Walking to Street Painting Festival in Lake Worth

My friends wanted to sell bottled water to benefit ALS at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival and I wanted to help them. I love that festival, live in Lake Worth and plan to participate in 2015 Walk to Defeat ALS.

Just last June, we lost our mutual friend, Susan Spencer-Wendel, to that awful disease, She wasn't even 50, but she packed a whole lot of living into her 47 years. She was a wife, mother of three, sister, daughter, best-selling writer and a courts reporter for The Palm Beach Post.

We gathered in front of the @The-Hair.Net salon, owned by Kerri Olah-Brennan who was Susan's hairdresser and is a SpenWen Team co-captain along with me and Susan's sister Stephanie Harwood-Parlamento; Kerri's wife, Pamela Olah-Brennan, who is on the 2015 Walk to Defeat ALS committee with Kerri and me; Bridget Hammond, owner of In-Nae Tae Kwon Do studio in Lake Clarke Shores and a SpenWen Team member; and several others who were selling costume jewelry, raffle tickets for a baby doll and hand-made bracelets. We raised more than $1,500 during the festival.

Kerri Olah-Brennan (left) and her wife Pam sell $2 bottled water
for the ALS Walk.

Exploring FreshFest in West Palm Beach

FreshFest made its second appearance in West Palm Beach. The subculture of health- and fitness-nuts thoroughly enjoyed the free event.

The grassy base of the Meyer Amphitheatre was divided into areas with plant names such as Zinnia and Azalea.Various fitness  classes and demonstrations were held there. Vendors circled around the perimeter, just like last year.

Here are some photos from the packed FreshFest event:

Walking by Kinetic Art in Boynton Beach

An outdoor art fair that is free? Count me among the visitors to Boynton Beach.

I also wanted to see for myself what the International Kinetic Art Exhibit was after previewing the event for The Coastal Star. I came away impressed with the ingenuity of the artists who were thrilled with their artworks.

Friday evening was an invitation-only reception where I met artist Debbie Lee Mostel and her "Globes." Each globe had a door that opened to reveal a scene inside -- often made of her son's toys. She created the tableaus because she likes surprises.

Debbie Lee Mostel shows how the doors work on her "Globes."

Trying Five Tibetans in Lake Worth

My yoga teacher keeps coming up with poses for us to do daily.

First it was the yoga squat. Do these everyday, Priyanka Shanbag said, and you will be healthy into old age. Turns out, she had some science to back up the benefits of doing squats daily. 

Now she has us doing the Five Tibetan Rites. Wherever we are, there is always time to do these rites, she said. Consider them, "yoga on the go."

After a Saturday yoga class, Priyanka (right) poses
willingly with her friend.