Karen at Fifty Four

I went with Mom, Donna, Gerald, and Leah to see The Florida Orchestra perform An American in Paris by George Gershwin. Wow, what an amazing performance. They played Fire Drunk by Joshua Cerdenia, which was good, then a Tuba concerto by Wynton Marsalis, which was also good, but not my favorite. After intermission was Black, Brown, and Beige by Duke Ellington, which was jazzy and fun. Then came An American in Paris by George Gershwin, which was terrific. The Florida Orchestra did a fantastic job. I always enjoy seeing them play and I think its interesting to see them perform different compositions, even though I know nothing about music! I'm always impressed. It was great spending time with the family too. We started at Mom's for dinner, then went together to see the show, then did a bike ride the next morning. Really nice time. What a wonderful family! No a good selfie of Mom, squished between her two lovely daughters :)

My first ride of the year was a slow, solo ride in Lake Nona. It was a peaceful, no pressure kind of ride, with a stop at the statues. 21 miles to start me off on my 2023 goal. I'm a bit doubtful I will make my swim/walk/bike goals since I'm having a total knee replacement Jan 18, but I plan to work hard in rehab get back out there as fast as possible. The backside of my favorite statue. Haha, I didn't purposely take a picture from this angle, it was just the scene I had while sitting and enjoying my ride snack and little rest. The statue park has lots of seating areas for people to rest and enjoy the park. Yes, it's Astroturf is you're wondering how they keep the grass so green. But all of the palms and ferns and flowers are real. 

I didn't take any pictures for these two events, but I wanted to post them anyway. New Year's Eve I went to Lake Apopka for an evening bike ride with a handful of Florida Freewheelers. It was weird. We really didn't see anything. I think Lake Apopka is better during the day when you can see all the gators and birds. But it was a novelty to ride with only our headlights to light the way. New Year's day was at Dad's where we exchanged gifts and watched the Bucs game. They won! Great food and great company. I very nice day... but no pictures. Next year!

The beautiful, chilly weather allowed my to ride around the Orlando Wetlands Park. I would never take a bike ride or walk in the heat (which is 95% of the year) because there is no shade out there, but this day was perfect.  The Orlando Wetlands Park is actually a water treatment area. It was built to help filter the water coming out of Orlando before it flows south to the Everglades. You would never know it though. The water looks perfectly clean, there is no odor, and the wildlife seem to love it. I counted 10 gator sightings. And they were close!!! Not just way off in the middle of the lake, but right on the edge of the trail. So close actually, that I was afraid to stop pedaling to snap a picture. Absolutely beautiful, and not a building in sight. Perfect place to get a breath of fresh air and re-center yourself to peace. There were actually quite a few people out there, but the park is so large, and with a bike you can get away from the main entrance and find some solitude. This w

I hosted the Christmas dinner this year. The roast was a little under cooked, but otherwise, everything turned out great. Mom, Donna, Gerald, and Leah stayed over and we had a lovely lazy evening and following morning. I think I'll offer again next year and try to get the roast right. The Christmas pudding was to die for!!!! I gobbled all the leftovers myself! I may even make it on non-Christmas days!!! I didn't take any pictures except this one of my table before the family arrived. No shots of us in our paper hats this year. That's ok, we have some many of those from past years, we can skip this one. I'll take pictures next year.

The Trans Siberian Orchestra is a group that plays Christmas concerts, along with other music. They are considered Arena Rock. It's a weird combination of orchestra and heavy metal. They put on a mesmerizing light show and feature electronic instruments, especially the fiddle. The first part of the concert, they have a narrator telling a Christmas story of hope and love while the band plays and sings. It's very Christmassy, upbeat, and inspiring. Then the second part of their show is all their other songs. Very hard rock... pounding, thumping. I loved every minute of it. Takes my back to the eighties a little, with the long haired musicians and heavy drum beats. I went to this concert with Dad and Debbie. They love this show also and go every year. In the past, we've had groups of people with us. This year it was just the three of us, which was nice too. Afterward, we sat in the parking lot for an hour waiting our turn to get out! But we made it and stopped by Outback for d