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by Debbie Cashon Klein
Kiaralinda and Todd Ramquist, a.k.a., The
Whimzey Twinz, live life inside a whirlwind. They are Safety Harbor
artists of national renown who live by the motto "play now, rest
later." Their home is known as The Whimzey House -- often referred
to as "the bowling ball house."
Every spring they migrate north for the
summer art festivals. They create and sell art, travel and plan
adventures for friends in their community up north. They inspire
everyone along the way to dream and be creative. In the autumn,
it's back to Safety Harbor and the southern art season.
This year, they came home long enough to
shake off the dust of travel, park the truck and be whisked to the
airport for a flight to Istanbul, the first stop in a literal trip
around the world. The itinerary included Myanmar, but the recent
unrest in this country (known as Burma prior to the current
repressive regime), was a cause for concern. They had already
planned to visit Turkey and Thailand, but the Myanmar part of the
journey was uncertain. They were warned to abandon this leg of the
trip because there were reports that monks had been killed and
people who were considered "trouble makers" had been removed from
their homes. Still, they wanted to meet the people of this region,
learn their culture, visit their temples and see dear friends --
former Safety Harbor residents -- who teach there. Their passports
were in order.
I asked Kiaralinda what she learned while
in Myanmar. "We cried a lot," she said.
"We went to an ancient city named Bagan
where there are 3,000 temples. We saw poverty and repression that
we could never have imagined. There were two children on a side
street to whom we gave things... then there were 50. It was
heartbreaking. We gave pencils, soap and shampoo to villages of
children. One little boy gave us strings to tie around our wrists.
He spoke English. He told us to tell people not to forget them. He
told us that they took his mom in the middle of the night."
She said it was at that moment they were
inspired to do another lighted, holiday display. ThIs will consist
of peace banners that will totally cover the Whimzey House. The
banners will be created by Todd and Kiaralinda and other artists
and visitors.
For those who are not familiar with the
Whimzey displays, they were magnificent environments created around
what many lovingly refer to as "the bowling ball house." Every
other year there was a theme and an interactive exhibit that lasted
two weeks during the winter holiday season. These environments were
created to inspire, as well as to raise money for various
organizations. Over the years, they raised money for Habitat for
Humanity, Toys for Tots and research for a cure for Multiple
Sclerosis. The first display was a benefit for the victims of
Hurricane Andrew.
Todd and Kiaralinda had decided that the
millennium exhibit would be the last one until the year 2020
because an enormous amount of time and energy goes into the
realization of these events.
But that has changed.
"I knew we couldn't wait until 2020,"
Todd said. "Monks had been killed in places like Shwedagon Temple.
It was surreal. People could not talk about the government for fear
of being fined, beaten or killed. Foreigners are basically safe as
long as they are not free-thinking people who could be labeled
"radicals." There is such a need for peace in this world now. We
need to do good things for each other, even if it's in small ways,
like the small pieces of a giant puzzle. We decided that the theme
would be Peace on Earth, Peace by Piece."
The holiday installation will be for the
benefit of Global Peace Charities. The work has already begun. The
exhibit and interactive festivities will be held December 17-31.
They have friends all over the world who are working on this event.
You can help, or find out more about the installation, by googling
kiaralinda.com. Participation instructions are on the home
page.
Let their whirlwind lift you up, and set
you gently back down on a more peaceful world. Come visit Peace on
Earth, Peace by Piece.
The Whimzey House is located at 1206 Third
St. N., Safety Harbor.
Debbie Cashon Klein is a Safety Harbor
resident, neighbor of The Whimzey House and a Tropical Breeze
columnist.
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