Unexpected Moments

I'm back home in Florida after a whirlwind week back home in Kenosha.  Home is where stuff is (Kenosha) and home is where loved ones are (in Chuck).  I'll never be homeless.  The week in Wisconsin was bittersweet as funerals often are.  Grief for the loss, relief for the end of suffering and decline, joy at the gathering of family and friends.  Old times were rehashed and memories of good times shared.  The addition of food and drink made it everything we could hope it would be.  For those of you who would like to see the photos that were shown at the funeral, here's the link:  https://alicetraxelmemories.shutterfly.com/  Thanks to my sister for putting these together.

The Navigator picked me up at the Tampa airport and we headed for the town of Tarpon Springs which was on the way home and is best known for Greek sponge divers.  Along with the sponge divers comes good Greek food, which is where we were headed.  We had a great meal, found a Greek grocery where we stocked up on gyros for future meals and then, driving down the street saw a sign that said, "Inness Paintings, UU Church" with a arrow pointing down a side street.  I've been visiting various UU chuches on this trip and, while I had no idea what an Inness Painting was, we had to check it out.  The Navigator took a quick turn and another and another until we found ourselves sitting in front of a charming white stone church.

UU Church of Tarpon Springs

Hoping to maybe attend a Sunday service, I went up to the door and there found a sign saying something along the lines of, "Due to building problems, we meeting at the Elks Club.  The paintings are safe but not available for viewing".  Now I was intrigued.  The UU church I attend is a 100 year old building, so I couldn't help but wonder what disaster had befallen this old building.  Plus, I was currently participating in a FaceBook activity that was acquainting people with various artists and I was totally unfamiliar with Inness.  Where do we all go when we want more info?   Google of course.

So here's the bad news, planned renovations on the church revealed that Florida phenomenon:  sinkholes.  Two of them.  Bad enough to declare the church immediately unsafe.  Here's the story  Church sinholes

I still didn't know who Inness is, so back to Google for:  George Inness.  But this wasn't the Tarpon Springs George Inness.  Tarpon Springs belonged to George Inness Jr. who is a respected painter in his own right despite living in the shadow of his father's accomplishments.

UU Tarpon Springs Tryptych

So, the good news is that insurance should help fix the church, the church is sending the paintings off for safe keeping during repairs.  You can see more info at Tarpon Springs UU Church   And we all learned something new.  I'm not sure I'll make the drive (about a hour) to attend services at the Elks Club on Sunday, but hopefully we'll return someday and I'll get to see the paintings in their permanent setting in the charming old church in Tarpon Springs.  Oh yeah, and eat more great Greek food.  Isn't travel fun?