Yom Hashoah in Fort Myers

In addition to Yom Hashoah services that are held in local shuls, the Jewish Federation arranges an Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Service each year. The location of the service alternates between synagogues and churches in the area.

This year the service was held at St. Hilary's Episcopal Church in Fort Myers. Participating in the service was several of the local clergy, including Rabbi Sendrow and Cantor Geigner from our shul. It was a moving service, with a candle lighting ceremony by survivors who live in the area.

The keynote speaker was Anatole Kurdsjuk of North Fort Myers, the author of "The Long Walk Home: With Miracles Along the Way." It tells the story of his parent's and grandparent's life in Belorussia under the tsar, and their exile to Siberia under the communists. Born before the war, he tells the story of a boy's life under Nazi occupation and escaping from the returning Russian army. His family then endured a 500-mile forced march and more than two years in a German slave labor camp, before being liberated by General Patton's Third Army. They eventually were able to emigrate to the United States.

Having read his book, it was a strange experience to hear him tell his story. How often do you read a historical book, and then get to hear the main character bring it to life? It is certainly an occasion I will remember for a long time.

Come, Mr. Tally Mon, tally me banana

We decided to cut down our bananas, the animals have started nibbling on them. While they are a bit green, they'll ripen in the house. Nomi and I ate one of them this morning and enjoyed the "fruits of our labor".

As a connoisseur of fine bananas, here is my critique... nice! It was a bit dry, I guess we didn't water it enough (we'll do better next year). But it did have a nice flavor, not as bland as the store bought kind.

I'd better do some research on the proper care of banana plants, and maybe we'll have a bigger crop next year.

It's been a dry winter

It's been an especially dry winter here, (the summer is our rainy season), in addition to some brush fires further inland, our lake in the back is at the lowest level I've ever seen it at. Once the rain starts, it should fill back up. I'll post some pictures of it full.

On the subject of water, Yahoo has a nice travelogue of rafting down the Jordan River. "Descending the Jordan from its source to the Dead Sea", click on the link and enjoy the pictures.

Bananas in the backyard

We've got a banana tree (?) in the backyard, and it looks like we'll have a nice crop this year.

I've been watering it regularly, (this is the dry season), and they've plumped up nicely. I also noticed that one of the bananas has been nibbled on by an animal. I hope they ripen before the animals eat them all.

Golfing at Shell Point

Monday was a beautiful day, so we decided to get in a round of golf. Several of our friends had recommended the Shell Point Golf Club. When Yoni & I got there, we found a very nice course. Beautifully landscaped and long fairways.

The course is so large, the golf carts had GPS displays inside to keep you from getting lost.

We had a great time, we just had to be careful when trying to recover golf balls from the water.

A Wonderful Day on Sanibel

I spent a great day with Naomi & Yoni today. We started with a nice ride on Sanibel, and then spent a few hours on the beach there. A good friend of ours lives on the island, and was kind enough to let us park at his condo near Lighthouse Beach.

After a bike ride along East and Middle Gulf Drive, we set up an umbrella on the beach and enjoyed the cool breeze and the magnificent view. Everyone managed to sit in the shade under the umbrella but me (I've got the sunburn to prove it).

Yoni couldn't be out of touch with his friends, but he still managed to enjoy the beach while on the phone.

2006 Charlotte Airshow

Every year, there's a major airshow at the Charlotte County Airport. Charlotte County just to the north of Lee County (where we live), and the show is the largest in southwest Florida.

To get a good spot for my chair, I had to get there early. The published schedule says it starts at noon, so I got there at 11:00 AM, only to find that they had already started, and lots of people were already there. Anyhow, it was a perfect day, lots of sun and not a cloud in the sky. So, armed with lots of water, a high SPF sun block, and a beach chair, I was ready for 5 hours of aerial acrobatics.

You get pretty close to the planes at this show. Here you see one of the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team's AT-6 Texan planes taxiing by, and an Army F-18 taking off.

Every airshow has to have lots of smoke and formation flying...

... a daredevil wing-walker, who climbed from the biplane to a passing helicopter...
... and a simulated bombing run ...

... by a P-51 Mustang and an A-10 Warthog.

For the main attraction... the US Air Force's Thunderbirds.

After the show I walked around and looked at the static displays of historic (e.g. a C-54 cargo plane used in the Berlin Airlift) and modern aircraft. All in all it was an exciting day.