We arrived on December 21, 2017 and this is how it went.
Docktails with Darcy and Wally (Summertime) on their boat, a time for catching up.
...then working up the excitement of friends arriving and the celebration of Christmas. Here is the story.
Docktails aboard Summertime
Dinner on Summertime the day we arrive in Ft. Myers, a nice invitation
The funny:
A walk with Darcy brings beautiful, interesting and funny things to look at.
I wonder if this applies to new or old hippies, well I guess it really doesn't matter.
Those of you who think of yourselves as a hippie will know exactly what to do if you visit at this house.
Beautiful:
Epiphytes seen on our walk
Funny, interesting and creative:
Is that a lollipop or a red nose?
One of many times I past by TJ working and many times I stopped to say hi to him and Ivy. Ivy is so well behaved and when asked why he so well behaved TJ told me that he trained her like he would train a kid.
Yeah!
December 23rd Nearly Perfect with Patty and Jack arrives.
After dinner at The Garage with Patty and Jack, Capt. Jack and Jane (Dixie), Wally and Darcy we headed off to see two historic houses decorated for the holidays.
This was my favorite room
An umbrella tree?
Christmas Eve breakfast on Nearly Perfect with Aunt Martha's Goop and mimosas.
CHEERS!
Wally picks apart the fruit
Darcy expressing happiness for all of us as we start our breakfast
Notice the shorts that we know the Northerns are not wearing this week
Christmas Eve aboard Summertime
The best Christmas present of all, being able to hold a tiger cat named Eli (a female) and remember ing Gracie and Ginger
Eli lives on a boat across the dock from us with his sister and two parents, Molly and Josh, on the MoJo sailboat.
Rudolph the pink nose flamingo. Ask my friends, this truly was a tasteful flamingo shirt.
Wally and Darcy hosted Christmas Dinner with the clan on their boat Summertime. We all brought our favorite Christmas time foods.
The beautiful meal
Ivy's dad, TJ. TJ is 22, owns a sailboat and is a hard worker. He joined us for dinner on Christmas Eve.
Selfies do work sometimes, this is my dear friend, Patty of Nearly Perfect.
After lunch serenade
Kent Rising Tide) blowing the conch horn at sunset aboard Linda Jean *
The sunset in Ft. Myers December 27, 2017
With the flowers in the sink protected by the cabbage (from those dastardly fast boats with big wakes) we head of to Cayo Costa for New Years Eve with Jack and Patty (Nearly Perfect), and Darcy and Wally (Summertime).
To all the people I know and love and to those I want in my life I have yet to meet.
Tricia
*Pū Hawaiian Conch Shell
Pū, pronounced 'poo' is the Hawaiian Name for Conch Shell. A gift from the Ocean, the Pū comes out of the life giving waters with a sound that flows across the 'Aina ( land ).
The blowing of the Pu, a deep part of the Hawaiian culture, has multiple uses and communicates various meanings in both Religious and secular traditions.
Blowing the Pū is sometimes used before a ceremony to mark the official beginning.
To blow the Pū is a call to the divine. The blowing of the Pū should always be accompanied by protocol. When it's blown, how many times and in which directions all have a complex set of meanings. The meanings of the number of blows are so sacred that we do not reveal them in print. Rather we share them with you in your Sacred Ceremony. The blows in ceremony symbolize the journey of the Ancient Hawaiians as well as your own journey in that Eternal moment. So many Hawaiians it also symbolizes the first 4 Hawaiian male Gods.
In ancient times the blowing of the Pū was used to communicate across the waters between people on canoes and those on land. Sometimes it would be used to request permission to come to the shore and step foot upon the land. Permission or denial would then be returned from those on shore by them blowing the conch shell back with a certain number of blows. Permission to land avoided possible death, making the Pū a vital instrument.
In modern days some blow the Pū to say Goodbye at sunset to end the day and to say Mahalo (thanks).
A person once asked Rev. Alalani, “how do you always blow the conch shell pure and right every time”?
She replied, ”because I let God blow through me.” “I blow for the cause and to open the Heavens to come and Bless I give thanks. I do not blow the Pū alone”.
“My Kupuna Papa Kahu Kawika Ka‘alakea had me blow for him in ceremonies and broke the forbidden nature for me as a woman to blow the Pu. So when the KaPū was broken for me, I knew I had to be pono (righteous) to blow the Pū pono or right. “
Rev. Alalani said if you blow the conch shell wrong it could bring disharmonious energy; “If you blow pure and clear then it invokes goodness and is therefore respectful to the Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures.” She said we must always be respectful.
“The Pu, except in Luau‘s, are never blown at night for they can call to Spirits of the night and darkness. They are always blown in the day and are blown until the last drop of sun dips into the ocean in the far horizon.”
“To blow just to blow is to just hear the sound. But once you learn and come to know the teachings and are taught by Kahuna, Kupuna or Kumu, then you come to know the deep and sacred meanings. Then you take on the responsibility to blow pono or right, and you realize to blow in accordance with Hawaiian protocol is absolutely essential!”
The blowing of the Pu, a deep part of the Hawaiian culture, has multiple uses and communicates various meanings in both Religious and secular traditions.
Blowing the Pū is sometimes used before a ceremony to mark the official beginning.
To blow the Pū is a call to the divine. The blowing of the Pū should always be accompanied by protocol. When it's blown, how many times and in which directions all have a complex set of meanings. The meanings of the number of blows are so sacred that we do not reveal them in print. Rather we share them with you in your Sacred Ceremony. The blows in ceremony symbolize the journey of the Ancient Hawaiians as well as your own journey in that Eternal moment. So many Hawaiians it also symbolizes the first 4 Hawaiian male Gods.
In ancient times the blowing of the Pū was used to communicate across the waters between people on canoes and those on land. Sometimes it would be used to request permission to come to the shore and step foot upon the land. Permission or denial would then be returned from those on shore by them blowing the conch shell back with a certain number of blows. Permission to land avoided possible death, making the Pū a vital instrument.
In modern days some blow the Pū to say Goodbye at sunset to end the day and to say Mahalo (thanks).
A person once asked Rev. Alalani, “how do you always blow the conch shell pure and right every time”?
She replied, ”because I let God blow through me.” “I blow for the cause and to open the Heavens to come and Bless I give thanks. I do not blow the Pū alone”.
“My Kupuna Papa Kahu Kawika Ka‘alakea had me blow for him in ceremonies and broke the forbidden nature for me as a woman to blow the Pu. So when the KaPū was broken for me, I knew I had to be pono (righteous) to blow the Pū pono or right. “
Rev. Alalani said if you blow the conch shell wrong it could bring disharmonious energy; “If you blow pure and clear then it invokes goodness and is therefore respectful to the Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures.” She said we must always be respectful.
“The Pu, except in Luau‘s, are never blown at night for they can call to Spirits of the night and darkness. They are always blown in the day and are blown until the last drop of sun dips into the ocean in the far horizon.”
“To blow just to blow is to just hear the sound. But once you learn and come to know the teachings and are taught by Kahuna, Kupuna or Kumu, then you come to know the deep and sacred meanings. Then you take on the responsibility to blow pono or right, and you realize to blow in accordance with Hawaiian protocol is absolutely essential!”
Tricia
