Exploring the World…of Second Life

~Swish…Swish…Swish~

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I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water . . . has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations. It has a thousand colors and a thousand shapes, yet it follows laws so definite that the tiniest streamlet is an exact replica of a great river. — Roderick Haig-Brown

As I shared in my last post, our sim was primarily recreated in the last month.  Our love of nature needed to be shared outwardly and with all, and now we have done that.  I’ve enjoyed inviting people over to see the changes, showing them what we have to offer and taking them out for a paddle in a kayak!

Kayaking…, a new activity for me in SL, is truly my fave addition to our sim.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love love love the beauty of the sim most!  But…for something to do and something that can be shared…kayaking rocks!

We offer the Galiko kayak rezzer in our stream.  Here you can rez a kayak for one, a kayak for two and even a kayak for tinies!   Now, the realism of these kayaks is just awesome.  The sculpt is wonderfully done and the options are great for the rezzer system.  The animation is very realistic as well.  And if you listen closely (with sounds turned up), there are even  sounds that will put you right into the activity -swish, swish, swish – as your paddle moves through the water.

Now all that said, getting started with the Kayak isn’t the most intuitive as there are a few things you should know.  I set up a notecard giver to give quick hints, but in case you jump in and forget the notecard, the first thing to do is – click on the kayak to get your paddle (delivered to inventory) and then if the menu is gone, click on the kayak again to display the menu.  There is a button that will provide a guide and the menu provides buttons to help you change the color of the kayak (all components), turn up the volume, or you can just GO FOR IT and hit !

Once you do click on , your kayak will be on the move and off the rezzer platform.  You will guide your kayak using the right and left arrow keys only.  The speed will drive the direction in which you float and is controlled by the up and down arrows.  As soon as you click the up arrow to 1 or 2, you will start moving slowly forward.  Be careful, don’t hit that rock!  *wink*   It will take you some time to get a feel for the guiding and how the speed impacts that.  Of course, if you are in a “tight” area, you’ll keep the speed lower, and open water…well… let ‘er rip!  The max speed with the up arrow is 5, but you can hit pg up and be in full velocity!  The down arrow reduces the speed and if you go below 0, you will be backing up…sometimes quite necessary to get out of a hairy situation!  Oh, and if you just wanna stop, hit the pg dwn key and the speed will go to 0!

On our sim, you can canoe through the river/stream and the perimeter of our main sim before heading over the sim border to our surf sim.  Open water here, so enjoy dodging the waves!  Beware of shallow water areas as they are tricky and present a bit of a challenge at times!   Just be patient and you will find that it can be a most pleasant mode of travel…and the viewpoint is incredibly different!

Now if you have your own kayak and want to put it in the water at Sol Mañanero, just find the rez area on the beach, launch and explore!  I hope you will take the time to enjoy our little world from the surface of the water…it can be a fun, funny, beautiful, calming, peaceful, challenging, enjoyable experience…all rolled up in one!

’til next time…explore, enjoy, find the beauty in Second Life,

~Sunshine

~~ A Forest, A Friend, A Tribute ~~

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Through our journey in our Second Life, we meet so many avatars – some become close friends and many remain acquaintances.  Some we see daily, some we see occasionally and some we see on the rare occasion – perhaps at a social event.  As we lose touch with the avatars (and the people behind them), we are truly never certain why.  In some cases, we might be blessed to have found a friendship that crosses the boundaries of Second Life into our first life.  This is the case with Giancarlo Takacs and geko Stoop.  These two avatars crossed the boundary after geko had lived on Gian’s estate for a while truly contributing the success of his estate, and she visited Gian’s home country.  They moved from acquaintance to friend to business partner to confidantes.  Why, you might ask, am I sharing this?  Well, geko lost her battle with cancer in February 2010, and Gian lost his “baby sister”, his confidante.

After her passing, Gian decided that because this young lady was such an important person in his lives (second and first), he wanted to pay tribute in some manner.  geko touched so many in Second Life and Gian felt that a memorial set in the Costa Rica Sims Estate made perfect sense.  When geko was visiting real life Costa Rica, she toured beautiful forests.  After that tour, Gian has said that she was in ‘awe of the forests’ and found ‘her home”.  She stated she would love to live in a little cottage in a forest such as these.  Gian set to find the best creators to assist in his plan.  His friend, Maurice Messmer, joined him to turn the vision of this forest into Second Life “virtuality”.  Very quickly, this vision was realized and geko Stoop’s Memorial Forest was created on the Puntarenas 1 sim.  Others assisting Gian with making this forest “come to life” include Colleen Bracken, Jon Haskell, Moonde Magic, Felicity Sneerwell, Tunes Meness and Ub Yifu.

Entering geko Stoop's Memorial Forest on Puntarenas 1

geko Stoop, the "Lady Godiva of Second Life" - a statue by Ub Yifu

As you enter the forest’s landing point inside a little tin roofed shack, you will find the reason behind this memorial…  and from there you can explore paths beyond the beautiful statue by Ub Yifu of geko on her horse (which is how Gian first met his friend) and you will see beautiful flora and fauna.  The water features are outstanding with many waterfalls, a rushing river and a quiet spring-like area.  The elevation of this sim is great as well, with a tower you can also walk up into for an even better vantage point.  Be sure to cross the river on one of the swinging rope bridges and visit the shack at the top of the mountain where you can find out more how forests can help provide medicinal cures and other info.  Here you will also find that you can purchase a pair of beautiful blue butterflies created by Tunes Meness in memory of geko.  All proceeds from these will go to the American Cancer Society!  And keep in mind, there is a pavilion where you can bring a friend for a dance as it is outfitted with an in-tan system.

Waterfall Crashing into River

Water Features by the Trails

Fast Moving River Rushing Through the Forest

All in all, it is a nice way to spend a little time in Second Life.  To walk through and see the great attention to detail and just how this forest represents reality is rewarding.  Knowing that it originated to honor the memory of a young lady loved by so many is even more heart-warming.  Take a moment to reflect in the beauty of nature and remember those friends, both past and present, that are special to you.

The Shack - A Gathering Place Above the Forest

I hope you will take the time to visit another one of Second Life’s beautiful spots… and enjoy 🙂

‘Til Next Time…

~Sunshine

~~Lumeria on Roan~~

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Lumeria …lumen,lux= light;  mer= sea, a land of light under the sea, Lumerians are beings of light under the sea

 

Peeking into Lumeria

 


As many might be aware, I am a dedicated member of Flickr, possibly to the point of a bit obsessed!  I try to look at most every new photo that a contact posts and really look at those that are of new places, interesting builds, etc.  Well, a few days ago, I was taking a look at photos and opened Adianna Price’s photostream.  There I found a beautiful photo in blues and golds, so I took a closer look and found that it was of a place called “Lumeria”.  I found it fascinating and thought…oh I will go there!  Luckily for me, Adi had included the SLURL in the description of her photos, so I headed over when I had the opportunity on Saturday.

Entering Lumeria...

I landed underwater at the entrance to this beautifully blue build and looked around to find areas for meditation, relaxation and reflection.  This was just the start.  I found a teleport and saw different locations, so I chose “Lotus Garden”  (I think).  And next thing I knew, I was on lily pads next to beautiful lotus blossoms.  Looking out, I realized that there were structures all around this watery build.  These all looked to blossom from the sea, in blues and sea-greens.  There are several places along the walk ways to stop for a dance or a cuddle and even tai chi, so a lovely place to relax with your love or good friends.  As I wondered around, I found that the build is circled by mountains and fully encased inside a bubble.

Mystical Lumeria

For me (and most that ever look at my Flickr will already know), I also found a fantastical place to take photos.  The blues, the sea-greens, the flowers, the structures and even the little fairies offered a lot of opportunity for photos of interest.  The rays of light along with the glowing crystals added to this.  Using the different ‘windlight’ enviro settings changed every view as the color of the sky and water played a part in each capture.  For more of my photos of Lumeria, visit my Flickr set dedicated to this beautiful place.

I enjoyed my stay in Lumeria… and was blessed to speak with the creator, Abel Moonites, who explained that this build was a true labor of love.  It was the love for the woman in his SLife that inspired the creation and he hopes that others will feel that love when they visit.  His creation is detailed and with thought…and yes, it is apparent that it was built with purpose.

A truly mystical place… when you have the chance, visit Lumeria on Roan.

’til next time… explore, explore!

~Sunshine