A series of essays.....
 |
| JAZZ SAXOPHONES OF A DIFFERENT COLOR |
.....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E. Hughes
Cocoa Village, located mid-way along the East coast of Florida in Brevard County, still resembles the small, quaint village it must have been so many years ago. Back when Henry Morrison Flagler was running his new train tracks along the coastline of Florida and creating a legacy for himself from St. Augustine, down to Palm Beach, and on to Miami!
Tucked away just off Highway 520 and connected to Florida’s Space Coast today, Cocoa Village is noted for its colorful little shops, coffee houses, Riverfront Park, antique malls, restaurants, and art galleries. Truly, a small slice of heaven. With all that it has to offer everyone, we’ve become especially partial to two places within the village that have captured our hearts and thoroughly satisfied our cultural appetite for great jazz and incomparable theater productions.
 |
| TOP NOTCH JAZZ PERFORMANCES AT THE BLIND LION, SPEAK EASY AND JAZZ BAR |
Nestled behind Brevard Avenue (the main street) and the Ossorio Bakery & Cafe and up a flight of sagging, wooden steps, we take a left turn at the top landing and enter another dimension; a time of inaudible whispers and fleeting promises, booze generously flowing like a mountain stream after a heavy rain, and the high-pitched laughter that springs from the joy of momentary forgetfulness. Welcome to the Blind Lion, Speak Easy and Jazz Bar. We swooned with the best of them as talented jazz notes beckoned us in with their seasoned personalities and kept us there with brilliant, top-notch performances!
 |
| THE HISTORIC COCOA VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE |
Have you ever been so ‘blown away’ by the professionalism and talent of a community theatre production that you just couldn’t stop talking about it for days afterwards? The production of The Secret Garden, performed at The Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse, open since 1924, was beyond brilliant and rivaled any theater production I’ve seen while living here in Central Florida. With its family of local performers and technical staff, the Playhouse’s full line up of Broadway Musicals has earned it the nickname “Broadway on Brevard” and, I believe, Broadway itself would be proud to have these productions performed on its hallowed stages.....any day of the week!
For the past several weeks we’ve been sharing our little corner of the world with others and introducing them to the wonders of Cocoa Village, spending a lot of time at the Cornell Museum of Art on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, and feasting at local restaurants all along Central Florida from Orlando to Cocoa to the warm, sandy shoreline of Port Canaveral. Unfortunately, SpaceX did not have any launches scheduled during the time our company was here. A space launch is always a sight to behold. For over fifteen years we’ve been observing the Space Shuttle Program from our front yard and now, SpaceX has launched its way into history while boosting the importance of the Space Lab experiments, as well as initiating future space exploration.....Mars and beyond?
Closer to home in Orlando, the Cornell Museum of Art, located on the beautiful campus of Rollins College, is featuring a French Impressionism Exposition that rivals most intimate, European expositions and is guaranteed to captivate the heart of any art connoisseur.
 |
| SUN-DAPPLED SHORES OF LAKE VIRGINIA, ROLLINS COLLEGE, WINTER PARK, FL |
After indulging in the wonders of French Impressionism, a lackadaisical walk around the sun-dappled grounds of Rollins and along its Lake Virginia shoreline made us all think about walking in the footsteps of one of her most intriguing graduates (1951). Fred McFeely Rogers, creator of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, is being honored with a walking tour on campus by featuring the classrooms and other places he frequented while a student there. It’s an interesting and insightful walk down memory lane while honoring a man who has given so much back to his community, country, and the people he loved.
 |
| PORTRAIT OF FRED McFEELY ROGERS, PAINTED BY DON SONDAG |
 |
| HAND-KNIT SWEATER BY MR. ROGER'S MOTHER AND TENNIS SHOES HE WORE ON SET |
At this very moment, the dust is settling a bit after the whirlwind of the last few weeks. Rental cars have departed after being loaded with overstuffed suitcases that, eventually, rolled out the front door. Laughter and soft spoken conversations linger within the high-ceilinged rooms of our home accompanied by the gentle thoughts of mere mortals who shared time and space together while creating memories of ‘jazz hands’ and friendly games of Euchre at the kitchen table.
 |
| SELFIE WITH JANIS!!!! |
 |
| JANIS AND FRED ENJOYING THE FLORIDA RAYS |
 |
| JANIS, DAN, AND FRED....CHILLIN' |
Family and Friends have gathered beneath the rafters at Morgan’s Mill Circle for, perhaps, the last time. After our last guests pulled out of the driveway Friday morning, I knew that the final chapter was being written; more than twenty-one chapters of ‘real life experiences’ were being wrapped-up, decorated with a huge, red bow, and neatly prepared for delivery and eventual publication within the eternal archives of human existence. And, I will never allow myself to forget a single spoken word; an individual moment in time....!
 |
| MARSHA & MICHAEL AT BLIND LION |
 |
| DAN, LEO, SUSIE & ME AT A DETROIT TIGER, PRESEASON GAME |
 |
| WITH MARSHA & MICHAEL AT CAPE CANAVERAL BEACH |
 |
| ENJOYING GREAT JAZZ AT THE BLIND LION SPEAK EASY |
Instead of mad, last minute grocery shopping for vital items needed to create an Easter masterpiece for Sunday’s dinner, we were spending Saturday in Lowe’s and Home Depot purchasing small, heavy-duty cardboard boxes, packaging tape and paper, and other various moving paraphernalia we deemed necessary to have on hand. Sunday’s meal consisted of a delicious salad with avocado dressing; total compensation for all of the rich meals, bread, over abundance of wine, and occasional dessert consumed prior to this Holy Day. “Bless me, Father....!”
 |
| ANTIQUE OAK HUTCH IS DOWN |
 |
| MY PITCHER/TEAPOT COLLECTION.... WAITING TO BE WRAPPED AND BOXED |
Heavy pieces are coming off the walls (the antique oak hutch in our kitchen) while matching paint is being pulled from its hiding place atop a tall storage shelf and stirred to its original, cohesive smoothness before touching-up the walls. Did that hutch choose to relinquish its right to oversee our personal kitchen activities after so many years? Will it continue to hold my unique teapot collection and ‘unspeakable’ secrets close to its bosom when it resides on Hazel Avenue, soon? Does it even matter at this point in time? It certainly does, to me.
 |
| LET THE SUN SHINE BRIGHT AS DIAMONDS IN THE POOL |
You see, our lives are changing. We are being split into two identical parts, as if, at this age, our cell division has yet to halt, with one part packing up the memorabilia from two decades of living while the other part is wondering where it will all fit in the ‘little yellow cottage’ up in Michigan. We are learning, first-hand, that our path is not a monotonous straight line, but rather...a bright, multi-colored spiral and we return time-after-time to learn about what we believed we understood years before only to discover more about ourselves each time around.
We are forever appreciative of our friends and family who are helping to make our transition a bit softer, better, and kinder....! Dan and I could not do this without you!
 |
| I PROMISE TO REMEMBER THIS..... |
By: Higher Perspective
Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
Photos Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
