City of Boca Raton with Orchestra -1812 Festival Overture (FAU campus, July 4, 2012)

(Saturday, June 30, 2012–Mizner Amphitheater)

Summer is here and the free concert series at Mizner Amphitheater is underway.  Last night they featured Sarah Packiam and the New River Band. Sarah’s music was a blend of acoustic, pop and traditional Irish music (born in Ireland) with a touch of India (father is a musician in India) with sultry vocals.

It was the perfect evening. The amphitheatre is casual.  Parking is easy.  Bring a lawn chair or stroll through the park and check out the new iPic Theatre concept, Tanzy and Salt.    It redefines entertainment with a seasonal menu and food and drinks using fresh herbs, fruits and botanicals.  It is a very cool and hip venue with outdoor seating that flows into the park.

Neighbor’s Tree ( Boca Raton, June 27, 2012)

You take an evening stroll when you spot this cluster in a tree.  It is a work of art and the bees are sleeping (contrary to myth that they never sleep). Their sleep patterns depend on age and role.  

The foragers are under a lot of stress and expend a lot of energy on their collection rounds so they need, as many older creatures do, sleep on a regular basis.  The foragers tend to sleep at night since most of their work is done during the day.  The foragers also tend to sleep on the outside of the cluster to keep any diseases or parasites out of the brood area of the hive.  

The young bees tend to sleep inside cells in the center of the hive.  They don’t have regular sleep cycles, but catch a quick nap as little as 30 seconds whenever they can.  The young bees work as cell cleaners and nurse bees.  They work in the heart of the hive.

It is nesting season once again on our beaches. On any given night on a certain stretch of beach from Juno to Jupiter,  you can see these massive reptiles approach the shoreline to lay their eggs.

The Loggerhead’s journey is an incredible one. As a hatchling, it leaves the coast of Florida and rides the Gulf Stream up towards the Arctic and ultimately swims around the entire North Atlantic across to Africa and back to the beach where she was born. The odds are stacked against her; just one in ten thousand turtles survive the journey. She faces many hazards but her calling comes, and she returns to her beach. When she finally reaches  the same shores of Florida where she was hatched, 25 years will have passed. 

The cycle of nature begins again.  It is a rare and very special opportunity to witness such a unique call of nature.

Art is moving, uplifting and inspiring and doing art projects with children only enhances the experience. The Boca Raton Museum hosts a number of children programs.  One is called Creation Station.  Once a month children learn about a master artist on exhibit and have the opportunity to create a masterpiece in the style of the selected artist.  On Saturday, I worked with about 15 children in creating a piece of Optical Art.  The activity was inspired by a piece in the museum titled Tribal by Richard Anuskiewicz.  Tribal is large scale non-objective art.  Anuskiewicz applies colors both complementary and analogous to create energy or movement on canvas.

It is a wonderful way for children to learn about art in a fun and relaxed manner so if you live in the Boca area, check out the schedule at www.bocamuseum.org.

(Run 4 the Sea,  Jupiter, FL– Friday, June 8, 2012)

When you live in a coastal community, you can indulge in every sporting activity imaginable at any age.  From the local races to the morning sunrise cycles, it is a race to see and experience the views, the breeze and coastal roads.

(Cycling on AIA in Jupiter, FL at sunrise, Sunday, June 10, 2012)

If you are lucky, you can add waves and boogie boarding, body surfing and surfing to your options for fun in the great outdoors.  Check it out on www.surftopreserve.org.

(June 3, 2012– Jupiter, FL)

It is always spectacular!

There is a fine line between fishing and standing at the shore with a rod in hand and looking like an idiot. I have come to appreciate the quest, solitude and desire to catch a fish. 

You breathe in a new day, experience amazing colors at sunrise and sunset, open a bail of a rod and throw forward a shiny lure or tasty bait to kiss the ocean.  It is the excitement of a strike that keeps you coming back.

It is not an easy exercise. You need the correct bait (catching sand fleas above), the right tide, technique and equipment to feel and catch a silvery flash on your line. It helps to have a good teacher–a master in reeling in predator and prey. 

Most important, it is a way to enjoy the great outdoors, seek solitude and share stories–fish against man as if you wrote the script to The Old Man and the Sea.  If you get it right, it is fun.

(Julian Marley, Friday, May 25, 2012)

Bob Marley, reggae’s biggest ambassador who pioneered the music genre and brought reggae to the mainstream tragically died at the age of 35.  However, his legacy lives on in his sons Ziggy, Stephen, Damian, Rohan and Julian. We experienced the Marley magic this weekend when Julian Marley (“Ju Ju”) played at a local venue Guanabanas Friday night. Julian is the youngest son of Bob Marley and a Bajan mother, Lucy Pounder. He was six years old when he lost his father. Julian is a member of the Rastafari movement and his musical style follows the legacy of his father–reggae at its best.