Advertisement
The Orchid Tree
I called it an orchid tree, but it must be some kind of tulip tree. Anybody know? March 10: Arrived at the Methodist Life Enrichment Center near Leesburg, FL, today and got all hooked up. Met our project leader Lewis Arnold and learned we would be working across the highway at the youth camp called Warren Willis Camp.
March 11: Missed church this morning, not knowing where anyone of the team was going and what time. Had my devotions down at the lakefront. The LEC is a beautiful place in which I have attended many retreats and conferences, so it is very familiar to me. I always sense God's presence here and have wonderful memories of friends, worship and healings I have experienced. I took a lot of pictures of the area and am putting them in to give you an idea of the serenity of the place.
The Life Enrichment Center is located on a lake. The grounds are covered with live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. It looks like something out of a movie. Much of the area is kept natural, especially along the lake. There are canoes and kayaks for people to use. There are also, however, alligators in the lake, many of which are longer than the canoes!
Actually, I
The Labryinth
I have walked this labryinth several times in earlier visits. It just gets better. made a day of being outdoors. I rode my bike some, then walked some. The LEC has a labyrinth. For those who may not know what that is, it looks similar to a maze, except there are no dead ends. The path always leads to the center, then back out again. Usually there is a religious or meditative aspect to walking a labyrinth. The one at LEC is made of hedges, but a labyrinth can be made of anything. Sometimes it is just mosaics in a floor, like the one in Chartres Cathedral in France. The idea of labyrinths are very old, maybe even back to the Greek era.
After walking the labyrinth, I sat in the small chapel which has been built since I was here last. Once again, I found a wonderful peace there.
As I rode about I saw several different kinds of birds, beautiful flowers (the azaleas were just coming to an end) and one tree that had orchid like flowers on it. I called it an orchid tree, but I think it was some kind of tulip tree. Not one that I had seen before, however. Maybe some reader will recognize it and
Chapel
This is a new chapel at LEC. It still had the new wood smell. clue me in.
March 12-29. The team did a variety of work at the youth camp. We made a storeroom into an office, built shelves for another store room and painted benches and buildings. We cut a new door into a room and built a gaga“pit”. This has nothing to do with the singer Lady Gaga. It is a popular game which came over from Israel. I don't really know how it is played, except I was told it is a bit like dodge ball. I wouldn't want to try it—the arena was built of heavy wood on a cement slab!
Another unusual part of the project included one of the team members painting a huge mural in the dining room at the Life Enrichment Center. (I would have loved to have been a part of that!) Then she was asked to do over 100 signs for various activities at the youth camp, plus numbers for small groups at the camp. I did get to help her with the numbered signs. We had to hurry to get them done before the project time was up. I included a picture of some of my stuff! I thought I was
Sleeping in the Sun
Bootsie in still another nap, this time on the bed next to his box he sits on to look out the back window. pretty creative! (Actually, it was more like I was very inspired! I was amazed at how the images kept coming.) I was supposed to do 40 numbers, but had boards for only 30.
We got lunch every work day from the camp and ate in what the camp personnel called the “outdoor” pavilion. It overlooked the east part of the lake. Some days there were campers who joined us. The place wasn't so serene then!
Bootsie—As usual, I didn't have much to do while Marty was working. I stayed pretty serene myself! Actually, I did spend a lot of time looking out the windows. There were so many birds, squirrels, butterflies, etc. that I had almost too much to keep track of! When I slept I dreamed about hunting. Especially those squirrels. Marty told me about a hawk that had caught a squirrel. I guess she took a hundred pictures of him on the ground and flying with his catch. She got real excited about those pictures. I got real excited about the idea of catching the squirrel! One of the team members named Alan had been working at the Pentagon on 9/11 when the plane
Ibis
I think these are ibis. Anyway, they were getting bugs under the trees. There were plenty of those to get! hit. He presented a fascinating report and pictures of the incident and the damage done to the building as well as the rebuilding of it. The military did not want the world and the terrorists to know the full extent of the damage at the time, but Alan had some great pictures. It was supposed to take three years to restore, but all the people working in it and supplying the materials worked 24/7 and got it done is eleven months so it could be dedicated on the first anniversary of the hit. The picture I have posted I took from the screen we watched. What a story!
Another night we had a game/entertainment night. I did “Hosanna Hannah”. The group seemed to enjoy it. One of the couples played musical instruments and we sang some. There was lots of jokes and a unique word game.
On Friday of the first week of work, I came down with bronchitis. I went to a walk in clinic and got meds, but it took me a week to recover. I really hated to miss that much time at work, but nothing could be done except to recuperate!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.126s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0846s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.2mb
Bev Morgan
non-member comment
We have worked there twice - once at LEC and once at Warren Willis Camp, both under Louis as team leader. We had large, but great teams both times. It is a beautiful place and a neat place to work. I helped paint the outside of one of the two story dorms at LEC and a couple classrooms. Don helped roof the shower/laundry building, along with other things.