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This is a bird eye's view of Downtown Dadeland, from the 22nd floor of a unit in the Metropolis 1 condo, looking Northeasterly. Macy's is seen anchoring at the North end of Dadeland mall. To the right is US-1 whose North bound takes you to downtown Miami that is seen at the distant horizon.
Six years ago, I was at the Church of the Little Flower, a beautiful Roman Catholic Church in Coral Gables. Here I am again, but this time, I am inside its very ornate interior, the church's altar where scuptured marble with inlaid is to be seen throughout the spacious spaces where religious rites are performned. Tonight, a special mass is conducted for my friend Edgard. Many friends who could not come to his funeral service because of time constraints came to pay their last respects. Another sad reminder of the ephemeric nature of life.
Although Saint Patrick's Day is not going to be until Saturday, March 17th, we in Miami can't wait so some streets in downtown Coral Gables are closed to traffic early evening today for an early celebration of all things GREEN sponsored by John Martin's Irish Pub & Restaurant.
Of course, you've got to dress green and drink beer: Guiness, Harp, Smithwick's (an Irish red ale style beer from Kilkenny, Ireland) or a mixture thereof. I am tired of pouring these kinds of brew for 3 hours. I'm kaput! Not drunk, but kaput!
Today is the third and last day of the Orchid festival in Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden at 10901 Old Cutler Rd, Coral Gables. It is really a chance for local orchid growers to sell their plants. There is a large number of growers who come with their many plants in full bloom. It's quite a feast for the eyes and the senses because many of the orchid species are fragrant. It is so easy to grow beautiful orchid plants here in Miami. It will take you a long time to kill your orchid plant by long term neglect here (what I do now...) but if you just spend a little time to give some minimal care, you can have beautiful orchid flowers year round.
Would you want to ride in this truck? This is kind of a monster truck, which is a pickup truck body, modified and built with outrageously large wheels and suspension.
In the late 1970s, modified pickup trucks were becoming popular and the sports of mud bogging and truck pulling were gaining in popularity. Several truck owners had created lifted trucks to compete in such events, and soon competition to hold the title of "biggest truck" developed. The trucks which garnered the most national attention were Bob Chandler's Bigfoot, Everett Jasmer's USA-1, Fred Shafer and Jack Willman Sr.'s Bear Foot, and Jeff Dane's King Kong. At the time, the largest tires the trucks were running were 48 inches in diameter.
This is no Big Foot or King Kong, but you need to be as tall as a giraffe to get in and out of it. I would love to take a snapshot of the driver getting in to drive it away.
Look what I saw today: a newly reincarnated French Citroën 2CV (French: "deux chevaux" i.e. "deux chevaux-vapeur [fiscaux]." Literally, this means "two tax horsepower" and it was an economy car produced by the French car manufacturer Citroën between 1948 and 1990. This car is so nostalgic to me because it reminds me of my wild student days in Paris. Two of my class mates owned this 2CV car and we had tons of fun with them. This is a rather new construction and it looks like a "special edition" rather than the "real" original 2CV that I know. The license plate says it is an antic, but it truly is antic only in its name.
I asked the owner who told me he paid US $12K and it was shipped from France. Imagine that, a full 2 horse power among the killer cars of Miami!
The two cars I used to ride in more than often would not start, but for us lunatic students, that was no big deal. We can start this car by manually cranking it without breaking a sweat. You do that by sticking a steel crank shaft into a steel tube in front of the car under the hood. Our great challenge was to start the car with only one single crank. If you want to know how we did it, take a look at this Youtube link. I love this car's manual transmission control that is smack in the middle of the dashboard and into your face. But... it was truly remarkable that according Wikipedia, this car was designed to be a low-priced, rugged "umbrella on four wheels" that would enable four peasants to drive 50 kg (110 lb) of farm goods to market at 50 km/h (31 mph), in clogs and across muddy unpaved roads if necessary. The car would use no more than 3 L of gasoline to travel 100 km (78 mpg). Most famously, it would be able to drive across a ploughed field without breaking the eggs it was carrying.
Totally unexpected, I attended a funeral today. It's a very sad thing, a funeral, and I always cry. I can't help it. It's just me. My friend Edgard died yesterday, and here I am at the Kendall Mt Nebo cemetery, a few blocks South of Miller Drive West of the Palmetto Expressway. A single bunch of red roses lies atop of his coffin that has entered his final resting place. It's a sad thing! But Edgard had a good life and here is one proof... of it and this is the way I remember him.
If you have any doubt, trust me. Live it up! You never can tell what tomorrow may bring.
All of a sudden, I feel the urge of eating Cuban coconut shrimp! You want to know why? Look at this new drive through on the right hand side of this photo. It is very odd that this new eatery decided to settle here. My theory is that the adult business needs some extra income and has sub-leased this space to this store that sells coconut shrimp among other Cuban dishes. This may be used as a perfect disguise to sneak into the other store for some hot stuff. If caught red handed, one can say "Hey, I felt the urge of eating Cuban coconut shrimp." Voilà!
I can't resist to put this on line. This is a "oh so cute" bicycle fitted with a 2 or 4 Stroke Bicycle Engine. I am mighty tempted to get a 2 Stroke Bicycle Engine Kit Parts and build one for myself. Perfect for Miami! I want one! I hope the engine is waterproof so it can be used during a Miami thunder storm... But first, I need a bicycle. Help!
After a few restless nights, I have carefully thought that I feel worse stopping this blog cold turkey... A compromise is now in order... Although the title stays the same, it now reads Weekly Photos of Miami... But... in case you do not know or do not care to click on the odd cherries on the left margin, know that it will take you to the other side of the coin that is my life... What you see there is this clip that I think makes life worth living.
But let's head back to Miami... I know this small (come to think, not so small) cosmetic procedure used to cost between USD $5 - 10K, it now can be had for a mere $2,800.00! I wonder if this price applies for guys? The process would have to be "grown from scratch" rather than "enlarged!" What do you guys think?
I'm back, but it will not be EVERY DAY!
I feel bad not to honor the name of this blog "Miami Every Day..." It has become increasingly more difficult for me to daily update this semi-private corner of my life. Reluctantly, I must say farewell... at least for the time being... to this self imposed daily obligation.
As a tribute to my long time passionate search for a sentimental tree, the Alstonia scholaris, here is one that I found in Miami, a beautiful specimen in plain sight that I only can "see" after many years of learning how to recognize it.
Here it is, on Sunset Drive near 64th street.
Farewell... and thank you for reading.
