Okay, it’s time to pick on lawyers… We had dinner Saturday night with Suzanne’s mom Ruthie and our Villages friend Gail (“The Lawyer”), and her friends Rosalyn and Robert from Miami. Gail revealed (and not after copious quantities of wine, as she does not imbibe) that she had had a past life regression during which she was told that she had once been a chariot driver in Rome’s Coliseum back 2,000 years ago. When Suzanne mentioned that during a reading she gave to Gail, Gail’s mother had indeed commented on Gail’s lead foot while driving, I imagined the following, and described it to the group… “Okay Gail, here’s the scenario… you’re driving down I-75, doing way over the speed limit in your hot rod, and the Florida Highway Patrol pulls you over…” “Ma’am, you were doing 95 in a 70 mph zone; what do you have to say?” “Well, officer, it’s perfectly understandable, I was a chariot racer in ancient Rome, and I couldn’t help it.” “Yes, ma’am, I understand how that might be an issue. If you would you please give me the name and telephone number of your chariot instructor, we’ll have him attend your hearing. Now, if you will please step out of your car, put your hands behind your back, I’ll place these nice bracelets on you and give you a very slow automobile ride to the station and you can call a lawyer.” “But I AM a lawyer.” “Yes ma’am, well that makes it all very clear.”
Robert and Rosalyn were also brilliant and interesting people, and great fun in spite of their advanced educations. Robert is a mathematics PhD who specializes in international economics and Rosalyn is a clinical psychologist PhD who includes hypnosis in her therapy. Rosalyn is especially fun, and you would never know that she’s a shrink. My Lovely Bride suggested that I might find her hypnosis techniques useful in resolving some of my personality disorders; I asked her, “What the heck does that mean?” “Oh, never mind… here’s our food, anyway.” Sometimes the woman truly confounds me….
After dinner we headed for the Savannah Center for a concert by Fernando Varela. He is a local central Florida singer who sang at the Church on the Square before he was discovered and helped in his career by several local folks, including Suzanne’s great friend Lynn Walker. At one point, Fernando was studying at an unnamed Florida university when one of his profs stated, “Sorry, but singing is not in your future; you’d better try something else…” (This guy had better not be picking stocks for himself…). Fernando ignored his advice, worked hard and practiced a lot, and was recognized and helped by David Foster. He has just finished a world tour, and came back to The Villages for four concerts.
It was a truly remarkable performance. Fernando is a tenor in the mold of Josh Groban and Andrea Boccelli. Not only was Fernando spectacular, but his musicians and backup singers were top-drawer performers as well. But the crème de la crème of the evening came at the end when Fernando sang two duets with his wife Susan. Normally you might expect a star’s wife to be an adequate performer, but when this beautiful young woman sang, she truly had the voice of an angel. It was a fantastic end to a stellar performance.
We awoke this morning and I took our puppies out for their morning constitutional. What took my breath away was this enormous object blocking the view of the mountains from our front yard. Our friends and neighbors Bob and Jan Blythe had parked their new bus in front of their house. I thought about calling the Neighborhood Watch to complain, but decided that keeping good relations with the Blythes was the gentlemanly thing to do. (Actually, I thought I might need to borrow his hedge clippers again…) Here are the new RV’ers showing off their palace on wheels to some friends.
Suzanne has been wanting to go for a long bike ride on her carbon fiber Look road bike, but her chain and rear gears (called a cassette) needed replacement. She had dropped her bike off at Village Cycles, where Mark and his expert tech Jim completed the repairs. Here she is holding her 17 lb bike up with one finger. As a comparison, her mountain bike weighs almost 30 lbs. We then went out for a quick 22 mile ride (she was pressed for time) at 17 mph, not too bad for a girl. Smack…. “Geez, Suzanne, but you are a girl…” Smacked again… sigh…
2 Comments
Beverly G
Once again, "Life As Ty Sees It" is the best way to start the morning with a smile – – imagining Gail driving that chariot has me laughing out loud!
Ty and Suzanne Giesemann
Bev,
Actually, Gail had me almost in tears when she told that story and I realized how I could expand on it. She is a really good sport, thank goodness (for a lawyer). 😉
Ty