A Shimmy Mob? Count Eldo In!

"Hey, El, wanna go see the pops concert at the ball park this weekend?"

"Sure…why not?"  But wait a minute….

"Hey, El, did you see the shimmy mob/belly dancing event advertised in the paper for the Nokomis Beach drum circle Saturday night?"

Eldo perked up….Sparky knew the answer to the next question…."Hm-m-m-m-mmmm…Let me guess the answer to this next question. "Which would you rather go see--the pops concert at the ball park or the belly dancing at the beach?"  Well, DUH! Eldo would rather go see the belly dancing at the beach. Silly Sparky for even asking….

So we went…It was not quite what we thought it would be. A large group of belly dancers, around 30 or more, wearing purple "Shimmy Mob" tee shirts showed up to perform, and the usual cast of characters at the Siesta Key drum circle showed up to promote World Belly Dancing Day. There was the "Jester", a retired school teacher…. 

There was the "Shaman" as we like to call him, the guy with the cream colored bowler hat who has a terrific physique for his age who does the "blessing" ritual of getting the dancing circle ready….and the scarf lady, all previously showcased in previous drum circle blogs…Tonight, it had sort of a lackluster feel to it. The shaman didn't do nearly as much incantation as he normally does, and the jester removed himself to the outside of the circle entirely and watched the rest of the proceedings from up in the lifeguard tower after a brief exhortation to watch the sun set which doesn't really set, as he explained, moving around the circle attempting to educate the crowd.

There were PLENTY of people there all right….

But the belly dancing was just ONE group dance, where the dancers were performing the same choreographed dance in 165 cities all over the country at the same time, 6:30 PM… The dancers were there to raise money for women's shelters, a wonderful cause.

After they finished, they were done, and the usual throng of people clogged up the center circle standing around talking to each other and taking photos of the drummers. The wonderful hoop dancers that use to come last year and the year before were not there, and the people who love to dance in their exotic costumes and really get down to the beat weren't there. We feel lucky that we've seen some really really cool drum circles over the past couple of years. Guess the word has gotten out on how cool they were and although the throngs of people show up each time, the performers are few and far between now. Part of that we think is due to the lack of etiquette shown by the bystanders. There's a reason a large circle is drawn. Bystanders are supposed to stay on the outside of the circle and let the performers do their thing on the inside of the circle. There's no room for them to do their hoop magic, for the scarf/sword lady to do her dancing to the beat, so the really interesting skilled performers seem to be staying away for now…..

Sparky went down to the water's edge for a little while to watch the skimboard surfers do their thing in the good waves curling into the beach. One of the guys did a 360 degree turnarounds on their board in these little waves. They were quite good and fun to watch!

We didn't want to stay any longer at the drum circle so we headed over to the North and South Jetty at Venice, not too far away….Good sightings there, but not the belly dancing kind….(Sigh, says E.)

A lone dolphin swimming out and away from the jetty…….A great blue heron waiting for leftovers…..

A fisherman hoping for a catch of some sort….

A beautiful end to a beautiful day…Time to go home, E…………………...

Glow in the Dark Boobs and Nokomis Drum Circle

WHA-A-A-T?  Sparky is going to have a titillating blog today, (hehehehehe)...Yes, we are going to talk about boobs for a brief moment..after all, it IS Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Actually, this blog is going to be more about the Nokomis drum circle, which can be experience every Saturday night at Nokomis Beach in Nokomis. But plenty of bra tops and bikinis could be seen down here this evening. (WHERE? I didn't see very many bikinis at all, complains E.) AHEM! It was great to get back to the drum circle. We haven't been in months...We weren't sure whether it was still well attended in the SL-O-O-W summer months, so we stayed away...But Kristi, Eldy's daughter came down to Bradenton for a weekend of R & R with us, so that was one of the things she wanted to see.

But first, we got her in our pool....

Then, we took her to breakfast at the Anna Maria Island Gulf Gate Tiki Hut Bar and Grill which is undergoing renovations and expansion...It's just a really great atmosphere despite being under improvements. Not very many places can you eat your meal on the beach with the sand between your toes and watch dolphins swim by! The food is so-so, and the service can be very slow, but what the heck?! We've got all day, we retired!

We saw several dolphins swimming in the water aways out, but still a thrill to see them. And wouldn't you know, Sparky heads to the restroom just as we were about to leave and a WHOPPER dolphin comes in close to shore for Eldo and Kristi's benefit, and Sparky missed it! And no, they weren't in cahoots telling a whopper of a story, there really was one! But no one had a camera, so they didn't catch the moment.

And then, for her last night here, we took her to Nokomis Beach where Saturday nights reign as a well attended drum circle....We have the cast of characters down well....

The "Shaman"...at least that's what we call him...He performs ceremonial rituals as the sunset nears, chanting and using feathers and graceful movements in a prayer like manner blessing someone, something, we are not sure which or maybe it's both. This guy is BUFF for his age, don't you think?

And such a cool bowler hat....At sunset, he blows the conch shell....

The scarf ladies were there.....

The belly dancers were there....

The jester came...He's a retired school teacher...Teachers are game for just about anything to get  attention in the classroom, and sometimes we're still workin' it long after we leave the classroom..That enthusiasm for learning and life is still very much with us! (Oh yeah, I can attest to that, says E. Sparky is like a little kid often!)

The jingle skirted ladies were there in abundance....Masks were worn by several of the ladies, that seems to be the newest trend...

And a wee lass who's learning to participate at a very early age...She did a great job shaking her little jingle skirt right along with the grownups!

This little guy was having a pushup contest with another little boy....They sure get competitive early, don't they?

The cast of regulars in the rhythm section was awesome as always! And if you feel like drumming, bring your own set of drums.The tourist/participants along the sidelines had their own sets of drums and percussion, some very simple like a single tambourine, some very elaborate, like a set of bongos. Even little ones had their own.....

If you feel like dancing, get up and dance! All shapes and sizes have no qualms about getting out there and shaking their booties and other things as well....The rhythmic drumming really moves most of us..This little gal had had ballet classes, at first she was trying to pirouette and use her ballet moves to the hippy beat of the drums. Finally, she kicked off her shoes and just did her own thing to the beat.

Some of the little kids can really hoop it out there!

If you don't have a hoop, they are there for sale....

How about this glow in the dark bra top? That caught Eldy's attention! And everyone else's, too....It's hard to tell here, but it's NEON green and it was already starting to have a glow about it as she walked around.

It's a cool venue, that's for sure....People seemed to respect the circle for the most part, so people who had the hoops and the scarves had room to perform...

Although after awhile, Kristi said it seemed a little chaotic...Oh, yeah...That's what happens....Anything goes in the center, people performing, people pushing their children into the circle so they can film them, people taking pictures, people taking pictures of people taking pictures. It's a great photo op for everyone there! Love the two little girls on the right sort of oblivious to what's going on behind them...

We had a great time and were so glad the rainy season has ended this past week so that we had good weather this evening...We went from rain nearly every day in the afternoon and early evening from June, July, August and September, to five straight days of sunshine now...Temps are starting to come down, snowbirds are starting to arrive, and Eldy is complaining already about the traffic increase. You can really tell that October 1st was a starting date for snowbird arrival, at least for some...It feels funny to having gone from being a snowbird last winter to being full time residents and complaining about snowbirds coming this season! Maybe we'll meet some neighbors finally. Our street has been very empty since we moved here in June......We're ready to meet some people our age! Most of them are still up north, the full time residents that are here are in their seventies and eighties...Looking forward to "season" as they call it, experiencing it from the opposite end this winter.

Kristi left today..We'll have a quiet week, then Eldy's son, Brian, comes in for the weekend. He's going to get his dad out on the golf course a BUNCH!

Bye for now....Safe travels to our blogging friends who are on the move, wishes for great weather to our blogging friends who are staying put at the moment, and to everyone still reading, thanks for staying in touch. We miss the traveling, but we are loving our location and how our home is shaping up.....See ya later!

Nokomis Drum Circle!

Sarasota, FL         High:  77      Low:   59

Photo heavy post today...Sorry! But we loved the Nokomis drum circle so much, we didn't want to leave anything out! We won't be able to visit it as much as we did Siesta Key Beach's drum circle, as we are leaving in just a little over two weeks! So here we go.......Different cast of characters as far as the drummers....

There weren't as many performers in the inner circle at Nokomis as there were at Siesta Key...But there was a LOT of audience participation as far as dancing. This gal was a STANDOUT belly dancer...OMG, could she move every little muscle and shake EVERYTHING she had! Which elicited a "WOW!"  and "Look at her go!" from Eldy and a few other appreciative males in the crowd and the females as well. Boy, did the guys' cell phones come out to video her when she was out there in the circle! She had a beautiful costume that enhanced everything she did. We think she was a professional dancer....

Drumming makes people happy.....Drummers and attendees alike....

The elderly......

never too old to wear a jingle skirt!

The young......

You can be as stylish as you want with your drum paraphernalia...Carry your stuff in these cool bags!

Wear some cool suspender straps for your drums....

Or schlep your stuff in on a bike....

Bring a beach chair so you will be comfortable. You can sit, or stand, or in this case, kneel. If Sparky did this, her knees would get so locked up  Eldo would have to carry her out.

Bring your own percussion instruments in....plain...

Or fancy.....

Or, you don't have to bring a thing! But some people just bring food and wine and beer, even though alcoholic beverages are not permitted at the beach....

But whether you bring just yourself or all kinds of stuff, be prepared to boogie to the beat! This gal has the "Pebbles/Bam Bam" look goin' on....You can't see her hair, but she's got a top knot of hair sticking straight up like Pebbles in the old TV show Fred Flintstone. Sparky liked this photo of her joyful dancing the best.

And be prepared to have fun! 

Some guy was there with a BIG homemade bubble blower..two poles and a bucket of solution. Everybody LOVED his bubbles, and the little kids went bananas every time a big one came out....

"OOOOOOOO-H-H-H-H-H-H!" And the adults went, "AH-H-H-H-H!"

We'll be back to Nokomis...Every Wednesday and Saturday nights, an hour before sunset....get there early if you want to sit right at the edge of the circle....See you later!