mattersofthemoment

Again this year we visited Dick and Carol Lindman, our good friends who live on beautiful Sanibel Island.

We met Dick on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella in Spain on our very first day in 2010.  Our paths kept crossing throughout the pilgrimage and we struck up a friendship.  Not having obtained his contact information, I subsequently found him and Carol using Google, having remembered he was a pastor based in NW Arkansas.

Since then we have visited Dick and Carol in Arkansas, Arnprior, Connecticut and now Sanibel twice.  They are a lovely couple and we enjoy catching up with each other on family and spiritual related matters.  When Dick and Carol came to Arnprior in 2012, they payed a visit to the Galilee Centre with us to discuss our Camino pilgrimage experiences.

This year was no different.  We visited Dick and Carol in their beautiful home 2 blocks from the beach.  We then enjoyed a delicious sea food meal at Traders before saying bye for now again.  Truly blessed to have you as our friends.

A few pics to tell the story better.

Dick 2nd from left on the first night of our Camino

Dick, Marie and friends in Obanos at the annual commemoration of Sts. Felicia and Guillen

Dick and Carol at their Arkansas home

In Connecticut

At their home in Sanibel

Lovely gardens and lanai

Yum!

This year after catching up again

Sanibel is a barrier island that juts out to the north west from the coast at Fort Myers.  It is about 20 miles long by a few miles wide.  With a population of 6500, it is about half the size of Arnprior.  There is a second smaller island called called Captiva connected by bridge at the end of Sanibel.

The island is known for its natural beaches, nature preserves and shelling.  It is also known for its traffic jams in winter.  There are thousands of vacation rentals and the rush from the mainland to the beach and back causes daily monumental traffic jams.  The toll bridge cost of $6 is a small deterrent it seems.  However if you are fortunate enough to live or rent on the island, you do most of your travel by bicycle on the many miles of bike paths for that purpose.

An engineer friend from university days, John and his wife Anita Jarrell have been renting on Sanibel for many years.  We have visited them many times now it seems so again this year was to be looked forward too.  We met at the Mucky Duck community beach bar and restaurant on Captiva.  Days later we visited them in their beach front condo.  They came here yesterday for a visit and we will be seeing them one more time before their return to Saskatoon.  Here are a few pics of our get togethers this year.

Captiva Island beach

Beach entrance to the Mucky Duck

The crazy parking lot at the MD.  You keep looping around until a space comes available and he calls your number.  Public parking is very limited on Captiva and Sanibel.

Marie, John and Anita

Another perfect sunset on Captiva

Piles of shells on Sanibel Island

John.  Originally from Toronto, he spent his career in the uranium mining and processing business.

Life is tough.

Yet another perfect sunset on Sanibel.

View from the lania

Live Florida Fighting Conchs on the beach

Wedge salad with friends

Spotlight the movie took best movie in the Oscars this week.  We watched it last night.  I was disappointed as they made the story about the investigative team and how they overcame RC archdiocese resistance to get the story of child abuse and cover-up out, rather then what was going on in the church it self.

By coincidence, I had just finished reading the book and did not even know until Oscar night that a movie of this story had been made.  Here is my book review.

We moved across the street for March to a 2 bedroom unit as we could not stay where we were as it was booked for March.  It is much more fancier inside and out.  Here are a few pics – lot’s of room for visitors if you want to fly down for a stay!

While the unit is nice, it is a little more pricey.  The pool water is at 32 deg C and the pool get’s very crowded in the PM.

People are very friendly.  We met Alice Marie next door as we were moving in.  Two couples from Ottawa and a bunch of nice people from Wisconsin.

Our walk to Walmart is only 5 minutes now and it’s about the same distance now that we we had before to walk to church.  Bigger TV, better A/C, nicer beds.  We are really enjoying our new abode.

Oh yeah, and the pizza place is much closer!

Over the years, one of our enjoyments is to attend outdoor jazz festivals for the great music, people and spirit.  We started at the Ottawa IJF many years ago and continue to go there almost every year.  Key shows we remember out of hundreds are Tony Bennet, Wynton Marsalis and Diana Krall.

We have also been able to attend the Newport RI, Montreal QC, New Orleans LA, and Falmouth, Jamaica jazz festivals.  We have seen B.B King, Celine Dion, Brian Wilson and George Benson among many others at these famous festivals.  I often compare experiences at these events.  Ottawa remains our favorite little home town festival because it is small, intimate and has a great setting by the Rideau Canal.

Well we can now add another one to our list – the Punta Gorda Jazz and Wine Festival in Punta Gorda, FL just north of us here in Fort Myers.

This festival in it’s 11th year is a “smooth jazz” festival and boasted 3 international acts this year:  Nick Collione (guitar and vocalist from Chicago), Bobby Caldwell (vocalist from S. Miami) and Mindi Abair (tenor sax player from St. Petersburg, FL).

About 3000 people attended (relatively small).  There were boats anchored in the bay with hundreds more in attendance.  Everyone was ready for a party and the weather was superb.  It was our special treat out and what a treat it was.

What we really liked:

• you can bring your own food and wine into the festival, just no coolers
• Nick Collione is a superb entertainer and had almost everyone on their feet dancing
• the crab cakes were to die for
• the friendly people
• Mindi Abair had everyone up and dancing in front of the stage at the end
• free wine glasses and souvenir bag
• the dancing

Highly recommended.  Thank you Punta Gorda, Nick, Bobby and Mindy!  God willing we will be back again next year.

The crowd builds

I’m ready

Nick Collione

Bobby Caldwell belts out his signature song “What you won’t do for love”

The crowd

Nice time together (courtesy of selfie stick)

Mindy does her thing

Marie is into it

What about you?

It was a surround the stage blowout at the end!!!

One cannot but notice the abundance of birds here in Florida.  There are dozens of varieties all existing in union and peace with each other.  Here are a few examples of our sightings.

Cormorant

Wood Stork

Mockingbird

Osprey

Great White Egret

Ibis

Anhinga

Coot

Tri Colored Heron

Brown Pelican

Great Blue Heron

Here are some pictures of our modest Florida condo in Fort Myers.  After 3 years here, it feels like home.

Entrance

Living Room

Dinette

Bedroom

One is shutdown this year due to a small tornado that tore off the roof of the pool building.

There is lot’s of wild life right outside our door.

Wood Stork

Muscovy

Cormorants

Alligator

Always room for another Morgan.

Fab cruise to Aruba, Turks and Caicos, and Curacao for Marie’s birthday.  Our 11th cruise, 2nd on Carnival.

We liked the cabin – was spacious with a balcony.  And the service and towel animals made by Sri our attendant from Indonesia.

Aruba was the highlight of the trip – they call it “One Happy Island”.  Did some shopping and Iguana sighting.

Curacao has interesting architecture but is pretty barren and dry.  Nice flamingos.

Grand Turk was set up well for our visit with a huge swimming pool and beach right beside the ship.

All in all a very good getaway we really needed.

Mathew  23: 9-12

9 Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of “Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven.
10 And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them–Christ.
11 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant.
12 If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

Tad Szulc, a New York Times reporter published this biography in 1995 some 10 years before the death of John Paul II.  I was attracted to it because I wanted to know about Polish history in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Poland.  I also wanted to learn the truth about Karol Wojtyla and his papacy given some misconceptions I had about his theology and apparent inaction to address priestly sexual abuse scandals in timely fashion.

Through Szulc’s book, I have come to know the man much better and to love and admire him immensely. Written in endless detail, the book traces Karol’s life from a penniless rock quarry worker/playwright during WW II to Holy Father head of the 1 billion member Roman Catholic Church over 27 years.

Pope John Paul II was if nothing else supremely confident and determined in his papal approach.  He had a low tolerance for dissent.  Socially progressive he knew that the communist regime in Poland would eventually come to an end due to its many shortcomings like its unwillingness to grant workers the right to free unions.  Hence his patient stance of negotiation, non-confrontation and quiet unflinching diplomacy eventually led to the unravelling of the whole communist world.  A more brash or impatient approach would likely have lead to violent confrontation and many deaths.

Theologically conservative, his stance against abortion, artificial birth control, the roll and ordination of women, liberation theology and basic ecclesial communities in Latin America and inculturation of the church may have harmed the church.  We have seen a falling away of the faithful, the normalization of “cafeteria Catholics” and the growing appeal of the Pentacostal faith whose members are not burdened by central doctrine. However these trends were likely in place prior to his papacy.

The sexual scandal case of Priest Marcial Maciel, the leader of the Legion if Christ came later. Church authorities were criticized for slow investigations with conjecture that it was because Maciel was close to Pope JPII and was the greatest fundraiser of the church at the time.  In wasn’t until 2006 that Maciel was forced to retire despite repeated accusations over many years of sexually abusing minors and having fathered as many as 6 children.

At the end, Szulc gives an assessment of Pope John Paul II as a man who enjoyed immense personal popularity and respect but who was unable to transfer that acceptance to the Church which he headed. While leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions, Szulc suggests that John Paul II may have failed in important aspects of his duties as head of the Church.

I am having none of it.  Through his immense suffering and love, Pope John Paul II has become my hero – a true witness to the Faith who fostered a positive difference in the lives of millions of people in our time.  4.5 of 5 stars – a great read!