Let's Motor!

Today the MINI and I went motoring to Lake Wales. I hadn't visited Bok Sanctuary since I was maybe a child. Some of you already know this, but it was an original Florida attraction, long before Walt Disney had heard of Central Florida. Edward Bok made his name as the editor of The Ladies Home Journal, a very progressive magazine for it's time. He came from the Netherlands as a poor six year old boy. Apparently his grandmother told him, "Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it." Remembering those words, he decided to create a sanctuary for birds and people, hiring Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to transform the area into a sanctuary that would "touch the soul with its beauty and quiet." The work was begun in 1922, and was completed in 1929. There's more to the story but you get the drift. I was trudging at the end, but it is good for me to be "out and about."

Today was what they called 24 hours of Flickr. The idea was for people around the world to take a photo today and submit it. They will choose some for a book on what the world was doing on 05/05/07--at least through the eyes of people who love to take pictures! I decided to submit the sign with Edward Boks' motto as it seems just as appropriate today as ever. By the way, this swan picture was taken there. They have two swans in this long reflecting pond; the caretakers came up with a cart with breakfast lettuce . I have never seen a swan do anything but glide, but man they can move. I caught one in serious motion that I posted to flickr. Crazy!

I saw something in the paper that amused me yesterday. Clothing companies now make clothes in "vanity sizes." I hadn't heard that term yet but it is so true. I mean how can I wear a "0"? Doesn't zero mean nothing? Whoever dreamed this system up is either stupid or brilliant--you decide.