Cleo's Corner (7.02.10)

Germany and the Passion Play:

From the moment we entered Germany, we were enthralled with the beauty of the country as well as the warmth of the people. Oberammergau turned out to be a greater experience than I could have imagined. A whole bunch of people from the town donate their time to put on the play five hours a day for five months every ten years. They do this because they were spared from the pestilence and wars 400 years ago and they made a pact that if they lived, they would celebrate Jesus’ passion of life and death, which they have done.

To see small children run across the stage with utter abandonment and joy as statesmen argue the rights of Jesus and what to do with him, was quite a site from five rows back. When it was over and Jesus had been resurrected, everyone in the audience could “feel” what he had been through, whether or not they were believers. For myself, I was upset at first. I felt like a gladiator watching a show and it didn’t sit well with me. After a day of thinking about it, I realized that Jesus came to tell us to be good disciples, to take care of others and to love thy neighbor. What I want to see are plays showing how we are doing our discipleship…are we living up to what he would have us do? Or are we rather focusing on money, position and power in this life? For myself, I am watching my deeds and asking myself, “Am I being a good disciple of this earth?” You might ask yourself, “Am I?” No matter what religion or belief system you have, the message is the same—share, take care of others and be the best person you can be.

Our final leg home took us to Munich Airport where I bought a small container of chicken and rice along with a small bottle of orange juice for $36. Yes, $36. We were using Euros and it was not cheap anywhere. Luckily the flight home was uneventful and we were all glad to land in Tampa and be home and tucked in our own beds for the evening. All in all, it was a wonderful journey with a great group of people.

Milkweek Campaign:

Three million Monarch butterflies go over our area every spring and fall, laying their eggs and …. oops. Therein lays a problem. Laying their eggs is beginning to be a battle because the only plant they can put their eggs on is the Milk Weed plant, which is in short supply. Many people pull this plant up thinking it is a weed (particularly when they have been partly eaten by the Monarch caterpillars). To see a total story on the Monarch, go to Photo Albums and then Monarch Show on the stpetebeachtoday.com website. The picture to the right shows the flowers on a milkweed plant…they come in mixed colors, yellow and all pink.

To do your part to help the Monarchs, we are suggesting you contact one of the following garden centers and buy 20 plants or so to spread around your yard. Put them in areas that are out-of-the-way so that when they get eaten down you don’t notice. They quickly regenerate to be ready for more Monarchs and every one that lays an egg in your yard will come back next year to do the same!

Here are good sources of clean plants (call first if you want a large amount):

Willow Tree Nursery Inc, 4401 49th Street North, St Petersburg, FL 33709 (727) 522-2594

Jene's Tropical’s, 6831 Central Avenue, St Petersburg, FL 33710 (727) 344-1668

Log Cabin Garden Center , 101 Pasadena Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33707 (727) 343-4204

A Wonderful Adventure:

As a group of ladies and I were hanging out in the water this week, I remembered an encounter I had with a shark. I thought it would be good to repeat it just to show that not all encounters are bad.

In June of 1996 I was snorkeling quite far out from the shoreline in Pass-a-Grille, almost to the buoys, looking for the large Whelk shells that are native around here. I was diving in about eight feet of water without fins, so it took a good deal of effort on my part to get down to the sand and grab whatever it was I had found. One day I dove for about the fifth time and about halfway to the bottom my snorkel came within an inch of hitting the fin of a sand shark. It’s long, 8’ body undulated past me in a primordial way. I quickly backed up as she kept on moving by me.
When I got to the top of the water I asked myself: “Is she looking for me? Am I on her menu? Does she consider me a main course or dessert?” No, I realized, she was not interested in me, so I decided to stay and continued diving.

An old man that used to hang around the flats in the bays a lot told me once that we are never further than 50’ from a shark. I have been swimming in the bays and Gulf for 70 years. I have never been bit. To all of you who run from the water or don’t even go in it for fear of a shark encounter, think about it—50 percent of all car accidents happen in an intersection. Has that stoppped you stopped driving through intersections? No, of course not.

Well, sharks are a far less problem. Even the coconut tree is more dangerous because coconuts falling on people’s heads and killing them outnumbers the number of people who get hit by lightning strikes each year! In other words, enjoy the water and the sharks will take care of themselves which means they’ll leave you alone and feed on “real” shark food—fish, stingrays and other sea life.

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