British Exit

Throwing a tantrum at the polls is not liberating; it is self defeating. - Eugene Robinson

Brexit (or British Exit) has happened.  Chaos has ensued.  Stock markets all over the world have taken a dive.  Britain's credit rating has been lowered.  Much more toppling is expected.  Brits who voted for exiting the European Union have signed petitions for a do-over, saying they didn't mean it.  It was just a "protest" vote.

Stephen Corbett had a funny but scary bit on Late Night a couple of evenings ago.  He was on top of a building telling us the concept that, if you dropped a penny from a great height it could kill someone, is not true.  But then he decided to drop a British coin.

And then everything broke loose.  Cars and planes crashed, buildings fell, stuff blew up spontaneously.  We got the point.

When Dave looked at the drawing on the current New Yorker magazine he couldn't figure it out.  But he wasn't a fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

I sure hope we Americans don't do anything silly at the voting booth.


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Standing in Line and Loving It

Elsa and Anna

Do you like to be the first to do stuff?  Like ride a new Ferris wheel or see a film or visit a new Ikea?

You would think, after the disaster here two weeks ago, things would be a bit muted at our world class theme parks.  But no.  And maybe that's a good thing.  Central Florida is the place people come to from all over the planet to experience fun and fantasy.  That hasn't changed.

Mako

There's a new ride at Disney's Epcot called Frozen Ever After, staring animatronic versions of Anna, Elsa and Olaf.  The Orlando Sentinel quotes a man who waited in line for six hours this week to experience this five minute Frozen ride.  How did he feel about this?  "Honestly it flew by.  It was worth it."

For some reason I really don't understand, people love to experience the "first day" of something.  We love standing in line for openings.  (Well, not me personally, of course.)  But our world class theme parks are constantly opening new rides and long lines always ensue.

Within the past month SeaWorld opened a crazy new roller coaster named Mako and Universal's Islands of Adventure opened Skull Island:Reign of Kong. And, yes, the first day wait times were hours and hours long.

And nobody seems to mind.


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Sex, Lies and Netflix

Dave and I have been binge watching Blue Bloods on Netflix.  It's a cop/family show.  Tom Selleck plays New York City police commissioner, Frank Reagan.  But the main thrust of the show has to do with his family, both his family of origin and the family he created.

The Reagans are a strong, good, Catholic family who, even with their busy lives fighting bad guys, still find time to have Sunday dinner together.  Well, they start out having dinner together but most of the time somebody storms off mad or gets called off to fight more bad guys.

The episode we saw last night had Reagan's dad (the former police commissioner) recommend to Frank that he lie to a young man about who his mother was in order to save the young man's good memories of his mom.  He used the example of his own dad (Frank's grandfather) who's deep flaws were hidden from Frank and others in the family.

However, in the end, Frank decides to tell the young man the truth.

On Sunday I will teach an adult Sunday school class and we'll talk about a family somewhat like this.  A bunch of good guys fighting bad guys for several generations - while also involving themselves in family intrigue, sex and lies.

It's not on Netflix.  It's in the Old Testament.



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The Sheriff's in Town

Jerry Demings is the sheriff for Orange County, Florida.  As such, he's the top cop among many who've acted in heroic ways around here in the last few days.  Let's recap what that looks like in the family friendly vacation capitol of the world.

• On Friday night The Voice singer Christina Grimmie, performing here at Plaza Live, was shot to death while on stage.
• On Saturday night and into Sunday morning, 49 people were shot to death in a night club and 53 others were wounded. 
• On Tuesday a little two year old boy was grabbed and killed by an alligator in Disney property. 

Sheriff Demings has been in the middle of all of this, including sharing his calm demeanor on the media several times a day.  

I've been a big fan of Sheriff Demings for a long time.  Especially during the several years that his wife was the captain of the Orlando Police Department while he was Orange County sheriff.  What a power couple!  

So, last night, when we were attending the big annual American Diabetes Association's extravaganza, (this year honoring my son John as Farther of the Year, along with three other outstanding men and fathers) I was amazed to see Sheriff Demings walk into the ball room.  

Jerry and Val Demings
Central Florida Power Couple

John and I sometimes say outrageous things to each other but it's okay because we know it's safe.  So I leaned over to John and said, "I'd like to go over and kiss Jerry Demings on the lips."

I'm sure I was expressing the sentiment of thousands of women (and men) here in Central Florida.  John and I did, eventually amble over to speak with the sheriff and I was honored.  (I promise I said nothing outrageous - but I wanted to.)

I'm so very grateful for every person around the globe who works to keep us safe.  I was especially feeling grateful and safe last night.

Except when John Crossman got up to accept his Father of the Year award in front of his wife and children (my grandchildren) and several hundred others, the first thing out of his mouth was:

My mom wants to kiss Sheriff Demings!

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Four Days Later

Today is the Wednesday after the Sunday morning I woke up to hear on my radio that over one hundred young adults had been shot overnight in my city, Orlando Florida.

This morning I'm thinking about Susanna Wesley.  She's an icon in Methodism and, while I don't love everything about her, we did have some things in common.  We both had a bunch of kids.  She had 19 and I had 4.  We both had husbands who were never home so we pretty much had to raise the kids on our own.  We both worried about the kind of things our young adult children were in to. Two of hers turned out really well.  I think I'm going to do ok on that score but it remains to be seen.

Here's what I did admire about Susanna Wesley.  When tragedy came her way - and it did - big time, here's what she did:  She got up, combed her hair, read her devotions and, generally, took care of the days business.  She carried on.

In the last four days I (and most other folks in Central Florida) have carried on.

- On Sunday afternoon we were astounded at how many people showed up at various places around Orlando to give blood.  Some stood in line for eight hours.

- Chick fil a opened their doors (on Sunday, mind you) and gave away sandwiches.

- On Sunday evening, as we always do, we went to the gym.  The "Ice Den" where the hockey players hang out on Sundays was jammed like it always is.  In the gym we greeted the same folks we always do.  Nobody looked afraid to be out in public.

- Last night there were several gatherings around town for candle light vigils.  All crowded with folks from different faiths (and no faith) who wanted to honor these young people who've lost their lives.

- At water aerobics this morning the ladies were happy and grateful (accept for one woman upset by something Pat Robertson said.  Why, oh why would this good Jewish woman even care what Mr. Robertson said?)

- Finally, this morning Orlando Sentinel columnist, Scott Maxwell, outdid himself with a column titled "Who We Are."  He told the world who we are.  Including Disney and Shakespeare, rich and poor, Park Avenue and Bithlo, conservatives and gay pride paraders.  And alligators. And cock roaches the size of toy poodles.  We are cutting edge. We have diversity.  Most of us are transplants.  Here is his final line:

We are lots of things.  But what happened in that nightclub on that one morning isn't one of them.

That is not Orlando.

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On The Beach

We're spending a few days at the beach.  A family in our church offered up their condo to auction off for a fund raiser.  We had the winning bid.  Lucky us.  It's been great to be here with friends - and alone.  We've had seafood every day, including cod, oysters and shrimp.  All served in the "fish camp" kind of restaurants we love.

We're at Ponce Inlet.  It's just north of New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  But you can't get here from New Smyrna.  They don't connect.  You have to drive all the way back inland, up the highway and then back to the beach.  It's a bit frustrating.  You can see the famous Ponce Inlet Lighthouse from New Smyrna - but you can't get there.

The entire area, for miles and miles is loaded with condos and lovely beach homes.  But I remember when that was not the case.

In the 1970s when my husband, Ken was the minister of two downtown Orlando churches, there was an old lady in one of them who offered our family of six her New Smyrna beach house from time to time.  This was before condos and before air conditioning. The house was big, with big rooms.  It had seen better days. The lower floor had originally been servants quarters but when we were there had only an old washing machine.

The upper floor had a huge living room, a master bedroom and another huge bedroom with at least six beds.  The jalousie windows were screened but the breeze that constantly flowed from the beach kept a constant layer of sand everywhere.

I cooked all of our meals in the big, ancient kitchen and day dreamed about how it might have been fun to stay in the servants quarters and cook and care for visitors from other parts of the world who had come to stay in this beach house.

Of course, there was no swimming pool like every house and condo have now but we had a garden hose for washing off the salt water we were in several times a day.  And, with no TV, we spent our evening doing jigsaw puzzles and reading.  It was fun.  I hope my children remember it the way I do.

But I've enjoyed this week as well.   The Florida east coast beach scene has changed - and so have I.


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Float Like a Butterfly Sting Like a Bee

1942-2016

People don't realize what they had till it's gone.  Like President Kennedy, there was no one like him, the Beatles and my man Elvis Presley.  I was the Elvis of boxing.  - Muhammad Ali

Dave and I were talking yesterday about how meaningful it was to actually live on the same planet at the same time with so many great people.  It's one thing (and a good thing) to read and understand history but it's another thing to remember the drama and high feeling level of having lived it.

It would be hard to describe how wildly popular Muhammad Ali was.  Especially since I cared nothing at all about boxing.

The first time he really got my attention was when he spoke out about the war in Vietnam.  Then he backed up his convictions by refusing to serve in the Army.  He paid dearly for this stance - but he was committed.

Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?  - Muhammad Ali

In my mind, Ali more than made up for this refusal in the way he led his long, difficult life.  Bragging was part of his fantastic sense of humor but he was a peace loving man who tried to do good.

I've made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven't lived in vain. - Muhammad Ali

In the 1960s Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali.  It was big news.  I had very little understanding of the Muslim faith at that time.  While it's still a bit of a mystery to me I try hard to understand and respect what I can of this faith that enfolds 1.5 billion people.

It's just a coincidence that in Forum this morning we had a professor from Rollins College come speak to us about the history of the Islam.  By the way, this young professor's targeted area of expertise is 6th century Christianity.  So he did not mention Muhammad Ali.  But, of course, I was thinking about him as the professor spoke.

The word "Islam" means "peace."  The word "Muslim" means "one who surrenders to God."  But the press makes us seem like haters.  - Muhammad Ali





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Vertigo

Several weeks ago I spent the day in the ER because I suspected I might be having a stroke.  Turns out it was vertigo.  What a relief.  It was over in a day or two.

Then, a couple of weeks later it was back.  And it's still here.  My kind of vertigo, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is caused by calcium crystals in the inner ear.  I never heard of it.  But the doc explained that it's very common and not serious.  The treatment is to do daily exercises where you fling your head around and stare at the ceiling.  Sounds like fun, right?

Not so much if the room is already flying around in circles.   And then there's the nausea and vomiting.  And here's an interest thing.  It comes on instantaneously.

So it's not serious except if I drive my car into a tree (or worse.)  Or I fall down and crack my scull or break my hip.  Or if I'm meeting with you (as I was with my attorney yesterday) and have to bring a bath towel so I won't throw up on you.

But I'm sticking close to home and doing my Epley exercises religiously.  And, come to find out, the doc was right.  Everybody has a gory vertigo story.  I've heard three today.  The Sears repair man told me about his friend who visited his parents after a long estrangement and threw up at the dinner table.   A neighbor told me that her relative was in a wheelchair for a year.  Another neighbor told me her friend had to lie in bed for a month.

On the bright side, I've lost 6 pounds.  Should be fun putting it back on when my BPPV is over.


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