myra and Tinkerbell:

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve during the day, after we regained some strength after our 16 hour drive, Chris and I went to dinner at Olive Garden with Uncle Pat, Aunt Kim, Sommer, her friend Lance and Kim's friends: Cheryl and Dee. We all ate more than necessary and headed off to do our own things. . .shopping, napping, etc! Chris took a little nap while Uncle Pat and I got into good conversation. After a while, we all converged on Grandma & Grandpa's house and watched my tribal fusion dance performance on the VCR and hung out for a bit before we all decided to get to bed so Santa Claus could do his job!

Merry Christmas!

Well, we made it to Pensacola! It took us 16 hours to get here. We drove through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama to get here. We drove all night, so we didn't see much landscape, but we did see some fun Christmas light displays.

We were in Alabama when the sun came up, and it was a beautiful sunrise. Bright red clouds streaking in layers over a cerulean blue sky-reflecting on the surface of a matte silver lake, framed by silhouettes of trees softened by drapes of spanish moss.

I saw the southern landscape for the first time: red dirt roads, a water wheel by a pond along side of the road, the remnants of cotton fields already gleaned over at the end of the growing season. I made Chris pull over at one cotton field, and I jumped out, took a picture or two and leaped over a little stream to get a closer look. I even "borrowed" a stalk to bring back to Pennsylvania with us!



Oops- family is starting to arrive. I'll write more later!
Patti

And we're off. . .!

Hi Everyone!
The Van Brederode's are off on another adventure! We are leaving this Saturday (the 23rd) for Pensacola, Florida to visit with Chris' grandparents for the holidays. Check out our blog to see what we've been up to. . .we will try to post every day while we are gone, and we will try to post a pic or two for you!
Hugs,
Patti & Chris

PS- Today is the 2nd anniversary of the day we met!