Art In The Garden. . .Kid Style

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden never ceases to amaze me.  I tell visitors on my tram guides that we entertain over 150,000 school children every year, but in truth, I rarely have anything to do with them.  Today was quite different.

My friend Sheila and I spent the morning at the Garden, volunteering as art mentors for school kids participating in this year's renowned Fairchild Challenge. This morning's session was the start of the Annual Art Workshop for Elementary Schools, kindergarten through 6th grade, with approximately 180 kids, from many different schools, gathered under the Garden's Gala Tent on a rainy Wednesday morning to learn about, and then draw, indigenous plants from the Florida Everglades.

Our group of youngsters were students from "The Growing Place",  a  unique kindergarten school run by First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables. They were led by Mari and Gaby, two remarkably kind and patient teachers, who introduced us to all the kids and helped us get them seated out in the Garden with their sketch books and colored pencils.  Because it was drizzling intermittently, we chose to seat the kids by a nearby lake, close to a stand of Florida mangroves.  My job was to explain about mangroves to the kids and suggest they draw the tangle of roots emerging from the water. Enough said!  They immediately went to work.

Big excitement!  A snapping turtle suddenly appeared in the lake, creating a momentary stopping of work.  An anhinga bird, drying his wings on a branch across the lake, was another nature moment for the kids.  Sheila and I had our work cut out for us, commenting on each kids drawing, suggesting, encouraging and applauding.  Amazingly, for 5 and 6 year olds, some were definitely budding artists.  Others did a lot of scribbling, but everyone did their best.

It was a wonderful morning.  Exhausting, but inspiring. After two hours, we said goodbye to our group as they headed off to the Butterfly Garden before returning to school. Below are some of the photos I took of our group.
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Our budding artists! That's Sheila and me in the back.





Sheila working with the youngsters



Explaining about mangroves to the kids and teacher Mary




Birthdays can be beautiful. .

Hard to believe it's a year since I wrote about my "big 85th", but October 19th came and went yesterday, so a year it is. Thanks to my special friend Paul, it was three days of celebration, starting with Saturday night and ending last night with a fabulous stone crab dinner, a frosty apple martini, and a "Happy Birthday" surprise dessert.

When I started this blog 6 1/2 years ago (doesn't that number blow your mind??  It does mine.) I titled it, Age Is Just A Number.  The card on the beautiful bouquet of flowers that arrived at my apartment yesterday read just that. . .plus the sentence. .Yours is unlisted. 

That about sums up how I feel these days.  Lucky, actually blessed, to be healthy, active and still having fun.  I've decided not to think about the actual number. Consider it unlisted. (You may remember my daughter calls me the Queen of Denial.)

Thanks to each of you for reading my blog these many years. It continues to fascinate me how the various subjects I write about often resonate differently amongst the 200+ people who currently receive it.  Some of you I hear from often. Some once in a while.  Some never, but that's fine also.   Some of you I've actually never met.  You've been added on to my blog list by those that I do know, but I'm truly glad you are all out there in my personal cyber-world. By this time you've guessed that writing is my thing.

So if it's ok with you guys, I'm going to keep on blogging.
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My favorite birthday card from my great-grandson Grayson



I'm rethinking my love of art. . . .

I seem to have acquired an expensive new "object d'art" for my home.  I have no idea when I purchased it, or who decided the shelf on which it would be displayed. (Not my decision, I can assure you.)   It just showed up the other morning, and something told me. .. better still, warned me. . .not to mess with the placement.

Yeah, it's Ginger.  My girl cat, aka the "Terror of The Western World".  And that's the shelf area on the wall in back of my sit-down bar, where I usually display some of my most treasured art objects, none of which are known to breathe, purr, or move stealthily around on four legs.

The shelf of choice on this particular morning is shared with a very breakable raku sculpture of an Indian squaw purchased in Aspen, and an elegant silver framed photo of my immediate family (Andrea, Adam, Amy and me), taken on my 80th birthday.  At the moment, it is totally obscured by a ball of fur.  On the shelf below are more breakable objects, plus a metal sculpture titled "Lion In Wait", that is either imitating Ginger, or Ginger's trying to upstage it.  I think she's winning. 

Any one in the market for a 7 lb. kitty who is capable of breaking everything in sight?  If she comes down off the shelf without doing too much damage, she's all yours!
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The art world, then and now.

When I arrived in Miami Beach in1957, the closest thing to cultural arts in the area was the glittering lobby of the Fontainebleau hotel.  Bal Harbour Shops, with its elegant art galleries, hadn't been built yet, nor was I-95  available to speed you southward to the little village of Coconut Grove with its bohemian enclave of young and unknown artists.

I'm remembering the early 60's, when the arrival of the Coconut Grove Art Festival, thought up by my fellow PR practitioner, Charlie Cinnamon, to publicize the local theater, was the really big artistic deal of the entire year.  Absolutely everyone went to those exciting outdoor shows. It was the only game in town for many years.  I have numerous treasured purchases from my own visits on display around my apartment to this very day.

What precipitated my "musing" is that I am planning to visit PAMM (the Perez Art Museum Miami) this afternoon, to view the newest exhibition at this architecturally fabulous new art center, perched on the banks of Biscayne Bay, in Miami's Bayfront Park.  PAMM is just part of the cultural explosion that has been taking place around here the last few years, ever since the arrival of ArtBasel Miami, held on Miami Beach every December, and its sister show, ArtMiami, in the fast growing, newly gentrified Wynwood district of  the City of Miami.

Wynwood, formerly a derelict industrial area just north of downtown Miami, has emerged as the City's new art center, bustling with restaurants, shops and galleries, especially on Saturday Night Art Walks.  Prices of the art, like the rents in the area, have skyrocketed over the years.  In Switzerland, where ArtBasel originates, they actually know all about us these days.  We've become a respected  international art center and a favorite destination for wealthy art lovers.

What a difference a mere 57 years can make!!!
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PAMM (Perez Art Museum Miami)

It's that time again. . .

I've decided that my father really wanted to have a son.  Since he was blessed with two daughters, his only alternative was to make them both sports nuts.  If you are wondering at this point, what is she getting at now, I may have to remind you that it's football season once again, and the Dolphins played their first game Sunday afternoon.

Sunday night was the start of Rosh Hashonah, and for most Jewish families, an evening for a traditional holiday meal complete with matzoh ball soup, brisket, kasha, the works. I was invited to join my sister Fran's family in Broward County for dinner, and since I don't love driving home on I-95 late at night, I planned to sleep overnight at her Ft. Lauderdale apartment. 

 Here's how our phone conversation on early Sunday morning went.

Fran:  "Joan, what time are you planning to get here?"
Joan::  "I should leave here around noon, I guess."
Fran:  "The game starts at one.  You'll miss the kick off."
Joan:  "Oops, you're right.  I better start at 11."
Fran:  "Don't worry.  I'm TiVoing it anyway, in case I want to go back and 
           review a play."

Did I mention that my sister just turned 89?  She watches every Marlin's baseball game and like myself, has been a Dolphin fan since day one.
We're pretty sure our Mother didn't have any interest in sports, so when our Dad wanted to go to see his beloved Yankees play ball, or take the train into NYC to Madison Square Garden to attend a track meet or a basketball game, she probably said "OK, if you insist, but only if you take one of the girls".  That how both of us learned to love sports, not very usual for girls in those days.



Dad and his girls, plus our dog Frisky

Fast forward. . .Fran and I watched the game together, and wonder of wonders, the Dolphins actually managed to pull it together in the second half and win, thanks to an incredible punt return by Jarvis Landry.  Then off to Fran's daughter Vicki's house for a delicious dinner.

Is there a better way to spend New Year's????
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Mixed emotions. . .

I received an invitation in the mail today.  It came from something called "The Alliance for Aging" and it invited me to attend the "2015 Positive Aging Awards Nominee Reception".  I don't know whether to be horrified or flattered.

Let me start by saying that I have discovered I am "my Mother's daughter" when it comes to volunteering.  It must be in my genes, because most of you are aware that although I am only semi-retired and still do free lance writing for clients, I also spend a lot of time volunteering for various non-profits, one of which is the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired.  I tell you this because I was recently informed by friend and Lighthouse CEO, Virginia Jacko, that they have nominated me for the 2015 Volunteer Award.

My first reaction was "You gotta be kidding. Why me?"  Good question.  I guess because my donation to this very amazing institution is a monthly on-line blog called "Light Line".  I totally enjoy writing it and have been doing so for over a year.  Much to my amazement and their delight, it seems to have brought the Lighthouse into the social media world and resulted in increased financial donations from the more than 4,000 people who receive it on the their computers every month.

I am much too vain to not wince at the "aging" aspect of the award, thus the "horrified" feeling of the situation.  I am sure there are many more qualified "oldies" out there who will take top honors for their volunteering efforts.  On the other hand, I can't help thinking, "Wouldn't Mom be proud."
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My Mom on her 85th birthday with my sister Fran and me.

Something to think about. . .

The Today Show this morning talked about the fact that there are really three types of people. . introverts, extroverts and ambiverts.  I never heard the word so I looked it up on Google, and sure enough it's "Someone who exhibits qualities of both introversion and extroversion."  Who knew???

On second thought, I realized I qualify for that category. . .in business I was always an extrovert, able to carry on conversations and be comfortable in all sorts of situations.  In my personal life I tend to be less friendly, less extroverted.  I'm not one to strike up a conversation with complete strangers and I'm notoriously a poor chatter on the telephone. My daughter Andrea complains that I always sound like I'm ready to say good by, two seconds after I say hello.  I always marvel at my friend Sandy whom I say can "talk to the wall" if no one else is around. 

One of the signs of an introvert, according to the Today Show, is a person who enjoys being alone. I confess. I am very happy to spend time by myself in my home, although in my mind I'm actually never really alone with my two cats, Wasabi and Ginger, close by. Give me a good book, a handful of fruit flavored jelly bellies, and today's Miami Herald crossword puzzle, and I'm a happy camper.  That's definitely my introverted side.

Funny, I never really thought about it before.  Should I make an effort to be more friendly?  I'll have to sleep on that.
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My two best friends????